EVALUATING MUSEOLOGICAL PLACEMENT OF DRAGON TEAPOT IN THE WALTERS ART MUSEUM

Walters Museum NarrativeMiyata Nobukiyos Dragon Teapot is currently in the Rye to Raphael exhibit of the Walters Art Museum. In this installation, one follows the chronological storyline of the Walters journey from brewers to art collectors. Furthermore, the storyline was not only of the Walters art collecting, but also of their financial success and knowledge of the artistic world. The Dragon Teapot makes an appearance in the Walters story when the Walters expand their collection to International Art (other than European Art). Thus, the Dragon Teapot was displayed in a room with other World Fair Acquisitions, meant to show the transition and growth of the Walters collection. Display StyleThe Dragon teapot is displayed in a low, waist high, glass case in a dimly lit room. There is a spotlight from above focused on the teapot. Along with the teapot there is a receipt for items purchased by Henry Walters from the Chinese section at the St. Louis Worlds Fair (1904) in the glass case placed to the left of the teapot. Both items have an interpretation label in front of them, also under the glass. Placement of ObjectThe museum presents the Dragon Teapot with other acquisitions of art from the numerous World Fairs the Walters attended. The side that the Dragon Teapot is on, the far right side of the room, is dedicated to Japanese Art. Surrounding the teapot is the Model of a Pagoda and a Japanese painting titled Rough Coast. Although this arrangement seems to make sense, in the same glass case as the Dragon Teapot is a receipt for items purchased by Henry Walters from the Chinese section at the St. Louis Worlds Fair (1904). This is extremely misleading as it gives the impression that the receipt is for the Dragon Teapot, which it is not. Not only is the teapot Japanese and not Chinese, but the teapot was in fact bought by William Walters in 1876, not by Henry Walters in 1904. Additionally, the surrounding Model of a Pagoda and Rough Coast painting were also acquired by Henry Walters. Thus, the placement of the teapot is very illogical and does not lend to an understanding of the object and its acquisition. Label Text The objects label interprets the Dragon Teapot as a creative piece made by Nobukiyo who had to find a new use for his talent of metal working after a ban on carrying swords was passed. Nobukiyo was respected for making sword fittings for Japans military class, but when carrying swords was banned by the Japanese government he turned to making luxury metal products to support himself. The label does an honest job of addressing the objects origin and creator. However, information on the techniques used to create the teapot and for whom/what the teapot was originally created is lacking. Additionally, the significance of the dragon represented by the teapot is not investigated. The label focused so much on the artist that the skill and culture behind the piece went unmentioned. Primary SourcesIn the Rye to Raphael installation, the Asian and French art was grouped in a room for World Fair collections. This room was meant to address all of the Walters foreign art. This set up resonates with Quicchebergs classification. Rather than giving respect to each objects respective nation Quiccheberg simply summed pieces under an overarching category for foreign objects. A look at Winckelmanns notions could have helped the presentation of the Dragon Teapot. Instead of focusing on an individual artist, Winckelmann was intent on representing cultures and peoples as a whole.