In the 12-fold screens, young boys are playing in the background of a palatial mansion. You may break into smile by looking at bright and innocent boys playing Korean traditional games such as Jegichagi, or a shuttlecock, kite-flying and knee-wrestling.
This is one of the auction items called “Baekdongjado 12 gokbyeong,” which will be shown at the first Dong-A Auction to be held next Wednesday. Six to 10-fold screen paintings were put up for auctions, but it is the first time that the giant 12-fold screen painting is featured. The screen painting was used in royal weddings and mainly placed in the bedchamber of the crown prince during the Joseon Dynasty. From its colorful decoration and beautiful painting on fine silk, it is believed to have been painted by royal artists.
The auction features a variety of antique documents and art pieces from the Joseon Dynasty. It also shows the original copy of letters by Jeong Yak-yong, also known as Dasan, who is recognized as one of the greatest scholars in the late Joseon.
In a letter written on August 3, 1820, Dasan expressed his deep concern. It was written when he returned home in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province after long years of exile in Gangjin, southern coast of Korea. He was giving vent to his thoughts over the situation where he and his first wife were at odds because he had a daughter with his concubine in the place of exile. The recipient is not known.
The 12-fold painting of royal hunting scene, which is rare to find in the arts of the Joseon period, is also to be unveiled. In the painting, thought to have been created between the late 17th and the early 18th century, characters appear to be those from the Qing Dynasty whereas the background is a landscape of the Joseon Dynasty. This painting is particularly regarded as a rare cultural property since there were various kinds of hunting scene paintings until Goguryeo when hunting remained to be an important means of life whereas they were hard to find during Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, which were a farming society.
Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com