Art Collections

The Society’s art collections contain artworks, maps and objects. Most of these items can be discovered in our online Library catalogue.

Artworks

The Society has a large collection of artworks. These include paintings, drawings, engravings, and sculpture by both European and Asian artists. Most of these are described in the Catalogue of paintings, drawings, engravings and busts in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society (by Raymond Head, 1991). A physical copy of this catalogue is available for consultation in our Reading Room.

Maps

The Society’s map collection contains maps and atlases of many parts of Asia, as well as regions further afield. The maps are not yet fully catalogued online, but a card index is available in the Reading Room that covers the majority of the material.

Objects

In its early years the Society collected items for a Museum. This was subsequently disbanded in the mid-19th century and most of the material were housed with other suitable establishments. However, a few items have remained in our collections. These include vessels, statues, coins, textiles and other artefacts.