Object of the month: Early 19th century Japanese map of the world

Early 19th century Japanese map of the world in hanging scroll format
Private collection, Great Britain

The map shows the Japanese archipelago (centre) with the Americas on the right and Africa on the left. Some of the countries are represented by people in national dress. The map itself is printed on Washi (Japanese paper) from a woodblock measuring approximately 47cm x 34cm. Colours used are sumi (a carbon-based ink), indigo and an unidentified yellow pigment. The extreme top and bottom sections of the mount itself are indigo-dyed Japanese silks.

Early 19th century Japanese map of the world: detail

On 12 May 2013, the Lisa Sainsbury Library [part of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in Norwich, England] celebrates the tenth anniversary of its opening. To commemorate this event, an exhibition of old maps entrusted to the Library will take place at the Japanese Embassy in London from late June. All those interested in visiting the exhibition are welcome to come and look round.

 

More here.

 

 

Pagans of Roman Britain

 

Glass rosewater sprinkler (6.5cm x 4.5cm approx). Roman (1-3 century ce)

Private collection, Great Britain

 

Series in which archaeologist Julian Richards returns to some of his most important digs to discover how science, conservation and new finds have changed our understanding of entire eras of ancient history.

 

Julian goes back to the excavation of two burials from Roman Britain – a wealthy man from Roman Winchester and a lavishly-appointed grave of a woman from the heart of London that holds a special and unexpected secret only recently unlocked.

 

Episode 1 of 4 begins on BBC 4 television at 20:00 on Wednesday, 1 May. Duration: 1 hour. More here.

 

 

Object of the month: The Sutton Hoo sceptre

 

Replica of the carved whetstone, and its decorative stag finial, from the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England 

Image

©

The Heritage Trust

 

The replica above can be seen in the National Trust museum at Sutton Hoo, along with other replicas from the ship burial and a reconstruction of the wooden burial chamber. The whetstone is too big to be functional and may have served as a ceremonial sceptre. Originals from the burial are now in a dedicated gallery at the British Museum.

 

For further information on the Sutton Hoo Museum, the burial mound, guided walks and opening times, visit the Sutton Hoo National Trust website here.

 

 

Four year-old finds 16th century English gold reliquary

 

 

 The 500 year-old reliquary engraved with the names of the Magi and images of Christ and St Helena

©

Trustees of the British Museum.

 

 

A story to start the festive season: Writing in The Guardian on Friday, 21 December, Maev Kennedy reports that -

 

A 500-year-old gold reliquary, beautifully engraved with the names of the Magi and images of Christ and St Helena, which was found by a four-year-old playing with his father’s metal detector, has gone on display for the first time at the British Museum. It would once have been brilliantly coloured, with enamel work filling in the letters and decoration, and may once have contained a relic of the cross. It probably dropped from the neck of some wealthy and pious person, and lay undiscovered in the field for half a millennium.

 

James Hyatt, from Billericay, was four when he found the pendant two years ago one Sunday afternoon in Hockley, Essex, while he was out with his father Jason. The little locket was jammed shut when found. After conservation work by Marilyn Hockey at the museum, the back panel slid open again for the first time in centuries – but there was nothing inside except some fibres of flax, probably once grown locally. James’s find was genuine buried treasure though. It was officially declared treasure by a coroner’s inquest, and has now become one of the permanent treasures of the British Museum’s medieval gallery.

 

Full article here. And with that, wishing a -

 

 

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year to all Our Readers

 

 

 

Object of the month: Chinese, Buddha of Eternal Life

 

Amitāyus (Buddha of Eternal Life). Chinese, Honan Province

 

This delicate Buddha statuette (approximately 11cm high x 7cm wide and 2.5cm thick) is moulded from loess and painted with gold, azurite, malachite and other mineral pigments. Possibly once formed part of a travelling shrine.

 

 

Object of the month: 10th century Korean onigawara

 

 

Korean onigawara roof tile from the Silla-Koryō Period. Approximately 17cm wide, 12cm high and 6cm thick

 

Onigawara (鬼瓦) is a Japanese word meaning a ‘demon’ or ‘goblin’ roof tile; they are found throughout the Far East, usually on Buddhist temples or,  in Japan, on Shintō shrines. Although fearsome in appearance they are intended to ward off evil spirits.

 

Onigawara are decorative roof tiles typically placed at the ends of the main ridge on temple structures, shrines, and residences. As an ornamental architectural element, Onigawara (literally “goblin tile”) came to prominence in Japan’s Kamakura period (1185 -1332), but the term is also used for decorative roof tiles in the shape of flowers or animals that were already used in the earlier Nara and Heian periods to prevent leaks and general weathering. The goblin-faced Onigawara is one of many decorative elements found in Japanese religious architecture.

 

Source: Buddhism & Shintōism in Japan. A to Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Sculpture & Art.

 

If you have a favourite object of your own that you’d like to share with us, please email a high resolution image, along with a brief description and any other relevant information about the object, to info@theheritagetrust.org