Birds and Flowers

Description

The image depicted on this folding screen is not executed in ink, but rather a method called “pyrography" or "nakhwa,” a technique of burning the surface of materials ranging from wood to paper with the delicately controlled application of a heated metal tool. This technique became widely popular in the 19th century. Scorched marks here replace brush strokes. Nakhwa method is now designated as a Korean Intangible Cultural Asset by the Korean government.

Provenance

Alan Carter Covell [b. 1952] and Kyu J. Pak-Covell, Garden Grove, CA, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?–1991); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1991–)

Birds and Flowers

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late 1800s

Accession Number

1991.80

Medium

Ten-panel folding screen with designs and inscriptions burnt into paper (pyrography)

Dimensions

Overall: 153.5 x 443 cm (60 7/16 x 174 7/16 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Alan Carter Covell and Kyu J. Pak-Covell