Transparency in Form and Process: An Interview with William Thorsell
Light from and for the East: The New East Asian Galleries in the ROM
Klaas Ruitenbeek
In his introduction to the new galleries for China and Japan, the author discusses their characteristics and the design approach as well as giving an overview of the nature and scope of collections.
Rather than following the convention of showing only a limited number of impeccable works of great beauty in ample space, the new galleries also show the rarities and oddities in the museum's holdings.
A New Look at Old Chinese Artworks
Chen Shen
Recent archaeological finds and research have enabled the author to reassess and re-identify selected examples of early Chinese artworks in the ROM's collection.
Included in her discussion are Majiayao painted pottery recently gifted to the museum by Joey and Toby Tanenbaum; Longshan and Liangzhu culture jades that were among the objects acquired for the ROM by George Crofts who acted as the museum's agent for collecting antiquities in China between 1918 and 1921; and two bronzes, a gui and a you of the Western Zhou period with long inscriptions that were acquired in 1926 by Bishop William Charles White whilst he was a missionary in Kaifeng.
The Gallery of Chinese Architecture
Klaas Ruitenbeek
As it is no longer possible to bring old buildings from China, the author explains how part of a Qing dynasty palace hall and a large early Qing tomb complex was constructed in the new galleries to represent a house for living and a house for the dead and thus addresses the principles of geomancy.
In addition, building parts and sculptures from a Ming tomb and earthenware architectural models, roof tiles, bricks and tools from the Han to Qing periods provide the only comprehensive overview in the West of the development of Chinese architecture.
The Paradise of Maitreya: A Yuan Dynasty Mural from Shanxi Province
Ka Bo Tsang
For the reopening of the Chinese art galleries, this spectacular monumental Buddhist mural, which belongs to a genre commonly called The Paradise of Maitreya and was procured by William Charles White from the Xinghua monastery in Henan in 1928, has been conserved to bring it back to its original splendour.
In addition to describing the methods of conservation treatment, the author discusses how the mural came to the museum, the significance of its subject matter, painting style and social and political implications at the time of its creation.
Wei Bin's Bell
Klaas Ruitenbeek
From the thirty-character inscription on this very large bronze Buddhist temple bell, which has been in the ROM's collection since 1920, the author is able to reconstruct its histories and that of Wei Bin who commissioned its casting in 1518 when he chief of all palace eunuchs.
The bell is unusual in that it has a salutation to the Zhengde emperor who ordered aid to be given from the national treasury to Wei Bin to complete construction of his temple at his selected burial place.
It later became known as 'Sir Wei's temple' and was a scenic spot, famous for its fruit trees. After the death of the emperor in 1521, the days of eunuch supremacy were over and within a year Wei Bin had been tired and sentenced to death.
The Korean Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum
Christina Hee-Yeon Han
The author discusses highlights of the museum's extensive collection dating from the Three Kingdoms to the Joseon periods and which encompasses a wide variety of objects representing the dynamic cultural traditions of Korea, including the elegant and refined aristocratic tradition, simple and unassuming Confucian literati tradition, and vibrant and colourful folk tradition.
They attest to the important cultural achievements of Korean civilization and, with increasing interest in Korean art in the West, the collection is steadily growing.
The Catfish Underground: Japan's Earthquake Folklore and Popular Responses to Disaster
Hidemi Shiga
In premodern Japan, people believed that namazu (giant catfish) living under the earth, were the cause of the earthquake which struck Edo in 1855.
In this study of the ROM's unusual album of woodblock prints depicting the namazu, the author examines the responses by the creators of the works to the political, social, economic and emotional issues of the disaster.
The Yamagami Collection
Akiko Takesue
The acquisition of the Yamagami Collection has made the ROM's collection of tea-ceremony utensils truly comprehensive.
The author discusses the scope and quality of the utensils which originally belonged to Yamagami Soju, a master of the Mushanokoji tea school.
Many of the tea bowls and scoops, flower containers and hanging scrolls bear inscriptions written by some of the successive grand masters of the school and form one of the very few complete tea master collections in a Western museum. |
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