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Journal of the History of Collections Advance Access originally published online on November 29, 2008
Journal of the History of Collections 2009 21(1):111-123; doi:10.1093/jhc/fhn030
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Rescuing history from the nation

The untold origins of the Stockholm Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities1

Perry Johansson


  Abstract

This article reveals the unknown history of the collections at the Stockholm Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (MFEA). The Museum was founded with material from Johan Gunnar Andersson's archaeological excavations in China in the 1920s and for a long time Andersson's bi-national cooperation with the Chinese state was held up as an exemplary model for international museum collecting and archaeology. However, it is now clear that Andersson used the leverage of his position as a Chinese official to pressurize local populations into excavating ancient grave fields, causing demolition of 5,000-year-old burial grounds, and that he secretly sent an unscrupulous professional collector to China in order to procure antiques for the Museum. Indeed, it was because he had the support of the Chinese state that he was in a position to cause such extensive damage, often against the will of local Tibetan and Muslim communities.

Address for correspondence Perry Johansson, Repslagargatan 13 A, 11846 Stockholm, Sweden. johanssonperry{at}yahoo.com


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