The Collections

Qibla indicator, comprising a round brass box with a hinged lid and an inset magnetic compass. An invocation of Imam Ja'far (al-) Sadiq, the sixth Shiite Imam (died AD 765) is given in the centre of the inside of the…

Chikuto. A bamboo sword as used in kendo formed of four shaped pieces of bamboo held together by leather bands and by a hide handle with a guard from which a piece of gut ran the length of the sword…

Painted wooden mask with pointed teeth and attached fibre moustache (possibly goat hair).

Scale: 1:36. A full hull model of a type of Northern Chinese junk known as a Pechili Trader (or also as a Kiangsu Trader, Shantung Trader or Shantung Five-masted junk). The model is built plank on frame and largely finished…

Scale: Unknown. A model of a Japanese cargo boat built demonstrating the Yamato-Gata, or the frameless plank, tradition. The model is made entirely in wood with metal and organic material fittings, and is unpainted, apart from specific details painted matt…

Scale: about 1:22. A model of a sambuk dhow made entirely of wood and partly painted in realistic colours, the remainder is varnished. The hull is light blue at the waterline with black boot-topping and keel. The remainder of the…

A half-length portrait to right, with the sitter wearing a breastplate, red-lined fur coat, gold-laced and slashed. He has a blue and gold turban, and around his neck the cross of Commander of the Portuguese Military Order of Christ. This…