Jar with tiger and magpie designs

“Once upon a time, long, long ago, when the tiger smoked a pipe,” a familiar phrase at the beginning of Korean children’s stories, is visually represented on this jar. The tiger-and-magpie motif is popular in Korean folk paintings, as Koreans once believed that tigers embodied the spirit of mountains and had the power to ward off evil and harm, and that magpies were harbingers of good news. The size of the jar and ample use of cobalt suggest that this vessel was made for the court or the elite class (yangban). Written records reveal that cobalt was extremely valuable and at the time more expensive than gold. During the Joseon dynasty, royal kilns were located in Gyeonggi province and court painters were occasionally sent to paint on important ceramics.