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19th Century Korean Paintings - Hanji Box ......

Every day brings on some new ideas and a new challenge.


As part of my advanced Hanji classes I've designed a new worksheet for the students to make a divided keepsake box in which they can store small items.

I've had one myself for the last 13 years and use it to keep my envelopes, cards and stamps all in one place and it works a treat.  Stationery is almost outdated these days because not many people actually write letters or send things by post but, there's always a time when you might need an envelope or a  handmade card for someone special and it's great to have them all in one  place and in a personalised box. 

The box itself is 30 cms square and dividers can be placed inside  to whatever requirements you need, depending on the items that are to go in it. It could be used for old photos, jewellery, a memory box for storing trinkets or as a very nice gift for someone special.

For the covering of the box I've used copies of some old Korean paintings combined with a relatively simple striped design using the colours of the main painting of orange, mustard, pale yellow and blue. 


The paintings on the box are by a famous Korean painter of the Joseon Dynasty, Shin Yun-Bok, better known by his pen name, Hyewon. He was born in 1758 and was the son of the Royal court painter Yanpyeong. There's little known about his life as he's said to have been disgraced but his legacy is that he's left a large number of beautiful  genre paintings of the Joseon era. There's even been a fictional movie made of this real life character  called, 'Portrait of a Beauty' which is a 2008 South Korean film directed by Jeon Joon-soo. 

The picture of the lady on the lid was painted in 1825 and  on the side  of the box, the lady folding her arm up onto the back of her head was done sometime in the 19th Century, the exact date is unknown.




Since making this box I've had many other ideas of how they could be decorated. The ideas are limitless but here's an idea of how it could look as designed by one of my students. She's incorporating the colours of Turkish tiles into a Korean cutout design and when it's finished it's going to look stunning.


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