This sake bottle with a lively design of a fish swallowing a hook was made during the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910 CE). Thrown from a stoneware clay body, it was covered with a white slip, and then bands were carved at the neck and belly of the form while the piece turned on a wheel. Next iron oxide was used to paint the fish pattern. The fish shows the essence of Asian pattern painting in the reduction of the form to basic shapes and in the use of the brush to indicate detail and movement.
During the Choson Dynasty, Korea suffered the first of several invasions from Japan. In 1592, Hideoshi, the Japanese warlord and aficionado of Korean pottery sent his warships to Korea to bring back 50 potters to Japan to make pottery for him. This incursion came to be known as the 'Pottery War.'These potters were settled in Satsuma province and descendants still make pottery using Korean style wheels and kilns in this region to this day.
Choson Dynasty Bottle for Wine, Stoneware with sgraffito and brush painted decoration, Korea, 1450 CE
