Le Musée des arts asiatiques

Since 2001, the collection of Asian arts has been exhibited at Villa Jules Verne, situated on Frédéric Mistral coast, opposite Saint Louis port in le Mourillon district.

Purchases, made in Far East, in India, in Tibet and in Southeast Asia by sailors from Toulon, were enriched by purchases made after the opening of the museum.

In 1961, journalist Fauverge de French bequeathed an extensive set of 473 Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Tibetan pieces to the city of Toulon.

As unifying elements of the works exhibited at the museum, Buddhism and Buddha's personification exercised a real influence on the art of Asian civilizations.

In addition to canvas paintings representing episodes of Buddha's life, sculptures dedicated to the ornamentation of temples and tangka (portable paintings used by Tibetan Buddhists), visitors will discover Gui vases made of antique China bronze (ritual vases which the ancestors deposited in graves), or Japanese kettles made of cast iron symbolic of the art of the tea ceremony.