Musée Guimet - Guimet research plan 2026-2030

Guimet research plan 2026 2030 11

Part 1 → The structuring axes of research at the Villa Guimet

The objective of the study is to map out the history , techniques and impact of the

counterfeiting of Asian Chinese bronzes . The analyses will focus on the composition

of the materials and the techniques employed : use of old materials to simulate

patina , chemical treatments to imitate aging , imitation of mint marks and

inscriptions , faithful reproduction of styles and decorations . These investigations

should enable to identify authentic works , but also to document fakes , which are

themselves part of one art history , in the same capacity as copies are in European

pictorial art . In this logic , some museums now exhibit these counterfeits , fourth

casted as such , in order to suggest their history . Cooperation with the Centre for

Research on East Asian Civilisations ( CRCAO ) and the Centre for Research and

Restoration of the Museums of France ( C2RMF ) is , in this case , taken into

consideration .

Tripod China Western Zhou Dynasty 10th century BCE bronze MA 13006

Chinese Neolithic ceramics :

a technical study

The Musée Guimet is I charge of about f ifty Chinese ceramics dating

back to the Neolithic period – from the f ifth millennium BCE to the

Bronze Age . These pieces , originally often placed in tombs

alongside other furniture ( jades , shells , or copper alloy objects ) , are

still rarely studied from the point of view of the material in which they

are made , as well as their manufacturing process , their context of

creation , their function or their iconography .

Thus , a series of analysis of said ceramics should contribute to

understanding the development of kilns , f iring techniques and to

better regionalize their origins ; polishing the dating of these works

should also help to track the development of this craft which would

lead , some time later , to the creation of the f irst bronze vases made

by casting using ceramic molds , in the middle of the 2nd millennium

BCE .

Carried out in partnership with St Hugh ' s College ( Oxford ) for

technical analyses , and with the support of the Beishantang

Foundation for the publication of a catalogue raisonné . This

research program on the materiality of Chinese Neolithic ceramics

could also bring together other under - documented European

collections .

Joint project for the analysis of

bronze objects from Liyu , between

the Musée Guimet and the

Shanghai Museum

Another corpus identif ied regarding the study of the materiality of

the artworks is the bronzes discovered in Liyu , in the province

of Shanxi in northern China . The analysis of these objects , found in

1923 in a cache and now split between the Shanghai Museum and

the Musée Guimet , could verify a close link with the famous foundry

workshops of Houma , an archaeological site further south of Liyu ,

discovered in the 1950s . This vast metallurgical production site ,

located in what was the state of Jin active as early as 585 BCE

is the largest bronze foundry complex of antiquity unearthed to date

It used in particular the cast iron technique using refractory moulds

However the Liyu bronzes have decorations similar to those of

Houma hinting at the use of common molds for casting and the fact

that they were produced in these workshops

This is why the Shanghai Museum is proposing a collaborative

project with the Musée Guimet in partnership with the Centre

for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France C2RMF

for a laboratory study in France and in China in order to better

understand the manufacturing techniques the origin of the alloys as well as the

identification of the various foundry workshops in Houma In addition this

cooperation could result in an exhibition at the Musée Guimet of certain bronzes

from the Shanghai museum s collection as well as seminars

Water Ewer for Ritual Ablution yi Shanxi China 5th 6th century

and Nicolas Dubois

Handled Jar with Geometric Decoration , Majiayao , China

2300 BCE , terracotta , MA 5866 .