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Bottle

8th-9th century

Korea

Stoneware with carved design

H. 3 3/4 x Diam. 4 1/4 in. (9.5 x 10.8 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Byung and Keum Ja Kang, 1989.1

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This bottle exemplifies the height of unglazed grey stoneware production during the Unified Shilla period. Its contours are clean and precise, its globular body taut, and the linear patterning on the body is dense and defined by a rhythmic consistency. Stoneware from this period has been found at major temple sites, tombs, and residential sites, indicating that pottery during the Unified Silla period functioned variously as religious, burial, and utilitarian vessels. This jar is probably an example of the latter. Although Unified Shilla was a cosmopolitan kingdom that enjoyed active trade with the international Tang China, its pottery remained closer to its earlier native traditions than to the flamboyantly colorful Tang ceramics.