Travel: Boulogne-sur-Mer Castle Museum, France

April 23, 2014
Image courtesy of Guido Musch. Other pictures by me.
Image courtesy of Guido Musch. Other pictures by me.

Last week we spend our easter holidays at the Côte d’Opale, a beautiful area in northern France. We stayed in a small village, Wissant, situated between its two famous big cliffs, the Cap Gris Nez and the Cap Blanc Nez. They are the French points of the coast the closest to England and you can indeed spot the cliffs at Dover, 33 km away, at the horizon. Wissant is located 20 km north of Boulogne-sur-Mer; which has an impressive 13th century castle that houses the Boulogne-sur-Mer Museum. Founded in 1825, this museum is especially known for having  the largest collection of Greek vases outside the Louvre. There’s also an extensive Egyptian collection which includes a full-scale mummy and various sarcophagi. Apparently it’s the fifth biggest collection in the world; but suprisingly only one room was reserved for it. Of course, it were the non-European rooms that made the visit worth the trip. To start, there’s an incredible ensemble of Alaskan masks (on which more in a later post) from the Isle of Kodiak. Unfortunately the quantity and quality of the African art on view was a bit underwhelming – notwithstanding a few older objects. This was in sharp contrast with the grand hall reserved for the Oceanic art which had multiple masterpieces and many early collected 19th century clubs on display. Below a photo report.

 

cape griz nez

cliffs of Dover

cap blanc nez

Baga figures pre 1909 Boulogne sur mer museum

Teke figures pre 1901 Boulogne sur Mer Museum

African art Boulogne sur Mer Museum overview 1

African art Boulogne sur Mer Museum overview 2

Oceanic Art Boulogne-sur-Mer museum

Boulogne Sur Mer Fiji clubs

Tiki Boulogne Sur Mer 1878

Tapuanu mask Mortlock Islands Boulogne sur mer

About the author

Bruno Claessens

Add a comment