Centering the periphery: collecting East Asian objects in comparative perspective

Abstract

"Centring the Periphery: New Perspectives on Collecting East Asian Objects, edited by Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik, explores East Asian collections in "peripheral" areas of Europe and North America and their relationship with the East Asian collections in former imperial and colonial centres. The authors not only present the stories of a number of less well-known individual objects and collections, but also discuss the evolution of fashions and tastes in East Asian objects in areas that were not centres of European colonial power, and the socioeconomic conditions in which they were collected. To date, research on the collecting of East Asian objects in the Euro-American region has focused primarily on larger collections and collectors in France, Britain, and the United States. The stories from the periphery, however, deserve to be told. They point to important departures from the dominant discourses and practices of East Asian collecting, thus raising questions about established taxonomies and knowledge systems"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

Part 1. Centering the periphery : introduction and theoretical considerations -- An outline of the centre-periphery model's application to the study of East Asian collections / Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik -- The boundaries of collecting : art in China and Chinese art in Europe and Britain, 1500-1900 / Stacey Pierson -- Part 2. Canon of collectibles : the role of geographical and social mobility -- The fringes of taste : early collections of Chinese gold in Europe and the United States / Sarah Laursen -- Skušek's discovery of Chinese furniture's sophisticated lines : the collecting of Chinese furniture and the issue of its categorization / Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik -- Justus Brinckmann's vision of a museum for the arts and crafts in Hamburg / Maria Sobotka -- Reflections on the history of the reception and appreciation of East Asian porcelain in Slovenia / Tina Berdajs -- Part 3. Everyday items, souvenirs and unusual objects as collectibles -- The hand fan as a collectible in the periphery : hand fans in Alma M. Karlin's collection / Nataša Visocnik Gerželj -- East Asian photography of the 19th century in Central Europe : collectibles and tools of memory / Filip Suchomel -- Collecting heads : Taiwanese indigenous people, Japanese colonial photographs, and the postcard collection of Alma M. Karlin / Maja Veselic -- Between trophy and collectible : the struggle for the return of looted Chinese astronomical instruments, 1900-1921 / Chou Wei-chiang -- Mural copies in context : how did the Anak 3 Tomb mural copies end up in Budapest? / Beatrix Mecsi -- Part 4. Collectors, collections and their interaction with the local community -- Writing, collecting, learning, sharing : Alma M. Karlin's journey around the world / Barbara Trnovec -- Exhibiting East Asia in Hungary : collecting strategies and the formation of East Asian museum collections / Györgyi Fajcsák -- Collecting agendas within and beyond the centre-periphery divide : organized collecting and displaying of Asian objects in 20th-century Slovenia / Helena Motoh -- 'A new perception -- view on China' at Weltmuseum Wien, Austria / Bettina Zorn -- The liberal arts collection : East Asian artifacts at Lawrence University / Brigid E. Vance and Jin Han.