Dallas is home to the largest collection of samurai armor in the world

outside of Japan anyway...

[URL="https://www.kimbellart.org/exhibition/samurai-armor-ann-and-gabriel-barbier-mueller-collection"]It is currently being shown at the Kimbell Art Museum[/URL]

[URL="http://www.samuraicollection.org/index_web.html"]More on the owners of the collection[/URL]

went and saw the collection over the weekend, it is easily the coolest historic/art museum showing I have ever seen, the samurai took their armor very seriously, it is really amazing art to look at. Every suit of armor is different and unique in it's own way, and handed down from generation to generation.

A couple quick tid-bits that I don't think many understand about the samurai...

-they rarely used swords!...they were primarily trained to use bow and arrow, and rifle...or while on horse they used spears...the sword was really a last line of defense for the most part.

-in general, these guys were SMALL. seriously looking at the mannequins with the outfits displayed it doesn't seem like the average samurai warrior was even 5 feet tall. Regardless I am sure they were extremely tough little bastards...war and combat was a way of life for the most part.

I'm jealous of the owners of this collection, it is a married couple who live here in Dallas, the man is from Switzerland, and I am sure he is just loaded...apparently he acquired his first suit of armor when he saw it at the Louvre in Paris...he just made them an offer and took it home :/

I wasn't able to take pics, but here is just random pics of the collection form the web:

[IMG]http://media.dfw.com/smedia/2014/02/15/07/41/q1pL.St.117.jpeg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://www.kimbellart.org/sites/default/files/styles/interior_banner/public/05-armor-of-the-nimaitachido-type-detail2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://glasstire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/samurai-collection.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2013/RainyDayDestinations/MFA/Samurai/EntranceSuitLeftBig.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/N29tSqMGNFM/hqdefault.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://media.oregonlive.com/ent_impact_arts/photo/13640237-standard.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://blog.lib.umn.edu/victor/hereandthere/Images/20131012Portland006.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://images.lpcdn.ca/569x379/201204/04/487859-gabriel-barbier-mueller-photo-sa.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/26/50/47/5933522/5/628x471.jpg[/IMG]

^^^ the owners of the collection...:bowdown:

anyway...had to share...if you live in the DFW area or are just in town you should go check it out, I didn't even know it was here until the Kimbell decided to show it.

yo bro, the KAM is in Fort Worth

do you even Dallas brah? :lol

[QUOTE=kentatm]yo bro, the KAM is in Fort Worth

do you even Dallas brah? :lol[/QUOTE]
the collection itself is in DALLAS

it is just being shown at the Kimbell currently

[url]http://www.samuraicollection.org/aboutus_history.html[/url]

^^^ for you Kent, this was posted in the OP though

I'm actually kind of surprised they are exhibiting it there instead of the Dallas Museum of Art since it already has so much stuff the collection could tie in with.

It would be a hell of a lot more interesting than the lame ass section they have for some Texas artist that made "earth" sculptures (most of which he never actually made).

BTW, thanks for posting this.

I love this kind of stuff.

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]I'm jealous of the owners of this collection, it is a married couple who live here in Dallas, the man is from Switzerland,[/QUOTE]

:biggums:

Why the hell would a rich guy from Switzerland choose to live in Texas?! You can't buy taste I suppose.

[QUOTE=kentatm]I'm actually kind of surprised they are exhibiting it there instead of the Dallas Museum of Art since it already has so much stuff the collection could tie in with.

It would be a hell of a lot more interesting than the lame ass section they have for some Texas artist that made "earth" sculptures (most of which he never actually made).

BTW, thanks for posting this.

I love this kind of stuff.[/QUOTE]
not sure why they choose the Kimbell...it's there all the way through August though, you should go check it out if you don't have anything better to do...

I'm a nut for this kind of stuff though...so I probably get more enjoyment out of it than most

[QUOTE=LJJ]:biggums:

Why the hell would a rich guy from Switzerland choose to live in Texas?! You can't buy taste I suppose.[/QUOTE]

no income tax? he likes bleach blondes with fake boobs? living in DFW makes it an easy quick trip to either US coast?

