Peabody Essex Museum

Salem, famous in the late 17^th century for witchcraft hysteria, is well known now as the home of the Peabody Essex Museum, a superlative museum where you can easily spend several hours viewing the exhibits on the maritime history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The focus is on objects collected by the ship captains of Salem on their voyages delivering the colony’s goods to the capitals of Europe and Asia. Of particular note is the Asian export art collection (decorative art made in Asia for export to the West), considered to be the most complete of any in the world, featuring 17^th- through 19^th-century decorative and utilitarian objects used in homes and businesses. There is also a great collection of maritime art, as well as a focus on Asian, Oceanic, and African art, and Native American arts and archaeology.