Bowl with Cloud Design in Relief

1100s

Bowl with Cloud Design in Relief, 1100s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Glazed porcelain; overall: 6.2 cm (2 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Educational Purchase Fund 1924.137 As early as the seventh century, the practice of drinking tea and wine became an important part of elite leisure culture in Korea. A wide bowl like this example was especially suitable for drinking powdered tea shaved from a compressed tea cake, the most commonly enjoyed type during the Goryeo period. The pale bluish green glaze indicates that this tea bowl was created in the 12th century, the time when the production of celadon reached its technical peak. Kangjin and Buan kilns in Jeolla province were the two major production centers for celadon wares during the Goryeo period (918-1392).