Birds and Flowers

late 1800s

Birds and Flowers, late 1800s. Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Ten-panel folding screen with designs and inscriptions burnt into paper (pyrography); overall: 153.5 x 443 cm (60 7/16 x 174 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Alan Carter Covell and Kyu J. Pak-Covell 1991.80 The image depicted on this folding screen is not executed in ink, but rather a method called “pyrography" or "nakhwa,” a technique of burning the surface of materials ranging from wood to paper with the delicately controlled application of a heated metal tool. This technique became widely popular in the 19th century. Scorched marks here replace brush strokes. Nakhwa method is now designated as a Korean Intangible Cultural Asset by the Korean government. The painting is done by a pyrography method, a technique of burning the surface of materials with a heated tool.