Epitaph Plaques for Yi Gi-ha, 1718. Epitaphs chronicling the birthday, origins, and achievements of a deceased person were written on plaques of white porcelain and placed in the tomb of the deceased. The tablets varied in number, depending on the importance of the person. Epitaph plaques such as these were written in Han Chinese script. Although Korean script, or Hangul, had been invented by the time that these plaques were created, Korean script was then considered too common for important communications and Han Chinese script continued to be used for official and ritualistic documents. One


Epitaph Plaques for Yi Gi-ha, 1718. Epitaphs chronicling the birthday, origins, and achievements of a deceased person were written on plaques of white porcelain and placed in the tomb of the deceased. The tablets varied in number, depending on the importance of the person. Epitaph plaques such as these were written in Han Chinese script. Although Korean script, or Hangul, had been invented by the time that these plaques were created, Korean script was then considered too common for important communications and Han Chinese script continued to be used for official and ritualistic documents. One edge of each tablet is numbered, and the opposite side notes that there are a total of 18 in this set. It is the epitaph of Yi Giha (Korean, 1646-1718) who was a military court official in the middle of Joseon period.


Size: 3216px × 3148px
Photo credit: © Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1392-1910, art, blue, ceramic, cleveland, dynasty, heritage, joseon, korea, museum, porcelain, underglaze, unknown