Post by Lady Kimiko on Apr 19, 2013 9:07:02 GMT -5
*Smithsonian review and thoughts*
Url: www.asia.si.edu/
Collection online: www.asia.si.edu/collections/japanese.asp
April 2013, a friend and I got behind the scenes access to the Smithsonian's on site collection of Japanese textiles. I had also requested armor. The time spent at the Smithsonian for the private tour was fun, insightful, and will be a life memory. That being said here is a short review of the facts we were given in the event that anyone wants to do research via the private Smithsonian collection.
We were informed:
*No armor, or real weapons to speak of. The Smithsonian did not acquire such pieces initially, and now it is hard for them to acquire any due to strict trade laws regarding historical art in Japan. In fact they said they have almost no armor to speak of, and what they have is... Persian(I could be wrong about the country).
*The textiles we saw were Edo era and younger. The pieces were gorgeous, so if you are an Edo fan it's pretty cool.
*Their offsite storage of textiles has much more including a few more modern theater pieces. I plan on making a future separate trip sometime in a year or two and want to do the offsite storage tour.
*Photos are permitted. Photos may not be published commercially, or even in educational resources in class rooms.
*They have onsite storage and off site storage. Arranging a tour of the offsite storage requires at least 2 months advance notice, ideally 3. The onsite storage tour requires ideally around 2 to 3 weeks.
In short, for SCA purposes the Smithsonian was a let down for textiles and armor. They do have period pieces of scrolls, pottery, and a few other items - but it seems nothing in the way of textiles or armor. As a personal experience, it was cool!
Url: www.asia.si.edu/
Collection online: www.asia.si.edu/collections/japanese.asp
April 2013, a friend and I got behind the scenes access to the Smithsonian's on site collection of Japanese textiles. I had also requested armor. The time spent at the Smithsonian for the private tour was fun, insightful, and will be a life memory. That being said here is a short review of the facts we were given in the event that anyone wants to do research via the private Smithsonian collection.
We were informed:
*No armor, or real weapons to speak of. The Smithsonian did not acquire such pieces initially, and now it is hard for them to acquire any due to strict trade laws regarding historical art in Japan. In fact they said they have almost no armor to speak of, and what they have is... Persian(I could be wrong about the country).
*The textiles we saw were Edo era and younger. The pieces were gorgeous, so if you are an Edo fan it's pretty cool.
*Their offsite storage of textiles has much more including a few more modern theater pieces. I plan on making a future separate trip sometime in a year or two and want to do the offsite storage tour.
*Photos are permitted. Photos may not be published commercially, or even in educational resources in class rooms.
*They have onsite storage and off site storage. Arranging a tour of the offsite storage requires at least 2 months advance notice, ideally 3. The onsite storage tour requires ideally around 2 to 3 weeks.
In short, for SCA purposes the Smithsonian was a let down for textiles and armor. They do have period pieces of scrolls, pottery, and a few other items - but it seems nothing in the way of textiles or armor. As a personal experience, it was cool!
