Belt Buckle (1100s–1200s): Art, History and Details

Belt Buckle (1100s–1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Metallurgy advanced remarkably in the Goryeo period (918–1392), explaining why a large quantity of sophisticated metal artifacts with delicate designs were used not only as daily accessories but also as burial goods. Once coated in brilliant gold, belt buckles like this one were fixed to leather belts.

Object facts

• Title: Belt Buckle
• Date: 1100s–1200s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: Gilt bronze
• Dimensions: Diameter: 5 cm (1 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1917.1023

A detail from the museum

The Japanese antique dealer Yamanaka & Company, which opened its branches in New York (1895) and Boston (1899), sold small Korean archaeological materials such as this belt buckle to American collectors in the early 20th century.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
• Choi, Eung-chon. “Metal Arts in the Late Goryeo Period [고려후기의 금속공예].” Kangjwa misulsa (2004): 125–156.
• Choi, Eung-chon. “Craftsmen in Metal Arts in the Goryeo Dynasty [고려시대 金屬工藝의 匠人].” Misulsahak yeongu (2004): 171–192.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.