Guimet research plan 2026 2030

AXIS 3 HISTOIRY OF THE COLLECTIONS

Projects Collections studied Partners Research objectives Contributors

Research program on

the history of Chinese

collections circulating

on the art market

in the 20th century

through the study of

the C . T . Loo / Frank

Caro collection  

Chinese collections that

circulated on the market in

the 20th century , notably

those from the dealer Ching

Tsai Loo : statuary , textiles ,

furniture , ceramics , bronzes ,

jades , and associated

paintings , particularly related

to the China , Vietnam , Japan ,

and Himalayan Worlds

departments .  

• Smithsonian ' s National

Museum of Asian Art -

Joanna Gohmann  

• State Museums of Berlin

( Staatliche Museen zu

Berlin ) – Christine Howald  

• In close connection with

the preliminary mission on

provenance research led

by the French Museums

Service  

• Trace and establish the provenance

and ownership chain ( local and Western

dealers ) of each work at the Guimet

Museum acquired from the New York gallery  

• Study the history of the Asian art market

and influential dealers at the beginning of

the 20th century  

• Define the modalities by which these

works left Chinese territory ( illegal export ,

legal purchase , etc . )  

• Examine the relationships between C . T .

Loo , Émile Guimet , Paul Pelliot , Joseph

Hackin , and others  

• Cross - reference these archives with other

collections and documents concerning

works acquired in Paris from other

influential art dealers of the time ( Langweil ,

Bing , etc . )  

Edouard

de Saint - Ours

Claire Florentin

Arnaud Bertrand

Valorisation of

the paper and

photographic

archives of the French

Archaeological

Delegation in

Afghanistan ( DAFA )  

• Photographic collection

( prints , negatives , slides ,

glass plates )  

• Paper archives of

archaeological missions

( correspondence ,

notebooks , drawings )

• DAFA ( research

agreement )  

• ENS  

• ARscAN ( research

agreement )  

• Collège de France  

• Société Asiatique  

• Alka Patel ( University

of California , Irvine – for

Seistan studies )  

• EFEO  

• Aga Khan Development

Network  

• INALCO ( Arezou Azad )  

• Kyoto University  

• ISMEO ( International

Society for the Study of

the Mediterranean and the

Middle East )  

• Cambridge University  

• Identify the components of the collection ,

its structure , volume , the dimensions of the

phototypes , and their state of preservation  

• Study the history of archaeology in Asian

missions ( Pelliot , Chavannes , Segalen ,

Carpeaux , etc . )  

• Carry out dust removal , repackaging ,

cataloguing , inventory , and labeling of

the studied collection , followed by its

digitization by series and indexing  

Nicolas Engel

Edouard

de Saint - Ours

AXIS 4 PERCEPTIONS OF ASIA IN EUROPE / PERCEPTIONS OF EUROPE IN ASIA

Projects Collections studied Partners Research objectives Contributors

Joseon Korea : a

" Hermit Kingdom " ?  

• Joseon pictorial

productions and ceramics

dating from the 15th to the

19th century  

• Two unique works at the

Guimet Museum dating

from the 18th century ( EG

2183 ; MET 2320 ) : “ Foreign

ambassadors at the Beijing

court , including Korean

officials ”

• Research institutes  

• Libraries ( National

Library , BULAC , Collège de

France )  

• Center for Diplomatic

Archives  

• Study of exchanges between Ming and

Qing China and Joseon Korea based on

Korean objects from the 15th to the 19th

century  

• Study of the impact of the Jesuit presence

in China on Joseon Korea in the 18th century  

• Reconstruction of royal libraries and

study of knowledge dissemination in the

provinces  

• Contextualize the study of Hendrick

Hamel ’ s text with 17th - century Korean

artistic productions  

Arnaud Bertrand

The HikarIA research

project  

Collection of Dr . Joseph

Dubois and other archives of

old Japanese photographs

( 20 , 000 items )  

• TEKLIA ( convention )

• Saki Toriumi , Nihon

University College of Arts

• Jules Keenan , Toronto

Metropolitan University

• Preserve , study , and promote the

museum ’ s photographic collections  

• Develop new research tools by optimizing

automated description of historical

photographs using AI

Enhance knowledge of photography in

Japan during the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras

Edouard

de Saint - Ours

Diplomatic gifts and

the circulation of

prestigious objects

between Japan and

Europe 1850 1864 a

comparative history

of the reception of

Japanese objects by

European courts at the

end of the 19th century

Diplomatic gifts offered

by Japan to France

Château de

Fontainebleau

Vincent Droguet

Director of Heritage and

Collections at Château de

Fontainebleau

Vincent Cochet Chief

Curator of Heritage at

Château de Fontainebleau

Lia WEI Associate

Professor of Chinese

History and Archaeology at

INALCO

Windsor Ajuda Palace in

Lisbon

Conduct a study of museographic

evolution by broadly examining Empress

Eugénie s Asian collections 1862 1864

and museographic developments

Study the works and restore them to their

original context

Expand the study at the European level to

compare gifts received by other European

courts between 1850 and 1864

Extend the study of Japanese collections

to include Chinese Siamese and even

Vietnamese collections assembled at

Fontainebleau

Estelle Bauer

Claire Déléry

i d e n t i t y D e s S i g n e s l a y o u t J u l i e B o u c h e t