Samurai – The Prestigious Collection of Richard Béliveau

Samurai

May 17, 2012 - March 31, 2013


Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History is holding the first ever exhibition of items from a private collection of Richard Béliveau, a university professor, researcher and author, and a prominent collector of Japanese objects and artwork. His is one of the most important collections in the world because of its historical value, its rarity, and the number and variety of its items.

One of the oldest Items on Display is on the photo on the left - the Samurai Helmet from Muromachi Period (1336-1576). It has 61 riveted plates. Some helmets were made even with 100 plates. As most of the helmets, it has a frontal crest called in Japanese "maedate". The frontal crests were to ward off evil forces and also, I presume, to scare the opponent. They often feature items from nature, legends and various personal believes. Many if them have a variety of horns, as you can also see in the very top photo. In the forefront of that photo is a very bright red Samurai outfit or rather armour, which belonged to "Demons of Li" clan. It has a lacquered iron boal helmet with huge maedate-frontal crest. It is the only armour in the collection that has a "jinbaori" - a field overcoat.

Here, to the left, is another Samurai helmet. This time it has a crab as the front crest. This crest came from a legend and is a tribute to courageous samurai worriers. The legend has it that during a navel battle in 1185, the young Emperor Antoku threw himself overboard to avoid the dishonour of defeat. Many of his Heike warriors died that day. Since then the waters of that area have been filled with crabs with human faces. If a fisherman pulls out such a crab, he throws it back into the water, since no one would want to eat a crab with a samurai spirit.

What would a samurai be without his sword? The sword was held in a place of honour, on a special sword holder. The sword was cleaned every day to ensure the blade would not rust. To the left is one such sword holder presently on display at the PAC Museum.


Samurai had a very strict code of conduct, not only as warriors, but also regarding the general everyday conduct. Samurai were also versed in arts like calligraphy. The calligraphy was considered to express one's spiritual nature. "Skill in calligraphy depends entirely on the energy and spirit with which it is executed. A samurai must proceed unflaggingly, never tiring or becoming dispirited, until the task was completed. That's all." Quote by Hagakure.

Buddhism and its principles of spirituality were also very important to Samurai. Some samurai warriors even took along with them into military campaigns portable Buddha altars. Some had Buddhist prayer - chanting beats incorporated in their attire.  

The Buddha, in the sculpture to the left, sits in the centre of an open lotus flower as a symbol of perfect enlightenment.

The following two items on display are from the 19th century, and celebrate the importance and reverence of nature, so central in Japanese culture. They are bamboo Ikebana baskets, the one on the right representing a bird's nest.

Come to the museum to see for yourself the magnificent colours and artistic design of many Japanese artifacts on display.

For those who live very far away and would not be able to attend this exhibition, here is website with a lot of additional information Samurai culture with many pertinent links and references.

http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat16/sub106/item500.html

List of Photos as they appear in the text

  

1. 10 Samurai outfits, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova.

2. Richard Béliveau and his Samurai Collection at PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012

3. Samurai Helmet, Muromachi Period (1336-1576), 61 riveted plates, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

4. Samurai Helmet with a Crab Frontal Crest,Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

5. Sword Holder, Samurai Swords, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

6. Japanese calligraphy set, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

7. Buddha, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

8. Bamboo Ikebana Basket, 19th century, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

9. Woven Bird’s Nest Bamboo Ikebana Basket, 19th century, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova