Tea Bowl
Unknown Artist
1700s
Medium
stoneware with white slip and overglaze
Dimensions
{"overall":{"height":0.081},"diameter of base":{"width":0.055},"diameter of mouth":{"width":0.177}}
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1991.106
About this artwork
This type of wide-mouthed bowl was used every day in Korea, not exclusively for tea drinking. But when it was introduced to Japan around the early 16th century, its imperfect appearance, which evokes the aesthetics of wabi-sabi, caused it to be repurposed as a tea bowl. Korean tea bowls were circulated as a item of foreign luxury among Japanese military elites. Possibly produced in one of the kilns established by the trading office (Waegwan) in Busan, southern Gyeongsang province, this type of t...