DOI issue:
No. 390 (September 1925)
DOI article:Harada, Jirō: Old Corean pottery
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21403#0151
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COREAN POTTERY OF
THE RI DYNASTY
(In Mr. Yamaoka's Colin.)
they forgot themselves. Stripped of their
conscious selves, they allowed their true
sub-conscious selves, common with the
rest of their race, to assert themselves.
Thus the potter became, as if in a trance,
a medium of his race in producing his
ceramic wares, a branch of work best
suited for such a purpose. Thus what we
now admire is but the product of the race
expressed through individual potters. Mr.
Kawai thinks that as soon as we become
conscious of beauty and strive to create
a thing of beauty, we make a miserable
failure of it, as it is so well shown by the
Corean potters of different periods. How-
ever paradoxical that may sound, Mr.
Kawai, working under that belief, has
been producing works of surpassing beauty
and his future is looked upon with much
promise. 0 0 0 0 0
The Corean pottery of the Korai regime,
as represented in Mr. Yamaoka's collec-
tion, is rich in beautiful shapes of simple
dignity. Though not without a feeling
of clumsiness in certain instances, there is
a touch of delicacy in all the forms. Some
of them in celadon with vein-like streaks
in thicker glaze look almost human.
There are all sorts of wares : vases, bowls,
wine-pots, wine-cups, dishes, big jars,
small jars for ointments and for toilet,
but the absence of tea-drinking utensils is
to be noted, as that custom did not exist
OLD COREAN POTTERY
in the Peninsula Kingdom for a long time.
Paste of varying degrees of hardness was
used for the body—from brittle pottery
to the hardest porcelain. Also there were
glazes other than celadon. Some in
opaque brown and dark blue and others in
translucent white.
For decoration all sorts of subjects were
covered : birds, insects, children, calli-
graphs, scrolls and conventional designs,
but floral designs predominated. They
resorted to various methods of decoration :
they painted some in thick brown and
white clays under the glaze, or built
designs by the application of the clay or
" slip " in a semi-fluid state, while on
others they incised, engraved, or inlaid
with clay differently coloured.
A close study of the objects, so long
buried under ground and so carefully
preserved, is bound to bring some bene-
ficial influence to bear upon the art of
the contemporary potters of the East and
the West. They represent the greatest
triumphs yet achieved by the people who
inhabited the Peninsula Kingdom. They
bear a message of the race to the world.
We hope to make a further consideration
of this interesting subject at some future
time. 000000
Harada-Jiro.
PORCELAIN WINE POT
(RI DYNASTY) (In
Mr. Yamaoka's Collection)
145
COREAN POTTERY OF
THE RI DYNASTY
(In Mr. Yamaoka's Colin.)
they forgot themselves. Stripped of their
conscious selves, they allowed their true
sub-conscious selves, common with the
rest of their race, to assert themselves.
Thus the potter became, as if in a trance,
a medium of his race in producing his
ceramic wares, a branch of work best
suited for such a purpose. Thus what we
now admire is but the product of the race
expressed through individual potters. Mr.
Kawai thinks that as soon as we become
conscious of beauty and strive to create
a thing of beauty, we make a miserable
failure of it, as it is so well shown by the
Corean potters of different periods. How-
ever paradoxical that may sound, Mr.
Kawai, working under that belief, has
been producing works of surpassing beauty
and his future is looked upon with much
promise. 0 0 0 0 0
The Corean pottery of the Korai regime,
as represented in Mr. Yamaoka's collec-
tion, is rich in beautiful shapes of simple
dignity. Though not without a feeling
of clumsiness in certain instances, there is
a touch of delicacy in all the forms. Some
of them in celadon with vein-like streaks
in thicker glaze look almost human.
There are all sorts of wares : vases, bowls,
wine-pots, wine-cups, dishes, big jars,
small jars for ointments and for toilet,
but the absence of tea-drinking utensils is
to be noted, as that custom did not exist
OLD COREAN POTTERY
in the Peninsula Kingdom for a long time.
Paste of varying degrees of hardness was
used for the body—from brittle pottery
to the hardest porcelain. Also there were
glazes other than celadon. Some in
opaque brown and dark blue and others in
translucent white.
For decoration all sorts of subjects were
covered : birds, insects, children, calli-
graphs, scrolls and conventional designs,
but floral designs predominated. They
resorted to various methods of decoration :
they painted some in thick brown and
white clays under the glaze, or built
designs by the application of the clay or
" slip " in a semi-fluid state, while on
others they incised, engraved, or inlaid
with clay differently coloured.
A close study of the objects, so long
buried under ground and so carefully
preserved, is bound to bring some bene-
ficial influence to bear upon the art of
the contemporary potters of the East and
the West. They represent the greatest
triumphs yet achieved by the people who
inhabited the Peninsula Kingdom. They
bear a message of the race to the world.
We hope to make a further consideration
of this interesting subject at some future
time. 000000
Harada-Jiro.
PORCELAIN WINE POT
(RI DYNASTY) (In
Mr. Yamaoka's Collection)
145