Metal Craftsman, Dari

[Dari]
Welcome! I am Dari, the metal craftsman from Baekje.

I was regarded as the best metal craftsman in the kingdom. I am greatly honored to have had the opportunity to make a bracelet for the queen. Just as modern jewelry is stamped with the brand-name and gold content, so I engraved my name and the weight of the bracelet on the inside of the queen’s bracelet.

Let me tell you about the metal craftsmanship of Baekje. It was a period when Baekje’s independent creativity and aesthetic values came to full fruition. Metal-working techniques became more sophisticated, and ever more elaborate metal arts and crafts were produced. Buddhist motifs, such as flame and lotus patterns, were popular decorations.

During this period, many metal craftsmen were sent to Japan to introduce Baekje’s brilliant metal craftsmanship to Japanese metalworkers, so many of the relics excavated from the tombs of ancient Japanese kings bear similarities to the artworks of Baekje.