Celadon Daegeum: Peony Motif in Reverse Inlay, 2018

Those who choose this piece value objects in which mastery is revealed not through excess, but through the reconciliation of seemingly incompatible demands.

"The long body holds still, yet it was made for breath to pass through it."

Celadon Daegeum: Peony Motif in Reverse Inlay, by Icheon Master Ceramic Artisan Kwon O-hak, occupies an unusual position between ceramic sculpture and musical instrument. Its importance lies precisely in the fact that it refuses to remain only one of these things. The work takes the recognisable structure of the Korean daegeum and reconstructs it in fired clay, yet it was made to remain playable. Form, surface and acoustic function therefore had to survive the same kiln.

That requirement changes how the entire object should be understood.

In an ordinary ceramic vessel, minor variation may become part of the object’s character. In a wind instrument, dimensional change carries a different consequence. Clay shrinks as it dries and fires, while elongated forms are particularly susceptible to warping. The openings distributed along the body are therefore not simply visual references to a daegeum; they belong to the working structure of the instrument. Their placement, the continuity of the internal passage and the straightness of the body had to remain sufficiently controlled after firing for the object to move beyond representation and enter the realm of sound.

The long ceramic body is consequently a record of calculation as much as of handwork. Its repeated raised divisions create a measured architectural rhythm, breaking the considerable horizontal length into intervals without interrupting its continuity. They recall the articulated growth of bamboo — the material traditionally associated with Korean wind instruments — while allowing the ceramic body to establish its own visual identity. The work does not attempt to disguise clay as bamboo. Instead, it allows ceramic to take responsibility for a form historically understood through another material.

Over this structure, Kwon introduces the peony through reverse inlay. The process is conceptually significant. Rather than carving the flower itself as a recess, the surrounding field is removed and filled so that the principal motif remains as the celadon body. The flower therefore appears through preservation rather than addition. What is left untouched becomes the image.

This is particularly appropriate to the peony. In Korean decorative culture, the flower has long been associated with prosperity, honour and abundance, yet here its richness is moderated by the severe proportions of the instrument. The blossoms and leaves travel quietly along the surface rather than forming a single frontal composition. Their curves soften the daegeum’s length, while the uninterrupted horizontal body prevents the floral ornament from becoming overly luxuriant. The composition is built upon this mutual restraint.

The celadon glaze further binds structure and motif. Its pale blue-green register moves across the surface with subtle variation, settling differently around carved and filled areas, along the raised divisions and around the openings. Fine crackling introduces another layer of time-like texture. Small red details appear sparingly, giving certain points within the floral field a momentary warmth without disturbing the greater chromatic calm.

Seen from a distance, the work first presents itself through proportion: a remarkably long, narrow body held almost as a single line. Closer viewing changes that reading. Peony leaves begin to emerge, the reverse-worked ground becomes legible, openings interrupt the surface, and the glaze reveals its network of fine fractures. The object moves from silhouette to detail.

Its playable nature completes this progression. The daegeum does not end with looking. When held and sounded, the openings, internal hollow and fired ceramic body become active. The same structure that appears so controlled at rest becomes a conduit for breath. In this sense, use does not diminish its status as an artwork; it reveals the reason for its extraordinary precision.

Kwon O-hak’s achievement lies not simply in making a daegeum-shaped ceramic object, but in allowing two disciplines to remain present without one becoming subordinate to the other. Ceramic technique gives the instrument its material presence; musical function gives that material a further obligation. Between the two sits the peony, preserved in celadon through reverse inlay — a motif of abundance carried across a form governed by discipline.

The result is an object in which Korean ceramic tradition, instrumental structure and symbolic ornament are held within a single continuous body, waiting not only to be viewed, but to be sounded.

Dimensions

• Width- 70cm (27.56 inch)
• Depth- 3.3cm (1.3 inch)
• Height- 3.3cm (1.3 inch)