The Cincinnati Art Museum is inviting visitors to take a deeper look at its East Asian art collection this fall with the opening of its newest exhibition, Rediscovered Treasures.
Starting September 19, the exhibition will showcase 60 artworks from China, Japan, and Korea, “rediscovered” in recent years from the museum’s East Asian collection, ranging from samurai armor to imperial portraits and scrolls. The museum’s famous “Magic Mirror” will also make an appearance in the collection.
Rediscovered Treasures brings to light the “untold stories” of the various East Asian artworks. When the CAM came into possession of the early works in the collection around the late nineteenth century, many were left unidentified, misidentified, or not accessioned at all due to a lack of information and resources available to the CAM to appropriately understand their history and context.
In 2002 however, CAM established its Asian art department and appointed Dr. Hou-mei Sung as curator of East Asian Art. Since then, Sung has led dedicated research, conservation, and accession to correctly identify and fully understand these pieces.
Sung received her master’s degree in Chinese history and art history at National Taiwan University and worked in the National Palace Museum in Taipei for six years. After coming to the U.S., she earned her Ph.D. from a museum studies program sponsored by Case Western Reserve University. Before making her way to Cincinnati, Sung served in a variety of research positions in museums and academic fields, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Colorado College, Cleveland State University, and Case Western Reserve University.
Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Museum
Rediscovered Treasures highlights the fruits of Sung’s work from the past two decades. “I want to share my joy of exploring the museum’s East Asian collection and making new discoveries,” she says.
Among the artworks Sung worked to identify is “Sumo Wrestler’s Apron,” a 19th century apron made up of silk embroidery that depicts two gold Japanese letters on its black surface. The apron was a part of the CAM’s textile department before Sung discovered its history. The letters on the apron—which had traditionally been read from left to right—translated to something alike to “mountain men,” which didn’t make sense when past researchers attempted to learn more of its history.
It wasn’t until Sung consulted the piece and read the letters from right to left instead that she discovered what it really said. “[Reading left to right], ‘mountain men’ sounds like a sumo wrestler. But I didn’t find anything, so I switched the order [from right to left] and read the ‘male mountain,’” Sung explains. From there, she was able to trace the phrase ‘male mountain’ to a famous sumo wrestler from Japan named Mawashi.
Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Museum
At more than six feet tall, Mawashi was a promising sumo wrestler from the late 1880s, whose height easily gave him an advantage over other opponents, according to Sung. He was recommended to be trained by the best master of sumo in Japan in order to become a big star. However, while touring in a small village, the floor collapsed from beneath Mawashi, injuring his spine. Within a year, he had died.
Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Museum
With this additional context at hand, Sung then uncovered another piece for CAM’s Asian art collection—a print of Mawashi (“Osuke Oyama”) depicted wearing the apron itself. Both “Sumo Wrestler’s Apron” and “Osuke Oyama” will be on display in the exhibition.
Similarly, “Tapestry” was a new identification that Sung made on nationality. While “Tapestry” was previously located with CAM’s Japanese textiles, through research, Sung found that the tapestry was actually part of a Chinese painting theme developed in the Ming dynasty. “Not only is it Chinese, but there is a particular theme that was used as sort of a political message, because dragon symbolize the emperor,” Sung explains. “It’s called an older Dragon, leading the young dragon to rise to heaven. And in China, Dragon is the emperor, so this means an emperor is bringing or raising his son or heir apparent and going up to heaven.”
The CAM’s popular “Magic Mirror” is also showcased in the exhibition. Before it was known that the mirror was “magic,” it was in storage throughout the pandemic. Sung was conducting more research for a new label when she found that there were “magic mirrors,” mirrors with similar designs to the one CAM possessed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in new York and the Tokyo National Museum, called “magic mirrors” at each.
These mirrors, which are typically linked to Japan, have a polished reflective surface like any other mirror on one side, while the back is marked with different Japanese characters. The mirror CAM possesses read the name of “Amida Buddha.” What characterizes these mirrors as magic is that when they are in the direct path of light, the mirror becomes somewhat transparent and projects a decorative design.
When Sung noticed that CAM’s mirror had similarities to those at other museums, she became curious. “I said, ‘What if I have one too?’ I asked our object conservator to test it,” Sung explains. The conservator’s goal was to determine whether the mirror could project an image, specifically the Amida Buddha. A phone flashlight was used as the light source, and the image of the Buddha was reflected, surrounded by emanating rays of light. The image became even more prominent when placed in a darker room. “[It’s] so miraculous, that’s why they call it ‘magic mirror,” says Sung.
Image courtesy Cincinnati Art Museum
For Sung, the goal is not only to preserve these pieces but also make them resonate with today’s audiences and bringing forgotten art back to life. “To share with the public, to let the public in Cincinnati know what we do, it’s not just hanging painting there, we do research, we do conservation, and we promote scholarship,” Sung says. “Sharing [my research discoveries] with the local community would help them relate to this collection.”
Rediscovered Treasures will be on view in the Thomas R. Schiff Gallery (Gallery 234 & 235) at the Cincinnati Art Museum from September 19 to January 18, 2026. Admission is free.
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