South Korea · Jewelry / Decorative Craft
노리개 (Norigae)
Norigae is the traditional Korean decorative accessory — a pendant ornament worn hanging from the jeogori jacket tie of a Hanbok — combining a central ornamental element (jade, amber, coral, or silver), silk cord knotting (maedeup — cross-reference CRAFT-0275), and a silk tassel. The norigae is simultaneously jewelry, textile craft, and knot work — three distinct skills integrated into a single object. The silk tassel making (the final element) involves winding and cutting hundreds of silk threads to precise equal length and binding them at the head to produce the characteristic full, even tassel. The tassel is assessed by holding it vertically and allowing it to hang freely — each thread must fall to exactly the same length.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not inscribed internationally; within Korean ICH Living National Treasure system
Lidded bowls and rounded vessels built from hanji scraps: waste paper is finely torn, soaked in water, mixed with glue and kneaded into a clay-like paste, which is laid onto a mold or frame in repeated layers, each dried before the next,…
Hanji, Korean mulberry paper, cut into strips, twisted into tight cords and twined like basketry into vessels, lanterns, shoes, quivers, brush holders and trays.
Joseon-era (1392-1897) Korean embroidered pillows worked with sipjangsaeng, the "ten symbols of longevity" -- a grouping of sun, clouds, mountains, water, pine trees, turtles, deer, cranes, peaches, and the herb of eternal youth that at…
Baekja is the white porcelain tradition of the Joseon Dynasty — the defining ceramic aesthetic of Korean Confucian culture, valued for its pure white surface, subtle forms, and spiritual restraint.
Pojagi is the traditional Korean wrapping cloth — used to wrap and carry gifts, food, books, and ceremonial objects — and in its patchwork form (jogakbo) is one of the most sophisticated textile composition traditions in Asia.
Andong Po is the traditional hand-woven hemp cloth of Andong city in North Gyeongsang province — one of the finest linen-like textiles in Asia, woven from hand-spun hemp fiber on a backstrap or floor loom to produce a fabric so fine it was…
A shallow-engraving decorative silverwork technique historically centered in the Armenian city of Van, in which a design is cut into a silver surface and filled with niello, a black alloy of sulfur, copper, silver, and lead melted into the…
Filigrana — the hand-working of extremely fine gold or silver wire, twisted and braided to fill hollow decorative forms — has made Luque the formally branded 'Capital Universal de la Filigrana' (Universal Capital of Filigree), a city whose…
A braided-cord embroidery technique originating in mid-18th-century French military and court costume decoration, in which flat, herringbone-woven soutache cord is hand-stitched with invisible stitches around beads and cabochon stones to…
Jewelry made from recycled silver set with native Uruguayan stones, chiefly amethyst quartz and agate, each piece produced and signed by an individual member artisan.
The drawing, coiling, twisting, and soldering of fine gold and silver threads into openwork jewelry — earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets — in Catacaos, Piura, in Peru's far north.
Ryukyu raden (螺鈿) is lacquer inlaid with shell, above all yakōgai, the great green turban shell of southern Ryukyuan waters.