Catalog of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist Art

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.

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.

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

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

Tibet

China

Buddhism

Art, Buddhist

Gift of Donna Strahan, 2022.

Catalog of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist Art

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

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.

Arranged in original order.

Processed by Ryan Murray, 2022.

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The collection is open for research use.