Rare Large Antique Four-Level Korean Scholar Bookcase with COA

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This is a rarely available large Korean bookcase (known as Chaek Jang) circa second half of 19th of late Joseon … Read more This is a rarely available large Korean bookcase (known as Chaek Jang) circa second half of 19th of late Joseon period. Constructed in red pine, Korean elmwood (zelkova) and accessorized with yellow brass hardware, the chest stands over five feet. It was a significant piece of furniture of a wealthy household, designated for the study of the men's quarter to store valuable books and manuscripts and also to display small scholarly objects.
Composed of four levels, the bookcase features an overhang plank top and short legs connected with stretchers. The frame was constructed in red pine. The top level is an open shelf which was used for stacking books but more likely as a display area to showcase object d'art and other scholarly processions. The second level features a row of four small drawers with zelkova front above a storage unit with quarte bi-folder lattice doors that open all the way to the edge. The lattice design provides air to the books and manuscripts and may have originally been covered with rice papers from inside. The third level is another open shelf but with planks on both sides instead of being open like the first level. The bottom level echoes the second with the matching lattice folding door and four zelkova skirt panels underneath, mirroring the row of drawers above. The use of brass hardware was sparse and only dictated by function. The rational and straightforward design centered on practicality, yet it impresses the viewer with a pleasing proportion and a sense of austerity, a humble aesthetic embraced by the Confucius scholars of the contemporary Joseon society.
The bookcase was purchased in South Korean in 1986 and it comes with a dated COA as shown.
Reference: compare this bookcase with a smaller two-level bookcase with lattice doors in the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, London. FE.9:2-1984 and FE.9:3-1984.
Illustrated: Beth McKillop. Korean Art and Design. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992. p.68;
Nick Pearce. "The Samsung Gallery of Korean Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum". London: Arts of Asia vol.22.6, 1992. 12912. See less