Comb Wrapper (Bitjeop)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 24 Feb 1886
label: Collection Date
content: Feb.23, 1886
name: label: Collector
content: Ensign U S N John B. Bernadou
label: Donor Name
content: Ensign U S N John B. Bernadou
notes: label: Notes
content: OILED PAPER. USED FOR KEEPING COMBS AND SPREAD OUT WHILE COMBING ONE'S HAIR. "PITCHOP" REFERS ALSO TO COMB BOX.
label: Notes
content: Folded piece of oiled paper, 46" x 53" when opened and laid out flat. Chang-Su Houchins identified it as a mat used by women to catch hair which falls out during combing. Described in Hough's article in the 1891 Report of the National Museum, p. 462, last paragraph. Specimen is marked "P.L. Jouy 12/1887", but this appears to be an error, possibly added later.
label: Notes
content: "Late 19th century. Oiled and stencil-decorated paper. This is a folded, square piece of oiled paper used by women for storing combs and other implements and for use while combing hair. Here the top fold is decorated with four white stenciled ideographs, one in each of the four corners, and each one within a circle. Read together the message says: subok gangnyeong [May you be blessed with peace, health, and long life]. An ideographic design known as ssang-hui or double-joy, is stenciled within a roundel in the center. The reverse also is decorated with a pair of white stenciled cranes facing each other in flight, within a large circle in the center, on a geometric ground. When unfolded, this becomes a rectangular mat. Several pocket-like folds are designed to hold combs and bitchige 1=l) ~1 J-Il [hair parting implement]. When laid flat, it can also serve to catch falling strands as a woman combs her hair. Hough's entry for this item says, "Woman's mat," and "the purpose of the mat is to catch the hair." Collected in Seoul. Ref: Hough Korean Catalog p. 462" [from: "An Ethnography of the Hermit Kingdom: The J.B. Bernadou Korean Collection 1884-1885", Chang-su Cho Houchins, 2004, number 92]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 13 Mar 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Seoul, Kyonggi (Gyeonggi) Province, Korea, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Not Given
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 016970
label: USNM Number
content: E153612-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Comb Wrapper
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 117.5 cm
label: Width
content: 136.5 cm