PBA Galleries

Illustrations of 55 objects in the collection, including 4 color tipped-in plates. 25½x18cm (10x7") blue and gray cloth, gilt-lettered spine, jacket. Presumed First Edition.

The Hakkaku Art Museum in Kobe, Japan contains a significant collection of old Chinese art, including archaic Chinese bronzes. The original collection was that of Jihei Kano, the museum's founder. He became expert in the art of the Nara period in Japan and, consequently, in the relics of the Sui and T'ang Dynasties of China. Mr. Kano began collecting early in the 20th century when a great number of the ancient tombs of the T'ang Dynasty were excavated at Lo-Lang (also known as Lo-Yang) in present-day North Korea. During that ancient dynasty Lo-Lang was under Chinese control. Many of the gold, silver and bronze objects first collected by Mr. Kano were documented in the 1930 publication, Hakkaku-Cho. He subsequently acquired relics from Yin Dynasty tombs. In 1935, to preserve his treasures, he established the Hakkaku Art Museum. To commemorate the opening of the museum, he published Hakkaku Kikkinshu (Hakkaku Collection for Bronzes).

 In the years after opening the museum Mr. Kano added relics from the Yin and Chou Dynasties as well as from the Period of the Warring States.