Abstract
This study was carried out to find out some similarities and differences of the ornamental technique and motifs in folk furniture between Denmark and Korea which had quite different background of development of folk furniture as one of a cross-cultural study. Furniture made and used in the 18th and 19th century was investigated in order to eliminate the influence of internationalism in the design area in the 20th century. This study was fulfilled by many study trips all over the districts in Denmark to identify Danish folk furniture as well as literature study. Study trips to folk museums. Insa-dong, Janghanpyung furniture market were done for Korean folk furniture. Characteristics of ornament in Danish folk furniture were as followings; Main materials of the Danish folk furniture were conifers, especially pine tree, as pine was very common and easy to get from their surroundings. The most popular and unique types of decoration in Danish folk furniture was painting. Colors used in painted furniture were very bright and vivid. This might be a reaction to the long and dark winter of Scandinavian countries. Motifs used in Danish folk furniture had been chosen to reflect their surroundings. Flowers, six-angular stars, animals, human figures and Biblical motifs were popular sources of decoration for Danish folk furniture. Characteristics of Korean folk furniture were as followings; Main materials of Korean folk furniture were broad-leaved trees as well as conifers, because of their beautiful wood grain. The Korean ways of decoration were different from Danish ones. The method of painting with bright from Danish ones. The method of painting with bright colors was hardly ever used in Korea, except only in lacquering. The most popular decoration method for Korean folk furniture was revealing the natural wood grain with transparent vegetable oil finish, instead of painting. Metal ornament was unique to Korean folk furniture. therefore a lot of metal ornaments were attached on the furniture. Motifs used in Korean folk furniture were more like symbolic than Danish ones. Korean people tried to express their longings and norms through the motifs, such as longevity, prosperity, good luck, and many sons, etc. Therefore, it was natural for Korean motifs to have special symbolic meanings.