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National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NRICH, DirectorGeneral, JI, Byong Mok) under the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) ofKorea published a report 「Natural Inorganic Pigment」 including researchachievements of restoration for disconnected traditional pigments, Dancheongand quality standards.

* Inorganic pigments : As a pigment made up of chemically inorganicmaterials, it is  manufactured with thenatural mineral itself or processed and pulverized natural minerals.

In Korea, the traditional pigments which is called ‘Dancheong' werepainted from the past to protect and to decorate major elements of woodenstructures such as temples and palaces maintaining their dignity. However,chemical pigments which were cheaper and could be easily supplied have beenbrought into Korea since the end of the 19th century, which caused decreaseddemand of traditional pigments and moreover, led to the stop of production anddisconnection of traditional manufacturing techniques. It raised the necessityto do research on its manufacturing technique and to prepare plans such relatedto its supply and application for on-site cultural heritage. 

Accordingly, the NRICH started ‘Research on manufacturing techniques andquality standards’ with the subject of natural inorganic pigments and traditionalsynthetic pigments in 2014 and completed it last year to restore Dancheongpigments scientifically, and to lay a foundation for applying and utilizingthem by standardizing their minimum quality. 

This report is the research outcome on ‘natural inorganic pigments’achieved for 5 years (2014~2018) including pivotal contents among achievementssuch as  scientific analyses on rawmaterials of minerals, re-production of pigments, commercial pigments as wellas secured source technology and traditional manufacturing techniques, andpreparation of quality standards.

From this report, the NRICH could prepare the foundation for supply ofraw materials from 64 regions of Korea by reviewing possibilities of the rawmaterial production and utilization of traditional pigments used forDangcheong, base on old documents and data from mineral resources atpresent.  

In addition, the traditional manufacturing techniques on Seokganju(Ironoxide, red ocher), Hwangto(Iron oxide, yellow ocher), Noerok(Celadonite), Baekto(Whiteclay), Seokrok(Malachite), Seokcheong(Azurite), Jusa(Cinnabar) were secured,Especially, the unprecedented  success inKorea about the re-production of cinnabar and manufacturing techniques (by thespecific gravity of pigments in glued water, and by using a bamboo containerand glued water) is remarkable. In the case of ‘Subi’ method,  it was registered to the patent technology(in terms of distinguishing pigments, Patent no.1957716) and transferred tocommon people for promoting the production of traditional pigments. 

On the other hand, 「Quality Standards on NaturalInorganic Pigments」 established by the researchincludes major components, performance standards and their testingmethodologies on 9 kinds of natural inorganic pigments such as Seokganju(Ironoxide, red ocher), Hwangto(Iron oxide, yellow ocher), Baekto(White clay),Noerok(Celadonite), Hobun(Shell), Seokcheong(Azurite),  Seokrok(Malachite), Jusa(Cinnabar),Seokhwang(Orpiment). The quality standards for natural pigments for restorationof cultural heritage which were suggested this time have the great significanceas the initial attempt in the research field of cultural heritage in Korea.Also, it is expected to contribute to preparing a foundation for applyingtraditional pigments with secured quality to sites stably.  

The original text of this report is open to public and available toeveryone through the homepage, http://portal.nrich.go.kr and www.cha.go.krprovide by NRICH and CHA.

National Research Institute of Cultural Heritageunder the Cultural Heritage Administration is planning to arrange researchoutcomes on ‘traditional synthetic pigments’ for last two years(2019~2020) andto complete the publication of the comprehensive report, ‘Research onManufacturing Techniques and Quality Standards of Traditional DancheongPigments following the 「Natural Inorganic Pigment」.

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​Restoration Technology Division, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea

​In Charge: Senior Researcher, Park Jongseo (82-42-860-9341), Researcher, Lee Sun Myung (82-860-9348)