Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Rare Joseon-era world atlas from 18th century to be auctioned in UK
Five maps from 18th-century "Cheonhado," or "Atlas of the World," will go under the hammer at Woolley & Wallis' "Japanese & Korean Works of Art" sale in the U.K., Tuesday. Courtesy of Woolley & Wallis
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Former NZ ambassador to Korea puts collection up for sale
Five rare Korean maps from the 18th-century atlas "Cheonhado" (Atlas of the World), once owned by a former New Zealand ambassador to Seoul, will go under the hammer in the U.K. Tuesday, offering a rare glimpse into premodern Korean cartography and worldviews.
The hand-crafted maps — part of the private collection of Patricia (1920-2010) and Denis Dunlop (1917-2012) — will be featured in Woolley & Wallis auction house's "Japanese & Korean Works of Art" sale under the name of "Ch’onha Chido." The lot's estimate is between 2,000 and 3,000 British pounds ($2,675.21 to $4,012.81).
Created during the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the "Cheonhado," also known as "Cheonhajido," was a Korea-centered atlas that typically featured a world map, maps of Korea’s eight provinces and depictions of neighboring regions such as China, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands (now Japan's Okinawa Prefecture). It was produced mainly for administrative training, military planning and ceremonial purposes. The five pieces to be auctioned are presumed to be part of a once-complete atlas.
Denis Dunlop, center, signs an agreement with Korea during his term as New Zealand ambassador to Korea in the 1970s. Courtesy of Dunlop family archive
"Crafted entirely by hand, these atlases were never mass-produced, resulting in extremely limited circulation and exceptional rarity. Only a handful of original copies are known to exist today, preserved in the collections of national libraries and major museums around the world. Celebrated for their fusion of artistic elegance, symbolic meaning and geographical insight, these maps are highly sought after by collectors, institutions and historians alike and we anticipate huge interest," said Alexandra Aguilar, Asian & Japanese Art specialist at Woolley & Wallis.
The maps in this auction trace back to the Dunlops’ time in Seoul during the 1970s, when Denis served as New Zealand’s ambassador to Korea. His wife Patricia, a wartime British decoder and passionate gardener, developed an interest in Korean art and antiquities, often combing through local markets with her niece Sue Ollemans, an expert in Asian art. She assembled a small but discerning collection of Korean and Asian art, and parts of the collection are up for auction.
Other Korean pieces from the Dunlop collection featured in the sale include a 12th-13th-century "sanggam" (inlaid) celadon bowl from the 918-1392 Goryeo Dynasty with an estimate between 1,000 and 2,000 British pounds; a blue and white porcelain jar with flowers and tendrils pattern from Joseon era for around 800 to 1,200 British pounds and a two-fold bird-and-flower screen by 20th-century artist Jeong Hae-jun (1902-93) with an estimate for 200-300 British pounds.