Books and Scholar’s Objects (Chaekgeori)

Korea

19th century

Eight-panel folding screen, ink and color on paper

Minneapolis Institute of Art

An eight-panel folding screen displays various objects and floral arrangements in a folk art style. Each panel features a distinct composition of scholarly items and decorative elements. An eight-panel folding screen displays various objects and floral arrangements in a folk art style. Each panel features a distinct composition of scholarly items and decorative elements. In the late 1700s in Korea, folding screens depicting books and other objects related to scholarly pursuits became popular among Korea’s educated elite and those who aspired to that social class. As is typical of folding screens in this genre (known in Korean as chaekgeori, or “books and things”), each panel of this screen features stacks of bound books together with an assortment of objects likely to be found in a scholar’s studio—lacquer tables, s