Subject: 양반, 兩班 scholar-official
Culture: Korean gentry
Setting: late Joseon dynasty, Korea 17-19thc
Object: 흑립 gat hat, tang-geon skullcap
* Fairy Closet
* Crow Collection of Asian Art
"Hats (gat and tang-geon)
Korea, Joseon period (1392-1910), 19th century
Woven horsehair with black lacquer ...
"During the Joseon period, all well-dressed men wore a tall hat (gat) with a cylindrical crown tapering slightly toward the top and a lightly arched brim of medium width. When worn correctly, the brim did not encircle the forehead and temples like a Western hat, but rather sat well up and back on the head. Either a black silk ribbon or a bamboo-link-covered cord (gatkkeun), as seen here, was tied under the chin to keep the hat in place. This hat cord has also been decorated with expensive natural amber beads between the bamboo links.
"If the wearer was a high official, he wore an official's skullcap (tang-geon) under his gat; the shape and material of the cap sometimes denoted his rank. The simplest of these, as seen here, was used to cover a top-knot (sang-tu), and merely indicated the wearer was a married man.
"Both of these hats are made of woven horsehair taken from either the mane or the tail of a horse. The woven horsehair fabric was cut and formed over a mold, with layers of black lacquer applied to hold the shape. A narrow wooden circular frame was often used as a short extension of the crown below the brim in order to give the hat strength, and to ensure the hat sat well up on the head."
