Besides the Boone Collection, The Field Museum has other significant collections of Japanese artifacts. These include the Carl and Jeanette Kroch and the John Woodworth Leslie collections of lacquerware, which both contain excellent inro and netsuke as well as other 18th-19th century lacquer items, several items of which can be seen on exhibit at the museum, and the Frank W. Gunsaulus collection of sword furniture including more than 1000 tsuba, menuke, fuchi-kashira and other metal items used for decorating swords. Together with several good swords from other donors (including a tachi by Osafune Suehiro made in 1392 AD), the Gunsaulus collection makes the Field Museum an important resource for students of Japanese weapons and metallurgy.
There are also over 200 Ainu-related items housed at the Field Museum, many of which were bought from Ainu participants in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Other Ainu artifacts have either been donated or purchased over the years, including a rare collection of Sakhalin Ainu material sold by Alexandra L. Pogosky, an agent to the governor of eastern Siberia.
Several dolls from Japan have been donated to the museum's collection by a few generous donors, resulting in a collection containing excellent representative pieces of different types of dolls. Several objects from the collections of sword furniture, Ainu artifacts, and dolls can be seen in virtual exhibits on this web site.
The museum has a number of important items displayed by Japan at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, including an impressive model of a phoenix boat and a finely woven tapestry by Kawashima Jinbei depicting a ritual procession at Nikko. At 12.2 x 22.5 feet, the tapestry is one of the most extraordinary textiles surviving from the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Cat: 76939
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