Back in 2015 BPH reported on the outcry as the Royal Society for Asian Affairs sold rare photographs and books from its collection. Amongst the items being sold were important albums by J C Watson showing China c.1867-1870; John Thomson's Antiquities of Cambodia, c1867; J C White photographs of Sikhim and Tibet and others. The lots can be seen here. The RSAA hoped to realise £250,000 to safeguard its survival but in the end the sales realised £136,000 before commissions.
The RSAA has issued a statement concluding that that judgement was wrong and that the decisions leading to the sale were flawed both in principle and in implementation. BPH and other objected to the original sales. The statement reads:
In 2015-16 the Royal Society for Asian Affairs sold at auction a number of items from its collections. The sales were controversial, and concerns were raised by RSAA members and scholars in the field. At the time the Society held that the sales were its only option to ensure its survival.
In late 2022 and early 2023 an internal review showed that the Society’s decisions leading to the sales were significantly flawed in principle and in implementation. The RSAA’s Board of Trustees is therefore taking steps to rectify as far as possible the mistakes that were made and to mitigate their consequences.
The entire proceeds of the 2015-16 sales, £171,391, will become a designated fund solely and directly for the benefit of the collections, their long-term sustainability, use and development.
Within the next twelve months, the Society will commence a multi-year project to digitise its collections and to make its catalogue a more effective tool for researchers.
The RSAA’s Trustees will also consider whether there are additional skills and experience that the Society’s Board needs in order to provide effective future oversight of the Society’s affairs.
By these means the RSAA seeks to avoid any recurrence of past mistakes; to demonstrate to its many supporters and donors that the Society’s collections are and will remain a high priority; and that best practice and appropriate investment are the basis on which the collections will in future be managed.
As the RSAA's chief executive noted to BPH "although it is not possible to undo the actions of 2015-16, the RSAA's Trustees and I hope that the steps that we are taking will go some way to reassuring you that the Society is now committed to its collections in a way that was not always the case in the past".
See the original BPH post here: https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/outcry-as-royal-society-for-asian-affairs-sells-off-photographs which includes a link to the photographic lots
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