Agungi Bulmagi — The Kitchen God’s Face, as Seen on TV

Introductions first — the face: round brow, thick eyebrows, a bold nose, lips pressed shut. This is a Joseon kitchen’s agungi bulmagi — an earthenware cover that closed the fire hole of the hearth against wind and ash when no fire burned. And someone gave this one a face.

Why a face? The old Korean kitchen was home to Jowangsin (竈王神), the Kitchen God, keeper of the family’s health, long life and household fortunes. The hearth was his seat — so the cover that sealed it carried the god’s face. And since the story goes that at year’s end Jowangsin flies up to report the household’s doings to the Jade Emperor, people smeared taffy over the hearth mouth to glue that path shut — a sly, endearing trick to stop just the tattling.

This one has credentials, too. It appeared on KBS’s appraisal show “TV Show Authentic Masterpiece,” in the episode “Agungi Cover and Lamp Stand,” where it was pronounced “a rare relic you would only see in a museum.” The face on television is this very face.

From KBS “TV Show Authentic Masterpiece (Jinpum Myeongpum),” episode “Agungi Cover and Lamp Stand” — source: KBS

These days this bulmagi is holding its post at Camel Coffee’s Seochon shop in Seoul. A good person, a good space — and a house that works with fire, cooking and food: for the Kitchen God’s face, there could be no better posting. The face that once guarded the kitchen fire now watches, beside the espresso machine, over the fire that brews coffee. After a lifetime of crackling firewood, a grinder’s hum must sound like a lullaby.

At Camel Coffee’s Seochon shop — the bulmagi by the espresso machine and on the shelf. Camel Coffee on Instagram

Related Objects in Museum Collections

A few related objects found on Korea’s e-Museum by searching for “불막이”. Comparing their forms is a quiet pleasure.

Reference images: e-Museum (emuseum.go.kr), National Museum of Korea — the holding institution is noted in each caption. Click an image to open the museum record.

If coffee takes you to Seochon, spare a nod for the face at the counter. It held the seat of the god of health and long life — for the price of one glance, that is a very good trade. :-)