Jar with Scroll Design
Unknown Artist
1400s
Medium
Buncheong ware with incised, stamped, and slip-inlaid decoration
Dimensions
height: h. 37.6 cm · outer diameter 27 cm
Classification
Ceramic
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1963.505
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In premodern Korea, a newborn baby’s umbilical cord and placenta were believed to be a symbol of the life force of the fetus and thus kept in a specially arranged burial site. This jar was made exclusively for burying a placenta, a custom practiced by aristocratic families in Korea in the belief that it would bring happiness to the child.