Let’s unveil the secrets of the true but barely known presence of the Portuguese in Asia for nearly 500 years. We can take you on a special visit through the objects that tell a story about the encounter of Europe and Asia. Shall we give a few examples that will make you curious about it?
The Orient Museum in Lisbon
Everything started with Vasco da Gama and the arrival of the first Portuguese ship fleet in India. Did you know that a chair is not only a piece of furniture to seat and that the use and significance was quite different in Portugal and India? We will tell all about it!
A certain kind of fan wore by Chinese and Japanese men was brought to Europe by the Portuguese and it was a Portuguese queen that turned it to a very sophisticated and luxurious accessory only for women – she began a trend in all European courts!
Discover why namban-jin and Jesuit priests are depicted in biombos. Learn about the Portuguese in Japan but before watch the movies The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise and Silence by Martin Scorsese. It will help you to immerse in the stories that we will narrate.
In English tongue “china” also means porcelain. This ware was considered the white gold of the 17th century – in this museum we can talk about it and see 2000 years of Chinese porcelain objects.
Spices, ivory, silk and “chá” were imported to Portugal in a new and global vision of the world trade. Portugal established new commercial routes creating a network of trading-posts that allowed rare Asian goods to reach the European markets.
This visit will take you from Lisbon through Cape Good Hope, Goa, Malacca and Macao to Nagasaki. The moment that Portugal met India, China and Japan changed the world history and had consequences in Art and Religion. It created an exotic religious art influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. It enriched the Portuguese language curiosities can be revealed in the Oriente Museum!
