A strikingly strong
presentation of early American furniture includes a William and
Mary valuables cabinet by James Symonds (1633-1714) of Salem,
Mass.
By Bob Jackman
SALEM, MASS. -- Coming just ten short years after the merger of
the Peabody Museum and the Essex Institute, the Peabody Essex
Museum has recently culminated one of the most significant
renovation and expansion endeavors undertaken by a museum in many
years.
Founded in 1799 as the East India Marine Society and later
changing its name to the Peabody Museum, it is the oldest
continuously operated museum in America. Located just several
blocks away was the Essex Institute that was founded in 1815. The
two merged their operations in 1993, ultimately providing the
impetus for the museum's recent amazing growth and redefinition.
The expansion of the Peabody Essex Museum, a $125 million
project, has allowed the institution to properly and prominently
display its vast collections in both a newly renovated and new
state-of-the-art facility. This is a major accomplishment for an
American museum, something that neither of the museums was able
to accomplish on its own prior to the merger and expansion. The
opening of the new wing provides an additional 111,000 square
feet, and brings the museum's total space to more than 250,000
square feet.
Museum Director Daniel Monroe believes the newly expanded museum
will be a trailblazer, stating, "With the new museum, the Peabody
Essex has the opportunity to set a national precedent for the way
art is exhibited and interpreted."
One of the few loan objects among the inaugural exhibitions is
a remarkable 1794 Aaron Willard shelf clock with a silvered
brass dial.
Associate curator Christina Hellmich installed the Oceania
gallery in the second floor of the renovated Dodge wing and is
ecstatic with the quality and quantity of space provided in the
museum. Hellmich noted, "This added space makes it possible to
display more items, but also to display items properly. For
example, we have a unique Austral Island tapa, a type of textile
created from the inner bark of a tree. It is the only known
polychrome decorated textile from the Austral Islands. We have
displayed it previously, but have only been able to show a
portion of it. Here it hangs in its entirety exposing the full
pattern and conveying a powerful effect."
The renovation project got underway with phase one in 1995. The
former Rogers Clothing Store across the esplanade from the museum
was totally renovated into the museum's office center. In the
second phase the Phillips Library received a facelift, and its
interior was brought up to modern institutional standards. During
the next phase, the basement of the National Parks Visitor Center
was converted into a state-of-the-art collections storage
facility. Then the burned out shell of the adjacent armory was
razed, and a beautiful park was installed. Throughout the entire
construction and renovation process the existing museum galleries
were undergoing total overhauls.
The final construction phase called for a new wing with
galleries, an auditorium and other amenities. The board chose
architect Moshe Safdie to design a novel institutional building
that offered the ultimate museum experience while being
compatible with its neighborhood.
To celebrate the reopening on June 21, twenty-three exhibitions
simultaneously go on display in new and refurbished galleries,
and, while the Peabody Essex is considered a world-class museum
of Asian Export goods, the newly expanded space will allow it to
reveal the depth of its collections in many other areas.
"It will now be apparent that we have the premier collection of
objects from New England," stated American curator Dean
Lahikainen, whose department has two inaugural exhibitions. A
high style exhibition occupies two-and-one-half galleries on the
first floor of the new wing. "We have many wonderful items that
have never been exhibited before. Sargent's portrait 'Mrs Peter
Chardon Brooks' is a recent acquisition that we are showing for
the first time," reported Lahikainen.
The curator then noted, "This great William and Mary dressing
table is also on display for the first time. It is a fine example
with an absolutely untouched structure and surface. It has been
in the collection of the Essex Institute since the 1820s."
In East Hall is a second Americana exhibit that looks more to
county and craft items, including both historical and
contemporary objects. Curator Paula Richter commented, "This
exhibit examines how people bring art into daily life. These
objects have both aesthetic and functional roles."
The Native American department gallery is next to East India
Marine Hall. The exhibition "Power and Beauty" is deep in unique
and rare items of cultural significance, such as the Dakota baby
carrier. Curator Karen Kramer commented, "In a Dakota family, a
new or expectant mother might be honored by the gift of a newly
made or heirloom baby carrier. In this instance, the carrying
strap and hanging tinkler strips feature motifs depicting the
spirit being known as 'Thunderer' or 'Thunderbird,' the
protective bird of the sky. It is likely that it was made for a
family of very high rank in the Dakota community."
The Maritime department also has two exhibitions currently on
view with the Maritime Art gallery occupying the first floor
space in the new wing. Curator Daniel Finamore noted, "A unique
exhibit is a pair of Paris porcelain vases with enameled United
States maritime scenes. Each individually is probably unique, but
to have a pair is incredible." There is also a Seafaring Culture
exhibition located on the first floor beneath East India Marine
Hall.
