KOREA FOUNDATION

Najeongukdangchomungyeongham, a sutra box inlaid with mother-of-pearl chrysanthemums and scrolls. This remarkable box,
decorated with extremely precise mother-of-pearl patterns, was used to store Buddhist ures during the Goryeo Dynasty.

Established in 1753, the British Museum is highly recognized for its history as well as its collection of over 8 million items from all around the world, spanning from prehistoric times to the modern era. Some of its pieces are Korean cultural treasures, which the museum has been collecting ever since it acquired a byeoljeon coin from the Joseon Dynasty in 1865. As of 2016, the museum possesses over 4,000 pieces of Korean cultural and historical artifacts.

In 2000, the British Museum’s KF Gallery was opened, allowing for a renewed appreciation of the Korean cultural assets on display. The gallery was refurbished four years later with a grant from the National Museum of Korea.

The Korean artifacts are managed by the Department of Asia, which oversees some 1,500 Korean items, ranging from prehistoric tools to contemporary artworks, and the Department of Coins and Medals, which maintains a collection of around 2,700 paper banknotes and coins, including coins from the Goryeo Dynasty, commemorative coins, and banknotes from pre-modern and modern Korea.

The museum’s collection contains such masterpieces as Najeongukdangchomungyeongham, a sutra box inlaid with mother-of-pearl chrysanthemums and scrolls, and a portrait of Joseon-era scholar-politician Chae Je-gong (Ch’ae Che-Gong in museum materials). Additional precious artifacts include a brass tableware set with seven side dishes called chilcheop bansanggi, fans of various styles, and jewelry, illustrating pre-modern and modern ways of life in Korea. The British Museum aims to enhance global citizens’ access to Korean culture through its various treasured Korean artifacts.

Source: The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage’s Survey of Korean Cultural Assets Held Overseas, Vol. 33: Korean Collections at the British Museum, 2016

the British Museum Korean Cultural Heritage prehistoric times KF Gallery