Writing on Paulownia Wood Boxes... 'Sangseo' Conveying the Value of Relics

[Anchor]

An exhibition is currently underway, vividly showing how precious relics protected by the late collector Jeon Hyeong-pil (art collector Gansong) have been passed down to us. This marks the first time that paulownia wood storage boxes used to preserve relics and the inscriptions written on them, known as sangseo, are being exhibited on a large scale alongside the artifacts.

Reporter Kim Gyeong-hui has the details.

[Reporter]

[Sangseo: Reading the Collection / Until December 6 / Gansong Art Museum]

This is a painting by Danwon Kim Hong-do depicting the Taoist immortal Dongbangsak, a symbol of longevity, stealing peaches to extend his life.

Oh Se-chang, one of the greatest art connoisseurs of the era, wrote on the paulownia wood box containing the artwork that it was a rare and beautiful piece.

[Kim Young-wook / Gansong Art Museum Exhibition and Education Team Leader: It stands out as a prime example showing what kind of evaluations and appreciations modern-era connoisseurs made.]

The wooden box for Chusa Kim Jeong-hee's artwork, "Jikseong Sugu," features a detailed account of how it was acquired.

It explains that a piece Chusa sent to a literatus in Qing China was later discovered in a Beijing market and ultimately acquired by Jeon Hyeong-pil, describing it as a "miraculous coincidence."

These paulownia wood boxes were custom-made by Gansong Jeon Hyeong-pil to preserve the relics and record connoisseurship notes.

Each box cost a massive amount of money—equivalent to more than a month's salary of an office worker at the time—yet he never compromised on materials optimized for artwork preservation.

He also commissioned top connoisseurs of the time, such as Oh Se-chang and Lee Han-bok, to leave sangseo inscriptions.

It was a systematic approach built to accurately convey the value of hard-to-acquire relics to future generations.

Among the 700 paulownia wood boxes in the museum's collection, sangseo has been confirmed on only 258 of them. This exhibition offers visitors a chance to see a total of 51 items and 106 pieces of artwork.

[Jeon In-geon / Director, Gansong Art Museum: When appreciating an artwork, isn't the story behind it more important than just analyzing its aesthetics? If you view sangseo as something that gives greater depth and evidence to that narrative, you will likely find the exhibition even more engaging.]

A Joseon-era stone tiger statue that has newly stepped up as a gatekeeper, replacing the Chinese stone lion statues that guarded Bohwagak for 90 years, is also highlighted as a key point of interest in this exhibition.

(Video Journalist: Oh Se-gwan, Video Editor: Ahn Yeo-jin, Design: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.