SOYOUNG LEE: Celadon, or green-glazed ceramics, was first produced in China. It became an important and highly refined art form in Korea under the Koryô dynasty. This graceful jar, known as a Maebyông, was made in the late thirteenth century. The jar is decorated with cranes and clouds, a popular ceramic motif of the time. Notice how the clouds’ elegantly stylised, scrolling forms subtly mirror the cranes’ serpentine lines and outstretched wings. The widely spaced elements give the overall design a light, airy feel, and allow the grayish-green celadon glaze to serve as the sky. The cranes, apart from their decorative qualities, were a symbol for longevity. This maebyông is an excellent example of inlaid celadon, which is considered among the most innovative and elegant of Korean art.Before the glaze was applied to this piece, the cranes and clouds were cut out of the clay in shallow incisions, and filled in with a pale-colored clay mixture. The black lines that define the clouds’ edges and form the cranes’ beaks, eyes and legs, were also inlaid in this way, using a red colored clay mixture. The jar was then covered with celadon glaze and fired, turning the red fillings black.