Bowl with Incised Parrot Design

1100s–1200s

Bowl with Incised Parrot Design, 1100s–1200s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Celadon ware with incised decoration; diameter of mouth: 10.9 cm (4 5/16 in.); overall: 6 cm (2 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John L. Severance 1918.482 A wide bowl like this example was especially suitable for drinking powdered tea shaved from a compressed tea cake, the most commonly enjoyed type during the Goryeo period. The image of flying parrots incised on the inner wall of this tea bowl must have made the moment of drinking tea more enjoyable and even magical. As early as the seventh century, the practice of drinking tea and wine became an important part of elite leisure culture in Korea.