고려시대 금속과 청자 주자를 통해 본 ‘象形’의 의미와 제작 = Sculpted Forms in Metal and Celadon Ewers of the Goryeo Dynasty: Meaning and Making

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Among the various types of Sculpted Celadon (sanghyeong cheongja, figurative celadon) produced during the Goryeo Dynasty, juja (注子, ewer) constitute a particularly large group and are notable for their clearly defined functional role. These ewers may be broadly divided into two types: those that retain the conventional structure of an ewer—with a spout, handle, and lid—and those whose entire form is shaped as an animal or human figure. When these differences are considered alongside Goryeo Dynasty practices of tea drinking and liquor consumption, it becomes difficult to regard all such ewers as belonging to a single, uniformly interpreted category.
Craft objects employing sculptural forms appear in various media from an early period, and the practice of reproducing or adapting natural forms is widely attested throughout the history of the arts. Gourd-shaped, melon-shaped, and bamboo-shoot-shaped ewers fall within this line of formal adaptation. In contrast, ewers whose structure is defined by an animal or human figure, or those with small sculptural elements added to emphasize symbolic meaning, operate on a different formal basis.
For this reason, the concept of sanghyeong (“sculpted form”) must be understood in both a broad and a narrow sense. Ewers that simply borrow the appearance of natural objects may be included within the broader category, but they cannot be regarded as Sculpted Celadon in the stricter sense associated with Goryeo Dynasty aesthetic and cultural contexts. By contrast, ewers shaped as immortals, auspicious animals, dragons, or fish-dragons represent a group in which the principal structure itself embodies symbolic themes characteristic of the period. This distinction allows for a more precise definition of the formal range of Sculpted Celadon and calls for a reassessment of ewer types that have conventionally been treated as a single category.
This study examines the cultural background of the Goryeo Dynasty, the functional aspects of ewers, and the formal characteristics of Sculpted Celadon as a means to reconsider the classification of the sanghyeong category. Such an approach contributes to a clearer understanding of how function, form, and symbolic intent intersect in these vessels and offers a basis for identifying the specific character of Sculpted Celadon ewers within the broader corpus of Goryeo ceramics.