Antiquities Exhibits

Yesterday I finished editing and uploading my images of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum)'s Chinese and Japanese Art on display in their Asian galleries to Wikimedia Commons.  These are high resolution images suitable for both print and digital applications and I only require attribution for their use. The Penn Museum's Asian collection ranges from bronze vessels of the Zhou Period (1046-256 BCE) to sculptures of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912 CE).  Most objects on display at the time of my visit in 2015 are related to Buddhism in some form. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Asian_art_in_the_University_of_Pennsylvania_Museum_of_Archaeology_and_Anthropology I'm now working on my images of their ancient Egyptian collection and will begin uploading those soon.  Most of my images of their spectacular objects from ancient Mesopotamia including the death pit of Ur have been uploaded from my Flickr account by another Wi...

Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Pre-Columbian art at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. Founded in 1933, this American museum offers a diverse display of ancient art, nestled within its total collection of 30,000 objects. The Chrysler's collection of Mesoamerican ceramics and sculptures represent several major pre-Columbian cultures. Citizens and heroes of ancient Greece and Rome endure through works of art created in  bronze, stone, and ceramics. Ancient Egypt is represented by displays of jewelry, ceramics, funerary art, and sculpture while the museum's Asian collection include objects from Japan, India, and China, with ceramics representing every major Chinese dynasty. Image: Basalt Head from Egypt's Greco-Roman period 200-400 CE courtesy of the Chrysler Museum of Art.

Asian art dating back to the 11th century BCE at the Hermitage Museum and Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia. The Hermitage Museum and Gardens consists of an early 20th century historic house with a world-wide art collection surrounded by twelve acres of formal gardens with natural woodlands and wetlands as well as a Visual Arts Studio. The 42-room house was built by William and Florence Sloane, wealthy New Yorkers who came to the No rfolk area in 1893 to operate textile mills. The museum's Asian collection began with a Japanese Satsuma bowl gifted to Florence Sloane by her sister, Grace Stiles, in 1901. The collection has grown to include Chinese Neolithic jade and archaic ceremonial bronze vessels from the Western Zhou dynasty (11th century – 771 BCE), Chinese snuff bottles, Imperial jade, cloisonné and lacquer, as well as a significant holding of Tang dynasty (618-906 CE) terracotta. Image: Japanese tortoise shell dish courtesy of the Hermitage Museum and Gardens.

Archaeological finds from the Kofun Period. Ongoing. at the Nara National Museum in Nara, Japan.  The Kofun period is considered the earliest era of recorded history in Japan and extended from about 300 to 538 CE. The Kofun period is characterized by a strong influence from the Korean Peninsula as well as the introduction of Buddhism and the Chinese writing system from China. The Kofun period recorded Japan's earliest political  centralization, when the Yamato clan rose to power in southwestern Japan, established the Imperial House, and helped control trade routes across the region. Many of the items in the museum's collection were recovered from the area's distinctively keyhole-shaped earthen burial mounds with stone burial chambers sometimes surrounded by moats. The museum also houses a number of Japan's national treasures and an extensive collection of Chinese ritual bronze vessels. Image: Helmet excavated from Gojō-Nekozuka tumulus, Nara, Kofun Peri...

Crystal: Visible and Invisible.”   October 12, 2019 to January 6, 2020 at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Bracelet of rock crystal with gold rams heads Greek part of the Ganymede Jewelry collection 330-300 BCE photographed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today, high quality quartz crystals are mined from the mountains and caverns of Arkansas. Yet this iridescent, enigmatic material has captivated artists, religious leaders, monarchs, and healers across the world for more than 6,000 years. View ancient artifacts like the one below, including engraved gems, skulls, figurines, vases, and more, alongside works from contemporary artists around the world that explore the power of crystal in art by drawing on its form, properties, and mysterious qualities. Featuring more than 75 works from Ancient Egypt and Greece, through to Rome, China, India, Japan, the Middle East, the Americas, and beyond, discover how the power of crystal tr...

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art. May 5 through July 28, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Haniwa Horse, Japan, earthenware, 6th century CE. Image courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California. These votive figurines were placed on top of tombs for the wealthy elite in Japan from 300 to 600 CE. For those on the West Cost a smaller version will run Sept. 8 through December 8, 2019 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art” will feature 330 pieces representing many media, from prints and sculpture to textiles and ceramics. Spanning 15 centuries organized around eight theme s, including ancient Japan, the Japanese zodiac, religion, folklore, nature and leisure.