Octopus Discovers Koryo Pottery

The find was originally made in May, when a fisherman found a pottery shard stuck to the suckers of a webfoot octopus, and an excavation got underway soon afterwards. The National Maritime Museum on Thursday said wooden tags unearthed in the excavation show that the celadon was on its way to Kaesong after being made at a local government pottery in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province.

The Cultural Heritage Administration unveiled 12th-century Koryo celadon excavated in waters off Taean, South Chungcheong Province at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul on Thursday. The haul became famous because it was ‘found’ by a webfoot octopus. A lion-shaped Koryo celadon incense burner. The shape of eyes, nose and lips of its lion part shows the humor and wit of the artisans (left). A toad-shaped Koryo celadon inkstone (center). Wooden tags, equivalent to present-day parcel labels, bear testimony to how Koryo celadon porcelain pieces were delivered (right).

Among the find were wooden tags clearly bearing the names of senders and recipients of the cargo. The wooden tags are equivalent to present-day parcel labels for home-delivery services. Some of the tags read, "To In-soo,” a low-ranking military officer “in Kaesong, from Gangjin," "To the residence of Daegyeong Choi," or "A bundle of pottery bound for the home of a certain resident in Kaesong." Choi Yeon-sik, a professor at Mokpo National University, said, “‘Daegyeong’ seems to be the title of a vice ministerial-level official, rather than the name of a person."

Chung Yang-mo, a former director of the National Museum of Korea said, "These are the finest Koryo celadon pieces ever excavated from under the sea. It was presumed earlier that Koryo pottery was used only by the upper classes. But the latest discovery proves that Koryo celadon was widely used in Kaesong, and that even ordinary people and Buddhist monks used celadon bowls during the early 12th century."

(englishnews@chosun.com )