Jar with Dragon and Clouds Design, late 1600s. Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Porcelain with underglaze iron; diameter of base: 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.); overall: 34.7 cm (13 11/16 in.). A whimsical dragon with bulging eyes wraps his scaled body around this vessel. Freely dispersed squiggly lines represent a series of lightning strikes. Realizing the impossibility of depicting a mythical being in a realistic sense, the artist imaginatively visualized this frightening, yet beneficial beast believed to have an ability to provide rain in times of drought. Coincidentally, in the late 1600s, when this jar was probably created, Korea suffered from erratic climate patterns including severe droughts in the summer.