Medieval History
Among the highlights of the huge Asian collection at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria ? 8,000 artifacts making up more than 40 per cent of the gallery?s collection ? is a group of Samurai suits that date back to the 16th century. Ornate, functional and dripping in history, each suit has a story to tell about the samurai warriors and pre-industrial Japan. Return of the Samurai, which has just opened at the AGGV, features 12 samurai suits, 23 helmets, and other paraphernalia, much of it donated or lent to the gallery by Trevor Absolon, a dealer and collector who runs Toraba Samurai Arts. Absolon says each of these suits may have taken some two years to fabricate. ?Most samurai invested more money into the building of their armours than they did in the homes they lived in.?
It was common for designers to use animal and insect symbolism on the helmets and the dragonfly, or kachi mushi, was considered strong and invincible. Helmets often featured deer and rabbit designs as well. ?Some of the symbols they used to us would seem really ludicrous,? says Absolon. ?You?ll see a really fierce-looking armour with a big rabbit front crest on it and you [wonder], what does the rabbit have to do with any of this? They [were used because] of their agility and speed; but also in Japanese folklore rabbits could go into the underworld and they had mystical powers.?
Click here to read this article from The Globe and Mail
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Medieval History
Arms and crafts: Return of the Samurai
Among the highlights of the huge Asian collection at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria ? 8,000 artifacts making up more than 40 per cent of the gallery?s collection ? is a group of Samurai suits that date back to the 16th century. Ornate, functional and dripping in history, each suit has a story to tell about the samurai warriors and pre-industrial Japan. Return of the Samurai, which has just opened at the AGGV, features 12 samurai suits, 23 helmets, and other paraphernalia, much of it donated or lent to the gallery by Trevor Absolon, a dealer and collector who runs Toraba Samurai Arts. Absolon says each of these suits may have taken some two years to fabricate. ?Most samurai invested more money into the building of their armours than they did in the homes they lived in.?
It was common for designers to use animal and insect symbolism on the helmets and the dragonfly, or kachi mushi, was considered strong and invincible. Helmets often featured deer and rabbit designs as well. ?Some of the symbols they used to us would seem really ludicrous,? says Absolon. ?You?ll see a really fierce-looking armour with a big rabbit front crest on it and you [wonder], what does the rabbit have to do with any of this? They [were used because] of their agility and speed; but also in Japanese folklore rabbits could go into the underworld and they had mystical powers.?
Click here to read this article from The Globe and Mail
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On the outskirts of New Delhi, in a cramped concrete workshop where the air shimmers with the light of welding torches, an Indian businessman has become a master craftsman of Napoleonic swords. And medieval chain-mail armour. And Second World War hand...
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A German octogenarian puts his lifelong fascination with armour under the hammer Tuesday when the largest private collection of medieval weapons goes on sale for millions of euros. The collection, valued at between three and four million euros ($4-5.4...
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The Late Gothic Hall at The Cloisters museum and gardens ? The Metropolitan Museum of Art's branch in northern Manhattan for medieval art ? has reopened this week after an extensive five-year renovation. Returning to public view for the first time...
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47 Ronin by John AllynWhat a way to NOT start a New Year. It is the first half of the first month of 2014 and despite my hopes that this would be a big year for me and my reads, it has kicked off with a real let down. I have seen 47 Ronin pop up in my...
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