Duanfang, a Manchu politician who lived in the late Qing dynasty, was a collector of what?

Duanfang (20 April 1861 – 27 November 1911), courtesy name Wuqiao, was a Manchu politician, educator and collector who lived in the late Qing dynasty.

Duanfang was actually Han Chinese even though he was under a Manchu banner. Some Han Chinese joined Manchu banners directly, instead of joining the separate Han Chinese banners. Han Chinese in the Manchu banners became Manchucized.

Duanfang was a well-known collector of antiques and maintained a good relationship with Paul Pelliot and others. During his inspection tours abroad, he also collected ancient Egyptian artefacts, becoming the first modern Chinese person to have a collection of foreign artifacts. After he died in Sichuan, his children lived in poverty, and in 1924 they sold his most famous collection- a set of Shang dynasty bronze artifacts for about 20 million taels of silver to John Calvin Ferguson. The bronzes are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.