IM WHA KONG (B.1924): THE FLOWER OF SOUTH KOREA LOTS

85-88

Im Wha Kong was born in 1924 in Gangwon Province, north-eastern South Korea. Her grandfather gave her the name ‘Wha’ (華), which means ‘flower’, a decision which was to affect her whole life: Im Wha Kong was to become the figurehead of Cocoji, Korean flower arrangement.

Im Wha Kong studied masters of landscape painting, notably Cheongjeon Lee Sangbeom (1897-1972), and Japanese Ikebana flower arrangement. In 1960, she founded the innovative Whakong-Hoe Association, establishing a new major Korean school of flower arrangement. Im Wha Kong’s creations often featured vessels she potted herself and fired at her own climbing kiln near Seoul. In Korean fashion, she favoured white-glazed pots, the colour reflecting the Confucian ideas of purity, honesty and modesty, with forms suggesting femininity.

During her long career, she created numerous compositions for Cheong Wa Dae, the official residence of the South Korean President until 2022. Recognised as the State Flower Arranger of South Korea, she regularly gave live demonstrations in Seoul until 2009.

Im Wha Kong won a Korea-Japan Cultural Exchange award in 1999 and later received the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese Government (2004). In 2006, the Korean President acknowledged her achievements by awarding her the Sungye Medal, the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit.

Her flower arrangements have been displayed at shows and exhibitions in Japan, but also in the US, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong and Peru. Her vases can also be found in various collections around the world, including at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Wha Kong Hall at the National Museum of Korea is widely used today as a place of study and training in the Cocoji style she established.

85

A KOREAN MOON JAR (DAL HANG-ARI) BY IM WHA KONG (B.1924)

20TH CENTURY

The compressed circular body with a short everted neck, the surface with a greyish-white glaze and iron speckles, the foot signed Wha (flower), 25.5cm.

£500-800

86

A KOREAN MOON JAR (DAL HANG-ARI) BY IM WHA KONG (B.1924)

20TH CENTURY

The ovoid body with a short neck, the surface with a bluish-white glaze and visible throwing rings, the foot signed Wha (flower), 28.5cm.

£400-600

A LARGE KOREAN MOON JAR (DAL HANG-ARI) BY IM WHA KONG (B.1924) 20TH CENTURY

The spherical body raised on a short foot and with a tall straight neck, the surface covered in a bluish-white glaze with small iron speckles, the foot signed Wha (flower), 34.5cm.

£500-800

88

A LARGE KOREAN WHITE-GLAZED DISH BY IM WHA KONG (B.1924) DATED 1978

Raised on a short circular foot, the surface with many small iron-coloured speckles and with throwing rings to the well, the base inscribed, signed Wha (flower) and Im Wha Kong in Roman script, dated December 1978, 37.5cm.

£400-600

89

A KOREAN BUNCHEONG MOON JAR (DAL HANG-ARI)

JOSEON OR LATER, 19TH OR 20TH CENTURY

Thickly potted with a globular body raised on a short straight foot and with a rounded lip to the neck, decorated with a design of stylised flowers and scrolling tendrils, rendered in underglaze iron-brown on a coffee-coloured mottling contrasting with the white body, together with an inscribed wood box, 25cm. (2)

£300-500

Provenance: an English private collection, purchased in Japan. By repute, formerly in the collection of Jun Itami (1937-2011), an architect renowned in Korea and Japan for his primitive-style buildings and his use of raw materials. Itami Jun also collected Korean Joseon ceramics, and pieces from his personal collection were offered at auction after his death.

90

A KOREAN BUNCHEONG MOON FLASK

JOSEON OR LATER, 19TH OR 20TH CENTURY

Of circular flattened shape, raised on a short rectangular foot and with a flared rim, the surface covered in a warm lustrous glaze with a blue hue, together with an inscribed wood box, 28.5cm. (2)

£600-800

Provenance: an English private collection, purchased in Japan. By repute, formerly in the collection of Jun Itami (1937-2011), an architect renowned in Korea and Japan for his primitive-style buildings and his use of raw materials. Itami Jun also collected Korean Joseon ceramics, and pieces from his personal collection were offered at auction after his death.