Henri Cernuschi was born in Milan, Italy, but fled  to France after the Italian Revolution of 1848. In Paris, he found a new and fortune-filled career as an economist and banker, but having  narrowly escaped execution by the Paris Commune,  he left on a  trip around the world, accompanied by his friend, the art critic Théodore Duret. From 1871-to 1873, Cernuschi indulged his passion for Asiatic art, purchasing almost 5000 pieces in Japan and China.

Luckily for us, and for Paris, he later donated the collection and the townhouse which he had built to house it, to the City of Paris. His house  sits in the short, tree-lined avenue Vélasquez, by the entrance to Parc Monceau. The bronzes and terracotta statues are lit from huge sunny windows overlooking the park. Beginning in the Neolithic period around 8000 B.C. the collection moves chronologically through dynasties up to the Liao and Song dynasties of 900-1200 A.D. on to modern pieces from the 20th-century. No need to fear display-padding cases of arrowheads and other archaeological tats here – each section is bite-sized, still full of the colour and character of ancient eras.

A huge Buddha sits calmly over the stairway to the second floor, guarding bronzes and metal jewellery green with age, and statues of the grim, man-faced animals that guarded ancient tombs. The delicate artistry of these successive eras is fully in evidence, one example being a golden head topped by a golden crown, from which little gold birds quiver on springs from its surface. The styles and customs of thousands of years of Oriental history are beautifully presented in the museum, which hosts both permanent and temporary exhibitions.