Dish with Incised Floral Design

1100s

Dish with Incised Floral Design, 1100s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Glazed porcelain; overall: 5.1 cm (2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Educational Purchase Fund 1924.138 Celadons wares used for everyday such as this dish were among the most common burial objects in tombs during the Goryeo period (918–1392). Furnishing tombs with an elaborate assemblage of objects was believed to honor and comfort the newly dead. Generally, Goryeo tombs were left untouched until the late 19th century. During the colonial period (1910–45), however, Japanese archaeologists competitively excavated the tombs located in Kaeseong, the former capital of the Goryeo period, and these wares soon became available for Japanese and Western collectors. The translucent greenish and bluish glaze of Goryeo celadons, shown in this vase, is the result of distinctive small and long Korean kilns, which maintained a low oxygen saturation with a high level of carbon dioxide.