A New Asian Ceramics Gallery at the Gwangju National Museum

CURRENT

by JANG HYOJIN Curator, Gwangju National Museum

The Gwangju National Museum has opened a new Asian Ceramics Gallery to brand the institution as a hub for researching and applying both the Asian ceramics tradition and the cultural artifacts recovered from the Sinan Shipwreck. The gallery displays around 1,150 ceramic pieces from inside and outside Korea, providing visitors with a look at how ceramics developed on the Korean Peninsula and in other parts of Northeast Asia.

A display themed “Shipwreck, Accidental Discovery, Resurrection” in Part 2

The new gallery is organized into four parts. The Part 1 is “An Era of Shimmering Glaze,” and the exhibitions start with earthenware from the Neolithic Period and continue through white porcelain from Joseon. Korean pottery is linked to the contemporary socio-cultural histories of each period, establishing several sub-themes. Visitors can see at a glance the process that culminated in the production of ceramics on the Korean Peninsula. On display are diverse ceramic items that served different purposes, including Korea’s tea-drinking tradition, literati culture, ritual practices, and beliefs in auspicious symbols.

Part 2 goes under the title of “Shipwreck, Accidental Discovery, Resurrection” in reference to the cultural artifacts found in the waters off Jeungdo, an island belonging to Sinan in Jeollanamdo, starting in 1975. A Chinese merchant vessel sank there in the early part of the sixth month of 1323. The ship had left the Chinese port of Qingyuan (now Ningbo) and was bound for the Japanese port of Hakata (now Fukuoka). More than 27,000 cultural artifacts were recovered from the sea floor during a series of underwater surveys conducted between 1976 and 1984. Recently, 17,000 of these items were relocated to the Gwangju National Museum, where many are now on public display. These include ceramics, which stand out in terms of quantity and quality, as well as metal vessels, sandalwood, and other trading goods as well as items that were used by the ship’s crew. The massive haul from the shipwreck also provides a glimpse at how goods and materials from China were enjoyed by the elite class throughout East Asia, with items associated with tea drinking, incense burning, flower arranging, and scholarly pursuits.

Part 3, “Learning to Make Porcelain,” presents pottery from China, Vietnam, and Japan. The Chinese pieces range from the Han though Qing Dynasties, with the priority placed on those that were unearthed on the Korean Peninsula. They provide a look at the types of Chinesemade pottery that was imported and used by Koreans. The Vietnamese pottery is on a long-term loan from the Vietnam National Museum of History. The 73 items represent major historic periods in Vietnam and illustrate how potterymaking evolved in that country. The Japanese exhibit, meanwhile, has digital photographs of 50 items from the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Saga Prefecture. They show how quickly Japanese craftsmen learned to produce porcelain ware from the seventeenth century onward, and how diverse the Japanese porcelain production became.

Part 4, “Science of Pottery,” was planned by the Conservation Science Team. The exhibit shows the results of an experiment by the Gwangju National Museum to produce buncheong ware from clay taken from a quarry in Maegok-dong, where the Museum is located. To make up for the deficiencies discovered in the Maegok clay during the experiment, a different clay with excellent stickiness was mixed in, and the production met success. The results of that effort are presented in a video. In addition, visitors can see the composition analysis results of pottery shards unearthed at old kiln sites in the Jeollanam-do and Gwangju regions. They show how earthenware production advanced to the capability to make porcelain ware. The exhibit provides an easy-to-understand comparison between earthenware and porcelain ware products. The newly opened Asian Ceramics Gallery is all the more significant because it represents the first concrete efforts exemplifying the direction in which the Gwangju National Museum is heading. The museum will work with other institutions inside and outside Korea to introduce new exhibits over the long term and organize displays on Asian pottery traditions. Meanwhile, the Gwangju National Museum has allocated space for the vast collection of items recovered from the Sinan shipwreck and is conducting surveys on the roles of pottery in Asian culture. Plans call for the opening of a dedicated Ceramics Hall in 2024 to make public the results of this effort.

The new Ceramics Hall is an important project that serves as a milestone in the rapid rise of the Gwangju National Museum as a destination for those who are researching and applying Asian pottery traditions. A network is being built among specialists and research organizations inside and outside Korea to support studies on both the Sinan shipwreck collection and Asian pottery traditions generally as well as to share research results. In addition, the museum will play the role of presenting the research results to the public through related exhibitions and educational programs.

Buncheong Ware Bottle with Sgraffito Fish Design

Joseon Dynasty, 15th century / H. 23.3 cm

Celadon Jar

Yuan Dynasty, China 1271–1368 / H. 32.6 cm (with lid)

White Porcelain Jar in Underglaze Blue

Ming Dynasty, China 1368–1644 / Jingdezhen ware / H. 38.0 cm

White Porcelain Bowl

Joseon Dynasty, 16th century / H. 11.9 cm

Duck-shaped Ewer with Ivory Yellow Glaze

Vietnam, 6th–7th century / H. 19.3 cm / Vietnam National Museum of History

Visitors exploring some of porcelain ware with a huge touch screen

A display of diverse white porcelain items