COLLIN DE PLANCY Victor (EN)

Biographical article

Victor Collin de Plancy, a French diplomat and art collector, was the son of Jacques Collin de Plancy (1794-1881), a repentant free-thinker who had converted into a pious book publisher. The latter had appended the name of his birthplace, Plancy, to his surname. This use was contested by the family of the barons of Plancy who pursued a trial that eventually prohibited Victor Collin from using the name “de Plancy” (Archives diplomatique, Dossier personnel / Archives nationales, Dossier Léonore).

Diplomat and Scholar

Victor Collin de Plancy studied law and Chinese at the École nationale des langues orientales between 1872 and 1876. He was awarded a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for interpretation in the Far East. The Chinese lessons of Count Michel Alexandre de Kleczkowski (1818-1886), a former diplomat, were oriented towards the oral practice of the language and the synoptical comprehension of the written word, as well as the exploration of Chinese literary culture. These lessons aimed to train interpreters and diplomats to converse directly with Chinese officials (Bergère M.-C., Pino A., 1995).

As a member of several learned societies, including the Academic Society of the Aube, Collin de Plancy was interested in many subjects: entomology, amphibians and reptiles, as well as Chinese history and culture. He published several articles on amphibians, including Recherches sur l’alimentation des reptiles et des batraciens de France (Impr. Durand, Paris, 1876). He took advantage of his stays in Asia to collect and send specimens to the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, which was written about by Fernand Lataste (1847-1934) [Fernand Lataste, Batraciens et Reptiles recueillis en Chine par V. Collin de Plancy, Saint-Ouen, printed by J. Boyer, 1880].

Collin was also interested in the art and culture of the countries in which he resided, particularly Korea. Thus, beyond the collection he brought together, he undertook research on Korean ceramics through excavations of production sites south of Seoul, as shown in photographs and through in-depth bibliographical research. He thus gathered a vast amount of documentation (Bibliothèque de l’agglomération troyenne, Fonds Collin de Plancy, archives personnelles), which did not, however, become the subject of a publication.

Collin was also interested in the art and culture of the countries in which he resided, particularly Korea. Thus beyond the collection he brought together, he undertook research on Korean ceramics through excavations of production sites south of Seoul, as shown in photographs, and through in-depth bibliographical research. He thus brought together a vast amount of documentation (Bibliothèque de l’agglomération troyenne, Fonds Collin de Plancy, archives personnelles), which did not, however, become the subject of a publication.

An Asian Career

After this training, Victor Collin was appointed as a student interpreter in Beijing in 1877. His desire was to proceed quickly to a consular career; however, multiple obstacles arose. Having received a scholarship for his Chinese studies, he was initially obliged to remain an interpreter. He was eager to take the competitive examination to become a diplomat, but he was refused the leave which would allow him to go to France to do so. After numerous appeals and through the unconditional support of his hierarchical superiors, he finally obtained a promotion, in 1883, to Second Class Consul in Shanghai (Archives diplomatiques, Dossier personnel).

His diplomatic career then continued in Korea, where he was the first French representative in 1887 (Diplomatic Archives, Political Correspondence, Korea / Bensacq-Tixier, N., 2004). Korea then saw a complex period, as the country was forced to open up to foreign powers by signing unequal treaties, was ravaged by two wars - the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 - which ended when the country was put under protection by Japan in 1906.

Victor Collin de Plancy was committed to defending French interests on the spot. This began with support for missionaries, in a country where violent persecutions against Catholics and French priests took place in 1866 (Archives diplomatiques, Correspondance politique, Corée / Bensacq-Tixier, N., 2004). The diplomat also sought to bring technical advisors to the Korean court: Auguste Salabelle (1856-19..), an architect and engineer who was responsible for developing Korean railways, Jean Victor Émile Clémencet (1863-1892), the founder of the Korean post office, and Laurent Crémazy (1837-1904), an architect of a legal modernisation of the kingdom (Orange M., 2006). French influence also came through a loan granted by France to Korea and through the development of French teaching there.

