[Click to enlarge. 16th-century porcelain tea bowl. Korean.
Gift of Charles Lang Freer F1905.28. Freer and Sackler Galleries.]
Damaged goods never looked so beautiful. It's likely that this Asian bowl became even more luminous after the Japanese employed their favored technique of ornamentally repairing cracks or nicks with gold lacquer. According to the Freer and Sackler Galleries in D.C., this roughly 460-year-old provincial ceramic piece made by a Korean craftsman was highly collectable in Japan. When used for tea the clay became discolored but the Japanese appreciated this mottled appearance -- this natural patina -- and as the bowl became more time-worn they highlighted its bumps and bruises by gilding them.
To see some gorgeous examples of Korean ceramics with textile-like surface pattern, visit the Freer's new exhibition, Cranes and Clouds: The Korean Art of Ceramic Inlay. As it happens, this month the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Loads of related events are planned the week of November 28. Learn more here.