Horn Bow Stuff from the Korean Bowyer

Many of you remember the Korean bowyer, Geuk-hwan Park (who was the subject of my video The Way of the Bow: Crafting the Korean Horn Bow), and that he was stricken with a brain problem that left him half-paralyzed.

I spent the afternoon with him and his wife, together with my wife and son. First, I'd like to say that he seems to be doing much better. He moves fairly quickly now and his voice is strong (although he doesn't speak very much). He was smiling and laughing a lot.

I arranged with him to sell his bowmaking estate (including horn bows in different stages of completion). I will be putting some of it up for sale after I head to the States next week.

The bowyer and his wife need money, as he has no source of income anymore. One item that will stay in Korea until it's sold, but will be up for sale, is his yegoong (the huge horn bow he made a few years ago). Besides the original from which it was copied, it is the only one of its kind in the world. Crafting it was very difficult for the bowyer, and in no small way contributed to his attack and paralysis; he literally put his life into that bow. It was originally intended to go into a museum, but the bowyer decided against it, and then he was paralyzed; now, he needs to sell it for living expenses. Although it is hard to put a value on a piece that is one-of-a-kind, contributed to the loss of a bowyer, of great historical value, etc., I would conservatively estimate its worth in the thousands of dollars. When sold, all proceeds will go to the bowyer.


Thomas

The making of the yegoong: www.hornbow.com/yegoong.html