Cyrus Tang Hall of China

The Field Museum’s newest permanent exhibition, the “Cyrus Tang Hall of China”, opened this summer and includes seven custom cases built by Chicago Scenic. The cases created of metal, glass, and custom wood cladding are elegantly designed to focus attention on the priceless artifacts inside.

Pictured above, right, is the “Bell Case”, constructed to support the 70-pound artifact; the Censer case, at left, houses a 200-pound artifact. Both cases were customized to accept wire chases for electrical and data to power the reader rails at the front.

The complex ship case above features two artifact areas. The center glass vitrine houses the ship and sits above the surrounding glass case; the lower case contains multiple artifacts. The entire case is sealed from the elements and includes two pest ports.

Chicago Scenic also built 42 backlit reader rails (one is shown above) that display information about the exhibit’s artifacts. The reader rails were all custom and feature an L.E.D. backlit display. The L.E.D. lighting allows for a small profile while creating a beautiful backlit light box feel.

Beth Smith, Chicago Scenic’s Metals department head, worked closely with CSSI Project Manager Stefan Koniarz, and created the custom steel frames and sheet metal cladding prominent throughout. Eric Frazer was the Field Museum’s project manager.

Cyrus Tang 01Cyrus Tang 03Cyrus Tang 05