Papers by Niklas Leverenz
Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, 2023
The German collector Hans Fürstenberg (1890 - 1982), who himself acquired a complete set of East ... more The German collector Hans Fürstenberg (1890 - 1982), who himself acquired a complete set of East Turkestan prints at this time, described the situation in 1931 as follows in an article in the magazine Philobiblon:
[I]n recent times three more sets [of East Turkestan prints] appeared which seemingly all came from Russian state ownership. One of them consists of an unbound series of copperplate engravings, the second [set] comes along with the above-mentioned manuscript of the Précis Historique des Conquêtes de l'Empereur de la Chine Kien-Long mentioned above [in the article], the third one [...] has become the property of the author.
This article explores the manuscripts of the Précis Historique.
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Orientations, 2023
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Journal for Art Market Studies, 2020
An anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising began in northern China in 1899, dubbed the “Boxer Re... more An anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising began in northern China in 1899, dubbed the “Boxer Rebellion” by the foreign powers that subsequently invaded China. In the course of events, troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance began to arrive in Beijing in August 1900 and occupied the city. During this time countless works of art were looted and many of these were subsequently traded on the international art market. A significant number of these were originally housed in the Ziguang Ge (紫光閣, Hall of Imperial Splendour), and their dispersal is a key subject of the present article.
The Ziguang Ge was part of an imperial park to the west of the Forbidden City called the “Win¬ter Palace” by Europeans. This area was given to the Germans as headquarters for the com¬mander-in-chief for the coalition army under the command of Field Marshal Alfred Graf von Waldersee (1832-1904). Contemporary publica¬tions demonstrate how the German army set¬tled in this area and how German soldiers treat¬ed artworks located there as their property. It is therefore not surprising that many works of art from this area are either in German museum collections today or have entered the art mar¬ket from German collections. As the Ziguang Ge housed specific artworks, paintings, and other works of art with military motifs, their origin and whereabouts can be easily documented.
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Print Quarterly, 2020
This short note focuses on a recently discovered signature of J. Pélicier on the proof state of a... more This short note focuses on a recently discovered signature of J. Pélicier on the proof state of a 1787 print previously attributed to Isidore-Stanislas Helman (1742–1809). This evidence suggests that Helman must have relied on a team of etchers for his large body of work, unusually allowing some of them to put their name on the plates.
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ZEIT ONLINE, 2014
Chinas Erwartungen an die Friedensverhandlungen von Versailles 1919 wurden bitter enttäuscht.
Ch... more Chinas Erwartungen an die Friedensverhandlungen von Versailles 1919 wurden bitter enttäuscht.
China's expectations of the peace negotiations at Versailles in 1919 were bitterly disappointed.
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Monumenta Serica, Journal of Oriental Studies, Volume 66, Issue 2 , 2018
In late 1900, while foreign troops occupied Beijing in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, alarming ... more In late 1900, while foreign troops occupied Beijing in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, alarming news reached the German government from China: High-quality works of art were on sale in Beijing and would soon be displayed in museums in London and Paris without having a comparable display in Berlin. The Ethnological Museum in Berlin immediately sent the Orientalist Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Müller (1863–1930) as an envoy to Beijing to buy works of art. Müller was in Beijing between 6 April and 13 September 1901. This article contains a partially annotated translation of Müller’s report, including his packing lists of 117 crates he sent to Berlin in 1901. The original German text is included as an addendum.
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Getty Research Journal, no. 11 (2019), 2019
In 2012, the Getty Research Institute acquired a complete set of eight copperplate prints
depicti... more In 2012, the Getty Research Institute acquired a complete set of eight copperplate prints
depicting the Qing army’s invasion of Nepal in 1792, one of the last military campaigns
of the reign of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–95). These prints, also known as Gurkha
campaign prints, are very uncommon, since fewer than ten sets are known to exist.
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The paintings of officers commissioned by the Qianlong emperor after several military campaigns i... more The paintings of officers commissioned by the Qianlong emperor after several military campaigns in the 18th century are the subject of two recent German publications that have largely increased our knowledge on this subject: Annette Bügener’s Die Heldengalerie des Qianlong-Kaisers [The Qianlong Emperor’s Gallery of Heroes] and Hartmut Walravens’s ‘Die ehemalige Sammlung von Porträts verdienter Offiziere der Feldzüge des Qianlong-Kaisers’ [‘The Former Collection of Portraits of Meritorious Officers of the Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor’].
