The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Stirrup (Wa Abumi)

Art Object

A Visit to the Armor Galleries

In the 1920s the Metropolitan began to explore filmmaking as part of its educational program, and in 1924 it released two films about arms and armor. In preparation for this new undertaking, Bashford Dean, the head of the Arms and Armor department, sought the advice of Hollywood professionals D. W. Griffith and John Barrymore. Once the scripts were complete, Dean left most of the actual work to his young assistant curators, Stephen V. Grancsay and Thomas T. Hoopes, who also appear in the films. A Visit to the Armor Galleries was especially popular and includes memorable scenes: a Gothic armor steps out of its vitrine to answer visitors' questions about the collection, a seesaw with a small child on one end and a medieval mail shirt on the other demonstrates the relatively modest weight of armor, and a fully armored knight on horseback gallops through Central Park, with Belvedere Castle (the park's weather station) rising picturesquely in the background. When actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. viewed the film at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, he pronounced it "bully."

Video/Audio (6)

Dressing in Steel: Part One
(00:37:39) 678 views

Dressing in Steel: Part Two
(00:20:04) 271 views

A Visit to the Armor Galleries
(00:30:21) 4358 views

Bashford Dean and the Creation of the Arms and Armor Department, 1904–1929
(00:30:12) 226 views

The Art of Arms and Armor: Challenges of Research, Display, and Education
(00:33:09) 320 views

Curators, Collectors, and Dealers: The Growth of the Arms and Armor Collection, 1929 to the Present
(00:36:37) 207 views

Stirrup (Wa Abumi)

Date:: probably 5th century
Culture:: Probably Japanese
Medium:: Iron
Dimensions:: Height 10 1/2 in. ( 26.67 cm) Width 8 1/8 in. ( 20.62 cm)
Classification:: Equestrian Equipment
Credit Line:: Gift of Bashford Dean, by exchange, 1906
Accession Number:: 06.310.21

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 377

Description

Excavated from the burial mound at Wada, in Nara Prefecture, this stirrup is an example of the earliest type used in Japan, probably imported from China or Korea.
Provenance

From burial mound at Wada, Yamashiro Province
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Iron and iron alloy (6,952)

Iron (3,753)

Stirrups (174)
Where
Asia (68,071)

Japan (21,819)
In the Museum
Arms and Armor (13,084)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Japan, 1–500A.D.