Buncheong Hakeme Tea Bowl with Lotus by Yi Hak-cheon — Korea Master Craftsman

A wide buncheong tea bowl brushed with white slip and carved through to leave a lotus in the clay — by Yi Hak-cheon of Mungyeong, named a Korea Master Craftsman in ceramics in 2002.

Two buncheong techniques meet here. Gwiyal — known to tea people by its Japanese name, hakeme — is the quick, coarse-brush sweep of white slip that gives the surface its movement. Bakji is the sgraffito step after it: the potter cuts the slip away around a design, so the lotus stands in pale relief against the darker body. Both are 15th-century Korean techniques, and both are done by hand in a single pass that cannot be corrected.

Details

• Potter: Yi Hak-cheon (이학천), Mungyeong · Korea Master Craftsman (Ceramics), 2002
• Buncheong stoneware, brushed slip (gwiyal) with sgraffito lotus (bakji) · Size: Ø15 × H6 cm
• Signed · Single piece

Watch: a climbing kiln in Mungyeong

A firing in one of Mungyeong's traditional climbing wood kilns, where the valley's tea bowls are still made. (A general introduction — not this specific piece.)

Please read before ordering

• One of a kind. We confirm the piece is still available with the dealer within one business day; if it has sold we refund in full immediately.
• Offered as a collector's piece. It has not been tested to U.S. FDA lead-release standards for ceramic foodware.
• Ships from New Jersey in 2–3 weeks, double-boxed. Price includes all import duties. Fully insured, signature required.