100 things: 006 - the peabody essex museum, salem, ma
i love the peabody essex. i love the story of its founding, i love the old building, i love the new building (well, not so new any more), i love the permanent exhibits, i love the temporary exhibits, i even love the ridiculous little purses in the gift shop.
salem was a big seaport back in the day (by which i mean the 18th and 19th centuries :D ), and in 1799 a bunch of ship captains founded the east india marine society, the charter for which had a provision for the collection of the kinds of curiosities that tall ships would have brought back from the pacific islands and the far east and india and africa and everywhere. the society got its own building in 1825, and after a lot of years and some mergers with other societies and organizations, it became the peabody essex museum. the original hall still has a bunch of the original cabinets containing some of the first things that went up on display.
also, lots of paintings of ships.
the expansion and atrium were designed by moshe safdie and built in 2003. those panels are supposed to evoke ship sails, in reference to salem's glory days as a major seaport and the east india marine society's collection of the nifty things those merchant ships brought home.
it's bright and open and really lovely. the giant butterflies were a temporary exhibit.
so that's the building. the building's pretty cool. but what's the point of a museum, even a really attractive one, if the stuff on display isn't that great? right? well. the peabody essex is full of cool shit.
models of ships:
(this is old ironsides, the uss constitution.)
(cleopatra's barge, which was built in 1816 as the first luxury yacht. the museum has a couple of full-size rooms next to the model, but you can't photograph them.)
models of houses:
(japanese, i think 18th or 19th century.)
kids' toys:
(hand-carved noah's ark from 1850.)
porcelain:
(18th or 19th century tea set.)
chinese wallpaper:
(hand-painted scenes from canton (now guangzhou), which was at the time the only chinese city open to foreigners. the wallpaper's from the late 18th century and was commissioned by a scottish lord for his castle, where it hung for about two hundred years. all those buildings across the bottom, with the very european-looking pillars and flags, are european factories, because that was the only place in china they were allowed.)
american paintings and furniture:
(that's nathaniel hawthorne. :D )
(alice hutchinson, nineteen-year-old aspiring opera singer.)
furniture from china:
(the coolest wedding bed ever.)
and india:
(ivory!)
sailboats:
(yes, someone actually sat in that. no, you can't do it now.)
and, er, 18th century doors:
(i have no idea what happened to the rest of the house.)
and that's the peabody essex. my favorite museums are full of stuff, not just paintings and sculpture. it doesn't hurt when they're in nice buildings, either. and, you know, descended from collections of things that merchant ships picked up in their 18th and 19th century journeys around the world.
salem was a big seaport back in the day (by which i mean the 18th and 19th centuries :D ), and in 1799 a bunch of ship captains founded the east india marine society, the charter for which had a provision for the collection of the kinds of curiosities that tall ships would have brought back from the pacific islands and the far east and india and africa and everywhere. the society got its own building in 1825, and after a lot of years and some mergers with other societies and organizations, it became the peabody essex museum. the original hall still has a bunch of the original cabinets containing some of the first things that went up on display.
also, lots of paintings of ships.
the expansion and atrium were designed by moshe safdie and built in 2003. those panels are supposed to evoke ship sails, in reference to salem's glory days as a major seaport and the east india marine society's collection of the nifty things those merchant ships brought home.
it's bright and open and really lovely. the giant butterflies were a temporary exhibit.
so that's the building. the building's pretty cool. but what's the point of a museum, even a really attractive one, if the stuff on display isn't that great? right? well. the peabody essex is full of cool shit.
models of ships:
(this is old ironsides, the uss constitution.)
(cleopatra's barge, which was built in 1816 as the first luxury yacht. the museum has a couple of full-size rooms next to the model, but you can't photograph them.)
models of houses:
(japanese, i think 18th or 19th century.)
kids' toys:
(hand-carved noah's ark from 1850.)
porcelain:
(18th or 19th century tea set.)
chinese wallpaper:
(hand-painted scenes from canton (now guangzhou), which was at the time the only chinese city open to foreigners. the wallpaper's from the late 18th century and was commissioned by a scottish lord for his castle, where it hung for about two hundred years. all those buildings across the bottom, with the very european-looking pillars and flags, are european factories, because that was the only place in china they were allowed.)
american paintings and furniture:
(that's nathaniel hawthorne. :D )
(alice hutchinson, nineteen-year-old aspiring opera singer.)
furniture from china:
(the coolest wedding bed ever.)
and india:
(ivory!)
sailboats:
(yes, someone actually sat in that. no, you can't do it now.)
and, er, 18th century doors:
(i have no idea what happened to the rest of the house.)
and that's the peabody essex. my favorite museums are full of stuff, not just paintings and sculpture. it doesn't hurt when they're in nice buildings, either. and, you know, descended from collections of things that merchant ships picked up in their 18th and 19th century journeys around the world.