The Joanneum’s Asian Collection (19th century)
Photo: N. Lackner / UMJ
Many Austrian collections contain objects of Asian origin. So-called chinoiserie was sought after since early modernity and could often be found in cabinets of curiosities, including those of the Habsburg monarchy. In the 19th century, people increasingly believed they could gather knowledge of allegedly exotic countries by acquiring objects. Countless smaller collectors emerged from the bourgeois milieu. Most of the asiatica in the Joanneum come from such a collector, Gustav Mulley (unknown–1920), an engineer from Ljubljana who moved to Graz in 1918. Upon his death, he bequeathed his collection to the museum. Many of the Japanese figurines from the second half of the 19th century are far from “pure” and “authentic.” After the Meiji Restoration and the turn toward European achievements and lifestyles, small but precious objects regarded as typical of Japanese culture were cherished by countless European collectors, to whom newly modernized Japan started to sell its clichés of exoticism.
Geisha with Lute, okimono figure (19th century)
Ivory, 22.5 cm high
Trickster with Monkeys, okimono figure (19th century)
Ivory, 18.5 cm high
Samurai Boy, okimono figure (19th century)
Ivory, 4.3 cm high
History Museum / Universalmuseum Joanneum