b. HOME IMPROVEMENT, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2003 PAGE 4 Influences from the East on display at museum By BARBARA MAYER When Josiah Broadhead was decorating his home in Salem, Mass., around 1885, he commis- sioned a paneled screen pictur- ing his three blond-haired daughters shown clothed in Japanese kimonos. The screen, on display at the newly reopened Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, is a delight- fully nutty example of that East- meets-West decor known vari- ously as Asian export or chi- noiserie, depending on. when and where it was made. Good news for lovers of Asian export wares: The world’s most comprehensive collection of them is on display at the gor- geously renovated and expand- ed Peabody Essex Museum. The Peabody, founded in 1799, has the distinction of be- ing the oldest American muse- um in continuous operation. No spring chicken itself, the Essex Institute began life in 1821 to collect items pertaining to Es- sex County history. Salem is the Essex county seat. The two mu- seums merged in 1992. Now, their collections, joint facilities and grounds have been reconfig- ured in more than 250,000 square feet, including a new wing designed by Moshe Safdie. While the Peabody Essex has many important collections from all over the world among its 2.4 million works of art, ar- chitecture and design, the ac- cent is on Asia for the museum’s reopening. That’s entirely appropriate, since from the 18th century through the late 19th century, Salem was the home port for some of America’s wealthiest ship owners and captains. These sea captains often called in at Chinese and other Asian ports and brought back treas- ures that have ended up as do- nations to the Peabody and Es- sex Institute. Several special exhibits offer a look at rare Chinese scroll paintings, Chinese commemora- tive portraits, and 19th century Asian photographs. On perma- nent view on three floors are wonderful examples out of the institution’s 26,000 items of Asian export wares, encompass- ing ceramics, silver, furniture, works on paper and much more. There is also a new installa- tion of a complete early 19th century Chinese merchant’s house. The house, which is fur- nished, was purchased from the descendants in the family that built and lived in it in south China. It was taken apart and reassembled on the museum’s grounds adjacent to the new wing. In addition to original fur- nishings, lots of information on the lives of those who lived there is included in the exhibi- tion. “It appears to be the only complete Chinese house ce not a reproduction ce outside Chi- na,” said Dan L. Monroe, execu- tive director of the Peabody Es- sex. “Having it provides an op- portunity to give a real sense of life, architecture and art in a part of China.” The displays at the Peabody Essex allow visitors to glimpse something of the long history of decorative interactions between Asia and the West. Going back more than a thousand years, Asia has given the rest of the world decorative images, mate- rials and ideas, including porce- lain, silk, ceramic glazes, floral decorations and ornamental forms such as pagodas, bridges and fretwork, to say nothing of Chinese characters and clothing forms such as the kimono. “There are pictures of women wearing dresses of Chinese silk on the walls of Pompeii, which was covered over in 79 A.D. by ash,” said William Sargent, cura- tor of Asian Export Art. In the 17th century, the Dutch and British established trading companies in the Far East and began to import exotic decorative wares. Meanwhile, missionaries published books about their travels in China and elsewhere, illustrating them with pictures of places, customs and costumes. The imports and books helped create a fad in the West for Asian decoration. The 18th century was a high point, when Chinese textiles, porcelains, furniture, silver, tea paraphernalia and more were specifically made for export to the West. To appeal to the West- ern market, merchants often had Chinese artisans copy West- ern designs, producing what has become known as chinoiserie. Sometimes, the designs were not even copied, but merely imi- tated in the West. Blue and white pottery from Holland and England imitated Chinese blue and white porcelain, for exam- ple. Japanning was another ex- ample of imitation, in which Westerners copied Asian lac- quer ware as best they could. “Since the 18th century, the export trade has never stopped, although there have been times when Asian influence was greater or lesser, depending on fashion,” said Sargent. Josiah Broadheads panel screen is an example of the Japan craze of the 1880s. It started in 1876 when a Japanese display at the Philadelphia Cen- such as the Wakefield loveseat on view at the museum, is an- other example of an East-West tennial led to a vogue for things Japanese. Wicker furniture, crossover. The loveseat by Cyrus Wakefield is actually DUETTE® honeycomb shades SILHOUETTE® window shadings FREE ENERGY EFFICIENCY book when you come in or schedule a shop-at-home B appointment SE - Be aterDouglas ov Are heating and air conditioning costs sending your hard-earned money right out the window? 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