Shilla earthenware was first produced around the first century BC and was in use for the next thousand years. It was made from clay that was widely distributed in the Kyoungju area. Most Shilla earthenware was fired at a high temperature of 1000¨¬ C, leaving it with a grayish-blue tinge. Some, however, has a different appearance because it was first coated with the natural oil of pine needles, which burned to ashes in the firing process.

The types of Shilla pottery vary with their uses. Everyday types include Jangyungho, Gobae, Gakbae and Youngbae. ('Bae' means cup.) Golho was used for the dead, while the Shingu type, Cha type and horseman flask type ceramics were of the finest quality.

Thousands of these fine ceramics have been found in the tombs of Shilla kings, such as Chenmachong, Hwangnamdaechong, and Geumgwanchong. Accordingly, many royal tombs in Kyoungju are looked upon as treasuries of ceramics. The skills used in making these Shilla pots show a high degree of originality and creativity and had great influence on Japanese Seuhyechi earthenware in the middle of the fifth century AD. Today, reproductions of Shilla earthenware are widely made.

This is thought to be a ritual vessel which was used in the memorial ceremony for ancestors.

On the clay base stands a horse that has two short spouts. One, which is quite short, is on the haunch of the horse, and the other, longer spout is on the horse¡¯s breast. If we pour water into the longer spout, it will come out of the longer spout on the chest. The legs of the horse look rather short and stocky, but the head has been molded very realistically. The man riding on the horse must be a nobleman of the Shilla dynasty, judging by such luxurious things as his three-cornered hat, pants made of deerskin and the finely-decorated horse.

The other man standing beside the horse is wearing a tall conical hat. He has a piece of towelling tied around the topknot in his hair. In his hand, he is carrying a (percussion) wood-block. From all this, we might suppose that he is a trusted servant who is leading the way for his master.

The meaning of this is that the horseman will ascend into the sky for the dead, and it also symbolizes the translation of the dead to heaven.

Although it has been commonly assumed that this is a toy, it must be a ritual vessel along the same pattern as other animal earthenware. In other words, it is hollow inside, and the spouts, which make it look like flask, are similar to those on other animal earthenware. This animal earthenware first came to light in the Gaya Area, but this mounted-warrior flask can be placed in the Shilla period.

Many replicas have been made of horseman flasks of this kind, especially in the Folk Crafts Village.