Traditional Womenswear (Hanbok), 한복
Hanbok
1980 (made)
1980 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
A white jacket worn with a blue skirt, as seen here, was the dress of a married woman. Traditionally a woman of comfortable means would wear an undyed white ramie jacket, an indigo-dyed skirt of ramie, and under-garments also of undyed ramie. Ramie (a fine fibre derived from the shrub Boehmeria nivea) is an extremely finely woven and delicate type of cloth. Together with hemp, ramie was used widely by commoners before cotton was produced in Korea. At the royal household, however, it was rarely used for outer garments, but mainly for underwear. Instead silk fabrics of superior quality were woven exclusively for the royal household. Indigo, the colour of constancy and symbolising east was popular during the Choson dynasty (1392-1910AD) and widely used by aristocrats and commoners alike. Blue skirts and blue bed covers were, for example, an essential part of a girl’s dowry.
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Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
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Title | Traditional Womenswear (Hanbok), 한복 |
Materials and techniques | Woven ramie |
Brief description | Traditional dress for a woman in four parts, woven ramie, the skirt dyed with indigo, Korea, 1980 |
Physical description | Traditional dress (hanbok) for a woman, consisting of an undyed white woven ramie jacket (FE.55:1-1991), an indigo dyed skirt of woven Andong hemp or ramie (FE.55:2-1991) and under-garments also of undyed woven ramie. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Given by Mrs Jung-so, Minja |
Object history | Registered File number 1991/2453. The outfit was given to the Museum when Rose Kerr and Beth McKillop vistied the donor's home in November 1991. The donor said that this garment was suitable for a married woman to wear. |
Summary | A white jacket worn with a blue skirt, as seen here, was the dress of a married woman. Traditionally a woman of comfortable means would wear an undyed white ramie jacket, an indigo-dyed skirt of ramie, and under-garments also of undyed ramie. Ramie (a fine fibre derived from the shrub Boehmeria nivea) is an extremely finely woven and delicate type of cloth. Together with hemp, ramie was used widely by commoners before cotton was produced in Korea. At the royal household, however, it was rarely used for outer garments, but mainly for underwear. Instead silk fabrics of superior quality were woven exclusively for the royal household. Indigo, the colour of constancy and symbolising east was popular during the Choson dynasty (1392-1910AD) and widely used by aristocrats and commoners alike. Blue skirts and blue bed covers were, for example, an essential part of a girl’s dowry. |
Bibliographic reference | McKillop, Beth. Korean Art and Design. London: V&A Publications, 1992, p.130, fig. 57 |
Collection | |
Accession number | FE.55:1 to 4-1991 |
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Record created | April 5, 2000 |
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