Assistant curator Susan Bodwitch installed an African exhibit,
"Legacies: African Art in the World," in a third floor gallery.
Among the highlights is a folded sheet of parchment with a series
of paintings. "This extremely early [Fifteenth Century] Ethiopian
icon is characterized by its use of medieval Christian images in
concert with local secular scenes," commented Bodwitch. "The
depiction of St George in the middle panel is a favorite; the
lack of a dragon marks it as early." This image has also
attracted the attention of Twentieth Century artists including
musician Paul Simon who used it on the cover of his CD
Graceland.
Considered by many to be the most spectacular of all exhibits is
the Yin Yu Tang House, a 5,000-square-foot Nineteenth Century
home, the only period Chinese home in an American museum. The
building originally housed a merchant family named Huang from the
early 1800s until the mid-1980s.
The 5,000-square-foot structure makes a powerful impression with
its huge, stately exterior and interior courtyards. The home is
fully furnished with the furniture, decorative objects and
household items used by the Huang family.
Curator Nancy Berliner has designed insightful interpretations
that convey Chinese culture and history to visitors via an
18-minute tape on the home's history. Visitors then can choose
either a half-hour guided tour, an audio tour or free walking
through the house. The exhibition offers a profound look into
Chinese culture.
Two other domestic Chinese exhibitions are curated by Bruce
MacLaren. "Men Plow, Women Weave" is based upon a set of 46
woodblock prints that the emperor of China ordered made in 1696.
MacLaren noted, "The set was intended to illustrate two
fundamental parts of the economy. It contains 23 images of rice
production and 23 images of silk production. It was distributed
freely and became something of a stylebook. The designs pop up in
other media continuing to the present. The exhibit displays
objects made in China and elsewhere by borrowing these designs."
MacLaren also serves as museum's curator of the traveling
exhibition "Ancestral Portraits" assembled by the Sackler Museum
in Washington, D.C.
Asian Export curator William Sargent and associate curator Karina
Corrigan installed three exhibitions. In the Chinese Export
exhibition, some wares reveal several cultures, such as a Chinese
porcelain plate (1522-1566) that features underglaze blue
decoration in the tree of life pattern and was probably produced
for the Indian market that favored that design. However, the
plate sits in Seventeenth Century European bronze mounts and has
European gilding.
Frederic Remington's (1861-1909) scene of two Native Americans
conversing in an evening landscape is titled "Gossips."
A highlight of the Japan Export exhibition is a striking mixed
metal vase by the semiprivate company Kiryu Kosho Kaisha.
Curator Susan Bean is enthusiastic about having the first Peabody
gallery devoted entirely to Korean arts. Bean commented, "It is a
new gallery but an old collection begun in the late Nineteenth
Century. One of our superb works is a screen depicting a banquet
of the Queen Mother of the West. It is a Doaist story that
originated in China, but it has been in Korea for a thousand
years. It signifies immortality. The artist who painted it
belonged the Bureau of Painting that was attached to the royal
court. The work's intention was to express long life for members
of the royal family."
Bean also curates three exhibitions related to India: "Indian
History and Culture," "Indian Export Art" and "Indian
Contemporary Art."
Other exhibitions include "Asian Export Works on Paper," "Japan
Art and Culture," "Masterpieces of Asian Photography," "The
Architectural Planning of the New Museum" and "Family Ties."
The revamped museum now has its first chief curator, Linda
Hartigan. She sees the opening not as the end of a process but as
the launching point for better programs. Hartigan stated, "I am
looking forward to working with the Peabody Essex's talented
curatorial staff to develop dynamic exhibition and acquisition
programs, and sharing with visitors the museum's exceptional art
and culture from around the world."
The Peabody Essex Museum will be hosting "The Boston Furniture
Symposium, New Research on the Federal Period" on November 14-16.
The symposium will feature 17 curators and scholars presenting
new research in their fields and will be held in conjunction with
the exhibition "Luxury and Innovation: Furniture Masterworks by
John and Thomas Seymour" opening November 16. For further
information call 866-745-1876, extension 3213.
The museum is located in East India Square between Essex
Street and Derby Street. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm Monday through
Saturday, and noon to 5 pm on Sunday. Admission fees are $12
adults, $10 seniors and $8 students. Children under 16 are
admitted free. For information call 866-745-1876 or visit the
website at www.pem.org.
