The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 17, 2022

Scroll Box with Dragon and Phoenix Design

나전 용·봉황무늬 서류함 (螺鈿龍鳳文書類函)

1700s-1800s

Korea, Joseon dynasty

(1392-1910)

Lacquered wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl and twisted brass and copper wire

Overall: 11.5 x 11.6 x 87 cm (4 1/2 x 4 9/16 x 34 1/4 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection 1990.15

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This technique of using the inlays of iridescent mother-of-pearl and abalone shells has been practiced in Korea for over a thousand years,

Description

This large rectangular box was designed for keeping a scroll or an important document. The mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer rendering of a dragon and phoenix combines texture, color, and shape to produce a dazzling effect. The large and prominent designs of the Joseon-period inlaid lacquer, like on this box, replaced the fine detail and mosaic-like patterns popular in the Goryeo period (918-1392).

Provenance
?-1990
(Yoshiyuki Hosomi, Osaka, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1990-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Cunningham, Michael R. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 135 www.jstor.org
Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: p. 248
Hwang, Jii-hyeon, and Sadamu Kawada. Korean Lacquerware Inlaid with Mother-of-Pearl: The Everlasting Beauty. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2010.
Korean Lacquer Art: Aesthetic Perfection, Munich: Hirmer Publishers, 2012.
Exhibition history

Object in Focus: Scroll Box with Dragon and Phoenix Design. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 16- September 15, 2002).

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 238). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 26, 2013-January 12, 2015).

Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).

Asian Autumn: Later Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 1992-January 3, 1993).

Object in Focus: Scroll Box with Dragon and Phoenix Design, 1800s; Korea; (inlaid mother-of-pearl; 1990.15). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 16-September 15, 2002).

Conversation about Diversity in Korean Embroidery Arts- Korean Gallery 236 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 27-October 27, 2020).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.15