Featured Ceramic Dragon

Picked up this rather large dragon in Seoul a little while back, not really sure what is supposed to go in the base but it reminds me of the incense holders at temples. The dragon has some sort of glaze that is mostly smooth to the touch but catches on any sort of cloth i try to use to clear off dust. It also has some weird brown-ish... gunk? inside some creases on the body and I'm not sure thats intentional from the maker or if someone jammed it in there at some point during its life before I acquired it. Also unsure why it has the white spots under the dragon but my guess is thats where it was set on something during firing.

 

Yes the white spots on the bottom without glaze - are sprue marks from where it sat up on little "feet" when it was fired. It appears done with a celadon type glaze, but not very well done as the glaze has chipped out in small pieces. Looks new and recent to me.

 

Looks like vintage last week to me, but it could be 20 years old by now.

 

Did you try cleaning the brown gunk? It doesn't appear to be original to the piece. From viewing your pics I thought it might be places where the glaze chipped off. But if it is on the surface you should be able to remove it. It does not enhance the piece at all.

 

I did try cleaning it and it came off a bit with a damp q tip. That surprised me a bit and i figured i'd come here before hassling it any further just in case! Will try removing it again to see what happens. Edit: It doesnt want to come off but it does look like theres a different color beneath it, maybe its a spot where the glaze didnt reach and someone just jammed that in there..? Very odd choice if thats the case...

 

This one is worth further investigation. Are you sure there is no signature around the base. Yu Haegang could have made this one and may have signed it along the base instead of the bottom. I am looking for black lines. This said if you got it from Seoul, then they most likely would have already confirmed they were not selling you a work by Haegang. Haegang's life story will be coming to Netflix around 2027.

 

The original post is over two years old, but knowledge is never a bad thing.

 

yes , indeed !!!

but , trying to converse with a member , not seen here in almost Three years...... that's a non starter...

 

Yeah, I've done that to with old glass post. Love to see the post from folks in their area of expertise. I'll take all the help I can get!

 

Yes, I admit I am calling up old posts. I have just joined and my hobby is collecting celadons. Of all the works I have seen that are Korean celadons, this particular work sparked my greatest interest. They only downside of this work is that the owner bought it in Seoul. Certainly, someone in Seoul should have recognized it if it was a high value work by Haegang. (b. 1894) Therefore, I apologize to the more experienced members of this thread.

With works like this always use the Google image tool. Today, this matched me to several similar works on Ebay. These I suspect are all Chinese copies. Do not be surprised if you are sold Chinese copies even in Seoul.

 

A friend of mine traveled into Navajo areas years ago, and looked for souvenirs. Everything was made in China, but at least they were honest about it.

 

Welcome to Antiquers, @Philip Maise . Your interest in, and knowledge of, celadons could be very useful to the group in the future.