The actual artifact that inspired the grand prize-winning entry in the National Museum of Korea's costume contest has gone on public display.
The National Museum of Korea said on the 23rd that it had unveiled the "White Porcelain Water Bottle in the Shape of a Carp" (Geonhui 2082, the accession number assigned to Lee Kun-hee Collection donations), the piece recreated by Jeon Eun-seul, who won the grand prize at the 2026 National Museum of Korea Costume Play contest held on the 19th. The work can be seen through Oct. 22, for one month, in the Buncheong Ware and White Porcelain Gallery on the third floor of the permanent exhibition hall.
The water bottle, standing 9.4 centimeters high and measuring 10.6 centimeters long, is a 19th-century work and one of the so-called Lee Kun-hee Collection, donated to the state by the late Samsung senior chairman Lee Kun-hee and his family. A water bottle of this kind holds the water needed to grind ink on an inkstone in calligraphy.
The piece gives form to an old tale in which a fish that swims against a fierce current and climbs through the Dragon Gate finally becomes a dragon. It drew attention because the story of Jeon, who was preparing to find a job at the time, overlapped with the image of a carp leaping powerfully upward.
Waves painted in cobalt-blue pigment along the lower part of the bottle capture the moment the carp surges above the water. The winner focused on that detail, painting blue waves on her right arm and recreating the leaping carp. She captured the artifact's features closely while interpreting them in her own witty and playful way.
The National Museum of Korea said it hoped the unveiling would become an occasion for the public to discover more intimately the varied appeal of Korea's cultural heritage and the stories held within it.
