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Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Three Roads to Urga, [typescript]
Summary
- Collection ID:
- FSA.A1996.02
- Dates:
-
circa 1920s
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
1 Item75 pages of typescript79 Itemssilver printsblack and white
- Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
A detailed account of uncertain authorship recalling travel to and from Urga (presently known as Ulaanbataar, Mongolia) in Outer Mongolia. The author is perhaps Georg Soderbom; a member of Sven Hedin's expedition who often worked under Frans Larson Soderbom is pictured in many of the collection's silver plates. The account is replete with descriptions of travel conditions and methods, ethnographic notes, an encounter with "the Andrews expedition" (likely the Central Asiatic Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History led by Roy Chapman Andrews from 1922-1925), and the natural ecosystem. 79 silver prints adorn the text, depicting Soderbom, peoples encountered, vehicles, buildings, and so forth. For the purpose of this collection, all relevant silver prints are numbered as attachments to the appropriate page of the transcript; i.e., the second print affixed to page 32 of the transcript becomes 32b.
While exact provenance of the collection is unclear, it is believed the collection was owned by the Asian art dealer Abel William Bahr (1877-1959). Bahr was born to a German father and a Chinese mother in Shanghai, and became an avid collector of Chinese paintings, jades, and porcelains. He would become a prominent collector and, in 1908, helped to host the first exhibition of Chinese art under the auspices of the Royal Asiatic Society in Shanghai.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Organized in the original manner by the creator.
Administration
Custodial History
Donated by Silvio A. Bedini, 1996
Digital Content
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Three Roads to Urga [typescript]. FSA.A1996.02. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
More Information
Local Numbers
Local Numbers
FSA A1996.02
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Mongolia | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Travel diaries | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Travel diaries | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Prints | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Mongolia -- Mongolia -- Urga (Ulaanbaatar) | Geographic | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
National Museum of Asian Art Archives
Washington, D.C. 20013
Business Number: 202-633-0533
AVRreference@si.edu