Headrest of the Queen Consort of King Muryeong

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.164

Category

Craft

Era

백제시대

Designated year

1974

Location

공주시, 충청남도— 충남 공주시 관광단지길 34, 국립공주박물관 (웅진동)

Coordinates

36.465600, 127.112373

This is a wooden pillow for the dead Queen Consort. It was discovered from the Tomb of King Muryeong of Baekje. It is 23.7cm tall and 44.2cm long. The midsection of a big wooden block was cut in a U-shape to support the head of the corpse. The surface of the wooden block is painted in red and has golden bands around the edge. Turtleback patterns are inside of the golden frames. There are images of flying angels, a flying Chinese phoenix with its wings spread, a swimming dragon, lotus blossoms and vine patterns painted with white, red, black and golden color powder inside the turtleback patterns. On the top of both sides next to the U-shaped cut, there are small holes and knobs used to fix a couple of wooden birds to the top. The exact overall shape of the pillow couldn't be estimated because it is badly eroded and only part of it was discovered. This tomb was built for King Muryeong, the 25th king of the Baekje Dynasty who reigned from 501 to 522, and also his queen. It’s one of the most well-known royal tombs because it’s one of the rare tombs that were built with bricks, and also a great amount of burial goods - 2906 pieces of remains ranging over 108 categories - were excavated from it. They have been regarded as important sources for studying Baekje, particularly the culture and customs of the ancient kingdom. Among them, jiseok, a slab of stone inscribed with the deceased's date of birth and death together with his achievements, reveals the exact owner of the tomb and the exact date of construction. The Royal Tomb of King Muryeong is the first among all the tombs from the Three Kingdoms Period that records the name of the buried king and the exact date of construction.

Location