89. Bottle

John H. Seto,
Curator of BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART, USA

¡ºHandbook of the Oriental Collection BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART¡»
(printing the United States of America, 1988)

Roe Kyung Jo is a contemporary ceramicist who is rapidly gaining an international reputation for his innovative handling of the clay medium Roe began his artistic career working with white porcelain in the tradition of the Yi dynasty.

He then experimented with over glaze pottery, and pursued the techniques of native punch'ong wares. He is currently concerned with creating the effects of marbleized ware.

Roe represents the individual studio artist in the best sense. He mines his own clay and carefully colors it by adding metallic oxides to produce yeollimun marbled ware. To establish the modern identity of his works, Roe favors angular forms over the round ones of traditional Korean ceramics.

The Birmingham bottle was built by the slab method. The patterns found on the vertical sides indicate that the body was constructed by the joining of two right¡ý angled slabs rather than four singe ones; the marbleized effect is continuous along two vertical edges. The top portion of the bottle consists of a beveled shoulder surmounted by a slightly splayed neck which terminates in a flat, square mouth. The exposed exterior is covered in a clear glaze which has been partially wiped, while the interior is coated in an iron-brown glaze.

The irregularly recessed bottom has a cloth texture, with a stamped seal impression of Kyung Jo.