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At the command of the Qianlong emperor, Chinese troops conquered a vast territory in Central Asia... more At the command of the Qianlong emperor, Chinese troops conquered a vast territory in Central Asia in three campaigns between 1755 and 1759, greatly expanding the Qing empire. The emperor commemorated these victories in several ways, including the commission of a set of sixteen copperplate prints that were ultimately produced for the Qing court by engravers in Paris. These engravings, justifiably famous in their own time, continue to attract the attention of scholars and collectors. Recent publications in China and Europe, as well as the availability of archival documents in French and Chinese shed new light on the production of the " Conquest " engravings, one of the first and surely the most important, examples of cultural collaboration between China and Europe before modern times. This article describes the creation of the model drawings in China and the production process of the copperplate engravings and prints in France with reference to three contemporary 18 th-century French publications. It further examines the existing proof prints and lists the extant sets of prints in different versions in museum and library collections as well as prints that have appeared in auction sales worldwide.
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In the third article in his series on East Turkestan battle paintings, Niklas Leverenz compares a... more In the third article in his series on East Turkestan battle paintings, Niklas Leverenz compares a painting fragment with a copperplate engraving of the same scene.
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Niklas Leverenz, meanwhile, follows up on his May 2010 article on artistic depictions of Qianlong... more Niklas Leverenz, meanwhile, follows up on his May 2010 article on artistic depictions of Qianlong’s East Turkestan campaign.
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Niklas Leverenz analyses the print The Battle of Qurman and the painting on which it is based.
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Book Reviews by Niklas Leverenz
Museumsjournal , 2023
Das Ethnologische Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin verfügt über eine einmalige Sammlung vo... more Das Ethnologische Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin verfügt über eine einmalige Sammlung von 34 chinesischen Schlachten-Kupferplatten aus dem 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. Eine umfangreiche Publikation stellt diese Sammlung nun erstmals vor.
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Papers by Niklas Leverenz
[I]n recent times three more sets [of East Turkestan prints] appeared which seemingly all came from Russian state ownership. One of them consists of an unbound series of copperplate engravings, the second [set] comes along with the above-mentioned manuscript of the Précis Historique des Conquêtes de l'Empereur de la Chine Kien-Long mentioned above [in the article], the third one [...] has become the property of the author.
This article explores the manuscripts of the Précis Historique.
The Ziguang Ge was part of an imperial park to the west of the Forbidden City called the “Win¬ter Palace” by Europeans. This area was given to the Germans as headquarters for the com¬mander-in-chief for the coalition army under the command of Field Marshal Alfred Graf von Waldersee (1832-1904). Contemporary publica¬tions demonstrate how the German army set¬tled in this area and how German soldiers treat¬ed artworks located there as their property. It is therefore not surprising that many works of art from this area are either in German museum collections today or have entered the art mar¬ket from German collections. As the Ziguang Ge housed specific artworks, paintings, and other works of art with military motifs, their origin and whereabouts can be easily documented.
China's expectations of the peace negotiations at Versailles in 1919 were bitterly disappointed.
depicting the Qing army’s invasion of Nepal in 1792, one of the last military campaigns
of the reign of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–95). These prints, also known as Gurkha
campaign prints, are very uncommon, since fewer than ten sets are known to exist.
Book Reviews by Niklas Leverenz
[I]n recent times three more sets [of East Turkestan prints] appeared which seemingly all came from Russian state ownership. One of them consists of an unbound series of copperplate engravings, the second [set] comes along with the above-mentioned manuscript of the Précis Historique des Conquêtes de l'Empereur de la Chine Kien-Long mentioned above [in the article], the third one [...] has become the property of the author.
This article explores the manuscripts of the Précis Historique.
The Ziguang Ge was part of an imperial park to the west of the Forbidden City called the “Win¬ter Palace” by Europeans. This area was given to the Germans as headquarters for the com¬mander-in-chief for the coalition army under the command of Field Marshal Alfred Graf von Waldersee (1832-1904). Contemporary publica¬tions demonstrate how the German army set¬tled in this area and how German soldiers treat¬ed artworks located there as their property. It is therefore not surprising that many works of art from this area are either in German museum collections today or have entered the art mar¬ket from German collections. As the Ziguang Ge housed specific artworks, paintings, and other works of art with military motifs, their origin and whereabouts can be easily documented.
China's expectations of the peace negotiations at Versailles in 1919 were bitterly disappointed.
depicting the Qing army’s invasion of Nepal in 1792, one of the last military campaigns
of the reign of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736–95). These prints, also known as Gurkha
campaign prints, are very uncommon, since fewer than ten sets are known to exist.