The Goryeo Celadon Censer: Fifteen Centimetres, Four Techniques, Three Rabbits
A twelfth-century Goryeo incense burner in three parts — a pierced lid, a body shaped as a chrysanthemum bud, and a foot held up by three rabbits with the censer on their backs. It is 15.3 cm tall, and it uses openwork, applied relief, moulded form and inlay all at once. Almost nobody notices the rabbits.
Language
This object is 15.3 cm tall. It is smaller than a sheet of A5 paper standing on its short edge, and it is the single best argument that Goryeo potters were doing something nobody else was.
Not because of its size. Because of how many different things it does at once.
At a glance
15.3 cm tall
Pedestal diameter 11.2 cm. It sits in three tiers: lid, body and stand.
Four techniques in one piece
Openwork, applied relief, moulded form and inlay — used together rather than chosen between.
Three rabbits under it
The foot ring carries three rabbits that appear to be holding the censer up on their backs.
Mid-twelfth century
Goryeo at its height, with Song relations reopened and Liao handled for practical advantage.
Read it from the top down
The censer is built in three tiers, and each tier is doing a different job.
The lid is decorated in openwork with a seven-treasure design wishing for fortune and long life. Openwork on a lid is not only ornament — it is the hole the smoke leaves by. The decoration and the function are the same cuts.
The body takes the form of a flower bud wrapped in several chrysanthemum leaves, with the fine leaf veins rendered in applied relief. So the vessel is not a bowl with flowers drawn on it. It is the bud, and the veins are raised clay laid onto the surface rather than lines scratched into it.
And the foot ring is decorated with three rabbits appearing to carry the censer on their backs.
That last one is the detail visitors walk past. The whole object is standing on animals.
Why doing four things at once matters
Korean celadon is usually introduced through one technique at a time — inlay here, openwork there, an animal-shaped lid somewhere else.
This piece refuses that. It was made through a range of techniques including openwork, applied relief, moulded form and inlay, in an object the size of a fist. Each of those has a different failure mode in the kiln: pierced walls warp, applied relief drops off, moulded parts shrink at their own rate. Putting them in one piece means the workshop was confident about all four.
Which is why the encyclopedia treats it as representative rather than merely fine: it shows the formal excellence of the celadon of Goryeo's height, and is a model of its blue-green colour.
The century it belongs to
Dates on ceramics are usually stylistic. This one comes with a described setting.
It was made in the mid-twelfth century, when Goryeo's internal growth coincided with the reopening of relations with the Northern Song, while Goryeo took practical advantage in its dealings with Liao — a period of flourishing culture.
That sentence is worth unpacking for a traveller, because Goryeo is the period most easily skipped in Korea. Its capital was Kaesong, which is not in South Korea, and very few Goryeo buildings survive south of the border. The dynasty is largely reachable here through objects rather than through places — and this censer is one of the best of them.
The Goryeo overview covers the dynasty itself; the first-edition Tripitaka volume in the same museum is the other side of the same century.
Where the celadon National Treasures are
The registry is useful here because celadon is spread across collections.
Among National Treasures whose names contain 청자, the openwork seven-treasure censer is administered by the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, as are the lion-lidded censer and the melon-shaped bottle. The qilin-lidded censer is administered by the Kansong Art Museum.
🔴 Kansong is a private foundation museum with limited public opening, so the practical answer for a visitor is the National Museum. Its place page carries hours and directions.
As with every object in this series: the registry records where a piece is held, not what is in the case today. Museum displays rotate.
What to look for
Crouch. The rabbits are on the foot ring, below eye level in most cases, and they are the part of the object that photographs badly and rewards standing there. Then look at the lid against the light behind it — the seven-treasure pattern is cut through, so what you are seeing is a wall with holes in it doing decorative work and functional work with the same cuts.
Where to follow this up
National Museum of Korea
The National Museum of Korea, which administers this censer.
Leeum Museum of Art
Leeum Museum of Art, for another major private collection of Korean ceramics.
National Folk Museum of Korea
The National Folk Museum of Korea, for how these objects were used rather than admired.
National Palace Museum of Korea
The National Palace Museum of Korea, for court objects of the dynasty that followed.
Frequently asked questions
How big is it?
15.3 cm tall, with a pedestal 11.2 cm across.
What is the seven-treasure design?
A pattern on the lid, cut in openwork, understood as a wish for fortune and long life.
What are the rabbits for?
Three rabbits on the foot ring appear to be carrying the censer on their backs. The encyclopedia records them as decoration of the foot; it does not assign them a further meaning, and this article does not invent one.
When was it made?
The mid-twelfth century, during Goryeo's cultural height. That is a stylistic and historical placement, not a dated inscription.
Where can I see it?
It is administered by the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. Other celadon National Treasures are held elsewhere, including the Kansong Art Museum, which has limited public opening. Check the museum's gallery information before travelling for one object.
Nearby Food
- Four Jeonju Bibimbap Houses and a Bean-Sprout Soup: Three in One Lane, One 4.7 km Out
- How to Find Regional Food in Korea
- A Guide to Banchan — The Name Records How It Was Made, Not Whether You Ordered It
- A Guide to Korean Noodles — What They Are Pulled From, and How They Arrive
- How to Read Korean Soup Names: Guk, Tang, Jjigae and Jeongol
- A First-Timer's Guide to Choosing Korean Food
Travel Guides
- How to Use Korean Convenience Stores: From Heating a Meal to Topping Up a Transit Card
- At a Korean Convenience Store, the Thing to Read Is the Package
- Eating Alone in Korea: Choosing and Ordering a Meal
- How to Order Korean BBQ
- Emergency Numbers and Safety in Korea
- Staying Healthy While Travelling in Korea
Related articles
- The First Tripitaka Koreana: The Edition That Burned, and the Character That Identifies It
- The Iron-Painted Plum and Bamboo Jar: A Court Painter's Brush on a Pot
- Cheonmachong: four National Treasures out of a practice dig
- Geumgwanchong: found while digging house foundations, and the king named on the scabbard is still unidentified
- The Divine Bell of King Seongdeok: begun for a father, finished by a grandson, and the writer's name has worn away
- The Pensive Bodhisattva: Nobody Knows Where It Was Found, or Which Kingdom Made It
Last verified:
Official sources
- Fact check: Encyclopedia of Korean Culture — Celadon Incense Burner with Openwork Seven-Treasure Design (a twelfth-century Goryeo incense burner made through a range of techniques including openwork, applied relief, moulded form and inlay; designated a National Treasure in 1962; height 15.3 cm, pedestal diameter 11.2 cm; composed of three tiers — lid, body and stand; the lid is decorated in openwork with a seven-treasure design wishing for fortune and long life; the body takes the form of a flower bud wrapped in several chrysanthemum leaves, with the fine leaf veins rendered in applied relief; the foot ring is decorated with three rabbits appearing to carry the censer on their backs; the piece shows the formal excellence of the celadon of Goryeo's height and is a model of its blue-green colour; it was made in the mid-twelfth century, when Goryeo's internal growth coincided with the reopening of relations with the Northern Song while taking practical advantage in dealings with Liao, in a period of flourishing culture)
- Fact check: Korea Heritage Service open registry — National Treasures whose names contain 청자 include the openwork seven-treasure censer, administered by the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, alongside the lion-lidded censer (National Museum of Korea), the qilin-lidded censer (Kansong Art Museum) and the melon-shaped bottle (National Museum of Korea)