From the Qing Court to the Museum Vitrine : On the Acquisition and Display of the Guwan Tu Handscroll in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Ma, Kexin (author)

This paper traces the hidden life story of the Yongzheng period (1723–1735) handscroll entitled Guwan tu 古玩圖 (Pictures of Ancient Playthings) from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, London, with a particular focus on its itinerary after departing from China—a facet often overlooked in contemporary curatorial narratives. Primarily through an examination of the acquisition file housed in the V&A Archive, the paper reveals the network of individuals involved in and beyond the museum who played a role in purchasing the artwork since 1910. Furthermore, the paper delves into the dynamics surrounding the acquisition of artworks from British military officers during the 20th century, exploring the controversies inherent in such acquisitions. In turn, the paper reevaluates the contemporary display of the scroll, which prioritizes the painted subject matter, suggesting a correlation between the display method and the 20th century perception of the scroll as a visual reference for the study of Chinese objects. Through the lens of the scroll, the paper further sheds light on the subjectivity involved in contextualizing “orphaned” objects lost in context in museums. Building upon that, the paper proposes the significance of incorporating the itineraries of objects after they depart from their original findspots into museum narratives, which could offer a fuller understanding of the objects’ identities.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Guwan tu, provenance, official loot, display method, object itineraries
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 15.01.2025
• Number of pages: Str. 263-287
• Numbering: Vol. 13, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-178213
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• eISSN: 2350-4226
• DOI: 10.4312/as.2025.13.1.263-287
• Publication date in RUL: 21.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies
• Publisher: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Od qingovskega dvora do muzejske vitrine : o pridobitvi in razstavljanju ročnega zvitka Guwan tu v Muzeju Viktorije in Alberta

Abstract

Prispevek spremlja skrito življenjsko zgodbo zvitka iz obdobja Yongzheng (1723–1735) z naslovom Guwan tu 古玩圖 (Slike starodavnih razvedril) iz Muzeja Viktorije in Alberta (V & A) v Londonu, pri čemer poudarja predvsem, kako je zvitek potoval po tem,ko je zapustil Kitajsko, kar je v sodobnih kuratorskih pripovedih pogosto spregledano. Članek s pregledom dokumentacije o nakupu, ki jo hrani arhiv V & A, razkriva mrežo posameznikov, ki so sodelovali v muzeju in zunaj njega ter odigrali svojo vlogo pri prodajah tega umetniškega predmeta od leta 1910 dalje. Poleg tega se članek poglablja v dinamiko, ki je v 20. stoletju spremljala odkup umetniških del od britanskih vojaških častnikov, in raziskuje kontroverznosti, povezane s takšnimi nakupi. Članek nato ponovno ovrednoti sodobno razstavljanje zvitka, ki daje prednost naslikani vsebini, ter nakazuje povezavo med načinom razstavljanja in dojemanjem zvitka kot vizualne reference za proučevanje kitajskih predmetov v 20. stoletju. Skozi prizmo zvitka članek nadalje osvetljuje subjektivnost kontekstualizacije »osirotelih« predmetov, katerih kontekst je v muzejih izgubljen. Na podlagi tega članek predstavi pomen, ki ga ima v muzejskih pripovedih vključevanje poti predmetov po tem, ko zapustijo mesta, kjer so bili prvotno najdeni, kar bi lahko omogočilo celovitejše razumevanje identitete predmetov.

• Keywords: Guwan tu, provenienca, uradno plenjenje, metode razstavljanja, poti predmetov