Ceramics

Fired at high temperature, clay changes permanently and hardens. Earthenware can be fired in an open fire at around 600°C and is normally fired below 1,200°C; unglazed, it lets water through. Stoneware is fired at about 1,100–1,300°C and is dense and watertight. Porcelain, usually made with kaolin, is fired at 1,200–1,400°C and is hard and slightly translucent. Glaze is a glassy coating on the surface that makes a piece watertight and also decorates it. The earliest way of shaping was by hand: pinching, joining slabs, or building up coils of clay ring by ring; throwing on the potter's wheel came later. On the Korean peninsula, Goryeo celadon developed the sanggam inlay technique in the early 12th century, and in the Joseon period buncheong ware and white porcelain led.

Look closely at the surface: is the glaze glossy or matte? Where it is thin, does the colour of the clay show through?

Was this piece thrown in one go on the wheel, or built up coil by coil?