Incense Bag with Embroidered Cloud and Phoenix Design

A hyangnang is a pouch that Joseon-period women filled with incense and carried on their person; grape motifs or the "ten longevity symbols" were embroidered on such pouches to pray for wealth, rank and longevity. This embroidered incense bag, shaped like a turtle, is unusually large: compared with the incense bags of under 30 cm that Joseon women normally carried, this one measures as much as 87.5 cm in total length including the knotted tassels. On a ground of white satin, auspicious motifs such as butterflies, phoenixes and bats are embroidered in an elaborate and refined court-embroidery technique, suggesting that it was used as a decorative object in the private chambers of court women. Various techniques are skilfully employed, including flat stitch, long-and-short stitch and knot stitch; above is a bat-shaped knot, and below hang as many as fifteen cords, each 49 cm long. The upper part of the incense bag is embroidered with a large butterfly spreading its wings to enfold clouds and a phoenix, while the lower part is decorated with five embroidered bats, symbolising the five blessings, and the elixir plant, symbolising longevity, supporting the centre of the composition.

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Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산