There are many Asian figures scattered around the table, both seated and standing. They all once belonged to the collection of Eduard von der Heydt, who specialised in Asian art. He gave them to Wuppertal in 1962, more by chance than design. On the table are mainly Buddhist figures from China, Japan and Myanmar, made of various materials: Chinese dehua porcelain, wood, marble or gilded and lacquered wood. The figures represent a wide range: In addition to the Buddha seated on a lotus throne, there are other standing Buddha figures that vary according to country, tradition and spiritual interpretation. Other spiritual beings are also part of Buddhist iconography, intended to help people on the path to spiritual enlightenment. Figures such as Shou Lao, the god of long life, Tudigong, the god of the earth, or the laughing Chinese monk Budai can be seen on this table. Although only a fraction of Eduard von der Heydt's non-European collection is now in Wuppertal, these examples give an idea of the diversity of his collection. He donated most of it to the newly founded Rietberg Museum in Switzerland.
Eduard von der Heydt's interest in Asian art was sparked in his youth by his interest in East Asian philosophy and the works of Arthur Schopenhauer. In the early 1920s he began to acquire non-European objects. He collected them on the basis of the universal idea of 'world art' ('ars una'), in which all artistic products are fundamentally of equal value. Von der Heydt bought Asian objects from art dealers in Paris, London, New York and Amsterdam. However, in keeping with the spirit of the times, he did not examine the provenance of his collected works and their original contexts in the way we do today.
He commissioned Karl With, an expert in non-European art who had already advised Karl Ernst Osthaus in Hagen, to carry out a scholarly examination of his collection. Selma von der Heydt had established contact with With. While Eduard von der Heydt left the scientific classification to experts, he himself sought to unlock the deeper meanings of the works and find his own spiritual approach. Chinese Buddha figures, for example, radiated "great peace, strength and harmony". For him, Asian figures were objects of aesthetic and philosophical contemplation and meditation. For Eduard von der Heydt, emotional and associative experience was a key driving force behind his engagement with non-European art.
The idea behind von der Heydt's "ars una" concept was to take a fresh look at the world in its global context. He also wanted to express that it seemed to him that "the time has come, both in the case of China and India, to draw up an overall picture of these giant Asian empires - not to forget Japan - which are so decisive for the future of the world, and to make them a factor in general education in Europe. Europeans are no longer the centre of the world as they once were. That is irrevocably over."
