Dragon-head panel for funerary bier

Korea

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 233

Images of monsters and dragons have long been used to ward off evil and bad luck. This semicircular carved and painted wood panel depicts a monstrous dragon. With its bulbous nose, tubular ears, and toothy grin, the dragon looks more humorous than ferocious. This is one of a pair of panels that once decorated a sangyeo (funerary bier) that carried a deceased person to their burial site. The notches indicate that the panels would have supported intertwining dragons,

Dragon-head panel for funerary bier, Polychrome painted wood, Korea

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