The crowns of Gaya refers to two excavated pieces that are believed to be the headgear of the elite of the

Gaya Confederacy Gaya (, ) was a Korean confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period. The traditional period used by historians for Gaya chronology is AD 42–53 ...

. These crowns share the general traditions of Korean crowns, such as the use of diadems, which follows the tradition of the

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

and the use of headbands with uprights, most notably used in the

crowns of Silla The Crown (headgear), crowns of Silla were made in the Korean kingdom of Silla approximately in the 5th–7th centuries. These crowns were excavated in Gyeongju, the former capital of Silla, and are designated National treasures of South Kore ...

. However, the Gaya crowns are obviously distinctive from the traditions of the

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

and

and shows that the Gaya people enjoyed an independent culture.

National Treasure No.138

The Geumgwan mit busok geumgu refers to a collection of artifacts including a gold

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and its accompanying accessories, finger rings, and earrings. The crown is currently housed at the

Hoam Art Museum The Ho-Am Art Museum (in Korean: 호암미술관) is an art museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, approximately 40 km south of Seoul. It holds a number of traditional Korean paintings. The museum was built in 1982 by Samsung and named ...

. This artifact, along with its accompanying accessories, was designated as a national treasure of Korea on December 21, 1971. The crown is believed to be from the fifth or sixth century CE and the crown measures in height, in width, and in diameter. The crown has three distinctive parts. The headband is made of gold. It is decorated with tiny gold mirrors which are attached to the band. The band itself is incised with dotted decorations running on the top and bottom in a diamond motif. Attached to the band are jade

gogok ''Gobeunok'' or ''Gogok'' are comma-shaped or curved beads and jewels that appeared from middle age of Mumun Period (1500 to 300 BC) through the Three Kingdoms of Korea (57 BC to 668 AD). The ''Gogok'' (곡옥; 曲玉) is posited by researchers ...

. However, whether these beads were supposed to be on the headband is still debated because they were apparently not found on the crown when it was excavated. The appendages of the crown are placed equidistant from each other on the circular headband. These appendages look similar to

fleur de lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

symbol but are more often described as grass-shaped or floral-shaped. Each appendage is identical and has three sets of prongs flowing downward at a right angle and is topped with a jewel-shaped finial. These appendages resemble a crown of Baekje which also had flowing floral-like patterns instead of the stylistic crowns of Silla. Finally, the crown came with four floral-shaped ornaments which were probably used as diadems. Jade

were attached to the gold ornaments as well as tiny gold disks. It is believed that these ornaments follow Silla styles and are also incised with dots in a diamond motif like the headband of the crown.

References

* {{cite web , title=Three Kingdoms-era crown and accessories , website=Korea JoongAng Daily , date=2018-01-07 , url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2018/01/07/koreanHeritage/Three-Kingdomsera-crown-and-accessories/3042985.html , ref={{sfnref , Korea JoongAng Daily , 2018 , access-date=2022-07-16

External links

Cultural Heritage: National Treasure No.138Hoam Art Museum: Leeum Gallery
National Treasures of South Korea Gaya Archaeology of Korea Korean art

National Treasure No.138

See also

References

External links