Beauty, Life of Korean Women
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The pursuit of beauty is a timeless virtue for women among all cultures, although its patterns and trends might have differed greatly in accordance with the times.
Two major cosmetics companies are showing the universal theme of women's beauty and life through the display of collections of historical artifacts here in Korea.
The Amore Pacific Museum is holding an exhibition titled ``Mirror: Another Me Reflected by Light'' throughout Aug. 25.
As the title suggests, the exhibition features mirrors that were originally part of bronze basins filled with water.
Historically, people began to make mirrors out of metal, including bronze. In ancient times, the bronze mirror was a symbol of authority and power, which was supposed to ward off evil as well as being used to do one's makeup.
During the Goryeo era (918-1392), the typical bronze mirror widely used was smooth and shiny on the reflecting side and was decorated on the other side with various motifs that indicated the prestige and social status of the owner.
Mirrors used for makeup were fixed with a string through the ring on the back or leaned against the metal mirror stand.
Mirrors of the Goryeo period were made under the influence of Chinese mirror-makers from the Han and Tang Dynasties.
Designs such as birds, twin dragons, twin fish, human figures and old temples were engraved on their reverse sides to show the direct influence of the Chinese mirrors.
But patterns of reeds, wild geese, clouds and cranes show their uniqueness as Korean.
According to the museum, until the early Joseon period mirrors were made of metal and included strings from which they could be hung.
But later mirrors in wooden boxes, kept folded when not used, became popular.
Joseon mirror boxes have drawers for the storage of jewelry and toiletries. Mirror boxes were used mostly by women, while men used mirrors in the shape of ink stone cases or wooden pillows.
With the development of the mercury mirror in the late Joseon period, the mirror became a fixed part of a dresser, much like mirrors we see today.
In the modern world, the mirror became an everyday necessity. By the end of the 19th century, Japanese plate glass and mercury mirrors were introduced to Joseon and began to replace bronze and crystal mirrors.
The exhibition takes place at the Amore Pacific Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. For more information, call (031) 285-7215.
The Coreana Cosmetics Museum is offering a special exhibition, ``Women Theater-Artifacts Allude to the Stores of Late Joseon's Women,'' until June 23.
The exhibition displays some 40 pieces of artifacts related to women. But the exhibition features a fictitious woman with the family name Jang to throw light on life in feudalistic society in the Joseon period (1392-1910) through the women's items.
Jang is depicted as a woman of moderate virtue and erudition, and as a good mother and wife of the 17th century in this virtual exhibition hall.
The exhibition shows of six parts of Jang's life _ her education, outings, marriage, childbirth, daily life and 60th birthday. Jang would have been typical of a woman from the noble classes.
The collection shows the life of an ordinary Joseon woman from the noble class from the age of seven through 60, using the various items on display.
Historic relics the Joseon women used include an octagonal nursing bottle which is of white porcelain, an ear-shaped pouch, a norigae or pendant, a four-layer potable bottle holding liquor and its cups, a colored candle and other accessories.
The average age for marriage among women in the noble classes was 16 during the period. ``Hwachok,'' a colored candle, means a symbol of a wedding ceremony between the couple.
The exhibition is at Coreana Cosmetics Museum in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul. For more information, call (02) 547-9177 or visit www.spacec.co.kr.