Traveling to London and Paris 1st July

[hybridfiat]

Can someone suggest anywhere I can visit to see nihonto?

Im going to the tower and I believe theres some there, is there a good display in or close to London?

Cheers

[paulb]

Steve,

The vast majority of Swords within the Royal Armouries collection are in the Museum at Leeds not the Tower of London. In fact I am not sure if there are any Japanese swords on show at the Tower.

The Victoria and Albert Museum have some good fittings and Koshirae on display but only one or two swords on display

The British Museum have a few swords on show in the Japanese room

The Wallace collection have several blades on show.

Needless to say there are several dealers in London. The one I know best is Don Bayney in Grays but there are several other high end dealers also around that area (sorry I don't have details) Although the UK pound has weakened against most other currencies prices over here seem to have gone up to compensate (as witnessed in Christies recent sale) so not necessarily a good place to but at present.

Hope this helps

Regards

Paul

[hybridfiat]

Thanks, Im disappointed about the tower. Many years ago they had a magnificient collection that had been made for one of the british royals (Victoria I think) there were sword blades, yari, naginata and arrows all with the same hamon. Ive pics at home of it. 1987 from memory.

[paulb]

Ian Bottomley will know more detail than I do but I think the majority of the things originally on display in the Tower moved to the custom made Museum in Leeds in the 1990s.

Certainly some of the Armours are on display in Leeds.

Check with Ian he will have an idea of what if anything remains in the Tower.

have a good trip

Paul

[IanB]

Steve, I'm afraid Paul is quite correct. When the Royal Armouries decided to move its main base out of the Tower, mainly for reasons of space, all of the Oriental collection was transferred. The only item left in the Tower is one of the two armours given to King James I by Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is by Iwai Yosaemon of Nara and I have managed to show that it was made for Takeda Katsuyori. Sadly, over the centuries it became very dilapidated and was sent to Japan for restoration in the 1970's. Much of what you remember from the Tower display were items from a gift to Queen Victoria by the last Shogun. This gift was divided up between the Royal Armouries, the V&A and the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. Quite a bit of it is displayed at Leeds including a complete horse harness, yari, one of the naginata and a few minor pieces. The Royal Armouries in fact received only a small amount of material from this gift. Some other material in that old display at the Tower was on loan from the National Trust and waas returned to them during the move.

As Paul says, there are still some swords displayed at the V&A as well as the British Museum, but only a tiny proportion of what they hold. The Wallace collection contains only a tachi / tanto daisho, but of wonderful quality. Other than that I'm afraid it is the dealers.

Ian Bottomley

[Jean]

Paris, Musée Guimet - close on Tuesday - day off for French Museum in general -but check on Google because France is full of exceptions, we have a saying :

 

"Exceptions confirm rules" (BTW, SH under Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's pen is contesting this saying )

[Jean]

I am away on holidays or you whould have got a free drink.

 

Should any of you pass through Paris (after July, 14th please advertise for a free )

BTW, if the weather is good, there are 1000 things more intresting to see/visit. (and I am not talking of Pigalles, Guido, you naughty boy ) For the ones who are not aware Guido can quote in French "ménage à trois" but

[hybridfiat]

Thank you for all the help. Unfortunately Jean we may be leaving Paris on the 14th.

Our plans are still open to change however.

Im quite excited as it has been many years since I visited Paris.

I was 16 and was accompanied by my aunt and uncle (in their 20s) and we stayed in The Belle Vue (Montmartre if my memory doesnt fail me) . I had a wonderfull time and have longed to return.

[peterqu]

Hi Steve,A trip to Les Invalides (pronounced Invaliday) is well worth a visit.Included in the entrance fee is the impressive Musee de l'Armee with magnificent sets of Arms and Armour through the ages including a number of full suits of Japanese Armour.Napoleon's tomb is nearby.You won't be disappointed. Peter Quin

[hybridfiat]

Cheers Peter, Ill do that.

[Jean]

Peter is right; if someone is interested in Militaria, go and see the Army Museum, Musée de l'Armée, you will find there fabulous things

[Justin]

If you get up to Oxford, I would highly recommend Pitt Rivers Museum. A good selection of armour and some swords and fittings are on display there. This is an amazing place in general and well worth a visit. The Ashmolean Museum also has some items, however it has been closed for some time for renovation (although it might have re-opened).

 

Two other options are Russell Coates Museum in Bournemouth (some armour, fittings and swords on display) and Snowshill manner in Broadway (which has 26 suits of Japanese armour on display in a theatrical setting - quite an amazing sight!). A photo of this can be found in the front page of Ian's book "Arms and Armor of the Samurai".

 

Another good book (if you can find it) is "A Guide to Japanese Art Collections in the UK" by Gregory Irvine from the V&A Museum (published by The Japan Society and Hotei Publishing. This has a summary of the major UK collections of Japanese art (including nihonto) sorted by geographically area. I purchased my copy at Russell Coates in Bournemouth, so you might be able to find it there if interested.