Jurgens, Valérie A.M. (2010) The Karlbeck Syndicate 1930‐1934: collecting and scholarship on Chinese art in Sweden and Britain. PhD Thesis, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13095/ Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. The Karlbeck Syndicate 1930-1934: Collecting and Scholarship on Chinese Art in Sweden and Britain. Valérie A.M. Jurgens Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of London School of Oriental and African Studies 2010 1 I hereby declare that: the work presented in this thesis is my own the following parts of the work or works now submitted have not previously been submitted for a qualification at a university or similar institution until the outcome of the current application to this University is known, the work or works submitted will not be submitted for any qualification at another university or similar institution Date........................ Signature.......................................................... Print Name......................................................... 2 Abstract History of archaeology, not merely archaeology itself, has become an important subject in contemporary scholarship. An investigation of The Karlbeck Syndicate (1930-1934), a collector’s group that primarily focussed on the collecting and studying of early Chinese art, is based on primary archival research. The syndicate included some of Europe’s most prominent private collectors and significant national institutions at that time. This study analyses original, hitherto unpublished, archival data provided by a set of archives at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum. The mechanics of this interesting and some-what secretive collector’s group provides a contextual understanding of how Chinese collections were formed in this defined period in Western history and in the study of Chinese archaeology in Sweden and Britain. The syndicate is named after Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967). This thesis focuses on his collecting method and pioneering scholarship in the then developing field of Chinese art and archaeology in Sweden. Together with Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874-1960) and Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (1882-1973) he played an undeniable role in the foundation of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. At the time a group of Bronze Age objects formed a novel collecting and study subject and also had just started to appear on the art market. This thesis examines the institutional and intellectual framing of these objects in the discipline of Chinese art and archaeology in Sweden and Britain. A close-knit group of Western specialists of Chinese art are deliberated. They were all connected to the Karlbeck Syndicate and its organisers; including Andersson and Karlbeck in Sweden and Perceval W. Yetts (1878- 1957), Robert L. Hobson (1872-1941) and Charles G. Seligman (1873-1940) in Britain. The aim of this study is not to provide an art historical but a historical analysis of the major players and theoretical orientations that they depended on. I will consider approaches on the evolution of stylistic development at that time and how this affected the display and institutionalisation of the objects. Moreover, it examines the different methodologies used to classify and categorise the non-Western objects within Western scholarship, including the so- called comparative method. The intellectual background under which the syndicate operated was guided by some diffusionist concepts within the study of Chinese art and archaeology at that time. This debate is still playing a part in the current study of Chinese archaeology. Overall this study is based on the examination of archival material and will throw new light on a lesser known history of collecting and lay foundations to future research. 3 Acknowledgements I dedicate this study to my husband and two daughters who all came into my life when I just started the research for this work. Some years ago Craig Clunas told me about an interesting set of archival papers (in a cardboard box) at the Victoria and Albert Museum on The Karlbeck Syndicate. Other archival material on syndicate emerged at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, the British Museum and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge. Many thanks to all the museum staff who helped me access this valuable material. I would like to thank my two supervisors at SOAS, Wang Tao and Stacey Pierson, for their support, advice and encouragement. I would also like to thank my dear friend Xenia Piëch for her friendship, support and her efforts. Mammie en Pappie bedankt voor al jullie steun, liefde en dat jullie altijd in mij geloven. 