A hand-sculpted porcelain oil lamp 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. 857, is a Horong — the Korean traditional oil lamp, used for centuries to produce light from an oil-based flame before electric lighting existed. The Dogabi Horong functions as a lamp with paraffin oil, or as an aroma diffuser. A brass spout rises from the crown with a cotton wick; oil is poured inside the hollow body and the wick lit from above.
Wheel-thrown and hand-sculpted in white porcelain, glazed in mossy forest green and olive that shifts into bronze and amber across the surface — the color of a river stone pulled from damp earth. Two small British 23.5K gold-tipped horns rise from the crown. Two wide round eyes with gold-fired pupils bulge out beneath heavy sculpted brows, giving the face its particular wide-awake quality. A broad snout, a mouth cracked open in a crooked grin lined with uneven gold teeth, and small blue-ringed cheek markings add to the sense of a creature caught mid-expression.
Fired at 2,102°F with oxidation glaze firing, then re-fired at 1,472°F for the gold. Each piece is one of a kind; no two Dogabi are identical.
WHY IT'S SPECIAL
- A Horong: the Korean traditional oil lamp, reimagined as a Dogabi — functions with paraffin oil as a working lamp, or filled with fragrance oil as an aroma diffuser.
- 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.
- British 23.5K gold horns, pupils, and teeth: re-fired at 1,472°F — the gold reads warm against the mossy green glaze, catching light at every angle.
- Mossy green and bronze glaze: deep, earthy, and shifting — the color of damp forest floor or river stone.
- Bulging wide eyes with gold pupils: the sculpting on this piece gives it a particular wide-awake, almost startled expression — one of the most emotionally present faces in the Dogabi collection.
- 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.
HOW TO USE
As a lamp: fill the body with paraffin oil and light the cotton wick at the brass spout. As an aroma diffuser: fill with fragrance oil of your choice and light the wick to diffuse scent into the room. Keep away from flammable materials and never leave unattended while lit.
DETAILS
- Material: white porcelain, brass spout, cotton wick
- Size: 85 x 85 x 100 (h) mm / 3.3" x 3.3" x 3.9" high
- Weight: 310g
- Method: wheel throwing, hand sculpting, pierced decoration
- Kiln: oxidation firing at 2,102°F, glaze; 1,472°F for gold (British 23.5K)
- Functions as paraffin oil lamp or aroma diffuser
- 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.
