Jar with Dragon and Clouds, late 18th century, Unknown Korean, 18 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. ( x cm), White porcelain with underglaze cobalt painting, Korea, 18th century, Unlike the vicious, fire-breathing beasts of Western mythology, Koreans believed that dragons defeated evil and brought rain for bountiful harvests. In both China and Korea, five-clawed dragons were emblematic of the emperor, and ceramics, paintings, and robes bearing five-clawed dragons were reserved for royal use. The dragon on this jar has four claws and thus was probably owned by a court official.

---

Size: 3882px × 4968px
Location:
Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -clawed, 18th, bearing, beasts, believed, bountiful, century, ceramics, china, claws, clouds, cobalt, court, decorate, defeated, dragon, dragons, emblematic, emperor, evil, fire-breathing, formal, halls, harvests, jar, jars, korea, korean, koreans, late, mythology, official, owned, painting, paintings, pairs, porcelain, produced, rain, reception, reserved, robes, royal, underglaze, unknown, vicious, western, white