Puncheong (Bunchong) bowl, Chosun Dynasty

Buncheong ware exhibits distinctive regional characteristics. Representative of buncheong ware made in Gyeongsang Province are those with inlaid and stamped decoration, with regular, well-defined patterns. In contrast, buncheong from Jeolla Province typically has incised or sgraffito designs, which tend to be more freely executed and inventive. The kiln sites of Mount Gyeryong in Chungcheong Province is famous for its buncheong with iron-painted decoration. The tonal contrast of bold iron-brown against the white slip background is stunning. The incised (Jeolla) or iron-painted (Chungcheong) “drawings” are often whimsical and evocative; and whether representational or abstract, they are always visually compelling.

Unlike buncheong, the production of porcelain during the Joseon dynasty was centralized. A group of kilns known as bunwon, catering to and managed by the royal court, was operating not far from the capital of Hanyang (present-day Seoul) as early as the 1460s. Bunwon continued as the manufacturing center of porcelain until the second half of the nineteenth century, but already by the sixteenth century, the demand for porcelain expanded beyond the Joseon elite and the capital. Porcelain kilns in the regions multiplied, and even buncheong kilns eventually turned to making porcelain. Typical sixteenth-century buncheong ware, such as those brushed with white slip or completely dipped in white slip, undoubtedly represent less expensive alternatives to white porcelain. Yet their slightly irregular surface design endows them with a vibrant beauty.