BIOGRAPHY
Berthold Laufer: anthropologist & sinologist
Dr. Berthold Laufer (1874-1934) was a pioneer of East Asian studies in the West and a renowned Sinologist and anthropologist in the early twentieth century. Laufer was born in Cologne, Germany, but moved to the United States of America in his early twenties and remained there until his death in 1934.[1] Laufer studied at the University of Berlin, and his time there included work at the Seminar for Oriental Languages, at which he studied an enormous variety of languages, including Persian, Sanskrit, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, Manchu, Mongolian, Dravidian, and Tibetan. By the time he graduated, Laufer had developed fluency in Chinese, Japanese, Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, and most European languages.[2] In 1897, Laufer completed his doctorate at the University of Leipzig, having analyzed a Tibetan text for his dissertation.[3]
Shortly after receiving his doctorate, Laufer began his museum career in the United States, starting with an 1898-1899 expedition to Sakhalin Island and the Amur River in Siberia for the American Museum of Natural History.[4] This first expedition, the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, was arranged through German-born American anthropologist Franz Boas, who Laufer had written to on recommendation from a professor.[5] However, it was during a later 1901-1904 expedition, the Jacob H. Schiff Expedition, for the American Museum of Natural History that Laufer visited China for the first time, thus beginning his lifelong interest in and love of China. Between 1904 and 1907, Laufer worked at the American Museum of Natural History as an Assistant in Ethnology, and between 1905 and 1907, also as a lecturer of anthropology and Eastern Asiatic languages at Columbia University.[6]
[1] Hummel, “Berthold Laufer: 1874-1934,” 101.
[2] Bronson, “Berthold Laufer,” 117.
[3] Hummel, “Berthold Laufer: 1874-1934,” 101.
[4] Latourette, Biographical Memoir of Berthold Laufer: 1874-1934, 44.
[5] Bronson, “Berthold Laufer,” 117-118.
[6] Ibid., 119.
laufer at the Field museum
In 1907, Laufer moved to Chicago and began working at the Field Museum. Franz Boas’ own departure from the American Museum of Natural History to focus on his work for Columbia University, coupled with the museum’s de-emphasis on and disinterest in Asia, prompted Laufer’s departure.[1] Laufer met George Dorsey, a curator in the Field Museum’s Anthropology department, and “suggested assembling a Tibetan collection for the Field Museum,” after which Dorsey later offered Laufer a position on behalf of the Field Museum.[2] Initially hired as an assistant curator, Laufer became the Field Museum’s Curator of Asiatic Ethnology in 1911. In 1915, he was promoted to Curator of Anthropology, a role “the equivalent of a modern department chairperson” that Laufer held until his death.[3] [4] At the Field Museum, Laufer’s work output was prodigious. He was generally responsible for two major Southeast Asian halls, and was solely responsible for the Museum’s permanent exhibitions in Chinese archaeology and ethnology, Tibetan culture, and jade.[5] As Curator of Anthropology, he directed the Museum’s Anthropology department. Moreover, Laufer was part of many academic committees and groups, frequently met with other scholars and students of East Asia, and served as an appraiser and advisor to private collectors and occasionally, to institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago.[6] On top of his Museum responsibilities, Laufer was also a prolific writer, authoring over 200 published works over the course of his career.[7] Beginning in 1912, Laufer published between ten and twenty works per year until his death in 1934.[8] Although the topic of his works varied, many of his articles touched on subjects related to East Asia, and China in particular.
[1] Bronson, “Berthold Laufer,” 119.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Hummel, “Berthold Laufer: 1874-1934,” 101.
[4] Bronson, “Berthold Laufer,” 121.
[5] Ibid., 124.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Latourette, Biographical Memoir of Berthold Laufer: 1874-1934, 48.
[8] Bronson, “Berthold Laufer,” 121.
laufer's expeditions in china for the field museum
Laufer led two expeditions to China and Tibet for the Field Museum—the 1908-1910 Blackstone Expedition to Tibet and China, and the 1923 Marshall Field Expedition to China.[1] During the Blackstone Expedition, Laufer, the sole member of the expedition, was originally charged with acquiring a collection of Tibetan objects for the Field Museum. However, although Laufer spent two years in China, he was ultimately unable to gain permission from British or Chinese authorities to enter Tibet, and instead spent his time in China.[2] He did, however, manage to collect a number of Tibetan objects from traders near the borders of Tibet. After being denied access to Tibet twice, Laufer spent the rest of the Blackstone Expedition in China, purchasing objects in Beijing, Xi’an, and Chengdu. The 1923 Marshall Field Expedition saw Laufer spend most of his time in Shanghai and Beijing, with brief trips out from those cities.[3] In these two expeditions to China for the Field Museum, Laufer collected about 19,000 Chinese objects, dated to between 6000 B.C.E. to 1890 C.E., as well as approximately 4,000 Tibetan objects.[4] In the 1908-1910 Blackstone Expedition, Laufer focused on artworks, archaeological materials, and objects of daily life.[5] In the 1923 Marshall Field Expedition, Laufer collected many everyday objects and luxury goods from the Ming and Qing periods.[6] In collecting objects for the Field Museum, Laufer displayed a distinctive dedication, writing that, “I hold that solely the best and solely the very best is good enough for us [the Museum] and decided on the policy ‘Aut Caesar aut nihil’ (either the best or nothing at all).’”[7]
[1] Latourette 1936, 45.
[2] Bronson, “Berthold Laufer,” 120-121.
[3] Ibid.,122.
[4] Ibid., 121.
[5] Deborah Bekken et al., “Berthold Laufer and the East Asian Collections.”
[6] Ibid.
[7] Chen, Adrienne, Laufer Letter Notes, 20.
The Laufer collection at the Field Museum is composed of the objects Laufer collected during the Blackstone and Marshall Field expeditions. Altogether, the Laufer collection composes approximately three-quarters of the Field Museum’s collection of Chinese objects, and includes a number of Tibetan and Japanese objects.[1] Many of the objects that Laufer collected can be seen on display today in the Field Museum’s Cyrus Tang Hall of China.
Of the number of the subcollections in the Laufer collections, a notable subcollection are the Chinese rubbings, which will not be touched on in this guide, as a previous, in-depth guide to the Field Museum’s collection of Chinese rubbings already exists here.
[1] Field Museum, "Berthold Laufer Collections."
by Aiko Johnston
References
Bekken, Deborah et al. “Berthold Laufer and the East Asian Collections.” In 125 Moments in the Natural History of the Field Museum, edited by Franck M. Mercurio, 74-77. Chicago: Field Museum, 2019.
Bronson, Bennet. “Berthold Laufer.” In Curators, Collections, and Contexts: Anthropology at the Field Museum, edited by Stephen E. Nash and Gary M. Feinman, 117-126. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 2003. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21596#page/131/mode/1up
Chen, Adrienne. “Laufer Letter Notes.” 2009. Unpublished manuscript.
Field Museum. “Berthold Laufer Collections.” Accessed July 1, 2021. https://www.fieldmuseum.org/node/5066
Hummel, Arthur. “Berthold Laufer: 1874–1934.” American Anthropologist, 38 (1936): 101–111.
Latourette, K.S. Biographical Memoir of Berthold Laufer: 1874–1934. Presented to the National Academy of Sciences. 1936.