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Materials and techniques used for Portrait of Yi Bok Shin oiled paper sketches: scientific analysis and practical application

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2023

Doo Hee Chung Open the ORCID record for Doo Hee Chung [Opens in a new window]
Doo Hee Chung*
Affiliation:
College of Basic Studies, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea
*
Email: chungdh@yu.ac.kr
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Abstract

During the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), many silk portraits were made of kings and other public officials. Most of these are now lost. Silk canvases are partially transparent, which allows pigments on both sides of the canvas to be seen. Before working with a silk canvas, artists would create several drafts of their portraits on paper, which was made translucent through the application of oil. In this research, a set of three paper drafts for a portrait from the eighteenth century was analysed via X-ray fluorescence spectroscopic data and microscopic imagery to identify the type of paper and pigments used. Using this analysis, along with surviving historic records, comparisons to other historic portraits, and an artistic analysis of the line and colouring techniques, new insights into the process of making these portraits are presented. Novel features of the three sketches are identified. Furthermore, the step-by-step process used to create these sketches is discussed and illustrated using a reproduction that employs traditional techniques and materials.

Keywords

BaechaeJoseon DynastyKorean royal portraitureoiled paper sketchessilk painting
Type
Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , January 2024 , pp. 171 - 189
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Asiatic Society

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References

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9 Ibid., p. 20.

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11 Transliterated Korean names throughout this article are written with the family name last.

12 Portrait of Deok Ji Choe is privately owned. Portrait of Je Gong Chae is held by Suwon Hwaseong Museum. For details, see H.-G. Lee, ‘Another identity, another shadow’, in Portrait Sketches of the Joseon Period, Chobon (Seoul, 2007), pp. 39, 43. Portrait of Kyoung Joo Hong is held in the Gyeonggi Province Museum. For details, see ‘Portrait of Kyoung Joo Hong’, Yu-mul So-jang-yu-mul [Relic Collection], Gyeonggi Province Museum, https://musenet.ggcf.kr/relics/relicsView/61a0715c5f9e02419801a951 (accessed 2 November 2022).

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17 Ibid., p. 84.

18 Ibid., p. 42; Joseon-era lunar dates have been converted into the modern Gregorian calendar throughout this article.

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23 Ibid., p. 45.

24 Ibid., p. 45.

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26 Chung, D. H., ‘A study of the techniques used in royal portraiture during the late Joseon Dynasty’, The Journal of Art and Culture Studies 2 (2013), pp. 214–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar, https://doi.org/10.18707/jacs.2013.06.2.201.

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42 National Palace Museum, Portraits, p. 56; Lee, ‘Myeong-hyeon-hwa-sang’, p. 216.

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44 Chung, ‘The creation of original portraits’, pp. 100–101.

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46 Chung, ‘Study of the techniques used in royal portraiture’, p. 141.

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49 Yu, Chang, and Yun, ‘Pigments analysis’, p. 267.

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51 H.-G. Yi, ‘Yi Insang cho-sang [Portrait of Yi Insang]’ in Joseon Portraits III, (eds.) Lee and Cho, p. 220; Chung, ‘The creation of original portraits’, p. 114.

52 Lee and Cho, Joseon Portraits III, p. 220.

53 Yu, Chang, and Yun, ‘Pigments analysis’, p. 278; Chung, ‘Study of the techniques used in royal portraiture’, p. 229; Chung, D. H., ‘A study of the techniques used in the portrait of King Yeongjo’, The Journal of Art and Culture Studies 9 (2016), pp. 137–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar, https://doi.org/10.18707/jacs.2016.12.9.121.

54 Cho, Great Korean Portraits, p. 20; Lee, ‘Joseon period sketches’, p. 15.

55 Chung, ‘Study of the techniques used in royal portraiture’, pp. 221–32.

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