Peabody Essex Museum

Infobox_nrhp | name =Peabody Museum of Salem
nrhp_type = nhl


caption =
location= Salem, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 31
lat_seconds = 18
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 70
long_minutes = 53
long_seconds = 36
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1825
architect= Unknown
architecture= No Style Listed
designated=December 21, 1965
added = October 15, 1966
governing_body = Private
ceo = Dan Monroe
refnum=66000783cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] Infobox_nrhp | name =Essex Insitiute Historic District
nrhp_type = hd


caption = Crowninshield-Bentley House
location= Salem, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 31
lat_seconds = 20
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 70
long_minutes = 53
long_seconds = 33
long_direction = W
locmapin = Massachusetts
area =
built =1727
architect= McIntire,Samuel
architecture= Renaissance, Italian Villa, Federal
added = June 22, 1972
governing_body = Private
chief_executive_officer = Dan Monroe
refnum=72000147cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Peabody Essex Museum, originally the Peabody Museum of Salem, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States [http://pem.org/museum/new_museum.php] , and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as well as twenty-four historic buildings.

It was founded in 1799 as the East India Marine Society by a group of Salem-based captains and supercargoes. Members of the Society were required by the society's charter to collect "natural and artificial curiosities" from beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. Due to the institution's age, the items they donated to the collections are significant for their unmatched combination of age and provenance. In 1992, the Peabody Museum of Salem merged with the Essex Institute to form the Peabody Essex Museum.

In 2003, the Peabody Essex Museum opened a new wing designed by Moshe Safdie, more than doubling the gallery space to 250,000 square feet (23,000 m²); this allowed the display of many items from its extensive holdings, which had previously been unknown to the public due to lack of capability to show them. At this time, the museum also opened to the public the Yin Yu Tang House, an early 19th century Chinese house from Anhui Province that had been removed from its original village and reconstructed in Salem. The Yin Yu Tang (Hall of Plentiful Shelter) was built in the late eighteenth century for a Chinese merchant who commissioned the construction of a house in the province of his birth, Anhui, China. The five-bay, two-story residence was typical of its region, built of timber frame construction, with a tile roof and exterior masonry walls of sandstone and brick. The house survived economic and political upheavals, but by the mid-1980s the house stood empty. Local and national authorities, with the endorsement of the original owner’s descendants, gave permission for the house (and its contents) to be relocated to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.

The house was dismantled and shipped to the United States. John G. Waite Associates, Architects PLLC (http://www.jgwaarchitects.com/) a leader in the preservation, restoration and reuse of historic properties, including many of the nation’s most significant historic landmarks, was engaged to re-erect the Yin Yu Tang House. The firm was charged with the task of integrating modern building systems and meeting modern building codes for life-safety and seismic reinforcement. The timber frame structure, and the interior floor and wall assemblies were laid out and reconstructed in a warehouse. Missing or deteriorated pieces were identified and repaired or replicated by a multi-national team of craftsman and conservators. The firm developed measured drawings of the house from information gathered during this initial evaluation and assembly process.

After completing the documentation and conservation process, JGWA began the re-erection and restoration of Yin Yu Tang at the museum site. An external kitchen wing was reconstructed based on physical evidence found in the building and information derived from other local buildings in China. In addition to a kitchen, this wing also includes the re-erection of the Huang family's original gong tower, along with a modern stair and elevator to meet egress and accessibility requirements. Transformed from a family residence to a house museum, Yin Yu Tang was opened to the public in June 2003

The museum presently contains significant collections of:
*Maritime art
*American decorative art
*Asian export art
*Japanese art
*Korean art
*Chinese art
*Native American art
*African art
*Indian contemporary art
*Phillips Library Collection: rare books, manuscripts & ephemera
*Photography: a collection comprising more than a half million rare and vintage images
*Architecture: 24 historic American structures and gardens; 5 buildings are National Historic Landmarks; 8 others are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architecture in the Peabody Essex Museum

The museum owns 24 historic structures and gardens. Some are shown in the gallery below. The full set of buildings are: Daniel Bray House, Gilbert Chadwick House, Cotting-Smith Assembly House, Crowninshield-Bentley House, John Tucker Daland House, Derby-Beebe Summer House, East India Marine Hall, Gardner-Pingree House and Gardner-Pingree Carriage House, Lye-Tapley Shoe Shop, Dodge Wing of the Peabody Essex Museum, Asian Export Art Wing of the Peabody Essex Museum, Peirce-Nichols House, Samuel Pickman House, Plummer Hall, Quaker Meeting House, L. H. Rogers Building, Ropes Mansion, Andrew Safford House, Summer School Building, Vilate Young (Kinsman) House, and John Ward House.

References

ee also

* Huangshan District

External links

* [http://www.pem.org/homepage Peabody Essex Museum Website]
* [http://pem.org/yinyutang/ Yin Yu Tang] , a late Qing dynasty merchant's house relocated to the museum