Jar with Dragon and Clouds Design
Unknown Artist
late 1600s
Medium
porcelain with underglaze iron
Dimensions
{"diameter of base":{"width":0.137},"overall":{"height":0.347},"diameter of mouth":{"width":0.109},"outer diameter":{"width":0.406}}
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1986.69
About this artwork
In traditional Korean art, dragons have been used as an emblem of royalty. Over many centuries, the ways of depicting this powerful mythical creature evolved and varied in response to artistic trends and socioeconomic changes. On this jar from the 1600s, the artist drew a whimsical dragon with bulging eyes who wraps his scaled body around the vessel. The artist’s aim here was to capture the wild spirit of the supernatural creature with free flowing calligraphic brushstrokes.