A hand-sculpted porcelain incense burner from Dogabi — a South Korean ceramic studio whose entire output is built around a single figure: the dokkaebi, or Korean goblin. In Korean folklore, the dokkaebi is not a villain. It is a guardian — a protector of the home, a bringer of abundance, a creature that lives in the space between the frightening and the familiar.
This piece, No. 358, is wheel-thrown and hand-sculpted in white porcelain, glazed in deep charcoal and black that bleeds into olive, amber, and raw clay at the jaw and base — as if the darkness is lifting from the bottom up. Two eyes with gold-fired irises stare out from beneath a heavy brow. A broad, flat nose sits center. The mouth opens in a wide grimace, lined with a row of rounded British 23.5k gold teeth — more worn than sharp, more knowing than menacing. Two gold horns catch the light from the crown. The skull is pierced with small holes; smoke exits through them as well as through the open mouth.
The body lifts off a separate ceramic base glazed in pale sand and raw clay, with a gold-rimmed well that holds a cone incense directly below. Fired at 2,282°F with oxidation, then re-fired at 1,472°F for the gold glaze. Each piece is one of a kind; no two Dogabi are identical.
WHY IT'S SPECIAL
- Every piece is unique: wheel-thrown and hand-sculpted individually by ceramic artist Hyung Jun Kim — no two are the same face, the same glaze, the same expression.
- Two-part design: the body lifts off a separate ceramic base with a gold-rimmed cone holder — smoke rises through the open mouth and the pierced crown, so the whole head breathes.
- British 23.5k gold teeth, horns, and eyes: re-fired at 1,472°F for a finish that reads as both ancient and entirely contemporary.
- Deep charcoal glaze bleeding into raw clay: the darkest of the Dogabi pieces — the color shifts from near-black at the crown to warm earth at the base, like something emerging from the ground.
- Dokkaebi mythology: an old Korean word for goblin — traditionally a guardian of the home and a symbol of abundance, not a monster. The fearsome face is protective.
- Collectible from the first: the studio numbers each piece, and past Dogabi sold through Takamichi Beauty Room have not returned.
DETAILS
- Material: white porcelain
- Size: 100 x 115 x 125 (h) mm / approx. 3.9" x 4.5" x 4.9" high
- Weight: 450g
- Method: wheel throwing, hand sculpting, pierced decoration
- Kiln: oxidation firing at 2,282°F; gold (British 23.5k) glaze firing at 1,472°F
- Includes separate ceramic base with cone incense holder
- Smoke exits through mouth and pierced crown
- Fits cone incense
- One of a kind; each piece varies
- Made in South Korea by THR Ceramic Studio
THE BRAND
Dogabi is the ceramic line of THR Ceramic Studio, founded in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea in 2003 by ceramic artist Hyung Jun Kim. The studio's work spans functional objects and one-of-a-kind sculpture, but the Dogabi series is its most singular obsession: every piece is a new version of the same figure — the dokkaebi of Korean folklore, reimagined in porcelain each time. The dokkaebi has been part of Korean imagination for centuries, appearing as guardian, trickster, monster, and protector depending on who is telling the story. Kim's versions are all of these at once. Each is numbered, each is different, and none come back once they're gone. In October 2025, Takamichi Beauty Room hosted an exhibition with the artist, covered by T Magazine.
