Catalog of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist Art

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At A Glance

View Digital Content on SOVA
  • Creator

    Staël-Holstein, A., Freiherr von (Alexander), 1877-1937
  • Dates

    circa 1924
  • Physical Description

    0.2 Cubic feet
  • Collection ID

    FSA.A2022.03
  • EDAN ID

    ead_collection:sova-fsa-a2022-03
  • Scope and Contents

    Consist of a handmade catalog of black-and-white photographs and notes on a private collection of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist art. Also includes a French-language article incorporating images and references to the collection. The catalog, which is unsigned, was likely created by Alexander von Staël-Holstein, as the notes indicate the article refers to and includes photographs of the writer's collection, and the article mentions using Staël-Holstein's collection for research and photography.
  • Biographical / Historical

    This handmade, handwritten catalog and photographs, while unsigned by their author, were likely created by Alexander von Staël-Holstein (1877-1937) and document his personal art collection. A supplementary article which, the catalog notes, refers to and includes photographs from the collection, "Notes diverses sur les Cultes en Chine: Les ornaments rituels des temples lamaïques et buddhiques" (published 1924) by G. Bouillard, refers to Staël-Holstein's collection and reproduces photographs of works from it. The photographer(s) are not named.

    Staël-Holstein, from a noble Baltic German family, was an academic specializing in Buddhist texts and arts. During his career, he served as a professor at Peking University, Harvard, and Yenching University.

    The catalog itself was in the possession of Adolf E. Zucker (1890-1971), a professor in the German Department at the University of Maryland. Zucker took an interest in the arts and culture of China while living there from 1917-1924 and published a volume on Chinese theatre. The catalog was discovered in his former residence in 1981 by Donna Strahan, future head of the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research at the National Museum of Asian Art, after she purchased the home.
  • Author

    Staël-Holstein, A., Freiherr von (Alexander), 1877-1937
  • Former owner

    Zucker, A. E. (Adolf Eduard), 1890-1971
  • Place

    Tibet
    China
  • Topic

    Buddhism
    Art, Buddhist
  • Provenance

    Gift of Donna Strahan, 2022.
  • See more items in

    Catalog of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist Art
  • Archival Repository

    Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
  • Type

    Collection descriptions
    Archival materials
  • Citation

    Catalog of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist Art, FSA.A2022.03. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Donna Strahan.
  • Arrangement

    Arranged in original order.
  • Processing Information

    Processed by Ryan Murray, 2022.
  • Rights

    Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
  • Restrictions

    The collection is open for research use.

Repository Contact

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
National Museum of Asian Art Archives
Washington, D.C. 20013
AVRreference@si.edu