Traditional Korean Furniture

Author : Siyeun Lee
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (942 download)

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Download or read book Traditional Furniture Style in China and Korea written by Siyeun Lee and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study is an analysis and a comparison of traditional furniture styles in China and Korea in terms of size, style of leg, and metal mounts. The study was limited to the household wardrobes, cabinets, and chests of both countries from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century. A total of 141 examples (65 examples of Chinese furniture, 76 of Korean) included illustrations from publications and actual pieces from the Portland Art Museum and six antique shops in Oregon and California. A work sheet was developed to record observations of the sample. For statistical analysis the binomial probabilities table, contingency table analysis, and t-test were used; level of significance was established at 0.05. All Chinese wardrobes and 82.2 percent of the cabinets had straight legs. Chinese chests had either legs of horse's hoof style or no legs. The most frequent motif of Chinese hinges and lock shields was the square, and the most frequent motif of the pulls was the leaf. Chinese circle lock shields tended to appear with circle hinges, and square lock shields with square hinges. More than half of Korean wardrobes had horse's hoof legs. Of Korean cabinets, 66. 7 percent had straight legs and 64. 7 percent of chests did not have legs. The square motif appeared most often on Korean hinges and lock shields. The most frequent motif of Korean pulls was the circle. Whereas Korean circle lock shields tended to appear with circle hinges, Korean square lock shields did not tend to have square hinges. The overall features of Chinese furniture in this study were quite different from Korean. Even though both Chinese and Korean furniture were simple and straight in structure, Chinese furniture was simpler. Usually a piece of Korean wardrobe or cabinet consisted of several stories, and the front was symmetrically divided into many rectangular panels and drawers. Chinese wardrobes were significantly larger than Korean in height, width, and depth; the width and depth of Chinese cabinets were significantly larger than those of Korean. Chinese chests, however, were significantly smaller than Korean in height and width. For both Chinese and Korean furniture, wood grains served as an important-decorative element; but the wood grains on Korean furniture were more distinct and arranged more variedly. Usually, on a piece of Korean furniture the designs of wood grains were symmetrically arranged; vertical and horizontal grains were combined. Metal mounts were used as decorative as well as functional elements for the furniture of both countries, but Korean furniture had more kinds and amounts of metal mounts than Chinese. Even though each country had its preferred motifs and its own motifs on metal mounts, the majority of both Chinese and Korean metal mounts were of geometric motifs.