A CELADON STONEWARE RITUAL WATER VESSEL (KUNDIKA/JEONGBYEONG)

Korea’s best-known ceramics, the celadon wares, were produced during the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), an era of supreme artistic refinement. Vessels with molded, incised, or carved decoration, such as this exquisite water vessel, typify twelfth-century Korean wares, while ones with designs inlaid in black and white slips epitomize those of the thirteenth and fourteen centuries. Korean celadon glazes tend to be more transparent and also more bluish green than those of contemporaneous Chinese celadons. The finest Korean celadons rival their Chinese counterparts in terms of both artistic sophistication and technical achievement.