Home > Culture > Korean Heritage

Sublime Joseon Dynasty porcelain jar likely to fetch over $2 million at Christie’s auction in Hong Kong

Published: 19 Aug. 2025, 16:13

A 15th-century Joseon blue-and-white porcelain jar [CHRISTIE'S]

Christie’s announced it will auction a Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) blue-and-white porcelain jar, known as cheonghwa baekja, on Oct. 30, estimating the piece at between 2.83 billion won and 4.24 billion won ($2.04 million and $3.05 million). The jar will be featured during Asian Art Week in Hong Kong.

Ahead of the auction, the jar will be on public view at Christie’s Korea in Pyeongchang-dong, central Seoul, from Aug. 25 to 27.

Considered a masterpiece of early Joseon blue-and-white porcelain, the jar is adorned with a peony-scroll design across the body and features lotus bands at the top and bottom, painted in two shades of cobalt blue. It is believed to have been produced at the Bunwon kiln, an official kiln in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, that created wares for the royal household.

“The cobalt pigment used is exceptionally refined, producing a clear and uniform blue without the iron impurities that typically appear as black specks,” Christie’s said in a statement.

The piece was previously owned by a Japanese collector and was exhibited in a 1987 Korean Ceramics show at the Museum of Oriental Ceramics in Osaka. It also appeared in other major catalogs, including a 1985 Joseon White Porcelain exhibition at the Ho-Am Art Museum and Korean art collector Lee Byung-chang’s selected Korean artworks.

While preview admission is free, visitors must make a reservation in advance via email at [email protected].

A 15th-century Joseon blue-and-white porcelain jar [CHRISTIE'S]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KWON KEUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]