While Collin de Plancy also lived briefly in Japan, Morocco and Thailand, the majority of his 20-year career in Asia was spent in Korea. In 1906, after the annexation by Japan, he was the last foreign representative to leave the country, before being admitted to assert his pension rights in 1907 (Archives diplomatiques, Dossier personnel / Bensacq-Tixier, N., 2004).

In the Service of Knowledge of Korea in France

Collin de Plancy was passionate about Korean culture and art, and he promoted knowledge of Korea in France both directly and by supporting the initiatives of other enthusiasts.

First he created an important collection of books, furniture, ceramics, and paintings.

He then supported the collection of the traveler Charles Varat (1842-1893) who, in 1888, traversed the Korean peninsula and drew from it a very colourful account published in LeTour du monde (Varat, C., vol. I, 1889, p. 421 & vol. II, 1892, p. 289-368). Thanks to the advice and recommendations of Collin de Plancy, Varat also assembled an abundant ethnographic collection. This was first presented in France at the Trocadéro ethnological gallery in 1889, then from 1891 in a room devoted to Korea in the Musée Guimet. Popular paintings, statues of Buddhas, antique furniture and costumes were used to stage reconstructions of events in Korean daily life (Cambon P., 2001).

He also participated in the biographical research undertaken by Maurice Courant (1865-1935), a young sinologist and interpreter attached to the French Embassy in Korea. The latter gathered a vast amount of knowledge that was published between 1894 and 1901: the Bibliographie coréenne aimed to list all published Korean works and remains a reference for researchers today (Bouchez D., 1983; Brouillet S., 2019). Collin de Plancy had the idea for the project and encouraged the young Maurice Courant by purchasing Korean books of significance.

His interest in Korean ceramics also led him to seek help from a French chemist he had met in Beijing, Adrien Billequin (1836-1894) [Brouillet S., 2019]. The latter undertook research in Chinese texts and sought to trace the links between Chinese and Korean ceramics. This work, which remained unfinished following Billequin's brutal death, was published by the Musée Guimet at the instigation of Collin de Plancy (Archives du musée Guimet, letter from Deshayes to Émile Guimet).

Supporting Korea's Participation in the 1900 Paris Exhibition

Besides lending support to the few researchers interested in the small peninsular kingdom, Collin became engaged in a much larger undertaking: Korea's participation in the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. The task was difficult: Korea lacked time, money, experience, and competent representatives in France. Collin mobilised supporters of Korea and obtained the backing of Baron Delort de Gléon (1843-1899), the architect of Egypt's success at Paris’s Exposition Universelle in 1889. The latter, however, died suddenly, and left the Korean organisational committee obliged to find a new manager. It was finally Count Armand Mimerel (1867-1928), a French lawyer and industrialist, who oversaw the construction of a pavilion on the outskirts of the Champs-de-Mars according to the plans of the architect Eugène Ferret (1851 –?). The pavilion was inspired by one of the Korean royal palaces (Chabanol E., 2006, p. 133-145).

This pavilion housed a display of Korean arts and crafts: wooden furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl or ox horn, brushed brass objects, musical instruments, textiles, ceramics and books. Some of the items were sent directly from Korea. Collin also lent items from his own collection, particularly old Korean books, to enrich the presentation at the Korean pavilion. The pavillionvs booklet was written by Maurice Courant (Courant M., 1900).

After the exhibition, Collin de Plancy organised the distribution of Korean objects to various Parisian cultural institutions: the Musée des arts et métiers, the Musée de Sèvres, and the Musée de la musique. His distribution of the works ensured that they could be studied by specialists and be as visible as possible (Chabanol E., 2010).

The opening of Korea to the West lasted twenty years, from the signing of the first commercial treaties in 1886 until the annexation by Japan in 1906. During this period, Victor Collin de Plancy was a key figure in France's relations with the peninsula. Representing France in Korea, he guaranteed France a significant presence and influence at a time when control of Korea was disputed by the Chinese, Russians, Americans and Japanese. The Myeongdong Cathedral, built by French missionaries and inaugurated in 1898, remains material evidence of this influence today (Archives diplomatiques, Correspondance politique, Corée). Collin de Plancy also acted as a veritable representative of Korea in France since he encouraged research on Korean culture and arts. He also allowed Korea to present its wealth to the Western public through the pavilion of the 1900 Paris Exhibition and then through the dispersion of its collections among various institutions.

