Thursday February 6, 2014
Well, after about 36 hours, I am starting to fell better, ventured some food intake today, with no ill side effects. The sun is shinning and all seems right with the world, so we are going to visit the National Museum of Oriental Arts.
Just a note about the weather - on the weather channel today it indicated the the high was going to be about 13 - a little on the chilly side so bring along your mitts and hat!!!!! Bill and I are too hot, stripping down to minimal outerwear and that is still to warm for us. Every where we are seeing people in their down jackets, scarves around their neck, headgear and gloves - come on people, it's not that cold!
We had a nice visit to the museum, and except for workers, we were the only people there. It was clear that this is not a museum visited by many non-Italians, as there was no signage or literature in any other language than Italian. The Museum had artifacts from all over the orient, from the middle east to Japan, including Thailand, India, Burma, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, China and Japan. Religious artifacts from Islam and Buddhism were also on display. There was supposed to also be an area of Korean antiqites but it was closed. Also there was a temporary display of puppets from various countries.
So here are some pictures...fair warning.......I haven't posted any for a few days
....... there are more than a few.........
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| Murano glass chandelier |
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| Ceramics |
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| Metalwork |
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| Gold leaf embellishments |
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| Metal pots |
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| Bronze container |
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| Funeral cortege |
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| Bronze bowl |
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| Fertility Goddess -note the wide hips common to all fertility Goddesses |
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| ???? Another Fertility Godess ???? |
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| Reclining Buddha |
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| what else??...a chicken pot |
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| Indian fiqurine |
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| Indian deity |
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| large pot woven out of grasses (very fine) |
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| Buddha and followers |
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| part of a horses fittings |
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Musical instruments - string instrument in front,
xylophone like percussion instrument in back
and drum on the right |
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| Ceramics |
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Incense burner - there are actually 3 cats that make up this piece,
the third one is hidden |
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| Ceramic plate from Islam with early use of metallic glazes |
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| Armery - helmets, shield and possible sword handles |
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| Bronze pot |
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| Head from a statue - I love what looks like a lions head on top of her head |
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| Tibetan or Nepalese banner |
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| Ceramic pots - many had these long straight spouts |
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Decorated cloth with the images of people forming
the shape of a traditional Buddhist Stupa |
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| One of many Indian deities |
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| Not sure what this was meant to represent but I liked the way the light played on it |
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| Tibetian jewellery |
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| Nepalese jewellery |
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| Another deity |
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| ...and another |
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| .....and another |
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this one made me smile, hands legs and ears were out of proportion to the rest of the body,
and that impossibly thin waist |
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| Ceramics |
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| Glazed terracotta pot |
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| this was tiny, about the size of a tea cup, impossibly thin, with a delicate fluted edge |
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| two Buddhist monks |
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| beautiful bronzed copper vessel |
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| horse fiqurine about 6 to 8 inches long |
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| green jade rhinoceros carving |
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| SERENITY |
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| drinking vessel carved out of rhinoceros horn |
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| white jade container |
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| Pouring vessels shaped like animals, deer and camel |
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| small ornaments for clothing, possibly buttons, shaped like wild boar (cinghale) |
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| amber beads |
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| Funeral scribe's kit with little pieces of flint to scribe words |
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| a puppet in the dress of an Indian Prince |
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| an Indonesian shadow puppet |
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| facial detail of shadow puppet - these are carved out of leather |
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| a bejewelled cabinet |
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| large copper pot/kettle |
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| carved wall relief |
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| Tibetan mandala |
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| more wall reliefs |
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loved the look of the top two guys,
especially the one with his hand in his mouth |
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| tall bronze vase like containers |
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part of a carridge - these would be at the ends of the poles that
attch to the harness near the horses shoulder |
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| bronze mirrors |
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I love this guy with his crazy look, tongue hanging out of his mouth
and his big pot belly - he had something to do with a funeral, but my
Italian was not good enough to understand just what |
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| Chinese fiqurines |
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| PEACE |
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| A carved cocoa bean pod |
AND DON'T FORGET..........
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| to always look up, you never know what you might be missing |
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| beautiful |
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| dolphins at play |
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| another ceiling painting |
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| this handsome fellow was guarding the stairway up to the museum |
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| a small courtyard outside the museum |
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Just thought I would throw this one in - in case you haven't had enough -
an impressive door knocker
seen on an equally impressive door on the way home |
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