Books and Scholars’ Accoutrements

책가도 (冊架圖)

late 1800s

Yi Taek-gyun 이택균

(Korean, 1808–after 1883)

Culture

Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

Medium

ten-panel folding screen; ink and color on silk

Measurements

Overall: 197.5 x 395 cm (77 3/4 x 155 1/2 in.); Painting only: 139.3 x 330.8 cm (54 13/16 x 130 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2011.37

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

A convincing hypothesis that connects the Korean chaekgado tradition with the Renaissance tradition of illusionistic studiolo through the technique of trompe-l'œil and Chinese Qing period treasured cabinet paintings was first made in Park Shim-eun's thesis (2002).

Description

First produced around the second half of the eighteenth century, chaekgado (literally, “pictures of bookshelves”) flourished throughout the 1800s as a royal emblem. And soon this pictorial genre became a popular furnishing item for aristocrats' elegant studies. The third panel from the right bears a hidden seal that reveals the artist: Yi Taek-gyun, a prominent court artist active in the late 1800s.