Wood, lacquer, abalone shell, metalexpand_more
Gift of Will-Bes Dominicana Company, Chong Won Trading Company, Beautic Company, Yang Jee Industrial Company, the Margurite Kim Memorial Fund, the Harriet Hanley Estate, and the Mimi Johnson Estateexpand_more 2002.219.1
This hat box, entirely encrusted with pieces of abalone shell, was used to store a man’s inner hat, or tanggeon. Korean craftspeople used a special technique to create such objects. First a wooden box was coated with several layers of lacquer, onto which pieces of abalone shell were affixed. They then continued to coat the box with lacquer until the shell was completely covered. After the lacquer dried, they laboriously polished the surface with charcoal until the iridescent shell was revealed. Typical of Korean style, the mother-of-pearl is broken and reassembled in the manner seen here.
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