• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.6-21
• /
• 2022

This paper examines the material culture of the Goryeo-Joseon Period through changes in the design and crafting of the earpick. In Chapter 2, terminology regarding earpicks is presented, and the culture of using earpicks is examined through fragmentary literature of the late Joseon Dynasty. Earpicks were first a personal hygiene tool, and, secondly, they played a symbolic role as a style accessory used by men, analogous to the fan carried by women of the time. In Chapter 3, earpick form are classified by period, and characteristic decorative techniques for each form are examined. During the Goryeo Dynasty, earpicks were sanitary tools, and, according to their form, they were classified into single and complex types. From Unified Silla to Goryeo, there is an angled type of connecting rod, and in the Goryeo period, there appeared earpicks with colorful decorations on the handle, completely forged earpicks with a thin and long shape, and earpicks which were part of multitools. Common decorative techniques include line expression, gold plating, cheophomun on the background, and inlay. Earpicks of the Joseon Dynasty are classified into sanitary tools or ornaments, according to their purpose of use. Sanitary tools are divided into single type and complex type, and earpicks used as ornaments include headdress, norigae, and sunchu. For earpick accessories, headdresses and norigae were used for women, and sunchu was used for men. The decorative techniques of earpicks during the Joseon Dynasty were mainly seen in the headdress earpicks. They were decorated with various colors in the Cloisonné method or bejeweled. Research on everyday tools among crafts is lacking; greater attempts to read the flow of time and approaches to material culture through everyday tools should be made.