Wide-mouthed Bottle

1100s

Wide-mouthed Bottle, 1100s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Celadon; overall: 28.3 cm (11 1/8 in.); outer diameter: 15.5 cm (6 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John L. Severance 1918.435 As early as the seventh century, the practice of drinking tea and wine became an important part of elite culture in Korea. Elites of the Goryeo period commissioned a variety of types of utensils and vessels including this handsome wine bottle, to make their drinking experience more exciting. The distinctive bluish and greenish glaze of Goryeo celadons, shown in this bottle, is the result of distinctive small and long Korean kilns, which maintained a low oxygen saturation with a high level of carbon dioxide.