Celadon Vase: Triple-Wall Openwork and Blossoming Motifs by Master Artisan
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“Where patience becomes form, and three vessels breathe through one body.”
This exceptional celadon vase is a rare achievement of technical precision and artistic clarity, created by Master Artisan Kim Young-Soo of Icheon. While the double-wall openwork technique itself demands extraordinary control, this work ventures further—into the almost impossible: triple-wall openwork.
Within this compact form—just 20 cm wide and 23 cm tall—lie three nested ceramic bodies. Each layer is individually thrown, shaped, pierced, and assembled with exacting care. The middle wall, itself openworked, is then wrapped by a third outer vessel, which is carved and sealed into unity. The risk of collapse is immense; the margin for error, nearly nonexistent. The artist once wondered aloud whether it could ever be done again.
And yet, the result is effortless in its grace.
The surface is adorned with three distinct floral motifs, each marking its own ring of presence:
Chrysanthemum, plum blossom, and pear blossom.
The chrysanthemum, often associated with dignity and endurance, brings a sense of quiet strength. The plum blossom, blooming even in late winter, symbolises resilience and renewal. And the pear blossom, with its delicate white petals, evokes purity and peaceful grace.
Their raised petals are highlighted with white slip, delicately standing out against the jade-green celadon. These are not painted decorations—they are carved and applied, flower by flower, detail by detail.
Light plays delicately through the openwork, casting living shadows onto the inner chambers. These shifting patterns turn the vase into a moving sculpture, a vessel of breath and depth, meant not only to be seen but held, turned, and discovered.
Unlike flat-surfaced pottery, this piece invites touch as much as vision—its skin a quiet field of sculpted blossoms and pierced air. The subtle texture of each bloom, the curve of each opening, offers a tactile pleasure that rewards the contemplative hand.
This is not simply celadon.
It is the summit of openwork.
A testimony to persistence, precision, and poetic form.
In this radiant maebyeong (청자 상감 운학문 뚜껑 메병), Master Artisan Kim Young-Soo (김영수) from Icheon revives a form that has long been admired for its graceful silhouette—broad at the shoulder and tapering toward the base—instantly recognisable as the classic maebyeong, a vessel historically used to hold wine, water, or blossoms, often appreciated as much for its shape as for its purpose.
What sets this piece apart is the matching celadon lid, an uncommon feature that evokes museum pieces of rare completeness. It elevates the work from functional vessel to heirloom-worthy sculpture—capable of both containing and concealing with poetic grace.
The body is adorned with delicate inlay (sanggam) work, where cranes soar among drifting clouds. Rendered in soft white slip, these motifs represent longevity and serenity. The fine crackle pattern across the luminous celadon glaze captures light like morning mist on jade stone, a living surface that invites closer viewing.
Its glossy glaze enhances the depth of its subtle green hue and reflects surrounding light with fluid motion—reminiscent of ripples on a quiet lake.
Traditionally, the name maebyeong is derived from the vase’s intended purpose: to hold plum blossoms (maehwa), symbolising perseverance and the quiet promise of spring. Yet this piece also recalls other uses found in historical records—such as holding honey or liquor—where a simple wooden stopper was sealed by a celadon lid, combining practicality with elegance.
This vase is more than an object of beauty—it is a contemplative presence. Whether displayed on its own, holding branches of plum or pine, or gifted as a rare work by a Korean master, it brings timeless stillness and luminous sophistication into any setting.
Dimensions
- Diameter- 20 cm (7.87 inch)
- Height- 23 cm (9.05 inch)
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