We visited the excellent “Samurai” Exhibition at the British Museum here in London earlier this week and we can highly recommend it for anybody who has an interest in Japanese history, culture, art and of course, “The Way of the Warrior.”
The exhibition is a carefully curated selection of armour and weapons, paintings and prints, artifacts and objects, all brilliantly put together to document and illustrate the fascinating stories and legends of Japan’s warrior class.
(As always with our short-stories and blog posts, you can click on any of the images to take a closer look.)
“Samurai” charts the thousand-year history of the “Bushi” (Japanese for “Samurai”) from its medieval emergence, through to political dominance in the twelfth century, the establishment of the “Long Peace” from 1615 and finally on to the abolishment of hereditary status in the late 1800s.
There were many highlights in the exhibition including a depiction of the legendary female Samurai, Tomoe Gozen. We recently wrote an article about the fearless Onna Musha, (Women of the Samurai) and you can read that by Clicking Here or on the below image.
As you would expect, there were some really fascinating suits of armour and weaponry on display alongside beautiful several silk Kimono, robes, floor screens, paintings and wood-block prints all helping to tell the captivating story of the Samurai warrior class.
The robes in the above image reminded us of the procession of warriors depicted on this charming Meizan Satsuma dish from our collection of antique Japanese ceramics.
A while ago, inspired by our collection of Samurai-themed, Meiji-era works of art, we wrote a short blog about Samurai Armoury. Unsurprisingly, it has become one of our most popular articles on our website. You can read that blog by Clicking Here or on the below image.
You can also view dozens of beautiful Japanese works of art inspired by the Samurai, in our online collection by Clicking Here or on the below image.
While we were at the British Museum, we had a look around the Japanese Rooms upstairs, (always worth a visit) and were delighted to see some fantastic Jizai Okimono, (you can view a selection of our Jizai Okimono by Clicking Here) and a charming “Iris” vase by Makuzu Kozan.
Did you know, the Iris was a favoured flower of the Samurai because of its pointed, sword-like foliage. You can read our article about “Hanakotoba”, the ancient Japanese custom of assigning symbolism to flowers by Clicking Here.
You can read our recent blog about the celebrated Imperial Ceramicist Makuzu Kozan by Clicking Here or on the below image.
“Samurai” runs at the British Museum until the 4th May 2026 and you can plan your visit and find out more information by Clicking Here.
If you are planning a trip to London, our Islington Galleries, (a 20 minute taxi-ride from the British Museum) are open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm by appointment. Contact Us by Clicking Here to arrange your visit.
If you enjoyed this article, you will find over 150 short-stories and blogs inspired by our collection of Chinese and Japanese Fine Art and Antiques by Clicking Here.