Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Mary Slusser Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
FSA.A2015.21
Dates:
1933-2017
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
28.57 Cubic feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Mary Slusser (1918-2017) was a prominent scholar of Nepalese art, architecture, and cultural history. This collection contains personal files, professional correspondence, research files, travel documents, and photographs. The research files relate to her study of specific subjects and contain mixed media. Photographic materials include prints, slides, negatives, contact sheets, and digital images on compact discs in both color and black and white. Most of the collections are related to her study of Nepal, though other countries are represented including Tibet, Laos, China, and Vietnam. Subjects include firsthand observations of objects and sites; notes on secondary sources; correspondence with fellow scholars; manuscript drafts; and records of her work on the gallery space, and guide to, the Patan Museum. The earliest materials date from 1951 during the beginning of her time living abroad alongside her husband, while both worked for the State Department. The materials continue through 2017, reflecting her dedicated scholarship and travel through the end of her life.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is organized into five series:
• Series 1: Biographical Materials
• Series 2: Correspondence
• Series 3: Research Files
• Series 4: Travel Files
• Series 5: Photographic Materials

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Dr. Mary Slusser (1918-2017) was born as Mary Shepherd in Welland, Ontario to George Percy and Ethel Mary Shepherd. Her family moved to Michigan the following year and Slusser became a naturalized US citizen in 1934. Slusser followed her sister, Dorothy Shepherd (1916-1992), to the University of Michigan, where Mary graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1942. During her studies at Michigan, she met Robert Slusser, whom she would marry in 1944. Slusser moved to New York City in 1942, again following the path of her sister, Dorothy, who had enrolled in graduate school at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Slusser undertook some coursework at NYU as a part-time student. Slusser would eventually complete her graduate studies at Columbia University, earning a PhD in anthropology in 1950. She completed some of her coursework at Harvard University, while her husband studied at nearby Tufts University. Her dissertation was titled "Preliminary archeological studies of northern Central Chile."
Next, Slusser worked as a research analyst at the US State Department. Her husband also worked at the agency and spent much of his career completing foreign service appointments as an economist with USAID. Slusser accompanied her husband to his various overseas posts, beginning in 1954 in Vietnam. The Slussers would live and work abroad in Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Guinea, Nepal, and Tunisia. Slusser continued to work for the State Department as a field anthropologist. Mary received funding from the Smithsonian to acquire a small collection of Nepalese artifacts. She immediately took to learning about the art and culture of the region. She found a dearth of English-language information on the area and did her own field work and engaged with local scholars to fill in the gaps. She remained in Nepal for five years, contracted by the Smithsonian to write a guide to Nepal. Her research would lead to
Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of Kathmandu Valley
, a two-volume set of text and images, predominantly her own photographs, which was published in 1982.
Robert Slusser retired in 1980, and he and Mary permanently settled in Washington, DC. Her scholarly work took her to museums, first at the Museum of African Art as a curatorial assistant from 1975 to 1978, and then a post-doctoral fellowship at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 1989. After her fellowship, Slusser was asked to remain at the museum as a research associate, an unpaid position she held for the rest of her career. Slusser continued to publish works on Nepalese art, including the 2010 book,
The Antiquity of Nepalese Wood Carving: a Reassessment
, co-authored with Paul Jett, a conservator at the museum. Slusser used carbon dating tests to show that many Nepalese wood sculptures were much older than originally thought. Slusser also contributed to the establishment of the Patan Museum in Nepal, which opened in 1997. She served as the museum's cultural advisor and curator and wrote the museum guide and many of the exhibition materials.
Slusser continued to travel to Nepal and other parts of central Asia well into her eighties, often visiting remote sites on foot with the aid of local guides. Slusser stayed active at home, continuing her research work despite declining eyesight and hearing. She died in 2017 at age 98.

Administration

Author
Robert Johnson
Custodial History
Gift of Mary Slusser, 2015.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the National Museum of Asian Art's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Mary Slusser Collection, FSA A2015.21. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Mary Slusser.

Related Materials
Mary Shepherd Slusser papers, circa 1950 – circa 1995, National Museum of National History, National Anthropolgical Archives, NAA.1983.0407
Dorothy Shepard Photographs, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, FSA.A2015.12
Russell Hamilton Postcard and Photograph Collection, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, FSA.A2001.13
Russell Hamilton postcards, between 1900-1909, National Museum of African Art, Eliot Elisophon Photographic Archives, EEPA.2003-001

More Information

Bibliography

Bibliography
Slusser, M. S. (1970).
Kathmandu: A collection of articles
. Tribhuvan University.
Slusser, M. S. (1982).
Nepal Mandala: A cultural study of the Kathmandu valley
. Princeton University Press.
Slusser, M. S., & Patan Museum (2002).
Patan Museum Guide
. The Museum.
Slusser, M. S., Vajrācārya, G., & Fuller, M. (2005).
Art and Culture of Nepal: Selected papers.
Mandala Publications.
Slusser M. S., & Jett, P. (2010).
The Antiquity of Nepalese Wood Carving : A reassessment
. University of Washington Press ; in association with the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Smithsonian Institution.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Bhaktapur (Nepal) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nepal Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Kathmandu Valley (Nepal) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nepal -- Architecture Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nepal -- Art Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nepal -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Tibet (China) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vietnam Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Canada Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wood-carving Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art, Asian -- Research Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculpture Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography -- Archives Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Himalaya Mountains 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
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