BY SUSAN JAMES

DUBLIN—Hidden within the Irish city of Dublin is a treasure trove of Asian art. Two great collections are now on public display thanks to the collecting instincts and generosity of two wealthy American contempo-raries named Albert Bender and Alfred Beatty.

Born in Dublin in 1866, Bender moved to San Francisco as a teenager, made a fortune in the insurance industry, and began collecting artwork from China, Japan, and Tibet.

Bender CollectionIn 1932, Bender donated 260 pieces from his collection to the National Museum of Ireland. A Dubliner’s Collection of Asian

Art: The Albert Bender Exhibition is housed in the historic Collins Barracks just north of the River Liffey.

The Bender Collection is particularly rich in brilliantly colored, 18th-century Tibetan thangkas, painted cloth wall hangings depicting Buddhist saints and their stories. Another important part of the collection

is a group of striking Japanese ukiyo-e, 19th-century colored woodblock prints of landscapes and of the “willow world,” the demimonde universe of actors and geishas, wine houses, and pleasure palaces.

Entering the exhibition is to experience both a sober state-ment of religious belief and a joyful expression of blossom-ing flowers and flying kites. A Bodhisattva sits in meditation on a mountain across from a geisha who is entertaining.

Among the thangkas and ukiyo-e prints, a vast range of exquisite Chinese items is exhib-ited: 1,000-year-old early Song Dynasty funerary jars decorated with the Green Dragon of the East, a horse and rider from the Tang Dynasty (618–907), as well as a duck from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220).

Beatty CollectionA few miles south lies another great collection. Alfred Chester Beatty, born in 1875 in New York City and of Irish descent, was Bender’s contemporary and an Asian-art aficionado. A fortune made in copper mining allowed Beatty to build a major collec-tion of Oriental art, books, and scrolls, which he left in 1968 to

the Chester Beatty Library, which was built to house and display his collections.

Expanded since then by judi-cious acquisitions, the library now contains one of the premier collections of Asian art in Europe. Located within Dublin Castle, the museum displays a rotating roster of objects divided into two exhibitions: Arts of the Book and Sacred Traditions.

Most of the Chinese objects date from the Qing Dynasty and include a rare copperplate series of prints dating from 1760s and titled “Quelling the Rebellion in the Western Regions.”

China’s version of Romeo and Juliet is illustrated in a book called “The Story of Oriole,” dat-ing to the 17th century. This ver-sion has a happy ending, unlike the original Tang Dynasty ver-sion.

Among the most important of the Beatty Library holdings are three of the surviving 400 vol-umes of the “Great Encyclopedia of Emperor Yongle.” Originally created in 1403 and completed in 1407/1408 on the orders of the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the “Great Encyclo-pedia” was a compilation of all accepted knowledge set out in 11,095 volumes.

A fire nearly destroyed the exhaustive work, and under imperial command, the volumes were recopied in the 16th century. The Beatty Library holds the volumes that are about poetry, bamboo, and paper.

The Japanese exhibitions dis-

cuss the history of printing. The earliest surviving examples of printing are Buddhist charms that date from the 8th century. Eight hundred years later, from the 17th century on, the newly prosperous and increasingly lit-erate merchant class provided a growing market for ukiyo-e prints and painted story scrolls.

Beautiful lengths of painted

scroll books, such as Sumiyoshi Jokei’s 17th-century “Scenes in and around Kyoto” and a 1688 telling of “The Tale of Genji,” open windows on vanished worlds.

The Beatty Library also con-tains exhibitions of Thai, Bur-mese, and Indian art. Through Aug. 5, a special exhibition featur-ing the earliest surviving scrolls telling “The Tale of the Bamboo

Cutter,” the oldest Japanese work of prose fiction, dating from the early Heian period (9tth to 10th century), is on display after extensive restoration and con-servation.

Susan James is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. She has lived in India, the U.K., and Hawaii and writes about art and culture.

TECHNOLOGY B8ARTS & CULTURE B9

TRAVEL B10ART MARKETPLACE B11

STYLE B12JULY 5 – 11, 2012

Dublin Holds Remarkable Asian Art CollectionsCurrent exhibit features scrolls depicting the oldest Japanese prose fiction

Exhibit Presents Four Perspectives on War of1812 BY SUSAN HALLETT

OTTAWA—On the 200th anni-versary of the War of 1812, the Canadian War Museum presents a clear overview of what it calls the four wars of 1812.

