Oil bottle

Korean celadons of the Koryo Dynasty rank among the finest ceramics in the world, long admired for the wonderful color of glaze that matched in beauty the more famous celadons produced at the same time in China. In addition to perfecting the celadon color, Korean potters developed a special technique of inlay whereby a design incised on the clay was filled with white and black slip, the excess brushed off, and the piece fired to produce a sharp contrasting pattern underglaze. This small oil bottle is an especially fine example of Koryo period inlay workmanship, combined in this case with a delicacy of shaping and potting that produced a miniature vessel of exquisite proportions. Notable decorative devices used by the potter here are the lunette containing a white chrysanthemum and black leaves, and the strand of pearl-like dots with black centers that rings the neck and shoulders of the jar. (From “A Handbook of the Collection: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,” 1998)