Gilt-bronze Miniature Buddhist Flagpole with Dragon Finial

Temples hang banners to mark their precincts, to adorn them and for ritual. The pole the banner hangs from is called a danggan, and the two posts that hold it on either side are the danggan jiju. This pole-shaped piece has a dragon's head at the top, and so is called a dragon-head banner pole. It is small, 73.8 cm high: two posts stand on a two-tier base with the pole between them. The pole is made of eight cylinders fitted one into another, the eighth decorated with the dragon's head. The dragon's neck is carved with scales for realism, and its horns spring vividly forward and back, making it all the more vigorous. The whole surface was thinly lacquered in dark brown and then gilded, though only traces now remain here and there. A precious object that shows the banner-pole form developed since Silla and a refined craft beauty, it is thought to have been made in the Goryeo period. Since few finials of real banner poles survive, this one — though a craft piece that stood inside a hall — is a good source for imagining how they once looked.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보