A half-hinged desk-cum-chest by Dr. Alfred Irving Ludlow, the first surgeon to visit Korea, has returned to its homeland.

Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) said Monday that it has received the half-closed desk and cabinet used by Dr. Ludlow while he lived in Korea.

Dr. Ludlow was an American surgeon from Cleveland, Ohio, who volunteered for a mission to Korea in 1912. He significantly advanced Korean surgery as a professor at Severance Union Medical College and a surgeon at Severance Hospital for 26 years.

Dr. Ludlow's desk was a half-hinged closet. Ludlow was so attached to it that he took it home when he retired from Severance Hospital in 1938.

The front is carved in brass with a calabash and flowers, and the handle is shaped like a bat. Inside, it has additional drawers and support to be used as a desk by pulling down the door.

It was a customized piece of furniture that reflected the different needs of users in the late 1800s. For instance, it was structured not to fall over by letting the front door only half open, and drawers were added to the bottom.

Its owner and donor was Dr. Ludlow's great-granddaughter, Nancy Ludlow Yahraus, who lived in the house of Dr. Ludlow for the last ten years of his life. She initially intended to donate it to the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio.

However, Dr. Sooa Im McCormick, a curator of Korean art, persuaded Ms. Yahraus that the furniture would be best kept at the YUHS. And the owner finally donated it to the YUHS through the Overseas Korean Cultural Foundation in May.