Among the highlights of an impressive group of Korean art, primarily ceramics, given in honor of the Museum’s 125th Anniversary by Colonel Stephen McCormick are a number of Koryo dynasty celadon wares, including this melon-shaped wine ewer with underglaze iron motifs. The jade-colored glaze of the celadon ceramics was admired by contemporary Chinese and Japanese aficionados, and the wares themselves were among the prized possessions of early Western collectors of Korean art.

This gift is remarkable for its variety and depth as a survey of Korean ceramic production, effectively doubling the Museum’s holdings. Also in the donation are paintings, including an important eight-panel screen of the famous subject General Kuo Tzu-i’s Banquet, and the first two bronze mirrors from Korea to enter the collection. Felice Fischer, from Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gifts in Honor of the 125th Anniversary (2002), p. 7.