Koryo celadon is a ceramic tradition associated with the Koryo dynasty, also spelled Goryeo, which ruled from 918 to 1392. The ware is known for glazes in shades of green and blue-green. On some pieces, contrasting designs sit under the translucent surface. You can read a vessel by looking separately at its clay body, decoration and glaze.
A UNESCO-supported project in North Korea documented and supported contemporary celadon-making between October 2024 and March 2025. Museum collections help explain the historical objects. The project account helps explain how people are passing on the craft today. Each source tells part of the story.
- The green tones depend on materials and kiln conditions.
- Sanggam is a technique in which the maker cuts a design into clay and fills it with contrasting material.
- UNESCO reports that the safeguarding project documented work at eight production sites.
Metropolitan Museum of Art — Goryeo Celadon
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How a kiln helps produce the colour · Worked example: explain an object and a skill · Frequently asked questions
Chapters 1–4 · Understand the subject
Chapters 5–7 · Work with the evidence
Chapter 1 of 7
How a kiln helps produce the colour
The glaze is the coating on the ceramic. During firing, it develops into a surface that can be translucent. The Metropolitan Museum of Art explains the colour of Goryeo celadon through the materials used, including iron compounds, and conditions inside the kiln. At a stage of the firing, the available oxygen was reduced. That affected how the glaze developed.
The same word celadon can describe objects with noticeably different shades. A colour label is a starting point. Look for areas where the glaze appears thicker, where the underlying body shows through or where light reflects from a curved surface. If two museum photographs show different colours, check how the pictures were lit before making a claim about what happened during firing.
An object’s finish also depends on how the glaze and clay body respond together. In a class diagram, show the body as one layer and the fired coating as another. Give the kiln its own arrow in the diagram. This keeps the visual result connected to both what the maker used and what the material experienced.
Metropolitan Museum of Art — Goryeo Celadon
Chapter 2 of 7
How inlay sits beneath the glaze
In sanggam, the maker cuts or carves the design into clay before firing. The recessed lines or shapes are filled with contrasting slip, a mixture of clay and water. A translucent glaze is then applied. The fired design can be seen through the coating, with the dark or light inlay standing out against the surrounding surface.
Think of making a simple cross-section on paper. Draw a shallow groove in the body and fill it with a contrasting shade. Add a thin surface above both. The diagram helps you understand why the design sits within the clay surface rather than appearing solely as a stroke laid on top. A museum close-up gives you a way to connect the concept to a specific object.
Some celadons have incised, moulded or otherwise decorated surfaces. A visible outline does not by itself establish that the piece is inlaid. Begin with the museum’s technique label if it supplies one. Then use the photograph to identify what the label helps explain. The source and the image work together.
Metropolitan Museum of Art — Goryeo Celadon
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Chapter 3 of 7
A medieval tradition and its wider setting
The Metropolitan Museum describes the influence of Chinese ceramic techniques on early Goryeo production and the development of distinctive Korean forms and designs. This is a history of skills travelling and changing. A maker can learn a firing or glazing method from an existing practice and then make different choices about decoration, shape and use.
Kaesong provides another entry point because it was the Goryeo capital. A vessel in a collection can show what a particular maker produced. An account of the capital can explain the setting in which some wares were valued or used. A kiln site supplies a different body of evidence about manufacture. These places play different roles in a full explanation of how pottery moved from workshop to user.
Historical place names need care. A medieval dynasty and a modern border belong to different maps. Describe where an object was made using the evidence available for that piece, and say where a place lies today only when that helps the reader locate it.
Metropolitan Museum of Art — Korea gallery
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Chapter 4 of 7
What the recent North Korean project documented
UNESCO’s August 2025 account describes visits to eight production sites in Pyongyang, Kaesong, North Hwanghae and North Hamgyong. It says the team gathered oral histories and photographed and filmed techniques. It also reports workshops involving about 160 practitioners, technicians and young makers. These are reported activities for a defined project period.
The assistance page describes the project’s initial objectives and links its reports. A project plan can help a reader understand why documentation and workshops were proposed. The later account describes what organisers say took place. Use the dated account for reported participation rather than turning an earlier target into a result.
UNESCO — account of the 2024–25 safeguarding project
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Chapter 5 of 7
Worked example: explain an object and a skill
Choose a piece from the museum material. Write down its stated date and technique. Describe one visible feature, such as a pale line inside a darker design, then explain how the museum’s identification of the technique helps you interpret it. Avoid guessing which kiln produced the piece unless the catalogue gives a basis.
Then choose one item from the UNESCO project account. Describe what kind of skill it records, such as glazing, clay preparation or firing. Put the two sentences side by side. One tells you about a historical object, and the other about a contemporary effort to record how people make ceramics.
UNESCO — assistance project record and reports
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Chapter 6 of 7
How form and decoration work together
Before you study the surface, draw the vessel’s outline. Mark the widest point and the place where its wall changes direction. A band of decoration can emphasise one of those changes. On a rounded body, the same motif may look different when viewed from the side or above. The form is part of the design, and a photograph from one angle can make the relationship hard to see.
Now choose one decorative feature and ask whether it repeats. Count the repeats only where the image gives a clear view. If half of a vessel is out of frame, say what portion you can see. A catalogue image of the reverse or a complete object description can answer whether the design continues around the body. This is a small example of how looking carefully can generate a better research question.
Metropolitan Museum of Art — Korea gallery
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Chapter 7 of 7
What a craft workshop can preserve
Imagine a maker explaining when a clay body is ready for a cut. The finished vessel provides evidence of the result. A demonstration can show the judgement involved before the cut, while an interview can preserve the maker’s explanation. Put those sources together and you gain a fuller account of the skill. A project that documents both words and actions can make practical knowledge easier for learners to revisit.
UNESCO’s project account also describes a publication on the past and present of the craft. A book can give terms, examples and historical context. A workshop can give people space to compare methods. Ask what each activity actually records and how a learner could use it. A dated report can establish that training and documentation took place. A study of later production or teaching would need later observations.
A useful final comparison is between the museum label and the workshop description. The label tells you what a particular object is and when it was made, if known. The workshop description tells you about people teaching or discussing techniques in a specific place and period. Use both when explaining why a craft has a historical record and a present life.
For another comparison, choose a plain glazed piece and one with inlay. Describe which features still draw attention on the plain example, such as the profile or the way the glaze gathers around an edge. The comparison helps you explain why a technique can be important to a tradition without appearing on every object made within it.
UNESCO — account of the 2024–25 safeguarding project
Contents · Previous chapter · Questions
Frequently asked questions
Are Koryo and Goryeo the same dynasty?
They are different Roman-letter spellings of the dynasty associated with the ceramics discussed here.
Does all celadon use sanggam?
Celadon can be plain or decorated in several ways. Sanggam is the inlay technique.
What did UNESCO support in North Korea?
Its project account describes documentation, workshops and a publication on the practice. The assistance record is separate from a Representative List inscription.
Sources and next reading
Sources
- Metropolitan Museum of Art — Goryeo Celadon
- Metropolitan Museum of Art — Korea gallery
- UNESCO — account of the 2024–25 safeguarding project
- UNESCO — assistance project record and reports