East Asian objects – connecting cultures

The highest number of non-European items in the collections of the Austro-Hungarian mariners originate from East Asia, where they sailed more frequently after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and particularly during the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900 and after 1902, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was granted a small concession zone in Tianjin, China. It also held its own naval detachment there. 

Considering that the majority of ships remained in East Asia for a year or more and visited numerous ports there during this time, the mariners had several shopping opportunities. Quite few of them, especially officers, also visited cities inland, such as Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. Owing to their higher status on their ships, officers and cadets were often hosted by representatives of foreign countries and wealthier local residents, who also organized excursions especially for them. Some of them visited porcelain factories and places producing silk, tea, items made in the cloisonné technique, and more. But even the mariners who did not leave their ships had few opportunities to shop, since hawkers and merchants also sold their products alongside or on ships.

 

The dominance of East Asian objects among non-European items in the collections of Austrian and Austro-Hungarian mariners is, on the one hand, the result of fairly frequent voyages by Austro-Hungarian warships to East Asia and therefore the large number of boys and men from the Slovenian area who took part in these voyages, as well as the high supply in those countries and the great popularity of East Asian artefacts among Europeans in those times. East Asian objects were popular with mariners owing to their aesthetic value, usability, rarity and exoticity. They originated from places that were among the remotest ones, with the cultures of the local inhabitants seeming most different and therefore all the more interesting to them.

 

Like numerous other Europeans, mariners often brought home from East Asia artefacts made of porcelain and silk. Also popular were wooden objects, vases and tea sets made of other materials, fans, parts of Japanese samurai weapons, and many other items. Still, postcards and photos were by far the commonest objects purchased by mariners of all ranks. In their golden time, the latter were popular not only as a means of long-distance communication, but also as souvenirs and collector’s items, which was the reason why they were bought for themselves and their nearest ones. Several mariners set up special photo or postcard albums to document their voyages. Owing to their low price and accessibility, postcards or photos were among less wealthy seamen often the only items they could afford.

 

In China, mariners most often bought items made for the locals (such as mandarin hat buttons, parts of clothing, religious figurines, etc.), but could generally no longer serve their original purpose in the new environment. They became just decorative, collector’s and commemorative items and are thus often found in the collections of officers. Many seafarers, especially lower-ranking sailors, preferred to opt for objects that could be used at home. Among these, items that were adapted to the taste and use of Europeans predominate (tea sets, photo albums, paintings, silk embroidery and pieces of furniture, mostly folding screens that were purchased mainly by officers), which were easier to get in Japan. Therefore, there are many more objects from Japan than from China in mariners’ collections.

 

Items bought in East Asia represented East Asian countries in the homes of mariners and their relatives. They reminded the sailors of their voyages and the places they visited on the one hand, and their relatives of the sailors who brought them on the other hand. With their help, seafarers spread their impressions about foreign countries in their home environment. These, however, were not always entirely authentic, mostly owing to the fact that some items were adapted to the taste and use of foreigners. These items illustrate the intertwining of Eastern and Western cultures.

 

After the fall if the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Slovenian mariners sailed the oceans with ships of the Merchant Navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the War and Merchant Navies of the Kingdom of Italy and, after World War II, with ships of the War and Merchant Navies of Socialist Yugoslavia. East Asian items remained popular during these periods, though they no longer dominated among the mariners’ non-European items of that time.

 

Bibloigraphy:

•Marinac, Bogdana: »Vso kino bi ti kupil« nakupovanje predmetov v Vzhodni Aziji: Kanček Vzhodne Azije, Spominski in okrasni predmeti v zapuščinah pomorščakov na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 2025, 117-144. https://ebooks.uni-lj.si/ZalozbaUL/catalog/view/806/1199/12015

 

• Marinac, Bogdana: »Spominjajo me na Daljni vzhod« predmeti v novem okolju: Kanček Vzhodne Azije, Spominski in okrasni predmeti v zapuščinah pomorščakov na Slovenskem, Ljubljana 2025, 145-155. https://ebooks.uni-lj.si/ZalozbaUL/catalog/view/806/1199/12014

 

• Kanček Vzhodne Azije, Spominski in okrasni predmeti v zapuščinah pomorščakov na Slovenskem, eds.:  Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik, Maja Veselič, Bogdana Marinac. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, 2025. https://ebooks.uni-lj.si/ZalozbaUL/catalog/book/806

 

• Marinac, Bogdana, Veselič, Maja: The private lives of mariners' East Asian objects, memory and identity throught the generations: Asian studies vol. 13 (1), Ljubljana 2025, str. 105-156. https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:doc-AP0W3R0W

 

Foto:

1. East Asian items in the collection of Anton Ukmar, Austro-Hungarian Navy Petty Officer, Japan, Meiji period, early 20th century
2. Wooden stand from the collection of Viktor Kristan, Quartermaster Officer of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, China, Qing dynasty, 19th or early 20th century
3. Album of postcards from a voyage to East Asia by Karl Zevnik, Austro-Hungarian Navy sailor, on board torpedo boat Leopard in 1907–1909, Japan, Meiji period, early 20th century