Category Archives: Collection research

Object Spotlight: Japanese gunpowder flask with figures in Portuguese dress

Posted on November 9, 2017 by clarep

                    This lacquered wood gunpowder flask (kayaku-ire) was produced in Japan. It is artistic in form but with an important practical use. The flask gives a useful insight into a fascinating … Continue reading →

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Persian and Indian Playing Cards

Posted on November 2, 2017 by francescal

Card games are amongst the most popular games in the world. Tracing the history of playing cards however is difficult, due to their perishable nature and ephemeral quality. It is believed that playing cards originated in China, later spreading westward … Continue reading →

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The Emily Georgiana Kemp Collection

Posted on July 18, 2017 by aimeep

Every intelligent person that I have met whose good fairy has led him to the Celestial Empire has fallen under the spell of that marvellous people and marvellous land. I am fired with the ambition to cast that spell even on those who … Continue reading →

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Hiroshige’s Japan: Views of Mount Fuji

Posted on February 10, 2017 by clarep

15 November 2016 to 26 March 2017 Gallery 29 | Admission Free Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan’s highest mountain, has long been praised by poets and depicted by artists for its beautiful shape and sacred status. In the … Continue reading →

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Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural

Posted on November 17, 2016 by francescal

Exhibition dates: 20 October 2016 to 15 January 2017 Sainsbury Special Exhibition Galleries | Book tickets The Ashmolean autumn exhibition, Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural, is now open until 15 January 2017. It looks at Islam’s attitudes … Continue reading →

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