antiques

Please read my previous post for the background.

So I'll be sending my French Papa two things: (1) a rice paddle (maybe called a jugeok/주걱, which can also mean "spatula"*) and (2) a brass ladle (gukja/국자 for "ladle"; possibly hwangdong gukja/황동 국자 for "brass ladle"). They don't look like much, but they seem to have a history, and when you buy an antique, you're often paying for the story behind the item. Both items are over over 100 years old, so maybe they date to the 19th century.

In the photo above, you see the discoloration of the rice paddle's wood from where human hands held the paddle close to its flared-out section (on an oar, that part would be called the "blade"). The brass ladle looks appropriately old, and we discussed the question of whether to wash the ladle before sending it to France. In the end, we agreed it shouldn't be washed.

An angle that allows you to see the bowl of the ladle better.

Note, too, that with the ladle, you can see how the metal was hand-beaten into shape.

In this pic, the rice paddle has been flipped over.

Part of me thinks this could be a cool gift for my Papa, who is an amateur historian. These items will never replace the venerable ladle I destroyed, but I hope the sincerity of my attempt at a partial restoration will be appreciated. I'm still going to feel bad about what I did to that heirloom, though—a guilt that will remain with me until I die. To their credit, Papa and Maman were both cool about what I'd done back then, saying the ladle was "just a thing" and all that, but I didn't feel particularly reassured, and I still don't.

And now: wrapping and boxing.

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*My boss was guessing jugeok as the word for the paddle, and when I typed "rice paddle" in English into Google Translate, jugeok came up, so maybe the boss is on to something. Naver Dictionary defines 주걱/jugeok as "rice paddle" as well. Amusingly, Naver also says the expression 주걱턱, literally "rice-paddle jaw," refers to someone with a lantern jaw (i.e., a prognathous, jutting jaw or chin). Naver also gives a sample in-context expression:

주걱으로 밥을 푸다 (jugeokeuro babeul puda)
scoop rice with a rice paddle