Roof-end Tile with Human Face Motif

The Roof-end Tile with Human Face Motif (), nicknamed the Silla smile (), is a Silla-era (57 BCE – 935 CE) ornamental roof tile that went on the end of a roof. It was made Treasure of South Korea no. 2010 on November 27, 2018.

The smiling face depicted in the tile is considered iconic, and has become a symbol of Gyeongju. It is now in the Gyeongju National Museum.

It is the only known handmade Korean ornamental roof-end tile; all other known roof-end tiles were made with molds.

History

The tile reportedly came from what is now thought to be the former site of the Silla-era temple Yeongmyosa (at the time of its discovery, it was thought that the site was of another temple HÅ­ngnyunsa).

The tile first became known in academic circles during the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period, when a Japanese doctor and collector purchased it in an antique shop in Korea in 1934. The roof tile was featured in a June 1934 research publication written by an , the director of the Gyeongju branch of the Government-General of Chōsen Museum (now the Gyeongju National Museum). Tanaka then took the tile to Japan some time around 1935 to 1940. Ōsaka remained as manager of the museum until the liberation of Korea in 1945, upon which he returned to Japan.

The tile was almost completely forgotten in Korea, and meanwhile Japan and South Korea maintained icy diplomatic relations, with contact between people in both countries limited. In February 1972, Park Il-hun (; 1913–1975), a former student of Ōsaka and then the director of the Gyeongju National Museum, was invited to visit Japan. He visited his former mentor and inquired as to where the tile was. Park convinced Ōsaka to ask Tanaka to return the tile to Korea; Ōsaka was then 96 and reportedly thought that securing the return could be the final act in his career. Tanaka had already previously returned many objects he had collected from Korea, but had been reluctant to part with this tile; he reportedly had been hanging the piece in his living room. After Park returned to Korea, he heard on March 4 that Tanaka had agreed to donate the tile. Ōsaka and Tanaka visited Korea and returned the piece in a ceremony on October 14, 1972.

Legacy

The logo for the South Korean company LG is based on the tile. In 1998, the tile was made the official symbol for the Gyeongju World Culture Expo.

References