Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Bronze spoons are the most common burial item. Scholars have proposed that toward the end of the 14th century, Koreans enjoyed meat-based soups more than any other dishes, explaining why spoons became common household items as well as burial goods.

Description

This bronze spoon has dual heads: one is large, and the other small. The smaller head is believed to have been used to hold a small dose of liquid medicine.

Citations

L. W. "Korean Bronze Spoons of the Korai Dynasty." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 6 (1917): 99-101. Reproduced: Front Matter; Mentioned: pp. 99-101 www.jstor.org

Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.

Yoon, Sung-Jae. "The Aspects and Meaning of Spoon and Chopsticks in the Goryeo Dynasty [고려시대 분묘출토 청동수저]." Yeoksa silhakhoe 56 (2015): 51-68. www.dbpia.co.kr

Bronze in Life and Art [삶과 예술 속. 청동 靑銅 이야기] National Cheongju Museum (2016).

Jeong, Eui-do. Changes of Spoons during the Late Goryeo Period [고려후기 숟가락의 변화].” Hanguk jungse gogohak (2017): 139-157. www.dbpia.co.kr

Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.

Horlyck, Charlotte. "The Eternal Link: Grave Goods of the Koryŏ Kingdom (918-1392 CE)." Ars Orientalis, no. 44 (2014): 156-79. www.jstor.org

Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 99

Exhibition history

Mountains and Rivers Beyond the DMZ – Korean Gallery 236 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 21-July 21, 2019).

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Spoon with Dual Heads

약시형 청동 수저 (藥匙形靑銅匙)

Korea, Goryeo period

Location

Fun Fact

Description