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Openwork Jar with Peonies

Unidentified potter, Joseon Korea, late 18th–early 19th century. Korea, Joseon dynasty.

You are here

Thirty works are on view at a time, ten to a room. Every day at midnight UTC, the ten that have hung longest go back into storage and ten others come out, so each work hangs for three days and then rests for three. A work always returns to the same place on the same wall.

A round white porcelain jar whose body is carved through with an openwork pattern of peony flowers and leaves.
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0). Select it for the full size.

Korean potters of the late Joseon period loved white porcelain, and they often left it almost undecorated. This jar is an exception. Its round body has been carved through with a pattern of peony flowers and leaves, so that you can see into the shadows behind them. The work had to be done while the clay was still soft, and a single slip of the knife could ruin the piece, so it took both patience and nerve. The glaze is a soft, slightly bluish white. The pierced flowers make the heavy round shape feel light, almost like lace. Look into the openings and the shadows become part of the design.

Look closely

  1. Look through the openings. What do you see behind them?
  2. Find one peony flower and follow its petals.
  3. Look at the plain band at the top and bottom. Why might the potter have left it uncarved?

While you sit

A white jar full of shadows and flowers. Let your eyes rest in the openings.

Your seat in the galleries: a round white-oiled birch bench pierced with a pattern of petals.

About the work

Title
Openwork Jar with Peonies
Artist
Unidentified potter, Joseon Korea
Date
late 18th–early 19th century
From
Korea, Joseon dynasty
Medium
Porcelain
Size
H. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm); Diam. 12 in. (30.5 cm)
Rights
Public domain
Image
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)
Record
The museum's page for this work

The words on this page were written for the campus, not taken from the museum's label.

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