May 17, 2007
Royal Armouries Director to Present Lecture on Japanese Shogun
Peter Armstrong, museum director of the Royal Armouries in Leeds, United Kingdom, will present “The Life and Legacy of Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu,” a lecture about the first true shogun of Japan, at Jamestown Settlement at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 20.
Born 450 years ago, Lord Tokugawa is best known outside Japan through the books of James Clavell and the television miniseries “Shogun.” Armstrong will chronicle Lord Tokugawa’s rise to power and eventual deification in 1616. The illustrated lecture will feature a suit of Japanese armor, given in 1613 to England’s King James I by the Tokugawa dynasty, that is exhibited in Jamestown Settlement’s “The World of 1607” exhibition with 16 other objects on loan from the Royal Armouries.
As museum director for the past three years, Armstrong has focused on the social significance of the collection of historical objects at Britain’s oldest museum. He previously spent four years as chief executive officer at the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham. A graduate of Manchester University, where he studied drama and classical history, Armstrong worked in theater for several years, ultimately as a producer in London’s West End.
“The Life and Legacy of Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu” is free with admission to Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia operated by the state’s Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Seating is limited, and advance reservations can be made by calling (757) 253-4415 or e-mailing rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov by Friday, May 18.
Admission to Jamestown Settlement is $13.50 for adults and $6.25 for youth ages 6 through 12. Complimentary admission is provided to residents of James City and York counties and the City of Williamsburg.
Jamestown Settlement features new permanent exhibition galleries, a new introductory film and an expanded living-history program in re-creations of a Powhatan Indian village, English ships and colonial fort, and a riverfront discovery area.
“The World of 1607” yearlong special exhibition, opening April 27, portrays Jamestown and Virginia as part of an intellectual, social and economic “new world” that brought together peoples and ideas from around the globe. The exhibition runs in four three-month cycles, each with its own topics and artifacts, and is a signature event of “America’s 400th Anniversary.”
Jamestown Settlement is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily year-round. The museum is located between Route 31 and the Colonial Parkway, just southwest of Williamsburg and adjacent to Historic Jamestowne, administered by the National Park Service and APVA Preservation Virginia.
For more information about Jamestown Settlement, call (757) 253-4838, toll-free (888) 593-4682.
