Proveniens: Jens Ibsen-Sørensen, 1883–1956, Head of Office at the Great Northern Telegraph Company in Shanghai from 1906–1936, including activities in Russia and Japan. Decorated with the Knight of Dannebrog Order and a Japanese Emperial Order. In 1920 he married the Danish actress Astrid Kierkegaard, 1892–1987, in Shanghai. During their stay in China, Astrid Ibsen-Sørensen created their collection with help from their good friend Orvar Karlbeck, a Swedish scholar of Chinese art. The family returned to Denmark in 1936, where she arranged exhibitions with up to 1000 items from China and held many lectures about their time in China.