Engraved Brazier

Nickel
19th century
30(d) ×24.5(h) cm

This engraved brazier would have been used by a woman of the noble class during the Joseon era. A noble woman of the era would travel by palanquin, and this portable brazier would be filled with hot coals and used to keep her warm during her travel. The brazier is fashioned from nickel. On either side of the flower-like main body is a ring-shaped handle fashioned with a bamboo design, held in the mouth of an ornamental elephant figure.

Viewed from above, the opening of the brazier is encircled with an ornamental flower-shaped rim of twelve petals. The flower-like main body flows down from the rim in twelve sections, each section inscribed with symbols and auspicious omens wishing for long life, wealth and prosperity - peonies; a group of cranes standing in a pond in the moonlight; or a pine tree with herbs of eternal youth growing in its shade. In the spaces between these designs, four characters have been inscribed - 富(부)·貴(귀)·多(다)·男(남), expressing wishes for prosperity and wealth (富·貴) and many sons (多·男). These symbols and imagery show how the brazier was considered to be filled with the wishes of its owner.

The base portion of the brazier is inscribed with the samtaegeuk (삼태극), the circular symbol in three parts. Its three lobes have been made more ornate with patterns of lotus flower, bird, and peach blossom, and the lobes are rotated in different orientation on each facet of the base, creating a sophisticated and elegant composition.