Portrait of Yi Deok-seong and Related Relics

Yi Deok-seong (1655–1704), whose clan seat was Jeonju, passed the state examination in the byeonggwa class at the Chundangdae palace examination in 1682, and went on to serve as Magistrate of Dongnae, Magistrate of Haeju, Governor of Hwanghae Province and Governor of Chungcheong Province. The portrait shows him seated on a chair in a three-quarter left profile, wearing a tall black official hat (osamo) and a green official robe (dallyeong), against a plain background. The face is drawn with fine outlines, with a touch of red in the cheeks and slight shading; it does not show the fine "flesh-vein" linework sometimes used to render skin texture, and the long beard is depicted flowing and curled. The outlines and folds of the robe are drawn with relatively fine, not-too-dark ink lines, lightly shaded. The rank badge of paired cranes is worked in fine brushstrokes against a bright green ground, showing elegant standing cranes and five-coloured clouds, and the gold, floral-appliqué belt is likewise finely detailed. The leopard skin draped over the chair, rendered in dark ink, is drawn realistically in fine, sinuous lines. This is an important example of the refined portraiture of the early eighteenth century, a period when the stereotyped form of the meritorious-subject portrait was giving way to a more naturalistic style. The old documents relating to Yi Deok-seong comprise 121 items in all: three royal edicts, three royal orders, 114 certificates of appointment, and one examination paper. Together with his certificates of examination success, the appointment documents survive intact and undispersed, giving them value as historical material for his career and biography and as research material on the personnel administration of the period. Several examples of his own handwriting are also valuable as royal-household relics and as material for the history of calligraphy. Dimensions (height x width): portrait 167 x 99 cm.

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Where it is

Region

Nam-gu, Busan

Designation

Treasure · 보물