2-726-258 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Comma-shaped Jade, 400s. Jade has historically been associated with power in Korea, and was used to make objects and decorations for the aristocracy. During the Old Shilla Period, comma-shaped jades such as these were the most essential decorative element of the gold crowns and ornaments used for the burials of kings, queens, and other aristocrats. After the state of Shilla united the Korean Peninsula in 668, the use of jade in prestigious mortuary objects declined, brought on by the arrival of Buddhism and the ebbing of shamanism.