Kind · By making
Embroidered wrapping cloth
A subo is an embroidered bojagi, mostly for wedding gifts, known for trees, flowers and birds that wish the couple happiness.
- Meaning
- 'embroidered wrapper' (繡 embroidery + 褓)
- Made of
- Embroidery silk on cotton or silk ground, lined
- Era
- Goryeo (oldest, Jeonju) to early 20th c.
A bojagi embroidered with colored silk. Strongly associated with weddings and with Gwandong (Gangwon) wedding custom. Its signature motif is a stylized tree, the 'tree of blissful life', along with flowers, fruit and paired birds, all wishing for marital happiness and many sons. Also called 자수보.
History & tradition
Goryeo (oldest example) to early 20th c.; strongest in Gangwon (Gwandong)
Embroidered bojagi were mainly made for weddings, often by the bride and her family, and used to wrap gifts between the two families. The stylised tree, thought of as sacred and lucky, is the classic motif, with pomegranates for many children and mandarin ducks for a happy couple. The usual five colours (blue, red, yellow, white, black) follow the 오방색 scheme, thought to ward off bad luck. The oldest surviving bojagi of all is a late-Goryeo subo.
Museums prize Gangwon subo for their bold, almost abstract trees; embroiderers today copy the designs for wedding wrappers.