Books and Things

Ch’aekkado (冊架圖, lit.: ‘bookshelf painting’) is a sub-genre of ch’aekkŏri (冊거리, lit.: ‘books and things’). Both are types of still-life painting that prominently feature books and that are displayed on folding screens. Ch’aekkado are ch’aekkŏri in which the books and other objects are displayed on shelves (fig. 1). Other ch’aekkŏri are often referred to as “table top ch’aekkŏri”, since the display of objects on tables is another common form of composition. However, as ch’aekkŏri developed over time, painters started to experiment more. The table tops eventually disappeared entirely and a new composition in which the objects were arranged separately emerged (fig. 2). Sunglim Kim, “Chaekgeori: Multi-Dimensional Messages in Late Joseon Korea,” Archives of Asian Art 64, no. 1 (2014): 18-20. Sunglim Kim, “Still Life in Motion: The Origins and Development of Chaekgeori Painting,” Ars Orientalis 51 (2021): 83, 89-92.

Scholarship suggests that ch’aekkado were a preliminary to the other types of ch’aekkŏri. These assumptions are based on the presumed origin of the genre (which I will discuss in the steps that follow), as well as that the surviving screens reveal that the earliest screens were all ch’aekkado and used similar iconographies. This makes sense, as the genre initially developed at court, where painters followed strict manuals for producing artwork fit for royal usage. Kim 2014, 84. Sooa McCormick, “Taste of Distinction: Paintings of Scholars’ Accoutrements,” in Chaekgeori: The Power and Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens, eds. Byungmo Chung & Sunglim Kim (Seoul: Dahal Media, 2018): 50-1.