Rank Badge from Nineteenth Century Korea

Rank badge from nineteenth century Korea. Rank badge from nineteenth century Korea. Copyright Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 53.60.9.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York houses a nineteenth century rank badge from Korea (locally known as hyungbae), measuring 21 x 19.1 cm. I ts embroidered in silk on a silk satin damask ground material. The badge is decorated with the representation of two cranes.

The system of rank badges, mostly in sets of two, one for the front and one for the back of the gown, was adopted by the Koreans in the fifteenth century, following the Chinese example. Rank badges with a pair of cranes were generally restricted to officials of the first to third ranks.

See also the rank badge from seventeenth century Korea, and the nineteenth century Chinese rank badge now in the Textile Research Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Digital source (retrieved 31 October 2016).

Metropolitan Museum of Art online catalogue (retrieved 31 October 2016).

WV

Last modified on Thursday, 05 January 2017 16:52