Wine ewer, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392), early 12th century
Korea, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Collection
Met Museum: Goryeo Celadon (Thematic Essay)
While I'm thinking about Korean art....
Of course, one of the most famous realms of Korean art and craft is ceramics, and among those, it's the celadon ware, like the ewer above, that ranks the highest among those for many critics.
Which is why I'm always bit saddened when I'm reading Yi Confucian texts from the Joseon Dynasty, where celadon is criticized as unfit for a pure life. (White ceramics all the way.)
... Of course, that's not all that Yi Neo-Confucianism did that makes me a little sad (status of women, status of concubine's sons...). And yes, there's some good stuff in there—more people should study the history of it!
But every time I see a piece of celadon ware, I feel a little bittersweet.