The Past and Present of Korean Embroidery

With the expression of a painting-like egret and brief but beautiful background, this is presumed to be the insignia of early Joseon period.

Worn by King Gojong's uncle Heungwan-gun, this one show the harmonious arrangement of clouds, double cranes, rocks and grass. The whole insignia us embroidered in couched gold threads, but the heads of cranes are embroidered in red seed stitches.

Insignia with a tiger design was worn by low-ranking military officers. The tiger is expressed like a caricature, with bamboo leaves and rocks arranged at the bottom. This design is atypical as an insignia with the background picture in a folk tale style.

In Buddhism, the lion is considered a magical animal that upholds the Buddha dharma and the truth, and symbolizes authority and dignity. The body of the lion was embroidered in blue thread, with a furry tail that appears rolled up. Its curly mane was embroidered in gold couching stitch.

『Gyeongguk Daejeon (Great Code of National Governance)』, which was completed during King Seongjong’s reign over Joseon, there was a provision to “differentiate the embroidered pattern and ring according to the official grade of the subjects,” and to be more specific, a cloud and crane design with a gold ring was designated for those of 1-pum and 2-pum, an eagle design with a silver ring for those of 3-pum, a magpie design with a silver ring for those of 3-pum, and a crane design with a copper ring for those of 7 to 9-pum. Over time, however, these principles were not followed, and the embroidered crane design became a standard for all the official grades.

The embroidered chest is said to have been produced for the garye (wedding) of Queen Sunwon, who was the wife of Sunjo, the 23rd king of the Joseon dynasty. The ten traditional symbols of longevity were embroidered on the door, and on the lower part of the door, lotus flower and mandarin duck designs were embroidered so as to wish for the couple to be happy and bear many children.

Pouches were used by men and women of all ages, regardless of their class. Pouches were made of silk or cotton. Knots were made in the shape of a butterfly, bee, dragonfly or plum, and the main pattern was a symbol of wealth or a symbol of longevity.

An embroidery pattern is an embroidery template created by drawing a certain shape on a piece of paper or cloth. As for this particular embroidery pattern, ink lines were drawn on jangji (a type of traditional Korean paper). There are embroidery patterns depicting diverse auspicious signs on pouches and spoon cases and various other designs such as flowers, birds and ten traditional symbols of longevity.

This is a wrapping cloth that was used to wrapping the wooden wild geese that are taken by the husband’s side of the family after a wedding ceremony. The string on each of the four corners has a flowering plant design embroidered on it.

This is the work by Prof. Jeong Myeong-ja of Sookmyung Women's school. She embroidered the image of St. Mary. Using the western painting technique, she provides the shade effect.

This is an embroidery work depicting a building and trees in the mountains. The top part of the mountains were dyed, and gold thread was used on the edges, while the trees were depicted through embroidery work. The building at the center was depicted using a combination of dyeing and embroidery techniques.

This is a design conceived by independence activist Nam Gung-eok. The shape of the Korean peninsula was created using the branches of a rose of Sharon, and thirteen roses of Sharon in full bloom were used to indicate the thirteen provinces of Joseon. On this map embroidered on hemp cloth, there is a text that reads, “In commemoration of the liberation of Joseon,” on the right.

This was produced while the artist was studying at Sookmyung Women’s school. Sookmyung’s logo is surrounded by flowering plant patterns.

The ten traditional symbols of longevity were embroidered using modern design and techniques. It won Special Selection at a national competition in 1958.