iSeoul Museum of Craft ArtAnguk-dong, Jongno-gu
From Lacquer Tree to Lacquerware
Traces the journey of lacquerware craftsmanship, from cultivating lacquer trees to the artisan techniques behind finished pieces.
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One box holds 57 samples of lacquer decoration: mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, lacquer painting, crushed eggshell. Its partner holds 92 more, lacquer at each stage of refining plus the pigments and thinners mixed into it. The museum spent about two years building these "lacquer craft boxes" and has applied for a patent.
You start with what comes off the tree: seeds, fruit, the pots that catch scraped sap, and colonial-era reports on tapping trials from 1916 to 1925. Then come the glass test plates artisans made to check a batch, and a light box of microscope cross-sections. The science section centres on urushiol, the compound that gives some people a rash after a bowl of ottak.
It's 149 specimens in the Craft Archive room, an open-storage space on the 3rd floor of Exhibition Building 2: samples and process, not finished showpieces. Entry is free, but the room opens only Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 to 17:30, so the Friday late opening doesn't apply. Register at the kiosk by the door first.
Look for
The Techniques Box
Look for 57 samples of decoration by period, from mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell inlay to lacquer painting and crushed eggshell set into the surface.
The Materials Box
92 samples of lacquer at each stage of processing, laid out with the pigments that colour it and the thinners that set its consistency.
Sap pots and tapping reports
The containers used to catch sap scraped from the tree, shown beside the colonial Government-General's reports on lacquer tapping trials from 1916 to 1925.
Artisans' glass test plates
Glass plates an artisan coated to check the state of a batch, shown with mother-of-pearl, the raw shell it comes from and pattern drawings.
The cross-section light box
Microscope photographs of sliced lacquer layers, lit from below, the method used to work out how an old piece was made.
Good for
- An Hour Or Less
- Cheap Culture
- Locals Who've Seen It All
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You can only go at the weekend: the archive room opens Tuesday to Friday only.
Also at Seoul Museum of Craft Art
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Image credits
9
- From Lacquer Tree to LacquerwareCourtesy of Seoul Museum of Craft Art
- 2mc1dj: Event Volume 3Exhibition Graphic, 2026. Graphic Design: Seungtaek Hong.
- VerticalsExhibition Graphic, 2026. Graphic Design: Kim Gunyong (wowsan guardian).
- Haneyl Choi: SleepwalkingExhibition Graphic, 2026. Graphic Design: Moonsick Gang.
- Seoul Museum of Craft ArtYoungjin, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Art Sonje CenterBonnielou2013 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- MMCA Seouljens kuu, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Arario Museum in SpaceSeoul Institute, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- National Museum of Korean Contemporary HistoryTrace84 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0