본 연구는 조선시대 초상화에 그려진 족좌대에 관한 연구이다. 공신이나 관직에 있었던 사람들이 교의나 의자에 앉아 발을 얹고 있는 초상화에 족좌대는 거의 필수적이었지만 현존 유물이 없는 실정이다. 조선 초기 초상화는 고려 말을 계승하였고, 족좌대도 마찬가지다. 1453년경의 <신숙주 초상>은 고려 양식을 이어 조선의 족좌대 양식을 보여주는 최초의 초상화이다. 이 양식은 공신상 족좌대의 모범으로 1712년 연잉군 초상까지 이어졌다. 공신상의 족좌대 양식은 정면과 측면의 머름칸 구조와 구름형태로 정교하게 조각된 다리이다. 머름칸 안에는 <손소 초상>부터는 4가지 도형들이 그려졌다. 조선 중기에는 중국 초상화의 팔자형 혜나 호피깔린 의자, 자연스러운 나무결을 좋아했다. 17세기부터 청(淸) 말기까지 지속된 정면관은 잠시 조선에 나타났다 사라지고, 8~9분면의 조선 초상화 양식으로 돌아선다. 중기에는 중국풍의 영향을 <김석주 초상>에서 보듯 천판 위나 아래에 호피나 표피머리가 있고 정면은 다리가 없이 기하학적 안상문(眼狀紋) 형태로 오려낸 족좌대가 선호된다. 천판에는 18세기 중반까지 청색이나 녹색테를 두른 민돗자리가 깔리기도 하지만, 18세기 초부터 화문석이 깔리기 시작해 조선 말기에는 화문석이 거의 놓여진다. 후반기에는 족좌대 형태도 낮은 다리굽이거나 없는 형태에, 전면은 길상문, 불교적 보상화문 등이 조각되며, 목재의 색은 중후한 느낌을 주는 짙은 자단같은 목재의 색감이 선호되고, 19세기 말 <이하응 초상>에는 다시 머름칸 구조 양식에 장석으로 감싸주는 형식이 등장한다. 족좌대는 중국이나 일본 초상화에도 있지만, 고구려 벽화에는 보이지 않는다. 족좌대는 송(宋)의 발받침 양식과 원(元)의 교의 습속이 어우러지면서 발전된 양식으로 생각된다. 조선 초상화에서 족좌대는 공간의 허(虛)를 채워주었고, 보여지는 나를 중시하던 조선의 유교적 문화에서 품격있는 모습을 보여줄 수 있는 조선 특유의 초상화가 창조한 양식이었다.
This study deals with footstools shown in the portraits of the Joseon Dynasty period. A footstool was an indispensable element in the portraits of either meritorious retainers or government officials, who sat down on a chair and put their feet on it. Unfortunately, now we have no existing relics of those footstools in the portraits. In the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty, the way of drawing portraits succeeded that of late Goryeo. As such, the footstool did too. <Shin Suk-ju’s Portrait>, drawn around 1453 in accordance with Goryeo``s drawing style, was the first portrait with a Joseon-style footstool. The footstool in Shin Suk-ju’s portrait represents that which was used to portray meritorious retainers, and continues to appear up to Prince Yeoning’s portrait in 1712. This footstool in the portraits of meritorious retainers shows the wainscot structure on both the front and the side while the leg is exquisitely carved with cloud patterns. Since <Shin Suk-ju’s Portrait>, or the so-called <Son Soh’s Portrait>, the paintings used four kinds of Fig.ures in the space of wainscot. During the mid-Joseon Dynasty period, Chinese-style elements such as 八-shaped shoes, a chair with the rug of tiger skin, and natural wood grain gained popularity. In this context, the splendid expressions made with gold dust on the varnishing or the front style, which existed from the 17th century until the end of the Qing dynasty, appeared for a short period in Joseon Dynasty, only to disappear soon after. Then, Joseon``s portrait style returned to the typical 8th to 9th-division portrait. With the influence of the Chinese style in mid-Joseon, as shown in <Kim Seok-ju’s Portrait>, one can observe a preference for a footstool with the fur of a leopard or tiger head either on or below the top board. Furthermore, the front of the footstool does not have legs while it shows a pattern in the shape of an elephant’s eye carved in. Until the mid-18th century, a plain-pattern mat surrounded by either a blue or a green frame was spread on the top board, However, from the beginning of the 18th century during King Sukjong’s reign, a flower patterned mat replaced the plain one. Since then, in most cases during the late Joseon dynasty period Fig.ured mats were spread on the top board. During the latter period of Joseon Dynasty, the form of footstools was characterized by its low or no heels while the front was carved with patterns symbolizing happiness and longevity or Buddhistic floral medallion motives on the 2nd or 4th column. In terms of the colors of the wood, the most popular one was that of thick rosewood which delivered a sense of solemnity. At the end of the 19th century, in <Lee Ha-eung’s Portrait>, one can find resurgence of the patterns of the wainscot structure, now surrounded by metal strips. Footstools were drawn in both Chinese and Japanese portraits, whereas they cannot be found in Goguryeo’s murals. In this vein, it can be inferred that footstools may have been developed from a harmonized amalgam of two strands: Sung (宋)’s leg-rest style and Yuan (元)’s fold-down chair style. In Joseon Dynasty’s portraits, the footstool had mainly two functions. First, it filled in the emptiness of space. Second, considering Joseon Dynasty’s Confucian culture which places much importance on how it is seen, it contributed to exhibiting dignity in the portraits of the Joseon dynasty.