“

Somok jang

” refers to a carpenter who produces wooden furniture such like wardrobe, drawer, mirror stand, desk and shelf. He uses Korean traditional wood-working technique that pursues natural beauty by utilizing the pattern of the tree and makes furniture that utilizes unique Korean formative beauty and practicality in consideration of our natural environment and house structure.

Somok jang

(carpenter) should get savvy and good eye for furniture, but also should be able to pick and use tools fit for purpose. So some craftsmen make their own tools that suits their hands. In fact, many tools are required to complete the carpentry work of

Somok jang

. For instance, a chisel for digging or smoothing a hole, a bat for hammering the chisel, a string, a awl for making a hole, a knife for cutting, a measuring rope, an iron, etc.

Although it is not clear when wood carvings craft began to be used in Korea Peninsula, it can be assumed that they have begun to be used for 2,000 years ago by existing relics and written records. Wooden furniture is one of the most well-represented Korean art pieces that has a strong identity and healthful beauty of Korea. it uses only materials gained from nature to allow people to feel a simple and humble natural flavor. In particular, this kind of wooden furniture well reflects Korea's natural environment, social norms, and lifestyle of people lives in Korea peninsula.

the Korean wooden furniture is very sturdily designed to every nook and corners, and the techniques of joinery is very sophisticated. This highly sophisticated joinery technique was essential part of wooden furniture of the

Joseon

(AD 1392-1910) Dynasty, which was made using combination of simple lines and sectional divisions. Over the time, this technique has developed into much more sophisticated technique that takes into account not only structure and dynamics but also visual effects according to application, material and part & area stress.

Mokgi

, is the specialized product of

Namwon

District (the city in North

Jeolla

Province, South Korea) that has been known for its unique scent, exquisite shape, hard texture of wood and indelible lacquer since the early age of

Joseon

(1392 – 1897 AD) Dynasty. Most of the products of

Mokgi

produced are vessels to be used in the rite, but in addition to this, various other products such as

Chan-hab

(for food), Tea-cup, table, and tray are also produced. Especially, over 85% of "

Bah-ri-teh

" (a bowl for the monks) is being supplied from

Namwon

. Raw materials used are normally Fraxinus, birch and ginkgo tree, etc. They are normally used in different way depending on the purpose.

The procedure of making the

Mokgi

are as follows. 1. Cut off the logs as required then roughly shape it as per design. This stage is initial crafting stage called as "

Cho-ga-ri

" (initial crafting) 2.Dry it in the shade for about 40 days to minimize the cracks. and then starts "

Jae-ga-ri

"(detail crafting). 3.

Mokgi

, at this stage, gets its own complete shape. then

Mokgi-jang

film the surface of vessel with naturally sourced dye over few days (5-7 days) then dry it for 10 days to the completion. in this modern age, motor driven equipment is being used in "

Cho-ga-ri

" and "

Jae-ga-ri

" for better efficiency.