Mirror with four bosses, four animals and ten Buddhist deities, gift of Atsushi Saisho to Edoardo Chiossone,

Collezione Edoardo Chiossone 1898 Genova - lascito testamentario

ambito cinese

China or Japan, 5th - 6th century AD

- V-VI

B-546

Unità di misura: cm; Diametro: 24.2; Spessore: 0.9; Unità di misura: g

bronzo- fusione

In a written memorial dated November 1881, the General Director of the Printing Bureau of the new Ministry of Finance Polygraphic Institute, Tokunō Ryōsuke, direct superior of Edoardo Chiossone wrote regarding a pair of mirrors (almost identical) donated one to him and the other to Edoardo Chiossone by their mutual friend Saisho Atsushi as a sign of their friendship: "Since the most remote antiquity, mirrors have been considered treasures in our country. Since their intrinsic character is that of being pure, clear and spotless [...] it is exactly like a pure heart to which selfishness and falsehood are unknown [...] Mr. Edoardo Chiossone searches for antiquities with tireless courage, without letting himself be stopped by obstacles; he loves all ancient objects with unheard-of ardour; there is no other way to define him, except as an extraordinary man! One of my friends, Mr. Saisho Atsushi, kept multiple very old mirrors: two of them have the same motifs and figures. He gave one to me, and the other to Mr. Chiossone. I believe Mr. A. Saisho wanted to show our mutual affection and its eternal duration, like that of mirrors. I dare to hope that Mr. Chiossone will want to keep this mirror very precious. In front of this mirror, he will seem to see all three of us together; it would be something so pleasant! The mirror... represents four bosses, four divine animals and ten sacred characters executed in an impeccable manner. The registration is partially deleted, so it cannot be read completely. It's only been a few years since the mirror was unearthed. The metal is covered with a beautiful green patina, a palpable sign of antiquity. Moreover, it is impossible to establish the era from which it dates. 11th month of the 14th year Meiji (November 1881), Tokunō Ryōsuke".
From this memorial we learn how Chiossone was well introduced and respected in Japanese society both that, six years after his move to Japan, he had already begun strenuously to collect artworks and that many of his acquaintances and friends were involved in facilitating the gathering. From Tokunō's writing we also understand that the mirror was buried and that it only came to light after an excavation.
In Japan, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in fact, there were not only occasional excavations for the creation of plants and infrastructures, well inserted in the Meiji modernization perspective, which led to fortuitous finds but also to real archaeological excavations increased by the growing antiquarian and collector taste: this is probably the case of the gift mirrors of Saisho Atsushi, an imminent politician in charge, over time, of several Prefectures of Japan. An identical specimen, found at the Kongōrin-ji temple in Ōsaka, is kept in the Kyōto National Museum and is on the Japanese national list of Important Cultural Heritage (jūyō bunkazai). These ritual mirrors, whose reflective side is obtained by polishing the bronze (opposite the visible side) are usually decorated with Taoist motifs: our specimen features a rare combination of Taoist decorative motifs and Buddhist figures.   Bronze mirror of ritual use from an unknown archaeological context, with four ashlars, four animals and ten Buddhist deities. The reflective side, opposite to the decorated side, is obtained by polishing the bronze.

Bronze ritual bell

Collezione Edoardo Chiossone 1898 Genova - lascito testamentario

ambito giapponese

Japan, Yayoi Period, 100 b.C. - 100 a.C.

bell

Inlay cabinet

Enrico A. D'Albertis 1932

Hakone, Japan, 1875 - 1880

C.D.A 1583

Tipo di misura: altezzaxlarghezzaxspessore; Unità di misura: cm; Valore: 171x72x32

Giappone

Legno a intarsi policromi.

