Painting: Chinese Lion (Munbae-Do)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 24 Feb 1886
name: label: Donor Name
content: Ensign U S N John B. Bernadou
notes: label: Notes
content: From card [for all 12 paintings, E77052-0 through E77052-11]: "12 Glue-color folk paintings on paper, used for room decoration or storeroom door amulets. - Chang-su Houchins. See pp. 468-9 in "The Bernadou, Allen, and Jouy Korean Collections in the U.S. National Museum" by Walter Hough in USNM AR 1891. All 12 paintings are described there."
label: Notes
content: From card [for E77052-10], painting original # 11: "Mythical unicorn-lion (haet'ae) with collar and bells around its neck, and with tongues of flame issuing from its feet. Yi period (1391 - 1910) pujokto (talismanic painting) used on doors to safeguard storeroom. Woodblock print colored with glue paint. 13.5 x 11.25 in. Smithsonian Photographic Services negative number 73-11095, which is available as a black and white image or color slide under this same negative number."
label: Notes
content: "Late 19th century. Color woodcut. The mythological Chinese lion, or haetae, represents energy and power. This print safeguards against fire. The flames issuing from the lion's head and paws allude to the principle of sympathetic magic. The collar with bells resembles the print of a dog (cat. no. 125). In Korean shamanistic tradition, the bells are to communicate with spirits. The pattern of spirals utilized here is talismanic as well as pan of the decoration. Below the lion's right foot are coral branches. Coral is a symbol of longevity in Chinese tradition (Hawley, 1971: illustration number 140 in the section under the title The Hundred Antiques). Hough notes this print is one of a set of four munbae-do in the Bernadou collection. Collected in Seoul. Ref: Hough Korean Catalog p. 469; Published "MBM 'Miguk bangmul-gwan sojang Hanguk munhwajae' or The Korean Relics in the United States", 1989: 149." [from: "An Ethnography of the Hermit Kingdom: The J.B. Bernadou Korean Collection 1884-1885", Chang-su Cho Houchins, 2004, number 126]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 14 Mar 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Seoul, South Korea, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
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: E77052-10
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Painting
physicalDescription: label: Height
content: 34.5 cm
label: Width
content: 29 cm