Buncheong Stoneware at the National Museum of Korea

 

 

 

Buncheong was a style of pottery that was popular in Korea from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the middle of the sixteenth century.  Buncheong was a distinctive departure from the more aristocratic and refined celadon ceramics that preceded them and the elegant and minimalist white porcelain that followed.  It represented a return a more rustic and dynamic style, very similar to the establishment of the arts and craft movement of Morris's day that was eventually followed by 20th century minimalism.  In fact, this pottery reminds me of the work of William de Morgan (prior post here and here).  The pottery is made using a white slip technique.

Scrap metal+ingenuity+vision

 

The afters in the rafters...

before restoration

 and the afters.....click to enlarge/dazzle

where can I buy one of these gutterspouts for my house?

Brickwork at Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul

 

 

 

close-up of above

 

 

detail

detail of panel within a brick wall

I'm not sure exactly how they make these beautiful designs on the surface of the red brick walls.  It looks like they may use a shallow tray-like form that is filled with cement and affixed to wall till it sets???

Lee Rheeza, craftswoman & national treasure

a patchwork ramie Hanbok

unbleached ramie Hanbok

traditional bojagi, wrapping cloth

 

another bojagi (these two look like they were made of silk...i couldn't read the korean labels)

traditional 20th century loom -- even in the stores ~18 in. still seems to be the typical width of a bolt of cloth.

dyed ramie

an antique bojagi, "log cabin" style

Patchwork is another traditional craft in Korea and is typically used to make bojagi, a wrapping cloth used for wrapping gifts, groceries, your stuff, etc.  Lee Rheeza, the Korean equivalent of Oscar de La Renta, has been making Hanbok, the traditional Korean clothing for women, for over forty years and currently has a retrospective at the National Folk Museum of Korea.  In the last ten years, she started experimenting with making Hanbok out of patchwork, combining two great Korean craft traditions that go back over five hundred years.

Jangseung, Korean totem poles

Standing guard at the Korean Folk Museum

 

The lost ent tribe of Tolkien?

 

 

Keeping a wary eye on the stone guy

Lost map to Middle Earth? --- or a village juristiction map from 1878

It always amazes me how much similarity is found in craft and traditions around the world.  Jangseung, or Korean totem poles, were placed at the entrances of villages in hopes of warding off evil spirits (or evil visitors presumably).  They also could be used to delineate boundaries between "townships" and are believed to extend back to prehistoric times.  Maybe the totem pole tradition migrated across the Bering land bridge at the end of the last ice age?

Gyeongbokgung, Palace Greatly Blessed By Heaven, Seoul

경복궁

Heungnyemun gate

 

Danch'eong (Enlightenment)

The brightly painted patterns of danch'eong adorn the ceilings, eaves, support pillars, and walls of all temple buildings. The colors, which are not quite pastels but not quite primary either, symbolized the bright enlightenment of the next world. 

 

 

Geunjeongmun gate

 

 

prior to restoration

  

repainted

 

some Morrisy looking flowers

 

repainted

 

 

a new building

Gyeongbokgung in Seoul, Korea, is the royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty first built in 1394.  It was almost completely destroyed by the Japanese in the 1590s, rebuilt in 1867 (330 buildings and 5,792 rooms), and sadly, again systematically destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea in the early 20th century (only ten buildings survived).  In 1989, the Korean government began a 40-year project to rebuild the palace restoring the surviving buildings and rebuilding those that were lost.