Bowl with White-slip Decorations

1500s–1600s

Bowl with White-slip Decorations, 1500s–1600s. Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Glazed stoneware; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1986.83 This type of wide-mouthed bowl was used every day in Korea, not exclusively for tea drinking. But when it was introduced to Japan around the early 16th century, its imperfect appearance, which evokes the aesthetics of wabi-sabi,caused it to be repurposed as a tea bowl. Korean tea bowls were circulated as a item of foreign luxury among Japanese military elites. Many Korean potters were abducted during the Japanese invasions (1592–98) and some settled there, ended up leading the development of ceramic industry in Japan. This type of humble tea bowl was highly praised among Japanese collectors for its imperfect beauty.