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Oct 26, 2010

Oct 27, 2010

Wedding Gown

late 1800s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392-1910)

Satin weave silk; silk embroidery; paper edging on neck and sleeves

Overall: 114.3 x 174 cm (45 x 68 1/2 in.)

The Worcester R. Warner Collection 1918.552

Location

On view at:

National Palace Museum of Korea, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)
Sep 14, 2023 - Dec 13, 2023

Did you know?

This bridal gown is made of densely embroidered silk, but its collar and sleeves are made of thick paper.

Description

This wedding gown is exquisitely embroidered with various symbols of happiness in colorful silk threads. Butterflies stand for marital happiness; the phoenix, numerous offspring; and lotus flowers and white cranes, longevity. Yet, the bridal gown does not attest to the life of luxury. To the contrary, many traces of repairs, trimmings, and patchwork, reflect Joseon-period women’s commitment to value neo-Confucian aesthetics of frugality and modesty.

Substantial repairs and patching reveal that this gown served as an important communal resource to be shared and passed down through several generations. Only its collar and sleeves, which are made of thick paper, are replaced with new ones, while the robe was reused for decades.

Video

Provenance

?-1918

(Worcester R. Warner [1846-1929], Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1918-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Suh, Kisook. The Documentary Value of Repairs to the Hwarot, the Korean Bridal Robe. DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2006. . p. 79-87

Seon Seung-hye. The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. Reproduced: p. 65, cat. no. 50

Artistic Court Embroidery [아름다운 궁중자수]. Seoul: National Palace Museum. 2013.

Kwon, Hea-jin and Ji-yeon Kim. “Study on the Formative Characteristics of Embroidery Panels of Hwarot at the Victoria and Albert Museum [빅토리아 앨버트 박물관 소장 활옷의 조형성 연구].” Boksik (2013): 176-188. www.dbpia.co.kr

O, Suk-gyeong and Hong Na-young. “The Usage of Paper in the Costumes of the Joseon Dynasty [조선시대 복식에 사용된 종이심에 관한 연구].” Boksik (2015): 75-91. www.dbpia.co.kr

McCormick, Sooa Im. "Stitches empowered: Korean embroidery arts form the Joseon Dynasty" Orientations 51, no. 1 (January/February 2020): 60-67. Reproduced: p. 62, fig. 3; Mention: p. 61

McCormick, Sooa Im, Jung-Wha Kim, William Griswold, Seung-Hae Yi, Byungmo Chung, and Young Chae. Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts From Korea / Sooa Im McCormick, Curator. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 10-11

"Gold Needles: Celebrating the stunning embroidery of anonymous Korean women.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 2 (March/April 2020): 32-33. Reproduced: P. 33; Mentioned: P. 32.

Exhibitions--Extended Dates. “Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 3 (Summer 2020): 4-5. Reproduced: P. 5; Mentioned: P. 4.

Exhibition history

The Lure of Painted Poetry: Cross-cultural Text and Image in Korean and Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011).

Gold Needles: Embroidery Arts from Korea. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 7-October 25, 2020).

Hwarot: Wedding Robes of the Joseon Dynasty. National Palace Museum of Korea, Seoul, Korea (Republic of) (organizer) (September 14-December 13, 2023).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Wedding Gown|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.552|year=late 1800s|access-date=09 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Wedding Gown

Wedding Gown

Korea, Joseon dynasty

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