Buncheong Ware

Buncheong uses a gray stoneware body covered or decorated with white slip, often in loose and energetic patterns. Goryeo celadon is better known for its controlled green glaze and refined inlay work from the preceding dynasty.

The modern term abbreviates bunjang hoechong sagi, meaning gray-green ceramics decorated with powder or slip. The label was coined in the 20th century, long after the ware flourished during the early Joseon dynasty.

Potters stamped, inlaid, brushed, dipped, incised, or scraped white slip over the gray clay body. These methods produced everything from repeating stamped flowers to fast, almost calligraphic brushwork.

Buncheong was gradually displaced as the Joseon court and elite increasingly favored white porcelain. By around the 16th century, porcelain production had become dominant in many official and high-status settings.