hankyoreh

In 1888, then French President Marie Francois Sadi Carnot gave Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire a polychrome-decorated white Salamis vase as a present to commemorate the Korea-France Treaty of 1886. Gojong returned the favor by offering two celadon pieces from the 12th and 13th centuries as well as a gold-plated flower pot ornament, cementing one of Korea’s diplomatic gift exchanges with the West. The Salamis vase, produced by the Manufacture Nationale de Sevres, one of the finest European porcelain manufacturers at the time, will be exhibited at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul from July 29 to Oct. 4. The vase is part of the museum’s exhibition, "New Era of The Royal Ceramics: Embracing the Western-Style Porcelain in the Joseon Royal Court," a collection of some 400 porcelain pieces of Korean, Western Chinese, and Japanese style. The photo shows the Salamis vase.