Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

For the discussion of matters not relevant to Study Group mailings. idle chit chat, rants and raves - whatever is on your mind or care to share about.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:35 pm

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is a place i visit whenever I get a chance. They have a very good Asian Art section. Outside the museum is a dry-landscape garden called the Tenshin-en (天心園), which means 'heaven-heart garden'. The garden has a gate which is in poor condition and I've tried to contact the MFA on several occasions to see if I could involve myself in re-working/re-making the gate. The garden as such seems to fall a bit between the cracks of the organizational structure at the museum, being neither the full responsibility of the Asian Art Department or the Facilities Maintenance people. So i got nowhere last year after repeated efforts to connect with the right person.

Recently I made contact with an intermediary who was able to connect with the right people there at the garden. It looks like a meeting is being set up for sometime in April, where I will get a chance to engage with the appropriate individuals and see about this gate project. This is very exciting news for me!! Far from a done deal of course, but just to get to the meeting phase is a great opportunity. I'll let y'all know what happens.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of pictures of the gate to give you an idea - this is the 'kabuki' (冠木) style of gate, which translates to 'crown-wood' gate, or a gate with an overhead crossbar. It is a fairly standard gate form, found both at the entrances to gardens and traditional homes. It is not the sort of gate you would see on a high ranking person's home mind you.

Here's the gate, looking from the path at the exterior side of the garden:
tenshin-en gate.jpg
tenshin-en gate.jpg (303.2 KiB) Viewed 4226 times
Here's the gate viewed from up high, showing the framing on the interior side:
tenshin-en gate 2.jpg
tenshin-en gate 2.jpg (326.21 KiB) Viewed 4226 times
It look better in these pictures than up close. The doors and posts are rotten.

Wish me luck!
Ro
Rogu

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:53 pm

Good luck.
Mathieu
Triple 2
Triple 2
Posts: 136
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:18 pm

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:01 pm

Hopefully you will land the job. Already looking forward to the build thread.
...
Sc
Schuyler

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 pm

I hope your meeting goes well. It would be a great project to follow.

Good luck!
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:40 am

Thanks guys. Most of the time I expect not to land the job - so many projects have fallen through. I was excited at the mere prospect of a meeting being set up, to at least get a foot in the door.

Another project I've been keen to do is at the Japanese garden of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. There is a small Inari-Jinja, or Fox Shrine in one part of the garden. When it was originally installed about 100 years ago, it looked like this:
05786r.jpg
05786r.jpg (90.7 KiB) Viewed 4210 times
There was a complete replacement done in the 1950's by Garden staff- they did a decent job in most respects, but the devil, as they say, is in the details. 60 years have gone by now, with virtually no maintenance, and now the shrine looks like this:
5604038949_5a40a35d44_b.jpg
5604038949_5a40a35d44_b.jpg (548.19 KiB) Viewed 4210 times
It really is much worse than the photo would seem to indicate, though if you look closely at the ridge cap you will note numerous bug holes. Wait! I have a couple more pictures which will give you all a much better idea of the condition:
-2-small.jpg
-2-small.jpg (386.9 KiB) Viewed 4208 times
A little closer look at those bargeboards:
-3.jpg
-3.jpg (334.63 KiB) Viewed 4208 times
It is completely bug eaten and rotten. I have given them a price for making an entirely new shrine, which they have accepted, however they would appear to have no money - at least not for the Japanese garden.

It's really too bad, but I remain hopeful that funding will be found one day, before the shrine collapses entirely.
Jack_Ervin.
5
5
Posts: 296
Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2011 7:36 pm

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:40 pm

Chris,

This thread has got me thinking about Japanese architecture in the close proximity of where I am geographically. I did a brief search and found Japanese gardens located in Ft. Worth and Austin which are about 3 to 4 hours drive from here. My wife an I have plans to travel through that area in the next few weeks and I will be including that in our plans. I'll post here of what I discover.

Regards,

Jack
User avatar
charlie
Sweeper of Floors, Maker of Tea
Location: Mequon, WI
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:26 pm

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:37 pm

Chris,
I hope you get both of these projects. They deserve your fine touch.
I forgot how close you are to Bean Town.
Have you visited the Chinese house in the museum in Salem?
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:06 pm

The Yin Yu Tang House in the Peabody Essex Museum? Is so, yes, I've visited a couple of times - a nice space.
User avatar
Yxoc
5
5
Posts: 395
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:43 am

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:21 am

G'Day Chris,
Best of luck with this, I hope that you are pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

I looked at the photos and that garden at the Boston museum is in desperate need of a pentagonal plan Gazebo... ;)

Regards

Derek
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Tenshin-en Gate at the MFA

Sun Mar 04, 2012 8:03 am

You know, the thought had occurred to me as well.. 8-)

Return to “Miscellaneous Ramblings (Off Topic)”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests