PEM in an Hour
1. Welcome
Welcome. I’m Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum. Through this one-hour Collection Highlights audio tour, we’ll explore the museum together, finding objects that inspire wonder, provoke questions and perhaps even challenge how we see the world and our place in it. PEM has an origin story like no other, and a collection of diverse and fascinating works of art, culture and science that help tell the story of the country’s oldest continuously operating museum since 1799.
On this tour, I invite you to engage your senses, reflect on your lived experience and be creatively inspired. The world is complex and ever-changing, but here in PEM’s galleries, you have time to connect, to learn, and to feel…to see, and be seen. This audio tour is designed to be taken at your own pace. Let’s begin.
2. Atrium
Look up. You are standing in our Atrium, designed by the acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie and filled with natural light. Its slightly inclined entrance area was really once a street in Salem. The different roof lines invoke the city’s rich architectural history. This atrium unites several of PEM’s historic buildings. The history of our museum can be told through centuries of architecture across our nine-acre campus. We have more than a dozen historic structures from an early American shoe shop to the Ward House from 1685 and large homes built for entrepreneurs who earned their fortunes from international maritime trade.
We will start with the gallery to your left, here on the first floor, in an exhibition featuring our Native American and American collection. It’s called On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America. I’ll meet you there.
3. Will Wilson (Diné) Photographs
This gallery is one of the first in the nation to pair Native American and American art. As you enter, look left and walk over to a series of black and white photographs by Diné photographer Will Wilson. Through a commission from PEM, this Native American artist invited nearby Wampanoag community members to have their portraits taken. Will shot with a 19th-century camera and 21st-century lens and perspective, using methods of wet plate photography. Unlike earlier staged romanticized Native portraits, Wilson encourages participants to represent themselves as they choose. Their facial expressions, clothing, and range of ages show us the vibrancy of Massachusetts Wampanoag community members today. Each sitter is given their tintype image in exchange for the artist’s ability to create digital versions for display. Does this make you think about your family photos? What's similar and what's different? How would you pose for such a portrait? What would you want the world and future generations to know about you?
Now we’ll meet a little further in this gallery at a different section. Keep walking, curve to the right and pass a series of paintings. Look to your left for a sign that says the Salem Witch Trials.
4. Examination of a Witch
Salem is known around the world for the tragic events of 1692. Where did you first hear about the Salem Witch Trials? Either through the history you were taught in school, through playwright Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, or in recent movies or TV shows? Here we have a large canvas painted by Tompkins Harrison Matteson in 1853. It’s called the Examination of a Witch. A woman’s bare back is scrutinized in a courtroom for signs of witchcraft, her fate hanging in the balance. You can learn more about this time when Salem residents turned on one another in our ongoing Salem Witch Trials exhibition in another gallery.
Let’s keep moving through the gallery, past a bust of George Washington. Go around the corner and look left to two chairs.
5. A Pair of Chairs
This museum was among the first in the country to collect American decorative arts. And we are home to a wide range of finely crafted furniture. Creative design flourished in Salem during the 18th and 19th centuries as wealth from maritime trade and industrialization gave many people the means to commission Salem’s and New England’s artists and craftspeople. To express cultural aspirations in tangible ways, people commissioned extraordinary homes and furnishings in the latest styles. Here we have a lovely side chair created in the mid 18th century by Salem’s Nathaniel Gould. What I find so astonishing is that when these pieces were created, there were no power tools, no big hardware stores, no electricity! The chair tells us about Gould’s global connections. He used designs from London, mahogany wood from the Caribbean, and luxury fabric from abroad to create this chair in his Salem shop. Look closely at the exquisite ball and claw feet. The other chair here, with these delicate painted motifs, was made in 1795 for the home of America’s first millionaire. It was in a grand room that looked out on the most beautiful flower garden in Salem. The flowers painted on the chair matched the view from the windows.
We will now continue through this gallery to the exit and go straight through the atrium.
6. Yin Yu Tang
As you walk through the atrium, look through the big windows on your left at the white building outside. That is Yin Yu Tang, a 16-bedroom home built for the Huang family in China’s Huizhou region more than 200 years ago. Be sure to reserve free tickets for your tour at the front desk so you can immerse yourself in Chinese architecture and learn about the daily life of the Huang family.
Now, walk through the doorway at the end of the Atrium that says Galleries.
7. Mr. Nobody
Look for the Native American mask, and on your right you'll find a small blue and white porcelain figurine. This is Mr. Nobody, one of the first known representations of a Western person by Chinese artists creating works for export to Europe and beyond. Mr. Body’s a pretty humorous fellow! He has literally no body and his ballooning pants go right up to his neck. Contemporary artist Michael Lin engaged a factory in China to produce several hundred of these identical figurines for an installation at PEM. And for sale in the museum’s shop. Lin’s installation revealed tensions between originality and mass production; identity and anonymity.
As you pass through this gallery and exit into the next big atrium, look to your left to see Michal Lin’s spiral stairwell painting installation.
8. Michael Lin Stairwell
In this design, Lin drew upon the museum’s collection of 18th-century Chinese porcelain decorated with the coats of arms of European noble families. A team of local artists collaborated to paint the walls and carry out Lin’s vision.
Now you're standing in PEM’s garden atrium wing. Go down the ramp on your left and stop just before the doors of our garden. I’ll meet there.
9. Korean Guardian Figures
Beyond these doors is a contemplative garden with intimate spaces featuring regional and international plantings and several water features. This garden is open seasonally and I know you’ll enjoy it. Towering above you are village guardian posts from late 19th century Korea. They were designed to guard a village or temple against misfortune, disease and evil spirits with their bared teeth and vigilant wide eyes. You might be surprised to learn that the museum’s first gifts of Korean art came from an adventurous young Korean diplomat. In 1883, Yu Giljun (Yu Kil-chun), a young politician and intellectual, joined the first official Korean delegation to the U.S. After his duties in Washington, DC, were over, Yu came to Salem, compelled to visit the museum’s already rich Asian art collections. He lived in the area for over a year, advising Edward Sylvester Morse, one of our museum’s early directors. Before Yu’s departure, Morse encouraged him to donate some of his traditional clothing to the museum. Look for Yu Giljun’s hat in our Salem Stories exhibition. We are currently working on creating a dedicated gallery to our important Korean collection.
Now, please turn to your right to find the door to our maritime gallery.
10. Rush Figurehead
This gallery focuses on the eternal and universal allure of the sea. Find the figurehead on the wall. These often full-length, female forms decorated the bows of many European and American ships to symbolize protection. This one was the work of William Rush, known as the father of American sculpture in the 19th century. Look how Rush managed to take a humble piece of pine wood and carve it into a swirling, wind swept dynamic scene. You can almost feel the breeze on your own cheek as you look at it. By the time this figurehead showed up at auction in 2015, she had lived quite a life. And as our conservation team learned, she was hiding stories beneath 20 layers of paint. Each layer of color revealed clues about how fashion and taste evolved. At one time, the shawl was burgundy, a hue made fashionable by Queen Victoria around the mid-1800s. Now, fully restored to her original splendor and color scheme, our Rush figurehead invites you to explore the maritime experience.
Now, let’s go together towards the very end of this gallery. You will pass ship portraits and a giant model of the Queen Elizabeth. Keep going to a section called Captain Collectors. Look under the portrait of Captain Cook to find a piece that dates back to the founding of our museum.
11. Punch bowl
Look under the portrait of Captain Cook to find a piece that dates back to the founding of our museum. This punch bowl is important to the history of PEM. In 1799, ship captains Benjamin Hodges, Jonathan Lambert and 20 other Salem master mariners established the East India Marine Society to support disabled seamen, widows and families. They also sought to promote knowledge of navigation and international trade and to form a museum of natural and artificial curiosities acquired during their voyages around the world. This punch bowl was not just decorative, it was functional, offering up an exciting beverage for celebrations. Punch recipes notably included fruits and ingredients not readily found in early America. This was a treat indeed! Cheers to those who helped found the amazing museum that PEM is today! This bowl will soon be part of a new installation in East India Marine Hall, the oldest part of the museum. You can hear more about the hall in a recent PEM Walks audio piece that unlocks the backstory to our historic properties.
Now, exit this gallery and make a right, going down to the second set of glass doors. Follow signs to the Art and Nature Center.
12. Backyard Birds
This is The Pod in the Dotty Brown Art and Nature Center. This part of the museum helps us grow our awareness of nature, try on new ways of being, and tap into our creativity. Designed for visitors of all ages, this family-friendly center features installations, changing exhibitions, hands-on displays and art-making spaces. Regular drop in art making opportunities take place in the art and nature center too. This part of the museum reflects our history of collecting natural specimens around Essex County, where we are, and from around the world. For now, we will focus on the monumental case of birds before you. Backyard Birds & Beyond includes a display of 86 local and migratory birds, from the museum’s historic natural history collection, plus select bird carvings and other artwork. There is no more talented designer than mother nature herself. My favorite has got to be the perch of young owls known as owlets. Their wide eyes and curious looks really remind me of the many school children we welcome in this space. Celebrating the many facets of creativity — from art to science — reflects our belief here at PEM in the the potential of the imagination and the multidisciplinary.
