Ornament with Bat Design (1200s): Art, History and Details

Ornament with Bat Design (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 artifacts with delicate designs were used not only as daily accessories but also as burial goods. A small trace of fibers found on the back of this type of metal ornament suggests that it might have been used as a brooch or pin to hold clothes together.

Object facts

• Title: Ornament with Bat Design
• Date: 1200s
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Diameter: 2.6 cm (1 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1917.1047

A detail from the museum

This metal ornament is part of a decorative brooch once used to hold clothes together.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

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

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.