Abstract
This research examines embroidery panels of Hwarot belonging to the Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A). There are a total of seven objects and are all disassembled into clothe pieces. They were classified into two groups according to their acquisition year. One group, four objects, was acquired by the Museum in 1920. Considering their materials, embroidery threads, techniques and formative characteristics of patterns, it can be assumed that the objects formed an original dress, Hwarot. Although they look very similar to the embroidery patterns of Hwarot belonging to National Folklore Museum of Korea, they are more finely embroidered with very thin embroidery thread that uses the Jarisu technique. There are some differences in used embroidery threads and embroidery skills between Hwarot artifacts of the National Museum of Korea and the V&A. The embroidery of the National Museum of Korea used thicker threads and longer (approximately 0.7cm) Jarisu stitch techniques. With these details, they would have been made in different time periods. Comparison of the V&A and Changdeok Palace' Hwarot objects show that their patterns' motifs are almost similar but the pattern units, expressions and embroidery techniques are different. Regarding the colors of their patterns, it is noticeable that the peonies are generally expressed in reddish and the lotus patterns are expressed in either bluish or purplish color. It seems that they are contrasted with red-colored flowers and show harmony between yin and yang symbolically. Three artifacts of another group were acquired in 1925. Two of them show patterns almost the same as those of the sleeves of Hwarot (no.33156, no.33158) in Chicago Field Museum collection. The pattern of the remaining object is very similar to Hansam of Hwarot (no.33158).
