Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 14. (Budapest, 1994)

NAGY Ildikó: Koreai veretes ládák a Hopp Ferenc Kelet-Ázsiai Művészeti Múzeum gyűjteményében

ILDIKÓ NAGY KOREAN CHESTS WITH METAL FITTINGS IN THE FERENC HOPP MUSEUM OF EASTERN ASIATIC ARTS The characteristics of the Korean art of furniture making, including woodwork and lacquer ware, were formed to accord with Korean house building customs. A fundamental role was played by the floor heating used in the rooms, and by the culture of sitting on the floor. Dimensions of the furniture and the character of interior articles were limited by the relatively small space in the living rooms.' Similarly to the other branches of art and crafts, Korean woodworking had come under the influence of Chinese woodworking styles before the Choson Dynasty. Up until the seventeenth century, the interiors and wooden articles of the Choson Dynasty preserved the traces of Chinese Ming culture and furniture styles, and demonstrated an antique dignity which had featured earlier on, during the Koryo Dynasty period.

2 However, by the eighteenth century Korean furniture making developed its own formal character and the Choson Dynasty style became general. This was characterized by an emphasis on functionalism, formal simplicity and aesthetic use of materials.

3 The differences in form and ornamentation between Korean and Chinese furniture can be clearly seen in the relatively long Chinese armchairs armchairs with backs, and also in the frequent use of the carved and openwork ornamentation that is completely absent in Choson Dynasty Korean wooden furniture. The Korean furniture makers had a liking for beautiful woodgrain surfaces and simple shapes. Their basic product was simple-form furniture without decoration. The one-, two, three-tier wardrobes and four-tier wardrobes, and the chests or cases for books with two or three shelves, can be placed in this category, together with short-legged dining and writing tables, the one-person tables. Furniture with metal fittings, front-opening chests, and medium or smaller size boxes belonged to another group of furniture. Wooden furniture was ornamented with metal fittings. Besides their aesthetical effect, these served to strengthen the construction at the edges, corners, along the hinges and at the locks. Brass, copper, pig iron, cast iron and so-called "white bronze" (a whitish alloy of copper with a greater tin content than in ordinary bronzes) were used for making metal fittings.

4 Brass and iron were the most common of the metals used. Stationery cabinets and bookcases made of pine or paulownia stained with perilla oil decorated with pig iron fittings were the characteristic pieces of furniture in the traditionally furnished Korean study-room. Beside the commonly used plain wood furniture or wooden furniture with metal ornaments, there were reddish brown and black lacquered wooden pieces of furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl, painted tortoiseshell and ox horn for the use of the royal family and the members of the upper class. These elaborate pieces were made mainly during the late Choson Dynasty.

5 Korean furniture making was characterized by the variety of types of wood used. More than thirty kinds of wood were used in the making of furniture. The main woods