Ipsa : Korean Traditional Silver or Gold Inlaying

Chapter 1 About Ipsa

Definition of Ipsa 14
History of Ipsa 20
Uses of Ipsa 39
Arts of Ipsa 47
Motifs of Ipsa 54

Chapter 2 Crafting Ipsa

Inlay by Incising 76
Inlay by Texturing 86

Chapter 3 Enjoying Ipsa

Swords of Sovereignty from the Three Kingdoms Period 100
Balance of Gold and Silver in the Unified Silla 102
Ascending Buddhist Ideals, Goryeo Hyangwan and Hyanghap 104
Jeongbyeong and Subyeong with Landscape Motifs 108
Glamorous Tastes of Aristocratic Arts of Goryeo 112
Authority and Science at Joseon Court 116
Daily Life of Seonbi, Joseon Literati 120
Joseon Buddhism Inscribed in Sanskrit Letters 126
Contemporary Ipsa 130

Appendix

Masters 146
Craft & Design Map 147
Hyangwan Inscriptions Referring to Metal Inlaying 148
List of Active Ipsajang in the Joseon Period 150
List of Artifacts and Illustrations 152
Bibliography 156
Collaborators 157
Cooperation Organizations 158
Index 159

When it comes to Ipsa techniques, expressions vary with each researcher from Kkiun Ipsa(inlay by incising), Seon Ipsa(wire inlay), Myeon Ipsa(sheet inlay), Jjoeum Ipsa(inlay by texturing), Pomok Sanggam(cloth gradation inlay) or Nungeum Sanggam(gradation inlay), etc. Such interchangeable usage of terminology attributed each time according to characteristic patterns or methods has only added to the confusion. Therefore, this books adopts the terminology from The Quintessence of Korean Metal Crafts: Ipsa(1997, National Museum of Korea), as it categorizes Ipsa into the two most exemplary terms, the most basic Ipsa technique: ‘inlay by incising’ and ‘inlay by texturing’, the Ipsa technique mainly used in late Joseon period. This seems most appropriate since these two exemplary terms have been revised and implemented by the National Museum of Korea and sufficiently describe the production process and methods of Ipsa.

-from.‘ Chapter 1. About Ipsa’

Three Kingdoms Period and Unified Silla Period
The first use of inlay techniques on the Korean peninsula can be confirmed from about the 1st century AD in western North Korea, what were then Chinese Han’s Commanderies of Nakrang and Daebang. Numerous gold and silver inlay craftworks, such as the tube-shaped metal piece with gold and silver inlaid landscape motif expressing mountain, cloud, bird and animal(山雲鳥獸文筒形金具), were excavated from a Nakrang tomb near what is now Pyongyang. It can be assumed that Korean inlay techniques haddeveloped uniquely from the early Three Kingdoms period based on the introduction of refined Chinese metal craft techniques brought with migrants after the demise of the Four Commanderies of Han.
The oldest verifiable Korean inlay artifact is the late 4th century Baekje iron sword with looped pommel adorned with silver inlay, excavated in Hwaseongri, Cheonan, Chungnam province. More than twenty of these swords, symbolizing authority, from the Three Kingdoms period, were excavated in ancient Baekje, Gaya and Silla tombs.

-from.‘ Chapter 1. About Ipsa’

Gold or silver inlay, traditionally the representative technique of surface ornamentation, refers to arranging metal elements of different colors to aesthetic visual effects. As depicted above, metal inlay come in two main varieties: inlay by incising and inlay by texturing. Inlay by incising refers to engraving grooves on a metal surface to fill them by incising different kind of metal in a non-soldering way, which was mainly used in the Goryeo period, while inlay by texturing of Joseon depicts the inlay technique in which a base metal is chiseled to create a cloth-like regular texture and metal filaments are fixed into shallow depressions in the texture. These two techniques share the purpose of decorating a metal object by setting a disparate metal on it, but their work processes are completely different.

-from.‘ Chapter 2. Crafting Ipsa’