Catalog: Artists: Ceramics: Pottery: Plates (1)

Choi Sung Jae (born 1962) is the most widely exhibited Korean ceramic artist, in international galleries and in the permanent collections of major museums, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, the Peabody Essex Museum, and many others. He is a master of white slip buncheong ceramics, a style revered and imitated by Japanese artists for centuries. This lovely Pond with Geese and Reeds is a fine example of his work. This is an ancient subject in Korean art and is called "noando." The literal meaning of "noando" is reed and geese painting, but it is a play on words, as "no" is a homonym that can mean either "reed" or "old", and "an" is a homonym that means either "geese" or "comfort" ("do" means "painting"). So "noan" can mean either "reed and geese" or "old comfort", therefore a painting of geese and reeds symbolizes a wish for a comfortable and peaceful old age. 12.5 inches, 32 cm.