A Treasure from the Mud

The 'Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje' is considered the finest masterpiece of ancient Korean art. Astonishingly, this national treasure lay buried in a mud pit for 1,400 years before its accidental discovery. In 1993, the incense burner emerged from a muddy area next to a parking lot construction site in Buyeo. It's presumed that someone hastily hid the burner in a workshop's wastewater pit just before the fall of the Baekje kingdom. Thanks to the clay that sealed it off from air, the incense burner, despite being made of gilt-bronze which is prone to rust, was preserved in a perfect condition, as if it were newly made. Ironically, this treasure of the century, which could have been lost forever, survived the passage of time thanks to the damp mud.