<em>Portrait of Chief Minister Han Ik-mo</em>, last half of 18th century. Ink and light color on silk, 62 3/8 × 26 1/8 in. (158.4 × 66.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. John P. Lyden, 86.271.7 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.271.7_SL3.jpg)

Portrait of Chief Minister Han Ik-mo, last half of 18th century. Ink and light color on silk, 62 3/8 × 26 1/8 in. (158.4 × 66.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. John P. Lyden, 86.271.7 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.271.7_SL3.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

This Korean hat is so distinctive. What’s behind this design?

Hats were a status symbol in Joseon period Korea. Men had different hats for different occasions. Black was the most common color and red (like the example below this portrait) was for elite members of government. On the other side of the case you will see another hat made of horsehair that takes the form of a mountain range with tall peaks, and was meant for scholars! The hat that the man wears in this portrait, meanwhile, is the hat that would be worn by high ranking court officials.

Tell me more about these hats.

Hello! Korean men covered their heads at all times during the Joseon period, and had different hats for different ranks and occasions.

Although the women's items are more ornate, they still had relatively lower position than their husbands?

Yes, the women were not held to the Confucianist standards that men were. Women's items were seen as frivolous and distracting. At the time, men and women led almost entirely separate lives. Wealthy Joseon period homes, for instance, allowed men and women to entertain guests of their respective gender without ever interacting with each other.

Tell me more/

This is a portrait of Han Ik-mo, a late Joseon official who served as prime minister in 1772. He wears a samo, the black silk hat of a high-ranking court official.

It's painted in ink on silk and it dates to the second half of the 1700s.

Portrait of Chief Minister Han Ik-mo

Asian Art

This sensitive portrait depicts a gentleman who served as prime minister in 1772. He wears a samo, the black silk hat of a high-ranking court official, with its distinctive wing-like protrusions of woven horsehair. In his depiction of the flaps, the artist captures the patterns created when two layers of fine mesh overlap. Unlike the wide-brimmed gat, which was worn by all members of the upper classes, the samo was initially reserved for the most important courtiers. Like many trappings of royalty, the samo was later adopted by commoners as part of wedding-day regalia: until recently it was the standard headgear for bridegrooms.

MEDIUM Ink and light color on silk

Place Made: Korea

DATES last half of 18th century

DYNASTY Joseon Dynasty

DIMENSIONS 62 3/8 × 26 1/8 in. (158.4 × 66.4 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Asian Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 86.271.7

CREDIT LINE Gift of Dr. and Mrs. John P. Lyden

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION From "Korean Art Collection in the Brooklyn Museum" catalogue: Han Ik-mo (1703-?) was a late Joseon official who served as prime minister in 1772. His penname was Jeonggyeon and his posthumous name was Munsuk. Although the exact date of his death is unknown, a portrait of him painted when he was seventy-nine testifies to the fact that he enjoyed a long life. This painting depicts him as a young man wearing a red robe and a black silk hat. The contours of the folded robe, especially the hook-shaped folds, indicate that this painting was executed in the typical portrait style of the late eighteenth century.

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Portrait of Chief Minister Han Ik-mo, last half of 18th century. Ink and light color on silk, 62 3/8 × 26 1/8 in. (158.4 × 66.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. John P. Lyden, 86.271.7 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.271.7_SL3.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 86.271.7_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions

This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.