The collection

Collecting or Collections? Direct Shipments to Museums

The first purchases of art and precious works made by Collin de Plancy were not intended to enrich his own collection but rather those of the French state. This connection allowed him to establish close relations with certain institutions. When acting on their behalf, he acted as a collector in the sense of making deliveries rather than as a collector building his own collection.

The objects that he gathered were often sent directly to the French institutions that benefitted from his work. Collin de Plancy acquired objects for the French national collections with the goal of enriching and completing them; sometimes he was responding to orders from French curators. Rather than one collection, we could speak of multiple collections that were all devoted to specific objects, linked to the characteristics and to the scientific orientation of the partner institutions (Brouillet S., 2019).

Still committed to his interest in entomological research, he collected specimens, which were sent to the Muséum d’histoire naturelle. In February 1879, Eugène Simon (1848-1924), an arachnologist associated with the Museum, described in a speech to the Entomological Society of France the 38 species of arachnids that he was able to identify among the many specimens collected around Beijing by Victor Collin de Plancy Some of the species are named after the diplomat, such as the "Coelotes Plancyi" of the family Agelenidae. Shipments continued from Seoul, and a newly discovered species of batrachians collected in Korea received a name that again honoured Collin de Plancy (Brouillet S., 2019).

He also contributed to the Musée de l’Observatoire, which had been recently founded by Admiral Mouchez (1821-1892), an astronomer, by sending relevant Chinese and Korean objects: a celestial planisphere, a sundial, compasses, an astronomical ruler (Brouillet S., 2019).

The Musée Guimet was naturally also a recipient of objects that Collin de Plancy collected in Korea. He sought to complete the collection gathered by Charles Varat. The explorer had been interested in manifestations of Korean popular culture: good-luck paintings, poles erected at crossroads, rustic ceramics, costumes and tools. Collin de Plancy's scholarly taste, trained in China, led him to acquire objects related to the art of living of the yangban scholars of the Joseon period, with whom he had been able to become acquainted. He thus sent to the Musée Guimet literary paintings in ink on paper that represented flowers or landscapes; objects of scholars – inkwells, water jugs, brush pots – in ceramic or bamboo; and a wooden chest with inlaid mother-of-pearl decoration, as found in aristocratic interiors (Cambon P., 2001).

A Particular Interest in Ceramics

One of the first institutions with which he collaborated, starting with his stay in China, was the Musée national de la Céramique de Sèvres (Archives du musée national de la Céramique; Brouillet S., 2015). He corresponded with the curator Champfleury (1821-1889), who guided him in his research by pointing out the gaps in the museum's collection. In return Collin de Plancy sent him several batches of ceramics, as well as documents elucidating the history of Korean ceramics and the pieces that he had sent (Sèvres, Manufacture et Musées nationaux, Direction du patrimoine et des collections, Service des archives et de la documentation, 4W57).

Among these objects were several major pieces, in particular a large porcelain vase showing two dragons in the midst of clouds (MNC 9795). The number of claws of the dragons was strictly codified and depended on the rank of the object’s recipient. Five claws testify to a royal destination. The dragons pursue the cintanami, a precious wish-fulfilling jewel. They are rendered with a wealth of detail that reveals the talent of the painter who was undoubtedlya member of the Royal Academy. Porcelain vases decorated with dragons were reserved for the ornamentation of throne rooms. They were arranged in pairs on either side of the seat of the sovereign and held flowers. Among the examples of this royal production that survive today, this vase is the largest (Brouillet S., 2015).

