Korean white Porcelain Ritual Incense Burner with Bagua Pattern Joseon Dynasty

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An antique Korean ritual incense burner circa 19th century, late Joseon dynasty. It was made in Bunwon Kiln in Gwangju, … Read more An antique Korean ritual incense burner circa 19th century, late Joseon dynasty. It was made in Bunwon Kiln in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Do, near Seoul. The ceramic container has a thickly body with white glaze with a tint of blue. It is of an archaic Chinese form with rounded base and two ears. Interestingly, the cover features groups of pierced trigrams in the shapes of four of the eight Bagua (Palgwae in Korean) symbols: Kan, Li, Dui and Zhen. Incense burner like this has a strong religious significance and was believed to be used on the altar table in the Buddhist temple for worshiping.
A nearly identical piece from Philadelphia Museum of Art Accession Number 2000-80-12a,b was featured in a touring exhibition "Treasures from Korea Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty 1392-1910" and illustrated in the catalog of the same name on page 219. See photo.
Another one is in the collection of Virginia Museum of Fine Art, 2016.25a-b. (on view). See last two photos taken by us.
Also illustrated on page 312 in "Korean Art from the Gompertz and Other Collections in the Fritzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (shown in the last two photos). See less