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History Of Use

Probably made for sale to European and North Americans, possibly under missionary influence. Figure represents a Korean man in mourning dress of yellow hemp. In Korea, until penetration of western influence in recent years, 3 years of mourning for a parent was expected during which men wore hemp clothing and very large straw hats. This long period of mourning derives from Confusian ethics and was enforced by royal command during the Yi Dynasty. Figure is carrying a screen to cover his face. Officials also carried such screens to shield their faces from public view.

Narrative

Collected by J. H. Morris while he was chief engineer for Seoul Railway, Korea.

Description

Figure representing a person on a flat backing of white paper. Front view is depicted of the figure which is made of cloth lightly padded to give a three-dimensional effect having each portion made of a separate piece of cloth with painted details. Hands are made of paper. Face is made of white silk. Wearing yellow sandals, leggings, white trousers, a robe of dark yellow linen, and belted under the arms with a ribbon of the same. Face is partly covered by a large hat of the same material shaped like a rounded triangle with an apex at the top. Carrying a screen on two paper handles. Two pieces of white flannel hemmed in light red-pink silk with a loop of the same at the top are sewn to the paper backing.