A Study of the Transition Process of Baekje Gilt-Bronze Shoes and the Restoration of Their Production Technology

This paper aims to understand the development of Baekje gilt-bronze shoes through gilt-bronze shoes, one of the funerary ritual items that appeared in the 5th and 6th centuries, and to examine the Baekje goldsmithing technology applied to gilt-bronze shoes. The authors have studied the restoration of the original Baekje gilt-bronze shoes and comprehensively reviewed the results of the actual restoration process. Chapter Ⅱ outlined the transition process of gilt-bronze shoes based on previous research. Baekje gilt-bronze shoes were produced from around the 5th century, the late Hansung period, to the Ungjin period. Initially, the “凸” pattern and a lattice pattern are represented by cut-curving techniques. Later, dragon and lotus patterns appeared, and cut-curving and engraving techniques were used. In the Ungjin period, the gilt-bronze shoes were replaced by simpler patterns such as lattice patterns and wavy dot patterns, which shows that the view of gilt-bronze shoes has changed a lot from the previous period. Chapter Ⅲ described in detail the production techniques of each type of gilt-bronze shoe and examined how the four goldsmithing techniques found on gilt-bronze shoes—cut-curving, engraving, plating, and assembly-were used in different ways. Chapter Ⅳ described process by process and fabrication techniques that the author has observed in restoring numerous gilt- bronze shoes. By studying the production techniques of Baekje gilt-bronze shoes, this study has endeavored to share an aspect of research on the restoration of the production techniques of ancient plate-metal gilt-bronze artifacts.