Asian Art from Scandinavian Collections

Over time, a significant number of Scandinavians have been posted to China and other Asian countries. Large companies such as the East Asiatic Company and the Great Northern Telegraph Company recruited their employees from outside of Asia. The Scandinavians often stayed for many years, which brought them in close contact with the Asian culture and allowed them to establish unique private art collections. When they returned to their home countries, they brought these collections with them, and this is the reason why we have so many fine Asian art objects in Scandinavia today. Twice a year, we focus on art and antiques from this part of the world at our Live Auctions in Copenhagen. 

“I collected a great deal of Chinese art and was planning to give my collection to a museum (…) But many things got in the way of this plan, including the disappearance of a container carrying a large part of my belongings from China to here (…)”

The above quote tells part of the story about the Norwegian Erik Tollefsen (1872-1938), who ended up becoming the Director General of the Chinese postal service. At this auction, we focus on Asian decorative art from several prominent collections established by Scandinavians stationed in Asia. One of the art collections originates from the adventurous Tollefsen, who, as a young man, signed on as a crew member aboard a ship bound for many foreign parts of the world, including South America and Asia. At the age of 22, he arrived in China, where he settled down and began working for the country’s customs authorities. A few years later, he was in charge of modernizing the Chinese postal service and became the leader of 50,000 letter carriers. He went by the more Chinese-sounding name To Lo-sen, and as the first European ever, he received the honourable order of "Mandarin of the third-highest rank".

Tollefsen’s stay in China lasted almost 40 years, from 1894 to 1932. It was one of the most turbulent periods in China's history and included the anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion and various military confrontations with Japan. The fact that Tollefsen did not come from a colonial power was probably the reason why he was able to establish a career for himself in China and become part of the country's elite. Tollefsen learned Mandarin and gained a great deal of insight into the country's cultural history. He was constantly expanding his Chinese art collection with the intention of eventually donating it to a European museum, but much of the collection appears to have been lost during the shipment from China to Europe. Therefore, it is even more fortunate that we have the opportunity to present both fine Buddhist figures, incense burners and an elaborately made Mandarin silk hat from Tollefsen’s art collection.