ID Number

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Item Name

Culture

Material

Manufacturing Technique

Date Made

Place Made

Date Owned

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

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Condition

Accession Number

Cultural Context

commerce

Iconographic Meaning

Such hats were a symbol of high status in Korean society.

Specific Techniques

Originally woven on a frame for brim “yang-tae-pan” and frame for crown made of wood “mo-ja-gol”. The two components were then assembled and the hat was lacquered. The ties were sewn with invisible stitches; they were sewn inside out and then reversed. The bamboo for the rim and head was shaped using a hot iron.

Narrative

This hat is thought to have been purchased by the donor from a local antique store.

History Of Use

Good quality hats were made by three different masters: one to make the crown, one to make the brim, and one to assemble the hat. Now there are few such specialists, and usually one master creates the whole hat. Makers of such hats are called “gat-jang-in”, “gat” master. Such hats were primarily worn by men of the “yangban” class, the class of families with men who were or had been government officials. The common people could not use them until these restrictions disappeared, in the late Chosun Dynasty, and they became commonly used. “Yangban” men wore them with long white coats “do-po” when going out. Their hosts would wear brimless hats called “chung-za-kwan” or “za-bang-kwan” at home. The hat “gat” was worn with the inner container to protect their knot of uncut long hair, called “tang-gun” and a headband to hold their hair neatly back, called “mang-gun”. The “mang-gun” could be decorated with gold and jade if the wearer was the king or high official, or with horn or bone if the wearer was a lower official. In addition to the ties under the chin, the “gat” was worn with a loose cord strung with valuable materials such as amber or jade if the wearer was of higher class, or with bamboo beads if he was of lower class. After 1895 the Emperor Go-jong ordered Korean men to cut their previously uncut hair, under his policy of modernization. Those who did so no longer needed to wear the “tang-gun” or “man-gun”, but “Tang-gun” was worn even after the haircut by the local scholars. “Gat” were sometimes made of pig’s hair instead of horsehair, and fine bamboo strips, and were covered with fine silk. In the early and middle Chosun Dynasty the brim was wider. The father of Emperor Go-jong, Tae-Won-Kun, wanted to close off Korea from the Chinese and Japanese, and also wanted the Korean people to become more frugal and practical, so he ordered men to wear hats with narrower brims, saying that the wider ones were impractical and ostentatious. He also ordered them to narrow their sleeves.

Description

Hat with narrow, downwardly curving brim and tapering, truncated crown with flat top. Black silk gauze ribbons at each side. Hat is woven of black, shiny material and is translucent. Circular rims around head and edge of brim. This hat is relatively coarsely made, and the crown has only one layer. Hats fits onto hat stand, 1059/2 a-b.