Knife Sheath (1100s): Art, History and Details

Knife Sheath (1100s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Made by rolling a flat piece of silver plate, this knife sheath is decorated on each side with oval panels, including two larger middle panels showing an image of rising dragons with ring-punched scales. The circular upper panels bear the image of seated phoenixes. The flat bottom is engraved with a pair of fish, symbolizing harmonious unity. The trefoil-shaped ring attached to the tip of the sheath allows a string to connect it as a pendant to a belt. In medieval Korea, a miniature sheath such as this was considered an important fashion item, especially for elite members of the ruling class.

Object facts

• Title: Knife Sheath
• Date: 1100s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: Gilt silver (body) and brass (trefoil-shaped ring)
• Dimensions: length: 21.7 cm (8 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 2022.38

A detail from the museum

This 12th-century silver-gilt knife sheath is meant to be a pendent to a belt as a luxury ornament.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Kim, Eun-ae. "A Study of Repoussé Works of Goryeo [고려시대 타출공예연구]." Hanguk misulsahakhoe. (2007): 31–72.
• Bak, Jiyeong, Jihyeon Gim, Sora Jeong, Yuni Gim, and Minjeong Bak.고려 금속공예의 이해 [Understanding the Goryeo Metalwork]. Daejeon: Gungnip Munhwajae Yeonguso, 2020.
• McCormick, Sooa Im. “Knife Sheath: Glittering gift as a signifying accessory.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 62, no. 4 (December 2022): 27.

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.