British Museum Department of Asia
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The Department of Asia in the British Museum, London is one of the largest collections of historical artifacts from the continent of Asia. The scope of the Department of Asia is extremely broad, its collections consist of over 70,000 objects covering the material culture of the whole Asian continent (from East Asia, South and Central Asia, South-East Asia and the Islamic world) and from the Neolithic up to the present day.[1]
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[edit] History of the Department
The departments collection began with the donation of Sir Hans Sloane and contained a small number of objects from the Asian continent including a collection of Japanese material that had been acquired from the family of the German physician Engelbert Kaempfer who had led an expedition to Japan. Only a few objects were acquired from the continent between 1753 and the 1820s. The early 19th century saw the collection expand to become on the worlds largest. This was mainly through a donation of a number of South Asian artifacts such as the gilded bronze figure of Tara from Sri Lanka in 1830, the Bridge Collection of east and central Indian sculpture in 1872, and the Amaravati Collection in 1880. Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, Keeper of the Department of Antiquities from 1866 to 1896, helped make sure that the collection of Asian material continued, resulting in the establishment in 1921 of the sub-Department of Oriental Antiquities. In 1933 the Asian collections of the Prints and Drawings sub-Department were united with the Department of Oriental Antiquities forming one of the most significant such collections of art and antiquities of Asia, in the northern hemisphere. In 2003 the Department of Oriental Antiquities and the Department of Japanase Antiquities merged to become the current Department of Asia.
[edit] Highlights of the collection
Key highlights of the collections include:
- The most comprehensive collection of sculpture from the Indian subcontinent in the world, including the celebrated Buddhist limestone reliefs from Amaravati.
- An outstanding collection of Chinese antiquities, paintings, and porcelain, lacquer, bronze, jade, and other applied arts.
- A fine collection of Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang and the Admonitions Scroll by Gu Kaizhi.
- A broad range of Islamic pottery, paintings, tiles, metalwork, glass, seals, and inscriptions.
- The most comprehensive collection of Japanese pre-20th century decorative arts in the Western world.
[edit] The layout and collections of the department
Most of the department is in the northern section of the museum. The Department of Asia is split into several rooms and four main geographic areas:
- The China, South and South East Asia section is located in room 33 and 33a, on the ground floor.
- The Islam section is located in room 34, on the ground floor.
- The Korea section is located in room 67 and 67a, on the upper floor
- The Japan section is located in rooms 92, 93 and 94 on the upper floor.
[edit] China, South and South East Asia collection (including India)
The Asia collection incorporates antiquities from cultures such as China and India. The China collections of artefacts are considered one of the largest collections of Chinese historical artifacts in the Western world. Most of the collection focuses on porcelain, paintings, scripts and basic tools. Items range from the neolithic era to the 20th century. One of the most important items within the china collection is a collection of rare Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang. The museum also has a large collection of Chinese coins, as China was one of the first countries to use coins, the origins of the word 'cash' is derived from some of 200 bc era coins that the Asia department has in its collections.
Objects with the Indian collections of the Asia department date from some of the earliest Indian civilisations in the Indus valley, about 7000 years ago. As well as ancient artefacts, the Indian collections include excellent examples of pottery, art (a large amount of rare Mughal paintings and traditional scriptwork. The Asia department also has a large display of sculpture including carvings from the Great Stupa at Amaravati. India is also represented in the money collections with a large amount of coins dating back to 4th century BC.
[edit] Islam collection
The John Addis Gallery of Islamic art, in room 34 includes the museums collection of Islamic art, including objects from the earliest centuries of Islam to the 20th century, and geographically from Egypt to Spain to India. This gallery displays aspects of the history of Islam, from the seventh century AD to the present day. The gallerys arrangement is mainly chronological, with western Islam - Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey - on the left as you go down the stairs, and eastern Islam - Iran, Afghanistan and India on the right. At the end of the gallery are cases on Islamic Spain, science , arms and armour (including helmets and a deadly sword in the shape of a hand), coinage and a changing exhibition of contemporary graphics. An example of contemporary art is displayed to the right of Case 44. The British Museum is actively collecting 20th century material from the Islamic world, including calligraphy, popular religious prints, political posters, studio pottery and a rare 11th century Koran.
 The John Addis Gallery |
 The John Addis Gallery |
 11th Century North African Koran |
 13th Century Arabic Frieze |
[edit] Korea collection
The Korea Foundation Gallery houses The British Museum's collection of Korean art and archaeology, widely regarded as the finest in Europe. Objects from pre-history to the present day include stone sculpture, paintings, printed books, screens and folk art as well as ceramics, lacquerware, gold and bronze. One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibition, is a reconstruction of a traditional Korean sarangbang (a Korean home), as well as fine examples of 15th century Korean script.[2]
[edit] Japan collection
The Japanese section of the Asian department holds one of the most comprehensive collections of Japanese material culture in Europe . This includes, in particular, prints, printed books, and paintings, ceramics, swords, decorative arts and early archaeological material. The Japanese Galleries also known as the Konica-Minolta Gallery and the Urasenke Gallery) were opened on 6 April 1990 and were recently renovated.[3] Part of the collection includes a Tea House, sponsored and built by the Urasenke Foundation. The 'Tea House' forms an exhibit furnished with modern tea utensils; a display of historic Tea Ceremony wares is also on display. The Japanese collection has a long history with the museum see Collection History for details.
