The Antique Ball Norigae.

The story

Norigae is the ornament tied at the goreum, the ribbon that closes the jeogori. Across the Joseon dynasty the form lived as both daily ornament and household heirloom, carried by mothers and daughters across generations. The antique finish names the surface of a piece that has lived in a wooden box for many years.

Cast metal shaped into a ball at the central element, finished in an antique gradient that reads as patina rather than polish. Silk cord throughout, with a long hand-tied tassel beneath. The piece is sized for ceremonial hanbok and reads as a household ornament that has already been worn at three weddings before this one.

Worn to the hwangap where the elder sits at the center of the photograph and the household gathers around. The ball catches the warm directional light, the tassel falls clean. The norigae for the photograph that the family frames and keeps in the entryway. The piece that already feels like an heirloom on the first wear.