Empress Sunjeonghyo’s set of red lacquered furniture with inlaid mother-of-pearl designs, now part of the collection of Seokdang Museum at Donga-A University, is officially listed in South Korea as National Folklore Cultural Heritage 277. The set comprises two wardrobes, one three-tier cabinet, and one bed. These royal court artefacts, formerly used by Empress Sunjeonghyo (1894-1966), were made by craftsman Kim Jingap. Kim, who learned lacquering techniques at the Yiwang-jik Artwork Manufactory, produced lacquerware that fused new manufacturing techniques with Joseon-style designs; red lacquer furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl can be described as one of these new types. This furniture shows modern characteristics in terms of form, structure and changes in decorative technique. Prime examples of this are the way it moves away from existing mother-of-pearl designs and employs painting-style motifs, and the way it combines traditional mother-of-pearl techniques and Japanese maki-e techniques to create a painting-like style.BR In this study, I use scientific analysis and observations of decorative technique to examine the materials, techniques and processes used to produce the lacquerware.BR Examination of the production process through analysis of lacquer cross-sections and visual observation shows that the bed was made by sticking fabric and paper onto bare wood. Fabric was applied to wider boards, while paper was applied to narrower side pieces. Next, a mixture of clay and bone ash was applied to make each surface of the bed even. Finally, three successive layers of lacquer were applied. The pigment used in the red lacquer was found to be red ocher, while analysis showed that the black lacquer contains black iron oxide. Based on the results of examining the bed, it is assumed that the other items of furniture in the set were made using the same technique.BR The patterns on the furniture use designs from Mt. Geumgang landscape paintings, Four Gentlemen paintings and Ten Longevity Symbol paintings by artists such as Kim Gyu-jin and Lee Do-yeong. Mother-of-pearl and maki-e techniques were used to depict these patterns. To inlay the mother-of-pearl, a coping saw was used to create fine patterns, in a method known as jureumjil . For elements such cranes and deer, where a sense of depth was required, a method known as jopaebeop , in which patterns are carved with a knife, was used. When it came to materials, Kim used shells from green snails and oysters, which had to be imported from countries such as India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, rather than the abalone shells used in the Joseon period, for various parts of his patterns. To depict mountains, rocks and waves, he created a sense of perspective by rendering the outlines in mother-of-pearl and using a maki-e technique of sprinkling powder inside them to create light-dark contrasts. It was determined that the particular maki-e technique used here is a method known as togidashi maki-e . Unlike other types of maki-e , in which powder is applied only to parts of the design, this particular method involves applying lacquer to the whole design, sprinkling powder on it, then rubbing it down. This study confirmed that silver powder was used to depict the waves, while the powder used to depict rocks and mountains is presumed to be dry lacquer.BR The nature of the lacquer materials used on this furniture suggest that they were imported from Japan or another country, indicating that importing such materials was possible at the time. Given that some Japanese immigrants in Korea were taking over workshops and producing lacquerware, acquiring Japanese-made maki-e materials is presumed not to have been difficult. As shown by these imported materials, the modern era in Korea was one that saw the intermingling of diverse culture and the absorption of various styles. The use of Japanese decorative techniques risks creating the impression that this is Japanese-style furniture. But I believe the set is primarily an attempt to create a painting-style design to depict Joseon scenes, while the eclectic lacquer technique, combining traditional mother-of-pearl methods and Japanese maki-e , was Kim Jin-gap’s own new form of expression.
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Open Access
Aug 24, 2023
Tomohisa Hirai + 3
