Shirley Z. Johnson Papers
place: label: Place
content: Metropolitan Museum of Art
topic: label: Topic
content: Textile fabrics
label: Topic
content: Art -- China
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting
label: Topic
content: Art, Chinese
label: Topic
content: Costume -- Chinese
label: Topic
content: Art metal-work
label: Topic
content: Art metal-workers
label: Topic
content: Art, Japanese
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Gift of Shirley Z. Johnson, 2015. Additional gifts from Shirley Z. Johnson in 2019 and 2022.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Shirley Z. Johnson Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Shirley Z. Johnson Papers, dating from 1941-2021, measure 19 linear feet and include art inventories, correspondence, artist interviews, artist tools, and research files related to Johnson's collection of Chinese textiles and contemporary Japanese metalwork. It also includes Johnson's research and interview notes for an article about Japanese tomobako object boxes.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Shirley Z. Johnson (1940 - 2021) was a scholarly collector, antitrust attorney, and autism advocate. 

Johnson's first Asian art collection consisted of imperial Chinese textiles about which she wrote an article in Arts of Asia (1995). Some textiles and metalwork from Johnson's collection have been given to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA), the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Freer|Sackler). Johnson's interest in Chinese textiles began in 1979 when she visited China and purchased four pieces: two textiles from Chinese people seated on the ground among the stone animals leading to the Ming tombs, and two rank badges from an antique store on Lui Li Chang street in Beijing. 

Beginning around 1992, Johnson became interested in Japanese metalwork, when she spotted a piece she liked of the Meiji period (1868 – 1912) at Orientations Gallery in New York. She collected metal art of that era until 2006, when she began collecting the work of living metal artists. She gave her collection of Meiji metalwork to The Walters Art Museum in 2019 (along with Japanese cloisonné and prints) and has given her collection of contemporary metal art to the NMAA, along with extensive archives relating to each piece and interviews with about 60 metal artists beginning in 2006.

Johnson worked closely with metalwork artists Osumi Yukie and Nakagawa Mamoru, both designated Living National Treasures. She purchased works from them, conducted extensive interviews with them, and helped arrange for them to come to the US and conduct workshops on Japanese metalworking. Works which Johnson purchased from Osumi and Nakagawa are now held by the NMAA.

Johnson also served on the Board of The Textile Museum from 1989-2003 and on the Board of the NMAA from 2004-2012 and from 2017-2021. 

Johnson has published several articles on Asian art: "Sekiya Shirō: Master & Mentor," Impressions, 44 Part Two 2023; "Tomobako: Functional Beauty," Impressions, 42 Part One 2021; "Japanese Metal Art: An Enduring Tradition," Arts of Asia, May-June 2017; "Chinese Ancestor Portraits in the Sackler's Collection," Arts of Asia, July-August 2003; "A Textile Collector's Approach to Collecting," Arts of Asia, July-August 1995. Johnson's 2023 and 2021 articles were published posthumously.

Her legal specialty was antitrust law. She worked as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, was counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Antitrust Subcommittee, and entered private practice in 1976 until she retired in 2009. She graduated from the University of Michigan law school in 1965 with a Juris Doctor degree and was a member of The Order of the Coif. Previously, she received a bachelor's degree in Political Science, summa cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

In 2004, Johnson founded a unique social skills program for children with autism at the West Burlington, Iowa School District involving classroom guidance, luncheon and after-school groups, and a summer camp. Each activity involved both autistic and neurotypical children. The program was called the TRI Project, standing for Intense, Inclusive, Individual.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 20.9 Cubic feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1941-2021
label: Date
content: bulk 1986-2021
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: FSA.A2016.06
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Notes
label: Type
content: Correspondence
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Shirley Z. Johnson papers are organized in nine series. Series 2 and 8 also contain subseries.  

Series 1: Biographical Materials  

Series 2: Inventories  


Subseries 1: Textiles  


Subseries 2: Metalwork  

Series 3: Correspondence with Collectors  

Series 4: Correspondence with Dealers  

Series 5: Correspondence with Curators  

Series 6: Correspondence with Museums  

Series 7: Textile Research Files  

Series 8: Metalwork Artist Materials  


Subseries 1: Research Materials  


	Subsubseries 1: Travel  


	Subsubseries 2: Metalworking Techniques  


	Subsubseries 3: Publications  


Subseries 2: Interviews  


Subseries 3: Objects
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: In 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund, the Archives at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives implemented the use of minimal level processing standards to increase information about and facilitate access to more of our collections. 

Minimal processing included arrangement to the folder level, based on prior processing and preservation action, with retention of the pre-existing arrangement when possible. Otherwise, an order was imposed by the Processing Archivist. For this collection, minimal level processing was implemented, which included arrangement to the series, subseries and folder levels, adhering to the creator's original arrangement as much as possible. Generally, folder contents were simply verified with the original folder titles, but items within folders were not arranged further. Non-archival housing was replaced for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed.

Minimal level processing and machine-readable finding aid completed by Max Howell, 2017 August and was revised by Shirley Z. Johnson in August 2019.

Additional processing completed in 2019 and 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 1950-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Shirley Z. Johnson measure 20.9 cubic feet and date from 1941-2021. They largely relate to Johnson's collection of Chinese textiles and contemporary Japanese metalwork, and include notes from interviews with 61 Japanese metalwork artists. Also included are a small number of materials related to Johnson's Impressions publication on Japanese tomobako object boxes, which includes interviews with 5 artisans and manufacturers. The papers include collection inventories, object files, correspondence, photographs, artist interviews, artists' work catalogs, artists' sketches, business cards, research files, and artist tools.

The inventories and object files document Johnson's textile and metalwork collecting and include book lists, images, documentation, receipts, and research organized by individual object. 

The correspondence files include letters, notes, emails, news clippings, interview notes, museum object lists, press releases, and notes related to the holdings of museums, art dealers. They also contain information related to imperial robes and the individual Yan Yong, a scholar and Deputy Director of the Court History Department and the Head of the Division of Textiles at the Palace Museum in Beijing, China. 

The textile research files comprise printed material, articles and speech drafts, and notes related to Chinese textile research. Topics represented in the records include sumptuary laws, symbolism in religious traditions in China, rank badges in various Chinese military branches, and instructions for dating textiles. 

Metalwork artist materials deal primarily with Johnson's relationships with Japanese metalworking artists. This includes correspondence, artist interviews, artist tools, photos, travel materials, annotated artist catalogs, and drafts of Johnson's publications. The artists Osumi Yukie, Nakagawa Mamoru, Tanaka Terukazu, Hannya Tamotsu, Hannya Taiju, Okuyama Hoseki, Hagino Noriko, and Onuma Chihiro are particularly well represented. These materials also include research for Johnson's publication on tomobako object boxes, which includes interviews with box artisans and manufacturers.

The original container numbers established by the creator are documented with their corresponding files.