Buncheong, back to Korea and a bit of history
Buncheong ceramics came into being in Korea during the Joseon dynasty of rulers in the 15th and 16th centuries. Prior to this time, during the rule of the Goryeo dynasty, a fine green glazed stoneware ceramic was made in Korea. The new rulers of Korea were influenced by China and the rise of porcelain and so porcelain started to be produced in Korea also. However, running alongside this rise was a type of stoneware vessel that had more freedom in it’s decorative expression. It used similar Goryeo period decoration of inlay and underglaze painting with iron, but to different effects. The common feature amongst the inlay, incision and stamping is the use of a white slip over an iron bearing clay body, and a transparent to grey green glaze over the top.
In contrast to the purity of porcelain, constrained by neo-Confucian ritual use, the decoration on Buncheong ceramics have a freedom associated with experimental expression, being both rustic and dynamic in nature. As a result, these ceramics are valued today.
Buncheong ware was also valued in Japan. In the 16th century the tea ceremony was quite a thing, and all of the thinking around that spot lighted the imperfect – and hence imports from Korea of these rustic and dynamic Buncheong wares. Even after the decline of Buncheong ceramics in Korea, the tradition was kept alive in Japan. Not least because of the Japanese invasion of Korea between 1592 -8 where artisans were taken back to Japan from Korea to work on Kyushu, a Japanese island close to Korea.
During the present period, Buncheong techniques were introduced into the UK by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, who would have seen Korean pottery while in Japan and when they visited Korea. In the UK Phil Rogers (https://www.philrogerspottery.com/gallery ) was influenced by this approach to ceramics, and his wife Hajeong Lee Rogers (https://www.philrogerspottery.com/hajeong/) work is informed by Buncheong ceramics. I am in good company!
I love the freedom with which some modern Korean potters use this technique. You can see examples in the Victoria and Albert museum by Lee Kang – hyo (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O22489/jar-lee-kang-hyo ) and Choi Sung – jae (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O438339/bottle-choi-sung-jae ).
The historical pots mentioned earlier would have been fired in a wood kiln, where there is a reducing atmosphere for the firings, meaning that at some point the air in the kiln is starved of oxygen and so that the flames seeks out oxygen from the clay wares themselves, thus causing a different chemical reaction to that which would have happened if there was more air. I use an electric kiln, so my firings have oxygen freely available all of the time, creating different colour reactions and different finishes to the fired work.
In my opinion it is more difficult to produce a sense of surface depth using the oxidation environment of an electric kiln; there is no ash flying around creating a wonderful patina on the surface of the pot or creating its’ own glaze. You have to find the depth by more deliberately applying ceramic materials and knowing what they are going to do. So, white slip is one of the layers that I use on my pots to encourage this sense of depth. I have started to occasionally use a third, enamel firing to apply further depth to my pots, like this moon jar https://www.marywrightceramics.co.uk/shop/p/medium-white-handmade-pottery-vase-or-necked-moon-jar-with-misty-turquoise-and-burgundy-autumn-leaf-decoration
Bibliography:
McKillop,B & Portal, J (2024) Precious Beyond Measure. A history of Korean ceramics. London: Reaktion Books
Lee, S. (2003) ‘Joseon Buncheong Ware: Between Celadon and Porcelain.’ In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 200-. Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pnch/hd_pnch.htm (October 2003)
Lee, S. & Department of Asian Art, MMA (2011) ‘Poetry in Clay: exploring Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Japanese revivals, and their significance today’. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YEt6yAUqUg [accessed May 2025]
Rogers, P. (2019) Potters on Pots: Phil Rogers, 296 (March/April) [accessed online May 2025]