The Japanese Collections 13 



In the fourth selection of surimono one is enabled 

 to study examples of the architecture of Japan: the 

 peasant dwellings with thatched roofs ; the city house 

 with its sliding screens (shoji) showing the garden 

 beyond ; certain temples whose entrances are heralded 

 by tall gates (torii), and little tea-houses met with as 

 the traveller goes through the country. The interior 

 of the Japanese house may also be glimpsed into, for 

 in these little prints we see the maiden at her low 

 writing-table composing a poem or seated on the floor 

 arranging her coiffure by the metal mirror, the house- 

 wife preparing the tea, or smoking her pipe by the 

 brazier (hibachi). Household lanterns, screens, sliding 

 and folding, potted plants on lacquered stands, low 

 tables for writing or holding the lacquered and porce- 

 lain dishes, are all pictured; and one recognizes the 

 simplicity and artistic restraint of the house in the very 

 absence of the cluttering objects and bric-a-brac, which 

 fill up the average home of Europe and America. The 

 Japanese house is almost purely Japanese, untarnished 

 by outside influence, even that of China, the country 

 from which so much has been borrowed, but whose 

 methods in this respect have been sparingly adopted. 



In the larger room, Cases 1 and 2 contain examples 

 of metal work, being accessories and ornaments used 

 on the sword. This collection was presented to the 

 museum by Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus in 1916 ; other speci- 

 mens are in the study collection in Room 51. The 

 examples in Case 1 are mainly of iron, dating from the 

 sixteenth century onward. The flat disk-like objects 

 arranged on the shelves are sword-guards (tsuba), 

 which are inserted between hilt and blade, thus afford- 

 ing a protection for the hand during fighting. The 

 smaller objects on the base of each case are orna- 

 ments for the hilt and scabbard, as illustrated on the 

 fully equipped weapons set up below. 



[13] 