Arredo

Wooden structure with shelves, doors and drawers, covered with wooden inlays in various natural colours in a vast ornamental repertoire of geometric and floral motifs. This interesting piece of furniture was probably acquired by Captain d'Albertis during his first World Tour, in the years 1877-1878. It represents the full technical evolution of the valuable wooden inlay yosegi zaiku 寄木細工 traditionally practised since 1635, i.e. from the beginning of the Edo period (1600 - 1867) in Hakone, a town located on the lake of the same name near Mount Fuji, in the province of Odawara. Fuelled by the immense reserves of precious wood in the surrounding wooded area, this artistic craftsmanship originates from the ancient skills and specific culture of Japanese carpenters, woodworkers and marquetry craftsmen who, in the 8th century, first came into contact with the marquetry decorated artefacts imported for Japanese rulers from Tang-era China (618 - 906 AD).

Sala sensoriale

Sala sensoriale (231618)

Sensoriale is a place where time is dilated, the space cosy, the senses finely stimulated. It was created to welcome and experience well-being. The workstation consists of individual elements to be combined in multiple formations: five instruments, a soft seat and a cushion, arranged according to Padovan's geometric principle of harmony. Video projections show fragments of light and flowers. Cedar essence encourages psychophysical relaxation through the sense of smell.

chiefs' club Patu Wahaika

Enrico A. D'Albertis 1932

New Zeland, second half of the 19th century

XIX - 1851 - 1900

C.D.A. 492

Tipo di misura: altezzaxlarghezzaxspessore; Unità di misura: cm; Valore: 36x12.7x2

Nuova Zelanda

Specifica alla produzione maori, in particolare quella lignea, è la moltiplicazione di motivi curvilinei, di spirali, e la copertura totale delle superfici con decorazioni a traforo o incise. Per un lungo periodo l’arte maori è stata descritta rintracciando solo i caratteri del suo aspetto esteriore. In tempi abbastanza recenti la pubblicazione di opere di studiosi maori ha permesso letture e approfondimenti che aprono a una complessità di simboli plastici inseriti in sistemi sociali, politici e religiosi che devono essere compresi nella loro globalità.

Cerimoniale/difensiva/offensiva Portata alla cintura, veniva tenuta con una mano e usata nei combattimenti e nelle cerimonie. Il fendente veniva inferto con il bordo convesso della lama. Cerimonie/combattimenti

Sickle-shaped Maori flat mace with a carved handle adorned with three convexities. The surfaces are decorated in carving with groups of three lines alternating with triangles in relief, arranged on three oblique registers separated from each other by three horizontal bands. Along the inner side of the weapon is carved a stylised figure symbolising a mythological spirit linked to the weapon's spiritual power (mana), which increased in proportion to success in combat. The figure has circular earrings, eyes, a nose and a beak-like mouth from which a tongue protrudes; intertwined tridactile hands clasp the shapeless body. Experts in hand-to-hand combat, the Maoris have devised a wide variety of short clubs carved out of wood - broadly known as patu - designed to deliver sudden, powerful blows from the top down. The wahaika is a distinct type of patu worn daily on the belt, which means 'fish mouth'. These weapons were passed down from generation to generation as family heirlooms.
The multiplication of curvilinear motifs, spirals, and the coverage of the entire surface with fretwork or engraved decorations is characteristic of Maori production, in particular in wood. Historically Maori art has been described by referencing the characteristics of its external appearance. However, more recently the publication of works by Maori scholars has provided interpretations and insights that reveal the complexity of plastic symbols in social, political and religious systems that must be understood in their entirety.

The Turkish Lounge

ambito europeo

Parvis, Giuseppe

2004 - 2004 - XXI

CDA 2543-2564 e 2628-2819

Unità di misura: UNR

assemblaggio

The Turkish salon of Captain d'Albertis is a romantic evocation of a nomadic Middle Eastern world that fascinated the West of the time as documented by many Italian, European and North American ‘Arab’, ‘Moorish’, ‘Indian’ or ‘Turkish’ salons. This world also fascinated Enrico de Albertis, at least since 1869, when at the invitation of the Khedivè of Egypt and Sudan, he attended the celebrations for the inauguration of the Suez Canal, where ‘a world of people , of the most varied costumes, bumped into each other, squeezed into the narrow meanders, between tents and tents', and where “tubas, turbans, fez and tarbush, stifelius and kaftan, bournous and galabie brushed against each other, mingled in common mutual harmony”. It is no coincidence that when he was only 25 years old, he would be the first Italian commander to steer an Italian boat through the Suez Canal and in the same year 1871 he was present in Cairo at the first performance of Aida. The cabinetmaker Giuseppe Parvis, who was active with his factory in Cairo, probably also played a role in the reconstruction of the salon, where the Captain visited him after his great performances at international exhibitions in Paris, Vienna, Philadelphia and the Italian Exhibition in Milan in 1881.
The use of textiles to shape the rooms, such as the ceiling canopy and the fact that this living room overlooks an outdoor space, reveals the captain's familiarity with the architectural language of the Arab worlds that are evoked here, hovering between neo-Gothic and exotic, between copies and originals. The Turkish Lounge is a particular room in the home of the Captain D’Albertis: it embodies the charm of the exotic for the late nineteenth century.

Huangdi Neijing 黃帝內經

ambito cinese

China, 2nd - 1st centuries BC

1801 - 1900 - XIX

MTPC3

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 20; Larghezza: 13; Profondità: 3

Cina

carta- inchiostro

Constructed in the form of a dialogue between the mythical Emperor Huangdi (2698 - 2596 B.C.) and his Prime Minister Qi Bo, the text introduces the fundamental philosophical themes of the classical Chinese tradition, the symbolic vision of nature and the body, the dynamic relationship between the elements for the harmony of health, the correspondence between the natural ‘Five Movements’ and the theory of Yin and Yang, the pathway to wholeness of body and mind, the analysis of Qi, the main elements of physiology and basic diagnostic and curative models such as phytotherapy and acupuncture.
In the central part of the text, the body is described as a ‘natural landscape’, organised in the form of a state governed by a ruler assisted by officials, ministers and assistants who must act in constant harmony and interrelation for the protection and promotion of health.
For good care of the integrity and quality of life, it is necessary to ‘know the Dao’, to know how to ‘adjust according to Yin and Yang’, to be able to see ‘the complete body and mind’, to take care of health ‘before the disease germinates’; of the doctor who begins his work when the disease has already developed, ‘it is said of him that he is ignorant’. Annotated edition of the Huangdi Neijng 黃帝內經, the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, cultural foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Installazione collezioni First Nations, Sud Dakota

Massimo Chiappetta and Gerald Mac Master

The installation was the result of a dialogue between the museum's planner and designer Massimo Chiappetta and Gerald Mac Master, a Cree artist from the Canadian Plains. Gerald accepted the invitation to interpret the museum's collections from his people and present in Genoa since 1892. The pieces came from the American Catholic Missions for Colombian celebrations in the last century and were donated to the city at the end. The display leads to the female and child world of some South Dakota peoples, whose artefacts, however, are laid on a bed of marble dust, as a sign of homage to peoples we have exterminated with alcohol, disease, guns and greed for raw materials and territories to conquer for our own good. Incorporating the indigenous voice into the transmission of the collections, bringing together multiple voices and multiple perspectives was crucial for us to broaden both the vision and interpretation.

Christ on the cross

Mario Marini Montesoro 1957 Genova - donazione

ambito peruviano

Scuola di Cuzco

1601 - 1800

C.I.C. 96

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 143; Larghezza: 105.6

Perù, Cuzco

Olio e oro zecchino su tela

This painting illustrates the influence of paintings on canvas, of European and specifically Spanish origin on indigenous Peruvian painters. With the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores in the 16th century, new forms of artistic expression made their way into Peru, and taking inspiration from European masters, the Cuzco school was created in the Inca capital. After the fall of the Inca Empire at the hands of the Conquistadores, over the following decades and centuries, a creolized art developed in Peru, in which indigenous elements were combined with elements of European origin. It is in the wake of this that this seventeenth-century canvas came into being, in which the presence of pure gold betrays the strong Spanish influence, giving it light and warmth and where the artist has ventured on a theme that has shaped not only the Christian faith, but the whole of western culture, of which it had by now become part. Oil on canvas depicting Christ crucified dressed in a loincloth (perizonium) and surrounded by vases of flowers and candelabra.

Skull-shaped protome

Collezione Missioni Cattoliche Americane 1893 donazione

cultura Maya

Copàn, Honduras

protome