Art of the artificial

Palace museum sheds light on Joseon silk flowers

By Baek Byung-yeul

The “chaehwa” or artificial silk flower was more than just an ornament in the Joseon Kingdom’s (1392­1910) royal court. The court decorated royal banquets with these silk flowers to display grandeur, especially in non-spring seasons when fresh flowers were unavailable. The handmade followers, made with naturally dyed silk, are arranged with other ornaments such as miniature bugs made with honey.

The National Palace Museum of Korea’s “Beautiful Royal Silk Flower” is a rare exhibition on the fading art of silk flower making, practiced today by only a few artisans after the kingdom crumbled in the early 20th century. About 30 items are on display at the museum, including a flower tree, floral decorations used for royal ceremonies and table settings used for the king’s coronation.

All the items were handcrafted by Hwang Su-ro, 78, who is designated by the government as Important Intangible Cultural Property No. 124.

Hwang showed great pride for her craft in an interview.

“I saw butterflies flying into the royal silk flowers I made for the open air exhibition at Changgyeong Palace in 2004,” Hwang said.

Hwang Su-ro’s red and white silk peach trees, each 2.4 meters high, are among the items displayed at the National Palace Museum of Korea. / Courtesy of NPMK

“I have visited lots of famous flower art exhibitions in the world, but the flowers there were not beautiful enough to attract butterflies and bees.”

Among Hwang’s works are recreations of the silk flowers that decorated the banquet for King Sunjo’s (1790­1834) 30th anniversary on the throne as well as his 40th birthday. These works are the highlights of the exhibition.

“It took three years for me to finish them. All the petals were made only through the traditional method recorded in history,” Hwang said.

Of the total of four table settings for commemoration ceremonies recorded in the “uigwe,” or the court records of the Joseon Kingdom, two (those used on Feb. 9 and 12 in 1829) were recreated by Hwang.

Historical records indicate that 5,289 bunches of silk flowers were used for the Feb. 9 ceremony at a total production cost of about 633 ``nyang,’’ the currency at that time. This figure is equivalent to over 50 million won ($48,000) today.

Meanwhile, records show that 6,557 bunches of silk flowers were used for the Feb. 12 ceremony at the cost of about 1,729 nyang, which amounts to about 140 million won ($135,000) today.

The exhibition also provides a glimpse into silk flower works by French atelier La Maison Legeron. The atelier, currently run by a fourth-generation silk flower maker Bruno Legeron, has been supplying silk flower decorations to prominent French fashion houses like Christian Dior and Courreges since 1880.

The exhibition runs through May 25. The museum is located near exit 5 of Gyeongbokgung Station, subway line 3. Admission is free. For more information, call (02) 3701-7500 or visit www.gogung.go.kr.