Blue-and-white Porcelain Jar with Design of Ten Longevity Symbols and Copper-red Underglaze
For generations, the people of Korea expressed their wishes for a long and healthy life by decorating their everyday white porcelain vessels with designs of the “ten longevity symbols,” which are objects from nature that are revered for their endurance. The ten longevity symbols always include the sun, mountain, pine tree, turtle, crane, deer, and lingzhi mushroom. In some versions, the final three symbols are water, stone, and cloud, while another version replaces these three with the moon, stream, and bamboo. By the nineteenth century, the symbols were being densely drawn onto white porcelain vessels, resulting in crowded designs with very little unadorned space. At the same time, artists began using different pigments to apply blue and red colors for a more vibrant expression of the symbols.