The Garden of Everlasting Bonds

原典たる一作。生涯にわたり蒐め、受け継ぐにふさわしい、家宝級の螺鈿漆箪笥。

大韓民国公認のヘリテージ・オーセンティシティ

韓国国家無形文化遺産の保有者および大韓民国公認の名匠による作品を、Signature Legacy が、確かな来歴、制作者情報、そして真正性を裏づける証明資料とともに、丁寧にご紹介いたします。

Master Choi Tae-hwa begins your piece upon confirmation.

Hwajodo - Korea’s Traditional Art of Flowers and Birds, Reimagined in Mother-of-Pearl

Korean Mother-of-Pearl Lacquer Box by Master Choi Tae-hwa

In Korean art, flowers and birds have long given form to hopes held close to the heart. Known as hwajodo, this tradition brings blossoms and birds together in compositions that celebrate the vitality of nature and, through their chosen motifs, express wishes for prosperity, companionship, and harmony within the home. Birds appearing in pairs often carry a tender wish: that two people may share a long and harmonious life.

Here, that pictorial language unfolds in luminous mother-of-pearl. Flowers, wings, and leaves emerge against deep black lacquer, creating a garden whose colors shift gently with the light. Its beauty invites a moment of stillness; its symbolism invites us to think of those we love.

The lotus offers a quiet connection to Korea’s seonbi tradition. Seonbi were Confucian scholars who valued learning, integrity, and the cultivation of character. They admired the lotus for rising from muddy water without losing its purity, finding in it an image of the upright person they aspired to become.

Through this symbolism, the garden evokes the grace and moral resolve of Korea’s scholarly culture. For the person who lives with it today, it offers a gentle reflection: to remain sincere through life’s changing seasons, to nurture lasting friendships, and to carry love faithfully from one generation to the next.

For the ones you wish to keep beside you, through every season of life.

Imagine a garden where the people you love could linger a little longer. A parent in good health. A beloved companion close at hand. An old friend with whom nothing needs to be explained.

The Garden of Everlasting Bonds gives that longing a luminous form.

Within a rich red border, mother-of-pearl brings a waterside garden to life against deep black lacquer. Two cranes stand among blossoms and leaves, while butterflies hover above the flowers. As the light changes, delicate details emerge in shifting shades of pearl, rose, and green. The eye discovers something new; the quiet companionship at the heart of the scene remains.

The composition draws on the spirit of Sipjangsaeng, Korea’s Ten Symbols of Longevity, alongside floral motifs cherished for their auspicious meanings. Together, they invite us to imagine a life blessed with health, affection, and many years in the company of those we hold dear.

The cranes carry the traditional wish for long life. Seen together in this garden, they also invite a more intimate reading: two lives sharing the same seasons, finding comfort in one another’s presence. Their companionship becomes a wish for love that remains faithful as the years unfold.

The rocks give the scene its stillness. Associated with endurance in the longevity tradition, they become, in this telling, the foundations of a shared life: trust patiently earned, friendship sustained across distance, and the steadfast love that holds a family together.

Beside the water, the lotus opens. Rising clean from the mud, it has long evoked purity and the integrity of the cultivated scholar. It recalls the spirit of the seonbi, Korea’s traditional scholars, and the resolve to keep a sincere heart through changing circumstances. Here, that ideal becomes deeply personal: to meet the passing years with kindness, and to remain true to those we love.

The peonies bring wishes of prosperity and honor into the garden. Their abundant blossoms suggest a household flourishing across generations, with room at its table and warmth in its welcome.

Above them, the butterflies lend the scene a lighter rhythm. In our telling, they are the small joys that keep affection alive: a familiar laugh, an unexpected visit, the ease of being together.

This is the garden’s vision of eternity: love carried forward in the lives it touches.

Created by Master Choi Tae-hwa in the Korean tradition of najeonchilgi, this lacquer box brings shell, light, and patient handwork into an object that can become part of a family’s own history. The floral ornament continues around its sides, inviting the piece to be appreciated slowly, from every angle.

Given to a parent, it can express a wish for health and many more years together. Offered to a partner or a lifelong friend, it can hold a promise that ordinary words leave unfinished. Passed to the next generation, it can carry the memory of the person who first chose it.

One day, the hands that open this box may be different. May the love with which it was given still be felt.

Meet Master Choi Tae-hwa through our film, and discover the hands, the patience, and the tradition behind his work.

Meet Master Choi Tae-hwa, an officially recognized Korean Master Artisan renowned for Najeon Chilgi-mother-of-pearl lacquerware that captures light like a living surface. Rooted in Korea’s centuries-old craftsmanship, every work is made through a meticulous, fully hand-finished process using eco-conscious, non-toxic materials and time-honored techniques. Watch the Film

Explore his representative pieces through our films: witness the making, understand the heritage, and discover why each work is more than an object-it is a collectible expression of tradition, restraint, and enduring value.

再び創り出すことのできないものを、手にする

大韓民国公認の文化遺産名匠が手がけるマスターピースは、決して大量生産されるものではありません。

それは、時間、記憶、そして手仕事が結晶した、ただ一つの作品です。極めて限られた数のみ制作され、今ではごく少数の匠だけが受け継ぐことのできる技によって形づくられています。

これらの伝統がますます希少になっていく中で、真正性が証明された一つひとつの作品には、より深い文化的意義、コレクションとしての希少性、そして世代を超えて受け継がれるレガシーとしての価値が宿ります。

すべての作品は格別な配慮と時間をかけて準備されるため、名匠の制作状況および作品の複雑さにより、お届けまでにおよそ1か月から6か月ほどお時間を頂戴する場合がございます。

真にかけがえのないものを求めるコレクターにとって、これは単なる購入ではありません。

世界に一つだけの韓国マスターピースを所有するという、特別な栄誉です。

AN ORIGINAL, EVERY TIME — CONFIRMED BEFORE IT IS BORN

Each Signature Legacy masterpiece is shaped entirely by hand by a nationally recognized Korean Heritage Holder or Master Craftsman — an artist working from decades of instinct, never from a fixed template. The spirit of a Master's hand carries through every piece he creates; yet no two mother-of-pearl compositions, and no two works, are ever exactly alike.

Before your commission begins, our Collector Concierge shares the Master's proposed design and pattern for your specific piece. Only once you have reviewed and given your approval does the Master's hand begin its work — ensuring that the masterpiece born for you exists, in form and spirit, for you alone.

自然由来の素材 · 認証された無毒性の伝統工程

一つひとつの作品は、厳選された自然由来の素材を用い、認証された無毒性のヘリテージ・プロセスによって丁寧に制作されています。

600年以上にわたり受け継がれてきた韓国伝統工芸の技法に基づき、すべてのマスターピースは、忍耐、清らかさ、そして名匠の静かな規律のもと、手仕事によって形づくられています。