:confusedshrug:

[QUOTE=LJJ]:biggums:

Why the hell would a rich guy from Switzerland choose to live in Texas?! You can't buy taste I suppose.[/QUOTE]
what's wrong with Dallas LJJ?...why wouldn't he want to live here?...because we are all Cowboys, walking around in boots, spitting tobacco every 10 seconds?

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]what's wrong with Dallas LJJ?...why wouldn't he want to live here?...because we are all Cowboys, walking around in boots, spitting tobacco every 10 seconds?[/QUOTE]

I usually ride my horse. Walking is too slow out here in the desert.

[QUOTE=kentatm]I usually ride my horse. Walking is too slow out here in the desert.[/QUOTE]
right, plus you could trip over a cactus...or get stung by a scorpion

[QUOTE=LJJ]:biggums:

Why the hell would a rich guy from Switzerland choose to live in Texas?! You can't buy taste I suppose.[/QUOTE]

Maybe he's a gun toting war mongering racist?

[QUOTE=LJJ]:biggums:

Why the hell would a rich guy from Switzerland choose to live in Texas?! You can't buy taste I suppose.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2006/august/the-aristocrat[/url]

[QUOTE=gts][url]http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2006/august/the-aristocrat[/url][/QUOTE]
great find thanks...I wanted to know more about the guy, I just assumed he moved here because his wife is native to Dallas



must be nice to be in that top .000001%

I want a samurai collection...:/

[QUOTE=gts][url]http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2006/august/the-aristocrat[/url][/QUOTE]


very interesting read

thanks for posting

[QUOTE=gts][url]http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2006/august/the-aristocrat[/url][/QUOTE]


Well hell, we got one of them there fancy Swiss aristocrat arty types right here in Charlotte too. Shit fire!


[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtler_Museum_of_Modern_Art[/url]

[QUOTE=gts][url]http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2006/august/the-aristocrat[/url][/QUOTE]

Ah so he lives there for his work. That makes more sense.

[QUOTE=rufuspaul]Well hell, we got one of them there fancy Swiss aristocrat arty types right here in Charlotte too. Shit fire!


[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtler_Museum_of_Modern_Art[/url][/QUOTE]
lol, seems like a strange coincidence

guess everyone from Switzerland is a billionaire art collector with a gun fetish that likes to lynch black folk in their spare time...

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]great find thanks...I wanted to know more about the guy, I just assumed he moved here because his wife is native to Dallas[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=kentatm]very interesting read

thanks for posting[/QUOTE]

No problem, I find this stuff interesting

Amazing collection

[QUOTE=LJJ]Ah so he lives there for his work. That makes more sense.[/QUOTE]
his family is loaded, article claims he choose to come here to continue real estate after visting here in the 70s on a museum tour

[QUOTE]Gabriel has loved Texas since the late

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]lol, seems like a strange coincidence

guess everyone from Switzerland is a billionaire art collector with a gun fetish that likes to lynch black folk in their spare time...[/QUOTE]


That's gotta be it. Too bad they're wasting all this great art on us toothless rednecks.

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]his family is loaded, article claims he choose to come here to continue real estate after visting here in the 70s on a museum tour[/QUOTE]

Exactly, he visited, saw the potential to make loads of real estate $$$ and decided to set up shop.

artile was written in 2006...he was building the Azure

the Azure is now built...

[IMG]http://www.buyandselldallas.com/images/dallas_highrise_condos/azure.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://pegasusnews.com/media/img/photos/2011/06/10/thumbs/Azure-balconey1-575x381.jpg.728x520_q85.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://texas.construction.com/images/0603_Azure.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]http://images.trulia.com/blogimg/f/f/a/2/1850706_1308766395036_b.jpg[/IMG]


^^^ samurai armor in the building

this guy is like our Bruce Wayne, he probably plays the role of some kind of samurai influenced super-hero at night...

Some gorgeous pieces in that collection.

A legit samurai helmet like one of those...I'd probably sell someone else's kid for one.

[QUOTE=Derka]Some gorgeous pieces in that collection.

