1200s-1300s
Pottery
Diameter of mouth: 19.7 cm (7 3/4 in.); Overall: 8.2 cm (3 1/4 in.)
Gift of John L. Severance 1921.629
An actual event in 1121, which constitutes a groups of cranes hovering above the palace in Kaifeng, the capital of the Chinese Northern Song dynasty, soon became internationally recognized as a heavenly sign about the ruler's virtuous governance.
As early as the seventh century, the practice of drinking tea and wine became an important part of elite leisure culture in Korea. 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 cranes amid clouds that decorate the inner wall of this tea bowl is considered an auspicious sign particularly about the king's good governance.
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