4 Table of Contents Title page Declaration Abstract Acknowledgements Table of Contents Table of Illustrations Chronological table Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Objective of the study 1.2 The concept of Style in the study of Chinese archaeological objects 1.3 Study Questions and themes 1.4 The comparative method and diffusionism in Chinese art and archaeology 1.5 Sources 1.6 Organisation of the thesis Chapter 2 Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967): a collector and a scholar 2.1 Karlbeck: a collector 2.2 Karlbeck: a scholar 5 Chapter 3 The Backers and Forerunners of the Karlbeck Syndicate: Johan Gunnar Andersson, Gustaf Adolf and The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 3.1 Andersson and the Swedish China Research Committee: Swedish scholarship on Chinese archaeology 3.2 Diffusionist concepts in Andersson’s early scholarship 3.3 Gustaf Adolf, Andersson and Karlbeck: shaping the museum collection 3.4 Karlbeck’s first collecting expedition to China (1928-1929) Chapter 4 The Karlbeck Syndicate 4.1 The Karlbeck Syndicate: Its mechanics and members 4.2 Display and scholarship in Stockholm of the Karlbeck Syndicate objects Chapter 5 The Contribution of the Karlbeck Syndicate to Scholarship on Early Chinese Art and Collecting in Britain (1931-1934) 5.1 Yetts at the centre of British scholarship and the diffusionist debate in Chinese art 5.2 The British Museum, Hobson and the Karlbeck Syndicate 5.3 The Seligman Collection of Chinese Art: a diffusionist collection 6 Chapter 6 Conclusion Bibliography Illustrations 7 Table of Illustrations Figure 1 Oil Painting of Orvar Karlbeck by Tyra Kleen (1874-1951) Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Photo by Valérie Jurgens Figure 2 A bronze ding, Zhou period Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (K-12087-012) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 3 A bronze dagger-axe (ge), Western Zhou period Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (K-11074-003) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 4 Bronze mirror, Eastern Zhou period Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (OM-1974-0582) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 5 Bronze belt-hook, Eastern Zhou period Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (OM-1974-0293) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 6 Archaic jade ornament Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (OM-1974-1416) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 7 Ordos bronze Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (K-12069) Photo courtesy of the museum 8 Figure 8 Polychrome lead-glazed tea cup, Tang period Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (K-11034-011) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 9 Pottery tomb figure of a camel, Tang period Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (K-07548) Photo courtesy of the museum Figure 10 The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm Photo by Valérie Jurgens Figure 11 Photo Johan G. Andersson After K.C Chang The Archaeology of China (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986) Figure 12 Bronze bust of Bernhard Karlgren Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Photo by Valérie Jurgens Figure 13 Map of northern China After O. Karlbeck, Treasure Seeker in China (Stockholm and London: the Cresset Press, 1957) Figure 14 Photo Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden after the TOCS 39 (1971-1973) Figure 15 Example of a newsletter-report from Karlbeck to the Karlbeck Syndicate Report 1. Peiping October 5 1931 The Karlbeck Syndicate Archives 9 Figure 16 Example of a List of Purchases Report 1. Peiping October 5 1931 The Karlbeck Syndicate Archives Figure 17 Cover of Tsin Pu Ti Lu, by O. Karlbeck (Stockholm: O.L. Svanbäcks boktryckerie, 1938) Figure 18 Map of northern China Karlbeck’s travel route (1928-1934) After O. Karlbeck Treasure Seeker in China (Stockholm and London: the Cresset Press, 1957) Figure 19 Letter Charles L. Freer to Mr D.E. Dannenberg. Dated: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. September 16, 1915. Volume IX. The Karlbeck Syndicate Archive Figure 20 Letter Berthold Laufer to Karlbeck Dated: 25 August, 1915. Volume IX. The Karlbeck Syndicate Archive Figure 21 Photo Li Ji After K. C. Chang The Archaeology of China (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986) Figure 22 Photograph of a ‘Peking’ shopping street in the early twentieth century After O. Karlbeck, Treasure Seeker in China (Stockholm and London: the Cresset Press, 1957). 10 Figure 23 Bronze mirror, Huai-style Collected by Karlbeck Hallwyl Collection, Stockholm. After O. Sirén, A History of Early Chinese Art (London: E. Benn, 1929) Figure 24 Bronze mirror, Huai-style Collected by Karlbeck Hallwyl Collection, Stockholm. After O. Sirén, A History of Early Chinese Art (London: E.