A legit samurai helmet like one of those...I'd probably sell someone else's kid for one.[/QUOTE]
I am pretty curious as to what the average authentic samurai suit can fetch at an auction...I'm sure it's in the millions $

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]I am pretty curious as to what the average authentic samurai suit can fetch at an auction...I'm sure it's in the millions $[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2221017/Samurai-suit-worn-fearsome-5ft-tall-Japanese-warrior-woman-set-fetch-40-000-auction.html"]This price seems low [/URL]but its a 18th century suit

[URL="http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/2009/10/19/RTV2007809/"]This suit from 2009 article (first clip)[/URL] is also in the same price range (helmet 16th century). The swords seems to fetch more money.

I have a friend who works at Sotheby's in London, I,ll email her after work and ask her about the prices nowadays.

[QUOTE=moaz][URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2221017/Samurai-suit-worn-fearsome-5ft-tall-Japanese-warrior-woman-set-fetch-40-000-auction.html"]This price seems low [/URL]but its a 18th century suit

[URL="http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/2009/10/19/RTV2007809/"]This suit from 2009 article (first clip)[/URL] is also in the same price range (helmet 16th century). The swords seems to fetch more money.

I have a friend who works at Sotheby's in London, I,ll email her after work and ask her about the prices nowadays.[/QUOTE]
so much cheaper than I expected :/

I could see this stuff being a really great investment...

one of the things about these outfits though is that they are passed down from generation to generation, and certain parts are replaced and added on to while others are kept the same, so in a full suit of armor you could have a 15th century helmet, with 16th century accents, and 17th century lacing, etc

it's probably hard to gauge the origins of everything on a full outfit

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-]so much cheaper than I expected :/

[B]I could see this stuff being a really great investment...[/B]

one of the things about these outfits though is that they are passed down from generation to generation, and certain parts are replaced and added on to while others are kept the same, so in a full suit of armor you could have a 15th century helmet, with 16th century accents, and 17th century lacing, etc

it's probably hard to gauge the origins of everything on a full outfit[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't say so.

The Japanese market isn't that strong as it was in 80s, and you wouldn't expect a huge change even if it recovers.

Investing in antiques isn't that easy anymore. In the past you anticipated which market is going to grow (means which economies are growing) and bought their stuff. That how some people made fortunes with Chinese and Russian art. 20 years ago I bought a 19th century Russian Physics book for about $65. Today, I could sell it for $500 (and books are the worst item to invest in).

The only countries where I think you still could have a profit chance are India, South east Asian countries and in some of the unstable Arabic countries. But for the first group you must have a lot of cash to begin anyway, and as for the Arab countries I have an ethical dilemma: The majority of the good deals were always made in Egypt, Iraq or Syria. Now all of these countries are in bad (Egypt), worst (Iraq) or hellish (Syria) shape. You'll buy stolen or looted items, or from people who would never have sold their possessions in normal circumstances but now they just want to survive.

Although I could (with some friends) go into a certain niche sector of the middle eastern antiques, we actually decided not to do it now. But I still think that we maybe set something for Egypt if the situation gets better there.

[QUOTE=LJJ]:biggums:

Why the hell would a rich guy from Switzerland choose to live in Texas?! You can't buy taste I suppose.[/QUOTE]
low taxes /end discussion

[url]http://www.giuseppepiva.com/index.php/en/armors/samurai-armor.html[/url]

^^^ place that sells authentic armors

it won't list a price though, you have to inquire about it

I am tempted to call and ask...might do that in a bit







samurai collectables are probably similar to WWII memorabilia in that prices can range drastically based on quality/time period/item type/etc etc etc

[QUOTE=-p.tiddy-][url]http://www.giuseppepiva.com/index.php/en/armors/samurai-armor.html[/url]

[/QUOTE]

Those daxxn Italian Milanese art dealers :cheers:. They sell everything

[IMG]http://hotelcanova.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/La-Galleria-Vittorio-Emanuele-II-di-Milano-13.jpg[/IMG]

[SIZE="1"](I know his shop is not in the VE gallery, but it is an awesome Milan photo)[/SIZE]