The first thing that strikes the visitor is that there were four aspects to what most people call the War of 1812. Glenn Ogden, senior interpretive planner at the museum, explained the four viewpoints as he led a group of journalists through the exhibi-tion.

To Canadians, the war was about preventing an American invasion. To the Americans, it was about standing up to the British. To the British, the war was what a museum press release calls “an irritating sideshow to the Napole-onic Wars raging in Europe.” And for native Americans, it was “a desperate struggle for freedom and independence.”

D. Peter MacLeod, a pre-Confederation historian at the Canadian War Museum, curated the exhibition. His passion for understanding 18th-century Can-ada has resulted in several books, including “Northern Armaged-don: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham.”

His latest work is a 96-page paperback called “Four Wars of 1812,” which includes many excel-lent illustrations. In the third chapter of the book, MacLeod tells of an American officer who said to Jacob Cline, a 13-year-old Canadian: “You’ll soon be under Yankee government, my boy.”

Jacob replied, “I’m not so sure about that.” And he was right. At the famous Battle of Queenston Heights, north of Niagara Falls, an

American army, thirsty for more territory, invaded Canada.

Maj. Gen. Sir Isaac Brock (1769–1812), who had been placed in command of Upper and Lower Canada in 1806, led British forces and French- and English-speak-ing militia, together with First Nations warriors, in a brilliant defense of the fledging colony. That battle changed history.

As MacLeod states in his book: “For modern Canadians, the War of 1812 is the epic story of the suc-cessful defense of a small colony under attack by a much larger neighbor.”

First Peoples’ ContributionsIt is difficult to know whether that small colony would have sur-vived without the help of the First Nations or what the museum calls “First Peoples.”

According to MacLeod, Cana-dian First Peoples from Lake Superior to the St. Lawrence val-ley served as independent allies of the British Crown, choosing when and how to take part in the defense of Canada.

As MacLeod explains in his book, many distinguished chiefs and warriors served in the War of 1812. Among them were Odawa war chief Mookomaanish (Little Knife) and Mohawk war chief John Norton.

Odawa chief Jean-Baptiste Assiginack (circa1768–1865) described Mookomaanish as

“an eminent war chief who dis-tinguished himself in the late American war.” “With nine of his young men he fell upon a party of Americans, killed nine, took one prisoner, and received a severe wound in his knee.”

After the war, Mookomaanish received a presentation sword

from the British in recognition of his humanity toward an Ameri-can prisoner.

Mohawk war chief John Norton (Teyoninhokarawen) was an early member of Tecumseh’s coalition and led First Nations warriors in some of the War of 1812’s most significant battles. He was

instrumental in translating Laura Secord’s information, which led to the defeat of the Americans at the Battle of Beaver Dams.

Secord, a resident of Queenston, Upper Canada, had overheard American officers planning a sur-prise attack on a British outpost. Determined to warn the Brit-

ish, she began a trek across the country. On the way, she alerted a force of Mohawk and Anish-naabe warriors, who ambushed and defeated the Americans at the Battle of Beaver Dams on June 24, 1813.

The exhibition 1812: One War, Four Perspectives is at the Cana-

dian War Museum in Ottawa until Jan. 6, 2013.

Susan Hallett is an award-winning writer and editor who has written for The Beaver, The Globe and Mail, Wine Tidings, and Doctor’s Review, among other publications. Email: hallett_susan@hotmail.com

During the War of 1812, Laura Secord, a Canadian civilian, overheard Americans planning to attack a British outpost. She trekked some 20 miles to warn British Lt. James Fitzgibbon. “Meeting Between Laura Secord and Lieut. Fitzgibbon, June 1813,” by Lorne K. Smith.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA

Albert Bender, a wealthy, Dublin-born American, gave his collection of artwork from China, Japan, and Tibet to the historic Collins Barracks in Dublin for permanent exhibit. Japanese Kutani Porcelain Bowl, 18th century, Bender collection.

Dublin surprises with two significant Asian art collections, both exhibiting Japanese artworks, among others. Ukiyo-e print, by Utagawa Kunisada, 19th century, Bender collection.

China’s version of Romeo and Juliet is illustrated in a book called ‘The Story of Oriole,’ dating to the 17th century. This version has a happy ending, unlike the original Tang Dynasty version.

SUSAN JAMES

SUSAN JAMES

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SCI & BEYOND B6SCI & BEYOND B7

ARTS & CULTURE B1