In modern usage, mishima (三島) refers to a decorative technique called slip-inlay developed in Korea around the 15th century. Much like the earlier Korean inlaid celadon, designs would be carved, etched, or stamped into the clay. However, instead of being carefully filled with coloured clay, the entire piece is coated in white slip (liquid clay), and the excess is then scraped off, leaving just the designs filled with white slip. Finally, the piece is finished with a transparent ash glaze.
Common designs are incised lines, geometric patterns, and stamped flowers (印花 - inka), typically chrysanthemums.
The earliest mishima chawan are called ko-mishima (古三島 - old mishima) and belonged to the first generation of kōrai chawan. However, the vast majority of Korean mishima chawan were produced as gohon chawan (御本茶碗 - made-to-order tea bowls) in the late 1500s and throughout the 1600s. The mishima technique was often combined with other slipware techniques such as hakeme and kohiki.
The earlier ko-mishima bowls tended to have more complex and intricate designs. One common motif was a 'rope curtain', a series of squiggly vertical lines that was said by the Japanese teaists to resemble the cursive vertical writing of the calendars from Mishima shrine, hence the name mishima. Another early name for these bowls was koyomi-de (暦手) meaning calendar style. These earlier bowls often had heavier and looser applications of white slip, and were overall lighter in colour, with a greyer base.
The later gohon mishima had simpler designs, often just rows of diagonally-carved lines and a few stamped flowers. Those that were decorated primarily with diagonal lines are called hori-mishima (carved mishima - 彫三島) and conversely those that were mostly stamped with flowers are somtimes called hana-mishima (flower mishima - 花三島).
