"Estimated Price 3.6 Billion Won... Well-Preserved Dalhangari Appears at New York Auction Market"

Christie's to Auction Korean Antiques in New York
Global Art Market Focuses on the Moon Jar

A Joseon Dynasty white porcelain moon jar is going up for auction in New York, USA.

White Porcelain Large Jar Joseon Dynasty (18th century). CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD

Christie's, an art auction house, announced on the 21st that it will auction Korean antiques including a moon jar in New York next month on the 18th (local time).

The moon jar up for auction (AN IMPORTANT WHITE PORCELAIN MOON JAR) stands 45cm tall, with an estimated price ranging from $1.8 million to $2.5 million (approximately 2.58 billion to 3.58 billion KRW). Takaki Murakami, Head of Korean and Japanese Art at Christie's, evaluated this moon jar as having "an ideal shape with almost equal height and width, excellent glaze coloration, and very well-preserved condition."

The name "moon jar" comes from the jar’s body being round like the moon, and it is also called "Baekja Daeho," meaning a large white porcelain jar. Moon jars are characterized by their asymmetry because the upper and lower parts of the body were made separately and then joined. They were produced at Bunwon Kiln in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, from the late 17th century to the early 18th century. The art world estimates that only about 20 moon jars from the late Joseon period are currently preserved. Particularly, moon jars over 40cm in size from the Joseon Dynasty were mainly used in royal ceremonies, which adds to their high value.

Earlier, in March 2023, a Joseon Dynasty white porcelain moon jar was sold at Christie's New York auction for $4.56 million (about 6 billion KRW), far exceeding the initial estimate of $1 million to $2 million (about 1.3 billion to 2.6 billion KRW at the time). The height of that moon jar was 45.1cm. In September of the same year, a record sale of about 4.7 billion KRW was also made at Sotheby's New York auction.

Many large moon jars from the late Joseon period held domestically are designated as national treasures. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is known to have collected a moon jar painting by artist Choi Young-wook (59) in 2011, and the popularity of moon jars in the global art market continues to soar.