Guimet Museum

The Guimet Museum in Paris, 2005.

The Guimet Museum (French: Musée national des Arts asiatiques-Guimet or Musée Guimet) is a museum of Asian art located at 6, place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It has one of the largest collections of Asian art outside Asia.

The museum which was first located at Lyon in 1879 and was handed over to the state and transferred to Paris in 1885, was founded by Émile Étienne Guimet, an industrialist. Devoted to travel, Guimet was in 1876 commissioned by the minister of public instruction to study the religions of the Far East, and the museum contains many of the fruits of this expedition, including a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain and many objects relating not merely to the religions of the East but also to those of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. One of its wings, the Panthéon Bouddhique, displays religious artworks.

Panoramic view of the library in the Guimet Museum.

From December 2006 to April 2007, the museum harboured collections of the Kabul Museum, with archaeological pieces from the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum, and the Indo-Scythian treasure of Tillia Tepe.

Works of Art of the Guimet Museum

Greco-Buddhist art

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  Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE.
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  Hellenistic decorative scrolls from Hadda, northern Pakistan.
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  Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century.
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  Stone palette of a Nereid sea-goddess riding a Ketos sea-monster, Sirkap, 2nd century BCE.
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  Wine-drinking and music, Hadda, 1st-2nd century CE.
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  A Corinthian capitol with a Buddha at its center, 2nd century, Surk Kotal, Afghanistan.
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  The Greek god Atlas, supporting a Buddhist monument, Hadda.
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  The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century, Gandhara.
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  Scene of the life of the Buddha. 2nd-3rd century. Gandhara.
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  Portraits from the site of Hadda, 3rd century.

Serindian art

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  "Heroic gesture of the Bodhisattva", 6th-7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang).
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  Head of a Bodhisattva, 6th-7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang).

Chinese art

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  Han Dynasty Horse (1st-2nd century)
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  Buddha triad, Eastern Wei (534-550), China.
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  Tang Dynasty Foreign Merchant
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  Northern Qi depiction of Sogdians in Turkic manner, 6th c.
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  A sitting celadon lion, dated 11th to 12th century, Song Dynasty.
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  A porcelain vase with design of men fighting on horseback, from the Jiajing reign period (1521–1567), Ming Dynasty.
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  A round sancai dish from the Tang Dynasty, 8th to 9th century

Indian art

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  An aniconic representation of Mara's assault on the Buddha, 2nd century, Amaravati, Guntur, India.
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  The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century, Mathura.
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  A Buddha, 2nd century, Mathura.
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  Buddha of the Gupta period, 5th century, Mathura.
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  Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century.
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  Buddha and Bodhisattvas, 11th century, Pala Empire.

Southeast Asian art

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  Mons Wheel of the Law (Dharmacakra), art of Dvaravati, c.8th century.
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  A Cambodian Buddha, 14th century
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  Bodhisattva Lokesvara, Cambodia 12th century.

See also

• List of museums in Paris

External links

• Musée Guimet