Albert von Le Coq | Die Buddhistische Spätantike in Mitteklasien…, Berlin, 1924, 7 volumes in all (6 volumes, plus the scarce "Atlas zu den Wandmalereien" housed in cloth portfolio)

Albert von Le Coq

Die Buddhistiche Spätantike in Mittelasien. Berlin: 1924

7 volumes, comprising: 6 text volumes, folio (448 x 334mm), contemporary boards; plus the scarce "Atlas zu den Wandmalereien", housed in cloth portfolio (608 x 448mm); 185 plates in the text volumes, 22 in the atlas volume, some volumes rebacked retaining most of original spines, minor soiling to boards

AN IMPRESSIVE WORK displaying a plethora of late antique Buddhist artworks discovered by Albert von Le Coq during his archaeological expeditions to Turfan, located in present-day Xinjiang, China on the northern Silk Road. Known for his extensive exploration of Central Asia, in 1923 Le Coq became director of the Indian Department of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, to which these artworks, including sculptures and wall carvings, were shipped from China.