Seal (918–1392): Art, History and Details

Seal (918–1392) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

A large quantity of bronze seals were excavated from tombs of the Goryeo dynasty. This seal bears two inscribed characters:子成, meaning "generational success." The red cinnabar paste is still visible, indicating it must have been used for signing various documents while its owner was alive.

Object facts

• Title: Seal
• Date: 918–1392
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 1.5 cm (9/16 in.); Base: 1 x 1 cm (3/8 x 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1917.1039

A detail from the museum

A large quantity of bronze seals excavated from tombs of the Goryeo dynasty is closely related to the development of metallurgy in 13th-century Korea that allowed the transition from wood type to movable metal type printing.

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.