• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.20
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• pp.61-76
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• 2018

The National Museum of Korea conducted conservation treatmenton the armor in its collection for the purposes of public display and appropriate preservation. This was preceded by a literature study on the types and features of the armor in order to collect basic data for secure and accurate conservation treatment. The literature study found that during the Joseon dynasty, armor was named in reflection of precise details including the color, material, status of the wearer, and even the certain parts of a suit of armor. In general, the name of armor includes the details in the order of color, underlying textile, and scale material (e.g., iron, leather). The former part of the name presents the features of the garment and the latter part refers to the material of the scales or the status of the wearer. The study also found that main materials used in armor include textiles, leather, and metal, and armor can be classified by the materials of the scales-e.g., metal armor (鐵甲), leather armor (皮甲), paper armor (紙甲), paper-and-fabric armor (淹心甲), silk armor (緞甲). Joseon-period armor can also be classified into four types according to its structure and the method of wearing, and overcoat(袍)-style armor was the most widely used in the period following the Japanese Invasion of Joseon (1592-1598) through the late nineteenth~early twentieth century. Overcoat-style armor was commonly worn by infantry, and the four examples of armor with leather scales at the National Museum of Korea belong to this category.