Further Media
Producer unknown to us
Advertising sign from a tea house
China, Beijing
Prior to 1915
Wood, painted
Olga Julia Wegener (art collector)
Purchased by the museum from Wegener in 1915
OAs 12366
In Beijing, this advertising sign informed passersby that Muslims operated the teahouse according to Islamic religious rules (halāl).
Very few women are to be found among the many people who gathered objects for the Leipzig Ethnological Museum from all over the world. Olga Julia Wegener, however, had achieved fame throughout Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as a collector and dealer of Chinese art. She was the wife of the geographer Georg Wegener and accompanied him on his travels to China. Here, she bought art objects and other things that interested her in Beijing's capital. For a trip in 1912, she also had a purchasing order from the Leipzig Ethnological Museum in her luggage. Her 'shopping list' included domestic models and clothing of various officials and religious dignitaries, as well as objects used in rituals and festivals. The formulations of director Karl Weule reveal the arrogant attitude towards the social context from which he expected objects for the museum. You can read his thoughts in the document below.
Dietmar Grundmann