The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 6, 2024

Rank Badge with Single Crane Motif

Rank Badge with Single Crane Motif

1800s
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Many different types of stitches are used in this pair of rank badges. One of them is the couching stitch that uses a thicker foundation thread and a thinner thread. In this work, gold thread is used as the foundation thread.

Description

Traditionally, square silk badges with embroidered birds and animals were worn on the front and back of official costumes. Rather than simple ornaments, rank badges represent the status of the wearer, with different animals indicating the hierarchy of ranks. The single crane, as on these rank badges, was worn by civil officials of the fourth or higher ranks.
  • ?-2019
    (Kang Collection, New York, NY, ?-2019, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2019-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2019-present
  • Chung, Young Yang, Silken Threads: A History of Embroidery in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, New York, 2005.
    Rank Badges [흉배]. Seoul: National Folk Museum of Korea, 2000.
    Embroidery Patterns [문양]. Seoul: Daewonsa, 2004.
    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. 347, no. 002
  • {{cite web|title=Rank Badge with Single Crane Motif|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=06 October 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.78.2