• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.201-215
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• 2014

This study explores the kinds and types of dyes used in the Joseon Dynasty. Some literature including "Sanga Yorok", "Gyuhap Chongseo", "Imwon Gyeonjeji" were reviewed for this purpose. The findings are as follows. The colors obtained from the dyes were divided into seven color series, such as red, yellow and orange, green, blue, purple, brown, gray and black. These are practical color categories differed from abstract five cardinal colors [五方色]. The diachronic dyes used during the Joseon Dynasty were safflower and Japanese alder bark for red, indigo leaves for blue, gromwell for purple, chestnut tree bark for brown. The representative dyes used in the late Joseon Dynasty were safflower and sappan wood for red, wild pear tree bark and Pentapetes phoenicea for yellow and orange, indigo leaves for blue, sappan wood and gromwell for purple, mulberry tree for brown, and Chinese ink for gray. Common dyes used both in Joseon and China were safflower and sappan wood for red, pagoda tree blossom for yellow, a combination of pagoda tree blossom (or Amur cork tree) and indigo leaves (or sediment) for green, indigo leavers or sediment for blue, sappan wood and hollyhock for purple, and a combination of indigo leaves and Galla Rhois for gray and black.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.192-201
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• 2013

This study explores the culture surrounding the dyeing of royal garments in the late Joseon Dynasty. The findings of this study are as follows. First, several dyes were used to color royal garments, such as jicho, honghwa, danmok, simhwang, sambo, goehwa, chija, and namjong. Mordants such as maesil, hwanghoemok, yeohoe, and baekban were also used with the dyes. Second, the Sangeuiwon (尙衣院) was the department in charge of the purchasing of dyes and the entire dyeing practice. It was the Seonhyecheong (宣惠廳) and the Hojo (戶曹) who provided revenue to the Sangeuiwon through a wongong, regular tribute, and a bokjeong (supplementary tribute). Additionally, additional dyes, if found to be insufficient, could be provided by the Hojo. Every year the Hojo provided jicho, honghwa, and danmok to the Sangeuiwon, and sometimes imported namjong from China. Third, royal garments were, in most cases, dyed by the Sangeuiwon's professional dyers and court ladies belonging to the sewing department in each palace. Naenongpo (內農圃) eunuchs were in charge of the indigo crops of each palace. Finally, more dye was used in royal garments than in the clothes of commoners to obtain a deeper shade of color. In addition, dyers tried to achieve a clear and vivid tone in their garments. Silk which absorbed color relatively easily, was dyed inside the palace using an ice vat filled with fresh indigo leaves; however, cotton was difficult to dye and was sent to professional indigo dyers outside the palace.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.80-97
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• 2023

By taking wallpaper specimens from Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, and Chilgung Palace preserved from the late Joseon Dynasty to the present, we planned in this study to determine the types and characteristics of the paper used as wallpaper in the Joseon royal family. First, we confirmed the features of paper hanging in the palaces with old literature on the wallpaper used by the royal family based on archival research. Second, we conducted a field survey targeting the royal palaces whose construction period was relatively clear, and analyzed the first layer of wallpaper directly attached to the wall structure after sampling the specimens. Therefore, we confirmed that the main raw material was hanji, which was used as a wallpaper by the royal family, and grasped the types of substances(dyes and pigments) used to produce a blue color in spaces that must have formality by analyzing the blue-colored paper. Based on the results confirmed through the analysis, we checked documents and the existing wallpaper by comparing the old literature related to wallpaper records of the Joseon Dynasty palaces. We also built a database for the restoration of cultural properties when conserving the wallpaper in the royal palaces. We examined the changes in wallpaper types by century and the content according to the place of use by extracting wallpaper-related contents recorded in 36 cases of Uigwe from the 17th to 20th centuries. As a result, it was found that the names used for document paper and wallpaper were not different, thus document paper and wallpaper were used without distinction during the Joseon Dynasty. And though there are differences in the types of wallpaper depending on the period, it was confirmed that the foundation of wallpaper continued until the late Joseon Dynasty, with Baekji(white hanji), Hubaekji(thick white paper), jeojuji(common hanji used to write documents), chojuji(hanji used as a draft for writing documents) and Gakjang(a wide and thick hanji used as a pad). As a result of fiber identification by the morphological characteristics of fibers and the normal color reaction(KS M ISO 9184-4: Graph "C" staining test) for the first layer of paper directly attached to the palace wall, the main materials of hanji used by the royal family were confirmed and the raw materials used to make hanii in buildings of palaces based on the construction period were determined. Also, as a result of analyzing the coloring materials of the blue decorative paper with an optical microscope, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopic analysis(UV-Vis), and X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD), we determined that the type of blue decorative paper dyes and pigments used in the palaces must have formality and identified that the raw materials used to produce the blue color were natural indigo, lazurite and cobalt blue.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.120-134
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• 2021

A Woolen carpet from the late Joseon Dynasty was unearthed in the process of repairing Seongjeonggak in Changdeokgung. Since relics are rarer than documentary records, the woolen carpet is highly valued as a relics. It is presumed to have been woven in the late 19th or early 20th century because there is a record of repairing Seongjeonggak in 1907. In the carpet, a pattern is made by inserting colored yarn dyed yellow and red onto a reddish-purple ground weave. The selvage of the woolen carpet used cotton thread, and jute is used for the warp and weft of the ground weave. The colored patterns is made of wool in the form of loop pile. Cut piles may appear occasionally when the colored yarn changes, but are almost invisible from the surface because they are pressed tightly with a shuttered weft. Making carpets with jute and wool is thought to be influenced by the Brussels carpets of the mid-18th century. Furthermore, the woolen carpet is torn and the pattern is completely unclear; however, it is understandable that the pattern is partially repeated. Microscopic and Fourier transform-Infrared spectrometer(FT-IR) analyses were performed for the above investigation. To identify the dyes used in relics, we compared them with natural dyed fabric samples based on chromaticity measurements and Ultraviolet/Visible spectrophotometer(UV-Vis) analysis. These analyses revealed that the woolen carpet's dyed green yarn did not use indigo, and reddish-purple ground weave is estimated to have used Caesalpinia sappan.