Now leave this space the way you came in. And take the stairs up to Level 2. We’ll meet at the top.
13. Kū
At the top of the landing on Level 2, you’ll see a large wooden figure commanding the space to the right. This is Kū, a Hawaiian deity. Kū is one of only three images of this kind remaining in the world today, created by a masterful carver in the early 19th century. Kū embodies male generative forces: family, prosperity, strategy, governance and warfare. He inspires continuity, agency and a return to time-honored ways for many contemporary (KA-naka MOW-lee) Kanaka Maoli – or Native Hawaiians. Many consider Kū to be a living entity and he is treated as such by many visiting Native Hawaiians. They bring greetings from home and have left him offerings. We co-steward Kū with Native Hawaiian partners. His story is ongoing. The museum finds ways to honor the many objects in the collection that embody spiritual, functional and celebratory traditions, linking past generations to the present and future.
Now continue through the glass doors and quickly turn left into the Asian Export gallery.
14. Strathallan Wallpaper
As you enter, you’ll hear bagpipes, the Chinese musical instrument, the erhu, a thunderstorm, birds singing and the occasional clink of porcelain cups during tea time. Take a seat and warm yourself by the fire. I sure want to! This hand painted Chinese export wallpaper was painted about 1800 for James Drummond, who was a Scottish merchant in the British East India Company. Drummond spent about 20 years in China, and when he was heading home to cold, rainy Scotland, he brought a bit of China home with him by having this remarkable wallpaper created. Many houses in Scotland and elsewhere had hand painted Chinese wallpaper, but this set is absolutely unique in that it depicts the foreign factories or Hongs of Canton, known today as Guangzhou. This paper hung on the walls of the Strathallan Castle in Scotland for 175 years before it arrived at an antiques dealer in London, and that’s where we bought it. Years of careful conservation have made it possible to create this immersive installation.
Now find the wall of porcelain at the other end of the gallery.
15. Porcelain Case
Where does your eye go? Mine always goes to the carp tureen! Imagine being served soup from such a fantastic creation! PEM’s Asian Export Art collection, foremost in the world, explores cross-cultural exchange as a catalyst for creativity and celebrates the interplay of commerce and creative expression. These objects connected societies and created a complex global economy that continues to shape our world today. The Asian Export collection is best known for its holdings of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. This wall displays examples of these pieces that people went to great lengths to own. But these things came at a cost. Elsewhere in the gallery, you'll find videos and interactives that tell stories of greed and corruption. The video in the middle of the room looks at the uncomfortable truth that many of these works of art were originally purchased with profits derived from the illegal opium trade. During the 1800s, millions of people in India and China were devastated by opium, a foreshadowing of today’s opioid crisis.
Now let's exit this gallery and head straight across through the doors. Turn right and you'll walk through Anila Agha’s fantastic installation that bathes you in light and shadow. Notice how you become part of the artwork as you move through. Keep walking and you'll enter East Hall.
16. Leatherback Turtle
Above you is an installation called Salem Stories. With more than 100 works, this installation provides an A to Z look at Salem’s nearly 400 years of history, from past to present day. Salem is a place like none other. Compact, vibrant and always evolving. It’s a city with stories of local, national and international significance. Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell completed the first successful long-distance telephone call from Salem in 1877? Parker Brothers produced Monopoly here too! Find Z for Zoology. You’ll spy a leatherback turtle specimen collected in 1885, a favorite of longtime visitors.
Now, we’ll continue, turning right into our Japanese gallery.
17. Japanese Kanban
Head to the far end of the gallery where you will see a wooden sign with a man’s face against the back wall. Our museum holds a remarkable array of objects from everyday life in 19th-century Japan. This is partly due to Edward Sylvester Morse, the early director of our museum, who also helped build our Korean collection. Morse became one of the first Western scholars to visit Japan after it opened to travelers. He was highly influential in encouraging American interest in Japanese art and culture, and helped create this remarkable collection. PEM has a large group of what are known as Kanban. These are often large carved wood signs that hung outside a shop. They don't necessarily have words on them. You might find the carving of a giant radish to advertise a vegetable shop, or a whole series of very beautiful sword guards mounted together to advertise that this is where you would buy a sword. This is an example of one of those kanban, ever present in Japan in the 19th century, yet quickly disappearing now. Morse recognized that it was important to preserve this form of material culture. Which is why at PEM, we have works that are not represented in any other collection either here in the United States or Japan. Sophisticated art, as well as everyday objects that museums typically did not collect, make PEM's Japanese collection absolutely unique. This is a totally fabulous toy shop sign in the form of Daruma. Daruma dolls are seen as a symbol of perseverance and good luck. I just love the expression in his eyebrows!
