Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

Lee, Soyoung, and Seung-chang Jeon (2011)

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Description

Sensuous, whimsical, sophisticated, rustic, and masterful, buncheong ceramics emerged in Korea at the end of the fourteenth century. This breathtakingly diverse expression grew out of inlaid celadon, the celebrated aristocratic stoneware synonymous with the Goryeo period (1918–1392). During the nearly two centuries of its production, buncheong would be increasingly taken up by regional potters, who reveled in the newfound freedom to shape and decorate the adaptable stoneware with unprecedented wit, imagination, and insight.

The early Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) was a time of unparalleled creativity and cultural expansiveness. Buncheong came into its own, bringing inventive changes to traditional forms, while its bold new decorative techniques and motifs responded to consumer preferences and facilitated mass production. At the same time, buncheong flaunted its materiality—the tactile, often uneven appearance that set it apart from the more refined ceramics of the court.

In the wake of the Japanese invasions of Korea at the end of the sixteenth century, buncheong, adopted by Japanese tea connoisseurs, would inspire generations of Japanese potters. In the twentieth century, Korean artists rediscovered their heritage, intrigued by the medium's visibly handmade aesthetic. Twenty-first-century readers will be struck by the familiar yet refreshing quality of many of these vessels, which recall the force of modernist gestural pieces and more recent abstract expressions.

An original and perceptive exploration of a phenomenon unique in the history of art, Korean Buncheong Ceramics presents together for the first time early Joseon buncheong ware, Edo-period Japanese reinterpretations, and modern and contemporary works that revitalize this dynamic tradition.

The volume features more than seventy-five masterworks—some never before published—from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, whose collection of buncheong ceramics is arguably unparalleled in its quality and breadth; the Metropolitan Museum; and Japanese collections.

Table of contents

Directors' Foreword
Lender's Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Timeline
Map of principal Korean kiln sites

Buncheong: Unconventional Beauty
Jeon Seung-Chang

Decoding Design: Buncheongs Forms, Decorative Techniques, and Motifs

Beyond the Original: Buncheong Idioms in Japan, 1500–1900, and Contemporary Revivals
Soyoung Lee

Checklist of Objects in the Exhibition
Glossary
Guide to Korean Transliterations
Bibliography
Index

About the authors

Soyoung Lee is Associate Curator, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Jeon Seung-chang is Chief Curator; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art; Seoul.

Press reviews

Ceramics Monthly

"... an engaging and thorough history of buncheong ... instructive to a contemporary audience and relevant to ceramic artists."

The New York Times

"In admirably lucid catalog essays the exhibition's curators raise intriguing questions about what the buncheong style meant to its creators and consumers."

BiblioPotter

"This is the kind of book that will bring you a feeling of calmness."

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