Topknot Pin (918–1392): Art, History and Details

Topknot Pin (918–1392) 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 were used not only as daily accessories but also as burial goods. Men put their hair in a knot at the top of their heads. To keep their long hair from falling, a bronze pin such as this one was used.

Object facts

• Title: Topknot Pin
• Date: 918–1392
• Culture: Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: silver
• Dimensions: Overall: 5.1 cm (2 in.)
• Collection: Korean Art
• Department: Korean Art
• Accession number: 1917.1030

A detail from the museum

This bronze hairpin was for a man to fix his topknot.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018.
• Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.
• 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.