Quilted Jacket Worn by King Gojong

This is a quilted jacket worn by King Gojong as everyday clothing in the final years of the dynasty. King Gojong was the second son of Heungseon Daewongun Yi Ha-eung, and ascended the throne following King Cheoljong. This artefact was bestowed by the royal family on Lady Kim In-gyu of the Andong Kim clan, a niece of King Gojong, when she entered the palace. It is a finely quilted jacket, made by layering a purple-red, cloud-patterned silk outer fabric over a white silk lining and then quilting the two together at intervals of 0.3–0.5 cm. Starch was applied along the fine quilting lines and pressed with an iron, giving a three-dimensional effect similar to corduroy; this style of quilting is called omoknubi (concave quilting). The ties are not quilted, and there is no dongjeong (a removable white collar band) attached; however, the quilting intervals on the collar are wider and the stitching coarser than on the body of the garment, indicating where a dongjeong was once attached. The outer fabric bears a bat motif set among small, evenly sized cloud patterns; interestingly, fabric of the identical design was also used for the long sleeve extensions attached to the ceremonial robe of Gwanghwadang, one of King Gojong's royal concubines, itself a National Folklore Heritage. The outer collar is shaped like a rounded half-moon, while the inner collar is a straight, flat-panelled collar — an otherwise typical jacket form. It measures 57.5 cm in length, with a sleeve length of 80.5 cm and a chest width of 49 cm. The sleeve-bottom line, running from the 24.5 cm armhole to the 20.5 cm cuff, forms a gentle curve. Whereas most surviving royal artefacts from the end of the dynasty are ceremonial garments, the significance of this jacket lies in the fact that it was ordinary everyday clothing actually worn by King Gojong.

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Where it is

Region

Yongin, Gyeonggi

Designation

National Folklore Heritage · 국가민속문화유산