This article examines the characteristics of porcelain with “jinkou” ( 金釦), which was popular in both Goryeo and China from the tenth to thirteenth centuries. Jinkou refers to the technique of covering edges or outer surfaces of an artifact with metal to reinforce or decorate it. An example of objects with jinkou first appeared in the Warring State Period, and the earliest textual record of it was found from the Han Dynasty. The method was presumably originated as a way of repairing damages on edges of lacquer wares in China. During the Han Dynasty, the technique was introduced into the Korean peninsula, as evidenced by a lacquer ware with an inscription of its artisan and workshop and excavated in Nakrang, one of the Four Counties of the Han in the northern regions of the peninsula. During the Tang and the Five Dynasties, the technique was applied to ceramics just like in the Han Dynasty. In the periods after the Tang, the production of jinkou porcelain increased, probably because of the lack of raw materials to produce metal wares, while gold and silver wares remained popular throughout the periods. Since jinkou porcelain from the Five and the Northern Song Dynasties has been mainly found in tombs and cellars of aristocrats, it was probably utilized as an imperial gift or as a tribute between countries. In the mid- and late-Northern Song Dynasty, the technique was applied to ceramics, which had been fired upside down so that the rims had not been glazed, to cover up the unglazed edges. During the Song Dynasty, the technique was introduced into Goryeo amid the active human and cultural exchange between the two countries. Especially people originally from Georan but naturalized as Goryeo people might have exerted a direct inf luence on other Goryeo people to learn about the technique. In Goryeo, jinkou porcelain has been usually excavated in the sites related to royal families such as Hyeum-won in Paju. Thus, it was probably consumed by the upper class like in China. Furthermore, the jinkou porcelain found in Goryeo is often decorated with the inlay technique in addition to metal on the rim, showing that it was made as luxury goods. As there were sumptuary regulations on the consumption of metal both in Goryeo and in China, other materials were used as metal substitutes. For instance, some of the ceramics excavated in Liao and Jin Dynasties as well as Goryeo were decorated with various materials of different colors on their rims. In sum, the article mainly argues three points. First, the consumers and the functions of jinkou porcelain were limited, because of the character of the material for making it. However, it was imitated with other materials for those, who could not consume jinkou porcelain. Second, jinkou porcelain was made for reinforcing as well as decorating the object so that it accomplished both practical and artistic purposes. Third, jinkou porcelain illustrates the hierarchy among different materials for making porcelain by combining ceramics with a more valuable material of metal and serving as a model for objects made of cheaper materials. In the end, jinkou porcelain achieved the two main goals of crafts, that is, practicality and decoration.