Exhibitions
| Title | PAN-DA-JI: Modern-Type Cabinet That Captivated Foreigners | ||||||||||
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| Period | May 27 (Tue.) - November 16, 2025 (Sun.) | ||||||||||
| Venue | National Folk Museum of Korea, Paju | ||||||||||
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Overview of the Pop-Up Exhibition Inside the Storage
IntroductionThe cabinets known as pan-da-ji in Korean are a versatile form of storage furniture. As the Korean name suggests (pan meaning “half“ and da-ji roughly translating to “flap door”), the front side of this cabinet is divided in half and only the top half is designed to open and close. When combined with the functions of a Western desk and drawer, what shape and form might this uniquely beautiful traditional Korean wooden cabinet take? This pop-up exhibition at the National Folk Museum of Korea, Paju presents a desk-style cabinet donated by the family of Eileen Reeve Currier (1926-2024) from the United Kingdom. We hope you will enjoy the charm of this special piece of furniture in person.
Wooden Furniture That Combines the Exterior Form of a Korean Cabinet and the Function of a Western DeskThe exhibited desk-style wooden cabinet was sold at the antique shop of W. W. Taylor Co. in Seoul from the 1920s to the 1930s. At the time, foreigners followed the Korean pronunciation and called the cabinet “pan-da-ji” or “cash box.”
At first look, the piece appears to be a traditional Korean cabinet decorated with many butterfly-shaped metal ornaments. However, when its upper panel is opened down, the cabinet transforms into a desk, with the lower half comprising three drawers, embodying the practical function of Western furniture. This desk-style cabinet became popular among Americans and Europeans at the time and was given the nickname “Modern-Type,” being used as both functional piece of furniture and a decorative object. The Provenance and Value of Desk-Style Cabinet, Rare in Korea Born in Korea in 1926, Eileen Reeve Currier was raised in Korea until she relocated to Canada in 1940. Her parents were prominent socialites in the community of foreign residents in Korea, and they maintained ties with the Taylor family of W. W. Taylor & Co. Owned and operated by the Taylor brothers from the 1910s to the 1930s, W. W. Taylor & Co. was a general trading company located in today’s Taepyeong-ro and Sogong-dong area in Seoul. The brothers also ran an antique store that sold traditional Korean art and various furniture, including the “Modern-Type,” and it was at this very shop that the Currier family purchased their desk-style cabinet.
After many years in Korea, the Currier family emigrated to Canada in 1940 due to the impact of World War II, taking their cabinet with them. Eileen inherited the cabinet from her mother in 1992. Later, in 2023, the National Folk Museum of Korea team was introduced to Eileen during a field survey in the United Kingdom, and Eileen’s third daughter Janet Currier (b. 1963) donated the cabinet to the Museum in 2024 following Eileen’s death. The donated cabinet, now back in Korea, is an extremely rare piece of wooden furniture sold by W. W. Taylor & Co. that remains in the country today, and it holds high value in the museum collection given that it has a clear provenance with known records of its previous owners and usage. Thematic Expansion of Exhibitions to Folk Cultures of the World and Pop-Up Exhibitions at the National Folk Museum of Korea, Paju Storage In 2024, the National Folk Museum of Korea, Paju presented The Astronomical Chart Showing Both the Traditional Joseon and Western Styles, a Treasure of Korea, as a key highlight of its pop-up exhibition series. Along with this exhibition, the Museum’s decision to present Cabinet, which features the fusion of beauty and functionality of Korean and Western furniture, is tied to the thematic expansion of exhibitions to folk cultures of the world that the Museum is currently pursuing.
Also on display at the Paju branch are various items in the Museum’s collection related to this pop-up exhibition. Storage 16 presents various traditional Korean cabinets, while Donor’s Bookshelf at the Folklife Archives exhibits materials donated by Eileen Currier that offer a glimpse into life in modern Korea.     Exhibition Highlights
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| Date | 2025-06-05 | ||||||||||
| 이전글 | SOUVENIRS |
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| 다음글 | 다음글이 없습니다. |
