郭汾陽行樂圖 Gwakbunyang hyangrakdo (Guo Ziyi‘s Enjoyment-of-Life Banquet Screen)

郭汾陽行樂圖 Gwakbunyang hyangrakdo (Guo Ziyi‘s Enjoyment-of-Life Banquet Screen) , early 1800s, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)

Where object was made: Korea

Material/technique: color; ink; silk

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 2015.0061

Not on display

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In 2015, Spencer Museum Curator Kris Ercums uncovered this screen, which was hidden from view in a blocked storage cabinet for many years. An attached note identified the screen’s maker as “a Korean artist” and the subject as “festivities in honor of an ancestor with one thousand descendants.” Based on a description from an early exhibition inventory featuring works from Sallie Casey Thayer’s collection, Ercums determined the screen’s provenance, or record of ownership, and deepened his investigation.
Closely inspecting the scenes painted across eight panels, Ercums recognized the depiction of a popular rendering of the lavish banquet of Chinese general Guo Ziyi, known as Gwakbunyang in Korea. While in China it was common for images of the famous general to be used in birthday celebrations, at the Korean Joseon court they were used primarily in weddings. Recent conservation of this screen revealed that it was likely produced at the Joseon palace, perhaps for a wedding ceremony.