Goryeo Celadon
Goryeo Celadon refers to bluish ceramics which were created during the Goryeo Dynasty. These ceramics from the Goryeo Dynasty were called Sagi, Cheongja, Nokja, Cheongdogi, and Cheongsagi, and all ceramics were later called Celadon. The best-made celadon’s color is similar to the color of jade that is called “celadon blue” and even the Chinese, who first made celadon lauded, saying Goryeo Celadon was the best one ever made.
Goryeo Celadon was the second type of ceramics to be produced in the world, next to China, representing our ancestors’ sophisticated cultural standards and artistic spirits as a cultural legacy of the Goryeo Dynasty.
Developments of Goryeo Celadon
Goryeo Celadon was first made between the 9th and 10th centuries during the Goryeo Dynasty, influenced by the ceramic-making skills in Zhejiang Province, China. Since the 12th century, Goryeo’s ceramic-making skills have drastically improved. Particularly, the color of Celadon that was produced through biscuits was called “celadon blue” by Goryeo People for its beautiful colors. In the mid Goryeo Dynasty various types of Celadon were created, including incense burners, utensils used in ancestral rites, roof tiles, tiles, while completing diverse decoration techniques, such as depressed engravings, raised carvings, pressed embossing, inlay, cheolbaekhwa (drawing with soil water instead of engravings), donghwa (drawing with pigments made of copper before baking pottery), underglaze inlay, openwork, and hwageumcheongja (paintings with gold dust after baking the pottery and baking it again). The hieroglyphic celadon copying animals and plants culminated in the making of magnificent Goryeo Celadon.
In the late Goryeo Dynasty most Celadon were produced without patterns, due to gradual difficulties in making ceramics, and deterioration of clay and glaze led Celadon to decline. Koreans changed how Sanggam Celadon was produced partly and changed its production methods by decorating with the repeated patterns, which led to the production of Buncheong Sagi (Ceramics) in the early Joseon Dynasty.
In the late Goryeo Dynasty most Celadon were produced without patterns, due to gradual difficulties in making ceramics, and deterioration of clay and glaze led Celadon to decline. Koreans changed how Sanggam Celadon was produced partly and changed its production methods by decorating with the repeated patterns, which led to the production of Buncheong Sagi (Ceramics) in the early Joseon Dynasty.
- Celadon jar with inscription of shun hwa four yearsEarly Goryeo Dynasty, Ewha Womans University Museum
- Celadon incense bunner with lion-shaped lidMid-Goryeo Dynasty, National Museum of Korea
- Celadon bowl with inlaid willows, reeds and waterfowl design and inscription of 'gi-sa'Late Goryeo Dynasty, Haegang Ceramics Museum