Curator's talk : envisioning blue : blue-and-white porcelain of the Joseon dynasty

Before the advent of blue-and-white porcelain, otherwise known as blue-and-white wares, it was unprecedented to paint designs in blue using a white background. In all likelihood, that is probably why blue-and-white porcelain left people with a first impression of newness, freshness, and nobility. Although Joseon dynasty artists only began producing blue-and-white porcelain around the mid-15th century, the Chinese had been doing it since the time of the Yuan Dynasty 12711368. To create blue-and-white porcelain, craftsmen would paint designs using a cobalt pigment upon solid porcelain that had been baked at 1,300°c. Natural cobalt has a dark brown hue, but the mysterious pigment turns to blue at a very high temperature. Initially, Joseon imported cobalt from China, but which had originally been mined in the Middle East. That explains why the pigment was so rare and expensive back then. After China, Joseon was the world's second country to produce blue-and-white porcelain. [Abridged Publication Abstract]