Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Shellwork Floral Spray, c. 1942-1945 |
Object Name |
Shellwork |
Description |
Japanese Internment Camp Shell Art Boutonniere, c.1942-1944. Boutonniere made of shells and wire to look like a small flower arrangement. 12 green wrapped-wire stems, each with a flower at the end, gathered into a loop with floral tape at the base, with a pink ribbon bow around the stems. The flowers are made of tiny clamshell halves painted and glued together. Three are large clusters of pink shells to look like peonies, three are small clusters of pink shells to look like peonie buds, and six small open clusters of 5 blue shells with one tiny yellow snail shell. Made by Yoshiko Yamanouchi while interned at Topaz internment camp in Utah. |
Date |
c. 1942-1945 |
Creator |
Yamanouchi, Yoshiko |
Role |
Artist |
Medium |
Wire/Shell/Ribbon/Paint |
Catalog Number |
2019.048.004.3 |
Dimensions |
H-7 W-3.5 D-1 inches |
Collection |
3D - Art |
Inscription Text |
none. |
Provenance |
Made by Yoshiko Yamanouchi while she was interned at "Topaz" Central Utah Relocation Center during World War II. |
Notes |
"Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, all ethnic Japanese on the West Coast—more than two-thirds of whom were American citizens by birth—were ordered to leave their homes and move to ten inland internment camps for the duration of the war. While in these bleak camps, the internees used scraps and found materials to make furniture and other objects to beautify their surroundings. Arts and crafts became essential for simple creature comforts and emotional survival. These objects—tools, teapots, furniture, toys and games, musical instruments, pendants and pins, purses and ornamental displays—are physical manifestations of the art of gaman, a Japanese word that means to bear the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience." https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/gaman |
Search Terms |
Yamanouchi, Yoshiko Art Pin Pins Japan Japanese Japanese - World War II Japanese Americans Japanese Americans - Internment Japanese Americans - Topaz Japanese Americans Internment Japanese Evacuation Japanese History |
Subjects |
Art Japan Japanese internment |
People |
Yamanouchi, Yoshiko |
Credit line |
Courtesy of Laura Watanuki |