I will meet you next in PEM’s gallery of South Asian Art. Turn around and walk through the doors on your left. You’ll pass through our library gallery and straight into the gallery of South Asian Art.
18. The Mahabharata
Here, the Chester and Davida Herwitz Gallery tells the story of nation-building and self-discovery through works by India's most celebrated artists of the 20th century. These works bridge myth with social and political history. There are big, bold paintings and sculptures to discover here. Find the long, horizontal work at the top of the right hand wall. This work is by India’s best-known modern artist M.F. Husain. His Mahabharata series retells one of India’s oldest and most beloved epics. It is the source of stories and teachings that have been part of life in India for two thousand years. Husain painted this 16-foot canvas in New York in 1990. It’s possible his passion for the epic had been reawakened because at that exact time, a TV series back in India about the Mahabharata became such a hit that streets emptied when the show aired. Reading left to right, the epic unfurls with all of its tales of competition and jealousy that divide members of a family, forcing them to choose sides. You can feel the tension and energy in the way he's rendered the scene; the peoples’ anonymous faces allow us to project our own lived experiences into this classic tale.
Now please exit this gallery, heading through the Fadia Deshpande gallery of historical Indian art and cross the bridge. Take a left to find the elevator near the garden entrance. And take it to Floor 3 to our Fashion and Design gallery.
19. Moon Bed
As you enter our Fashion and Design gallery, take a moment to consider that, as humans, we are designing creatures. We design for our bodies, our environments, and our societies and our designs influence how we connect, live, communicate, and express ourselves.
This gallery features nearly 200 objects including fashion, textiles, accessories like shoes and examples of decorative and industrial art. Examples of contemporary wood and glass collections and our historical and contemporary lighting are highlights.
Let’s start with the extravagantly and finely carved “Moon Bed” made in China in 1876. The bed is a stunning example of carving, decorative illustration, and joinery. No fasteners or glue were used in its original construction. Hard to believe, but true. Find the little motifs of deer, nature scenes and children. And don’t miss the legs of the bed.
Head to the center of the gallery, to a section focused on the late Iris Apfel and her husband Carl.
20. Iris and Carl Apfel
This section explores how fashion and design can be your entire life. It celebrates the exuberant remixing and inventive styling of one of the world’s most prominent fashion icons, known for her oversized eyeglasses and individuality. Few individuals lived with design and fashion as vigorously and creatively as Iris Barrel Apfel. In 1950, she and her husband Carl cofounded Old World Weavers, an international company that produced luxurious textiles based on historical examples. The couple traveled for their work to global centers of culture—Istanbul, London, Paris, Rome, Tunis, and Hong Kong—which gave them the opportunity to engage in another passion: collecting. An interior designer, Apfel furnished her homes with elegant and whimsical art and decorative objects from her travels. The Apfels’ unique and visionary approach to attire is on full display in these ensembles. Iris is known for mixing haute couture and designer fashion with street style, global cultural inspiration, flea market finds, and her own creations, while Carl was once called “a style icon in his own right” by the New York Times. We were so honored to know Iris, who sadly passed away in 2024 at the age of 102 years young. Now, we are home to the Rare Bird of Fashion collection and we regularly rotate these ensembles to preserve them. Be sure to find your favorite. Iris was famous for saying “if you don't dress like everyone else, you don't have to think like everyone else.” I will always remember Iris as an inspiration and mentor.
Moving forward, you'll see a display case of shoes.
21. Shoe Case
With more than 4,000 pairs, PEM’s shoe collection is one of the largest and most important in the United States. Here, you will see reflections of the North Shore shoe making industry, such as baby shoes made in next door Danvers in the 1960s. Find a pair of boots that seem to come from the American West. They were actually produced about 150 years ago in Central Asia. And, if you look closely, you’ll see a gift to the museum made by yours truly, a pair of tomato soup can shoes, made in 1999 that reflect the iconic work of American pop artist Andy Warhol. I feel honored to be able to add my own small contribution to this vast collection that spans time and the globe and will be here long after I’m gone.
Thank you
Thanks so much for taking our highlights tour, PEM in an Hour. Again, my name is Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, and I’m the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Be sure to stop by our shop to get the PEM Guide, the essential introduction to PEM’s remarkable collection. I encourage you to listen to our award-winning podcast, the PEMcast, to learn more behind the scenes stories about PEM’s collection, rotating exhibitions, the artists we feature and the people who work here. And don’t miss our Salem Witch Trials Walk, an audio tour that takes you inside the museum with our curators and outside to key sites in downtown Salem. Take a different walking tour around Salem with PEM Walks. Our curators and experts unlock the stories of the historic structures that are an important part of the PEM experience of art and culture of New England and from around the world.