A mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer table (gyeongsang)

Joseon Dynasty (19th century)

Details

A mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer table (gyeongsang)
Joseon Dynasty (19th century)
The rectangular table set on four cabriole legs, the top decorated in inlaid mother-of-pearl with motifs from the ten signs of long life including bamboo, pine, cranes, deer, rocks, mountain, clouds, sun and moon
13 3/8 x 23 7/8 x 10 ¾ in. (34 x 60.6 x 27.3 cm.)

Lot Essay

Originally such tables were intended to be used by monks for reading sutras in temples. However during the Joseon dynasty, they became popular as everyday desks.
For a similar work in the collection of Yongin, Amorepacific Museum of Art, see Patricia Frick and Soon-Chim Jung, eds., Korean Lacquer Art - Aesthetic Perfection, exh. cat. (Münster: Museum of Lacquer Art, 2013), pl. 42.

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