Knife Sheath
1100s
- Medium
- Gilt silver (body) and brass (trefoil-shaped ring)
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Dimensions
- length: 21.7 cm (8 9/16 in.)
- Culture
- Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Korean Art
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Made by rolling a flat piece of silver plate, this knife sheath is decorated on each side with oval panels, including two larger middle panels showing an image of rising dragons with ring-punched scales. The circular upper panels bear the image of seated phoenixes. The flat bottom is engraved with a pair of fish, symbolizing harmonious unity. The trefoil-shaped ring attached to the tip of the sheath allows a string to connect it as a pendant to a belt. In medieval Korea, a miniature sheath such as this was considered an important fashion item, especially for elite members of the ruling class.
