World history: “Weapons of the East 16th – 19th cc.” exhibition underway in St. Petersburg

On December 23rd 2011 the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps (St. Petersburg) is opening an exhibition “Weapons of the East 16th – 19th cc.”.

The exhibition lets you discover the arms of the Celestial Empire, armors of Japanese samurais, and rare samples of weaponry of North Africa, Arabia, Turkey, the Balkans, Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Indonesia. The museum’s Grand Exhibition Hall, which has re-opened after a renovation, displays one of the most impressive and original collections of weapons kept by the museum.

The collection of oriental weapons at the Museum of Artillery – is the most complete in Russia. It is known to have been developed along with the museum, beginning from 2nd half of 18th century. At that time at the core of the collection were trophies of the Russo-Turkish and the Russo-Persian wars. Between 19th – early 20th cc. the collection grew to include weapons, which were captured during Central Asian campaigns and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. In the 1930s the museum had a large exposition section which cast light on traditional weaponry of Turkey, Iran, India, Caucasus, Japan and China. Unfortunately, later on the exhibits from the oriental collection didn’t go on show at the museum, and few museum visitors know about their existence.  

“Weapons of the East 16th-19th cc. in the collection of the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps” reveals the highlights and typical ethnic samples of cold and fire arms of the East in the museum’s collection, the largest share of which goes on show for the first time. Exhibition’s timeframes correspond to the established collection and span the time between 16th and 19th cc. The exhibition showcases over 300 items.

Exhibits let you discover technical features and décor of oriental arms. The exhibition is accompanied by paintings from the museum’s collection and photographs from Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.                     

The exhibition will run in the Grand Exhibition Hall through October 2012.