The first part of this article deals with the collection of ancient pre-Columbian objects and with the modern Mexican collection, stored in the National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures. It also describes the creative process in putting the collections together. Later…

The paper deals with the Japanese collection of Václav Stejskal, who travelled round the world on the Aurora warship in 1886–1888, in 1887 spending three months in Japan. He donated his Far Eastern acquisitions to the National Museum and they are now part of the Asian collection of the Náprstek…

Sculptures of Infant Buddha in Indochina region are influenced by Hinayana or Mahayana interpretations of Buddhist sutras. In the area with strong Mahayana impact, the influence of local social rules on art is quite obvious: the role of vigorous social principals and customs (for example not…

During the first excavation season, the Archaeological Expedition to Wad Ben Naga focused on (1) the general survey of the archaeological site, (2) the creation of an accurate map of Central Wad Ben Naga, (3) trial digs within the so-called Circular Building, (4) the documentation of stone…

During the second excavation season, the Archaeological Expedition to Wad Ben Naga focused on (1) delimitation of the archaeological registered land of the site of Wad Ben Naga, (2) revising excavation of several structures unearthed during the Sudanese excavations of 1958–1960 and survey of the…

A vessel from the Islamic metal collection of the Náprstek Museum that was included among the objects of Iranian origin differed at first sight from Iranian vessels. This vessel’s shape is reminiscent of an Indian vessel, but it was not clear to which geographical area or historical era it belonged.…

The Chinese collection of the National Museum-Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures contains 44 “rank badges”, the official rank insignia of the Chinese bureaucracy from the second half of the 19th century. In this article I focus on description of the items including the…