Collin, Bibliophile

Collin de Plancy also showed a great interest in books that was initially linked to the work he jointly undertookwith his secretary at the French consulate in Korea, Maurice Courant. The latter described the way in which the two men obtained books sold in stalls run by penniless scholars (Courant, M., 1894, Introduction). These were often books that the latter held in poor regard: Buddhist works, popular Korean language works, or texts relating to Taoist or shamanic practices decried by scholars influenced by Confucianism. A number of important books were purchased in duplicate by Collin de Plancy. After these titles were noted in the Korean Bibliography, one copy would be sent to Paris to enrich the library of the École nationale des langues orientales ​​or the Musée Guimet, while the other would join Collin de Plancy’s personal collection, where it received an ex-libris printed by woodcut. It consisted of the Chinese character pronounced kal in Korean reading, the first character of Collin de Plancy's Chinese name, Ko Lin-to, and links Victor Collin's collection to the tradition of Chinese scholars (Brouillet S., 2019).

These works were exhibited in 1900 at the Korean Pavilion at the Paris Exhibition. In 1911, they formed the highlight of the sale of Collin de Plancy's collection at Drouot. The catalog mentions this "precious collection of books printed in movable type, the oldest of which is dated 1377." The catalog further specifies, at the opening of the section devoted to these works: "Precious collection of rare works, printed in Korea starting at the invention of movable type in that country to the present day, which could only be formed gradually, thanks to a combination of favorable circumstances and a long stay in this land of the morning calm that was so obstinately closed to all foreigners for centuries. […] Of these precious and extremely rare documents of typographical art in Korea in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we possess a few specimens worthy of the full attention of European bibliophiles”(Collection d’un amateur. Objets d’art de la Corée, de la Chine et du Japon... [Vente : 27-30 mars 1911.], expert : E. Leroux, 1911).

Among the works collected by Collin de Plancy, the book The Edifying Treatises of the Patriarchs, known in France and Korea under the name of Jikji, holds a particular place. This collection of teachings of the patriarchs of the Zen school, compiled by the bonze Kyonghan (Paegun, deceased 1375), was printed in 1377 at Hungdok-sa, a small Buddhist monastery located near the town of Ch'ongju. On the cover, a handwritten statement, probably by Collin de Plancy, reads: "The oldest known printed Korean book in cast letters, dated 1377." It is the world’s oldest example of printing with this technique, which was made more than fifty years prior to Gutenberg's attempts to print with metal movable type. Acquired during the sale of the collection by Henri Vever (1854-1942) [Collection d’un amateur. Objets d’art de la Corée, de la Chine et du Japon...; (Sale: March 27-30, 1911.), Expert: E. Leroux, 1911, jeweler and collector.)], the book subsequently entered the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF, département des Manuscrits orientaux, Coréen 109), along with a number of copies sold in 1911, which were acquired either directly or indirectly. It is now considered a national treasure in Korea.

Beyond the books and objects sent directly to museums and libraries, the pieces collected by Collin de Plancy for his personal use do not constitute a collection truly worthy of interest, as evidenced by its sale in 1911 (Collection d’un amateur. Objets d’art de la Corée, de la Chine et du Japon... [Sale: March 27-30, 1911.], expert: E. Leroux, 1911). The objects sold on this occasion were often recent or contemporary trinkets or small lots intended for decorative use: braided mats, porcelain tea sets or vases, small wooden furniture, bronze figurines, Japanese tsuba. The collector also had a large collection of postcards, mostly from Korea, in the fashion of the early 20th century. He donated the collection to the Société française de géographie and to the Société académique de l’Aube (Berquet F., “Le fonds Collin de Plancy à la médiathèque du Grand Troyes”, in Brouillet, S., 2015, p. 73-74 / BnF, Archives de la Société française de géographie, Fonds Collin de Plancy, Carton COR – CZ 309-316)

Collin de Plancy was closely associated with the core of the Korean collections now held in French institutions, whether he collected on behalf of these institutions (Musée de Sèvres, Musée Guimet, Muséum d'histoire naturelle), encouraged other collectors’ efforts (the Varat collection), or provided objects from his own collections that are now in French institutions (books acquired or donated by others to the BnF). Collin de Plancy thus remains an essential figure in the knowledge of Korea in France today.