Artwork Page for Box and Cover with Chrysanthemum and Scroll Design

Details / Information for Box and Cover with Chrysanthemum and Scroll Design

Box and Cover with Chrysanthemum and Scroll Design

청자 상감 국화·당초무늬 합 [靑磁象嵌菊花唐草文母子盒]

1200s–1300s

Korea, Goryeo dynasty

(918–1392)
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Medium
inlaid celadon ware
Measurements
Overall: 2.8 cm (1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of John L. Severance 1928.169
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This ceramic container was used to store either incense or cosmetics.

Description

Celadons, spoons, seals, and bronze mirrors were the most common burial objects in tombs during the Goryeo period (918–1392). Once used to contain colored powder, rouge, and eyebrow gel for makeup, this small container was one of the standard goods that furnished elites' tombs. Both women and men used the grain powder of rice or millet for whitening their skin, safflower extract for rouge, and plant ash or soot for eyebrow gel. Yet, natural-looking makeup seems to have been the most favorable one in Korea according to the travelogue by Xu Jing (1091–1153), the Chinese diplomat who visited Korea in 1123.
A celadon, a gray-green glaze, circular box features a flat lid and inlaid white and dark gray designs. On the lid, a central blossom is encircled by smaller flowers within scalloped borders. Stylized leaf patterns decorate the top's outer edge, while repeating scroll designs wrap around the sides of the lid and base. A prominent vertical crack splits the lid from the back toward the viewer.

Box and Cover with Chrysanthemum and Scroll Design

1200s–1300s

Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)

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