This celadon jar (height: 35.2cm) made by a potter named Choe Gil-hoe was used to burn incense in the first room of the shrine of King Taejo (r. 918-943) of Goryeo.
According to The History of Goryeo (Goryeosa), construction of the shrine began on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of 989 and was completed on the first day of the twelfth month of the same year. The jar was made in the following Fourth Chunhua year (993), according to the eighteenth Chinese characters inscribed under the foot of the jar.
While King Taejo’s shrine site is located in Yongheung-ri in Yeongnam-myeon, Gaepung-gun, Gyeonggi-do, no one knows exactly where the jar was found. The glaze covering its surface is light green, differing slightly from that of celadon ware proper, while the clay is grayish white, similar to that of porcelain ware.
With the form and glaze of the jar shows the strong influence of celadon ware from Yue, one of the Five Great Kilns of the Song dynasty, the jar provides valuable clues about the early phase of Goryeo celadon.