Past Exhibitions
- Hidden Treasures from a Merchant’s Storehouse II: Lacquers from the Hiromi Collection
- July 18, 2018 - September 2, 2018
This gallery features lacquers previously owned by the Hiromi family, a prosperous Osaka merchant household dating back to the Edo period (1615–1868). In the spring of 2018, we showcased a selection of objects from the family's recent donation of over 1,000 works to the Kyoto National Museum. The assemblage on view here further examines the kinds of lacquers kept in the family storehouses. The Hiromi gift is treated as an art collection today, but it was not conceived as such. Instead, it comprises the kinds of high quality furnishings and other objects acquired by upper-class merchant families for use in the Way of Tea, banquets, hobbies, and other aspects of daily life—a legacy of elegant living.
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