A Study on Flower Patterns Found in the Fabrics of the Joseon Dynasty

The purpose of this study is to identity the representative flower patterns in the Joseon Dynasty and investigate their chronological transitions. In the early Joseon Dynasty (i.e. 16th century), lotus patterns were very popular. Often lotus patterns were twisted around by ivy-leaves or decorated with treasures pattern in the margin. In the mid Joseon Dynasty (i.e. from 17th to mid 18th century), however, lotus patterns evolved from the typical lotus and ivy pattern and diversified into four types. In the 19th century, lotus pattern almost disappeared from the textiles of everyday dresses and were only found in the textiles of formal dresses or in special cases as in the cover pages of Buddhist scriptures. Poeny patterns was rarely used in textiles of 16th century, presumably because of the huge popularity of the lotus pattern. However, suddenly in the 17th century, Poeny patterns appeared quite frequently. There were 3 types of Poeny patterns. Poeny patterns became more popular over the years and it finally became a primary motive in textiles patterns for 100 years starting in the late 19th century. There were two types of Poeny patterns : one was realistic and true to life even in sizes, the other was more symbolic. Textile patterns combining four kinds of flowers started to appear from the late Koryo Dynasty but Flower patterns representing four seasons with distinct shapes appeared only in the 17th century. They could be categorized into three types. In the late 18th century, Flower patterns representing four seasons no longer appears in textile patterns, presumably due to a new preference for lucky omen over natural motives.

조선시대 직물의 시기감정을 위한 꽃무늬 조형특성 연구