In Memoriam Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967)

In Memoriam: Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967) Author(s): Bo Gyllensvärd Source: Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 21 (1967/1968), pp. 6-7 Published by: University of Hawai'i Press for the Asia Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20110989 Accessed: 01/03/2010 02:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uhp. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. University of Hawai'i Press and Asia Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Archives of Asian Art. http://www.jstor.org In Memoriam Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967) Orvar Karlbeck died on September 20, 1967 in his 88th year. Only a couple of weeks before his death he came to a meeting at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities full of vitality and en thusiastically discussing one of his favorite subjects?ancient Chinese bronzes. Karlbeck was one of the almost legendary "Old China Swedes." In 1906 he arrived in China as a young engineer and took a job as manager of a reinforced concrete plant in Shanghai. In 1908 he started work in railway construction on the line between Tientsin and Nanking, the famous "Tient sin-Pukow Railway." For twenty years he built bridges, regulated rivers, and even worked on de fense construction. With indefatigable energy and never failing optimism Karlbeck fought the old enemies of China: floods, quarrelling provincial generals, and marauding bandits. His warmhearted nature and friendly disposition put him on excellent terms from the very beginning with all those who worked for him and with the local populations. He made friends everywhere, and was always ready with advice and help when those he knew were ill or hit by natural catastrophes or otherwise victimized by acts of God or man. But Karlbeck's fame beyond the borders of China and of his native Sweden resulted from an en tirely different facet of his activities, his interest in ancient Chinese art. Soon after he reached China, he began to collect and to study the objects of bronze and pottery that came from tombs and were con sidered to be very old. When the then Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden went to China, he met Karlbeck in Pukow in 1926; and the latter showed him an impressive collection of bronze objects from the first millennium B.C. The Crown Prince, already a keen and experienced archaeologist, pro vided the initiative to get the largest part of the collection to Sweden; and from then on Karlbeck began systematically collecting for Swedish museums and private collectors. In 1927 the political situation forced him to give up his post and return to Sweden. Thereafter he was entirely involved in acquiring Chinese antiquities; and for that purpose he made several journeys to China on behalf of a European syndicate of collectors. He brought home to Sweden?both to mu seums and private collectors?the largest collections of bronzes that give our country its international reputation; and museums and collectors elsewhere benefited as well. His great contribution was in the field of "small bronzes," the mirrors, garment-hooks, chariot fittings, and miscellaneous small ob jects of the greatest technical interest and the highest artistic quality. In the course of his journeys he also visited the most important sites of the early bronze age and succeeded in acquiring a number of magnificent examples from that period as well. 6 At the same time that he was travelling and collecting, Karlbeck also continued his intensive study of bronzes and ceramics, and became an internationally known expert whose advice and opinion were sought all over the world. In a series of articles in scholarly journals he treated the technical problems and the stylistic analyses of the bronzes known as the "Huai style" group; and during his later years he concentrated on the problems of casting and corrosion. His latest study was devoted to axle caps. He wrote two books about his life in China, both of them in a characteristically vivid and per sonal style. 1938 saw the publication of Tsin Pu T'ieh Lu (The Tientsin-Pukow Railway) which is the story of his years as a railway engineer; and the second, Treasure Seeker in China (London, The Cres set Press, 1957) tells the story of his collecting years when political disturbances were the order of the day, and bandits and war-lords made travel a very risky business. For all of us who work in the field of Far Eastern culture he was an invaluable asset because of his deep firsthand knowledge and his genuine enthusiasm. His friends will always cherish the memory of a generous, warmhearted, and loyal man. Bo Gyllensv?rd (Translated from the Swedish by Brita Kjellberg and edited by John Pope) ? ? mm < The Writings of Orvar Karlbeck 1925 "Ancient Chinese bronze weapons." In China Journal of Science and Arts, March 1925, v. 3, no. 2, p. 127 132; v. 3, no. 4, p. 199-206. 1926 "Notes on some early Chinese bronze mirrors." In China Journal of Science and Arts, January 1926, v. 4, No. 1, p. 3-9. 193O "Notes on the archaeology of China." In ?stasiatiska Samlingarna. Bulletin, 1930, no. 2, p. 193-207. 1935 "Anyang marble sculptures." In ?stasiatiska Sam lingarna. Bulletin, 1935, no. 7, p. 61-69. "Anyang moulds." In ?stasiatiska Samlingarna. Bul letin, 1935, no. 7, p. 39-60. 1936 "Sung landscapes in real life: the rugged peaks of Hua Shan, a sacred mountain of Taoism." In Illus trated London News, January 4, 1936, v. 188, no. 5046, p. 24-26. 1938 "Some archaic Chinese jade pendants and their dat ing." In Burlington Magazine, August 1938, p. 68-74. Tsin Pu Tie h Lu (In Swedish). 1949 "Early Yiieh Ware." In Oriental Art, Summer 1949, v. 2, no. 1, p. 3-7. "Further remarks on Chiao Tso." In Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, December 1952, v. 4, no. 4, p. 15-16. "Proto-porcelain and Yiieh ware." In Oriental Ceramic Society, Transactions, 1949-50, v. 25, p. 33-48. 1952 "The Charles B. Hoyt collection; some comments on the memorial exhibition catalogue." In Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, September 1952, v. 4, no. 3, p. 18-19. "Notes on the wares from Chiao Tso potteries." In Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, December 1952, v. 4, no. 4, p. 9-14. "On reported kilns near Lin-hsien." In Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, September 1952, v. 4, no. 3, p. 20. 1953 "A letter from Stockholm re pottery classification." In Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, December 1953, v. 5, ser. no, 24, p. 24. 1955 "In memoriam: Nils Palmgren." In Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, December 1955, v. 7, no, 4, ser. no. 32, p. 27-28. "Selected objects from ancient Shou-Chou." In The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Bulletin, 1955, no. 27, p. 41-130. 1957 "Professor Walter Percival Yetts, C.B.E." In Artibus Asiae, 1957, v. 20, no. 2-3, p. 184-185. Treasure Seeker in China. London, 1957. 1964 "Notes on the fabrication of some early Chinese mirror moulds." In Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, 1964, v. 18, p. 48-54. 7 Article Contents p. 6 p. 7 Issue Table of Contents Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 21 (1967/1968), pp. 1-104 Front Matter In Memoriam: Orvar Karlbeck (1879-1967) [pp. 6-7] The Fate of the Ornament in Chinese Art [pp. 8-19] Historical Plays in the Art of the Han Period [pp. 20-38] The Décor Styles of Shang White Pottery [pp. 39-62] Brief Notices Two Buddhist Reliefs from India [pp. 63-66] A T'ien-Shun Saucer [pp. 67-69] Chinese Paintings in Honolulu [pp. 70-72] More on the Little Black Figurines of Ancient China [pp. 73-74] Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1966 [pp. 75-103]