Fine Antique Korean Bandaji Chest Gangwha Island Joseon Dynasty

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A rare Korean Bandaji Chest circa late 19th century (toward the end of Joseon Dynasty) from Gangwha Island off the … Read more A rare Korean Bandaji Chest circa late 19th century (toward the end of Joseon Dynasty) from Gangwha Island off the coast of Gyeonggi Do (close to Seoul). The island is located in the estuary of the Han River where it flows into the Yellow Sea. Bandaji is known as drop-front half opening chest and was traditionally used to store household valuables and beddings.
Made with pine with a drop front door opens on one third up on the body. The chest is fitted with large black iron hardware with pieced openwork design, a typical style from Gangwha Island. The bespoken hardware is cast in the shape of square, rectangular and diamonds, their crisp outline and sharp rendering the piece a muscular appearance. The geometrical cutout openwork has Chinese characters embedded as part of the design, such as the archaic form of character "Fu" (wealth) on the large vertical hinges, “Xi” (happiness) on side hinges, and "Fo" (Fortune) on the lock plate. There is also a large loop handle on the twin-diamond plate on the center, a rather unusual feature that is reminiscent of the "Namdaemun" (South Gate) style from Pyongyang area, further north.
The chest rests on two block feet and retains two handles on the sides. The interior of the chest is unlined, relatively clean and exposes the natural pine wood grains. On the interior surface of the drop front door, two rows of old ink inscription can be made out, it is not completely illegible, but the Ganzi zodiac year was clearly readable as “XinHai” dating this piece at least pre-1911. Note that inscription was likely written years after the chest was made.
Reference: A nearly identical Bandaji in the collection of Korean University Museum is illustrated on page 44 (plate 31) in the book "Korean Furniture and Culture" by Bokcha, Soon and Youngsoon.
Another similar chest is illustrated on page 49 of the book "Traditional Korean Furniture" by Wrigt and Sill Pai. See less