Folding Fan Ornament

Seonchu, also called seoncho, is an ornament hung on the loop of folding fans. It was generally made of sturdy wood with beautiful grains such as jujube wood or pear wood although some were made using other materials including gold, silver, white brass, ivory, ox horn, white jade, jade, amber, and agate. The ornament was made in various shapes, such as a circle, a square, a rectangle, a cylinder, and shapes of various objects, and was decorated according to the fan’s shape or the user’s tastes. The fan ornament was designed to contain a compass (or paecheol meaning a magnetic needle), an acupuncture needle, an earpick, a toothpick, a talisman, or a seal. A long string was attached for the ornament to be hung on a fan. The end of the ornament was decorated with tassels for emphasis along with small knots. The round seonchu shown here is paecheol seonchu, which contains a compass and includes a dragonfly-shaped knot and blue tassels. The cylindrical seonchu shown here is decorated with carvings depicting designs of a deer, a crane, and a pine tree, and contains an earpick and a toothpick, with tassels at the end.