Furniture Maker (Gagu)

A craftsman who works with wood is called a moksu (carpenter); one who builds palaces, temples and houses is called a Daemokjang, while one who makes furniture, doors and windows is called a Somokjang. A Somokjang is required to bring out the natural beauty of wood to the fullest and create forms with Korea's own aesthetic sensibility. This calls for an understanding of wood itself as well as knowledge of wooden structural techniques, and above all an artistic sense. Finished furniture must combine practicality with artistry, and above all must be durable enough to withstand changes in climate. The making of wooden furniture is a varied, complex and intricate process. Joinery techniques alone include jumeokjang (dovetail) joints, yeongwi (mitred) joints, jangbu (mortise-and-tenon) joints and jebichok (dovetail-tenon) joints, producing sturdy frames without a single nail or drop of glue. Metal fittings, mother-of-pearl inlay and ox-horn inlay are combined with these, and lacquer made from the sap of the lacquer tree is applied as a finish to add both durability and beauty. Designs such as the ten longevity symbols, dragon motifs, cloud motifs, calligraphic characters and the Four Gracious Plants are carved and inlaid to give the pieces artistic value. In the wood-inlay technique, the wood is carved out along the pattern and fitted with ebony, hwaryu (rosewood), goemok (scholar-tree wood), mother-of-pearl, baekdong (white bronze), silver and other materials of different colours to render the pattern in varied hues. These various techniques are all used in making traditional Korean furniture. The holder Gwon U-beom learned traditional craft techniques from his father, studied modern techniques under O Yang-hwan, and went to Kim O-gyeom to learn how to make three-dimensional works such as Buddhist statues, horses, tigers, dragons and eagles. In 1970, at the age of twenty, he entered the first Fine Crafts Competition hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry together with his teacher; his teacher received an honourable mention while Gwon won a special prize, earning the remark that the pupil had surpassed the master. He emphasizes drawing on the old to create the new. He argues that traditional furniture, made to suit the floor-seated life of wooden houses, must now be remade to suit the standing, chair-based life of cement-structure apartments, and he puts this into practice. At the same time, he says that true continuation of tradition means inheriting and developing the strengths of traditional craft — its simple texture and the beauty of its proportions — while grafting on a new sensibility to create pieces of a new concept that lead their time.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namyangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Intangible Heritage · 시도무형유산