FROM CARD: "ON EX., H. 8 LONG YEARS. COSTUMED. ANCIENT ARMOR. REMOVED 1960 AND PUT IN BOXES, MOSTLY WITHOUT NUMBERS, SO WHEN CAN GET LIST OF PARTS MUST BE TAKEN OUT AND LISTED AND NUMBERED INDIVIDUALLY."
Male mannequin (kneeling, no armor) from group of 6 Japanese mannequins, 5 wearing armor, and one without armor. Head has glass eyes, teeth, and hair and moustache which appear to be human hair. Group was made in Japan. Group was originally exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and later exhibited at the Smithsonian until circa 1960. Photos were taken of group when they were taken off exhibit. Neg. #s MNH411 and MNH411H show this figure. When the display came down, the mannequin heads and some accessories were preserved. The heads were kept in the Physical Anthropology Division, but have been moved to Ethnology as they were made in Japan. Bottom of heads have Japanese characters identifying them. ET449 is the number for some of the clothing - inner garment and silk tie - worn by this mannequin. Outer garment/jacket and trousers not retained when exhibit was taken down, per documentation with surviving clothing. Additional accessories for the group are #s ET443, ET20263, ET5299, and ET8354.
This mannequin group can be seen on display in 1904 at the Smithsonian U.S. National Museum in a photo in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Archives: Photo ID 16855 or NHB-16855, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 42, Folder: 13, https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_9707 .
Per Dr. Robert Pontsioen, 2021, mannequin group E168800 was on display on an upper level at the Japanese Bazaar on the Midway Plaisance at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and is visible in some photos of the Japanese Bazaar. For some information on the Japanese Bazaar, see https://web.archive.org/web/20210427134045/https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2019/11/20/echoes-of-the-white-city-3/ .
