This set of a silver-gilt ewer and basin was presumably discovered in a royal tomb near Kaesong during the Japanese colonial period. It was purchased from Yamanaka & Co. Ltd in 1935 by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (hereafter, MFA). Ewers were invented as a container to facilitate the serving of liquor compared to ladling it from a jar. Basins functioned as a support for ewers while keeping the liquid inside warm. The practice of using a ewer and basin as a set began in Five Dynasties China and became increasingly popular during the Song Dynasty. In Korea, basins were frequently paired with a ewer starting in the Goryeo Dynasty. However, the function of keeping the ewer warm gradually declined, and basins eventually became simply supports for ewers before disappearing completely. In the History of Goryeo, it is recorded that a silver ewer was used in 948, and it also recounts that Goryeo ewers were sent to the Chinese imperial court as gifts in 1072 and 1080. Moreover, ewers were classified as a warming vessel, as was the practice in China. Their structure was similar to that of contemporaneous ewers from Northern Song Dynasty China. In addition, some of the decorative designs on Goryeo ewers and basins are comparable to their counterparts from Liao Dynasty China. In terms of production technique, the MFA example does not display the mature characteristics of repoussé developed in Goryeo around the twelfth century, such as tiny dense patterns in high-relief. Therefore, the MFA set is likely to have been produced at the end of eleventh century.