List of museums with major collections of Asian art

This is a list of museums with major collections of Asian art. This list is controversial, in so far as it contains only qualitative analysis of museum holdings. These may or may not reflect actual artistic quality of collections in question.

#Forbidden City *, Beijing, China
#: 1,000,000 objects [Wen, Lianxi (ed.) (1925). _zh. 故宫物品点查报告 [Palace items auditing report] . Beijing: Caretaker Committee of the Qing Dynasty Imperial Family. Reprint (2004): Xianzhuang Book Company. ISBN 7-80106-238-8]
# National Palace Museum *, Taipei, Taiwan
#: 700,000 objects [http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/taipei/natlpmindex.htm]
# National Museum of China, Beijing, China
#: 620,000 objects [http://english.people.com.cn/200612/13/eng20061213_331891.html] (Includes contemporary collections, science, technology and decorative arts, however the vast majority derives from the Imperial collection, divided between Beijing and the National Palace Museum, Taipei)
# Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
#: 160,000 objects [http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/about/index.html]
# National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
#: 150,000 objects [http://news.sawf.org/Travel/3572.aspx]
# Shanghai Museum *, China
#: 120,000 objects [http://www.shme.com/travel/museum/museum.htm]
# National Museum, Japan
#: 120,000 objects [http://www.shme.com/travel/museum/museum.htm] (This includes the combined holdings of the three museums that make up the National Museum, i.e. Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum)
# British Library, London, UK
#: 90,000 objects [http://www.bl.uk/collections/orientalcollections.html] [http://www.bl.uk/collections/chinesehistory.html#Stein] (No sculptures or architectural elements, the world's largest collection of ancient manuscripts from Asia, including the Stein Collection)
# British Museum, London, UK
#: 75,000 objects [http://www.untoldlondon.org.uk/collections/SE000073.html] [http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/japaninfo/culture/britishmuseum.html]
# The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
#: 60,000 objects [http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/introduction.asp?dep=9]
# Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France
#: 58,000 objects [http://www.quaibranly.fr/en/collections/permanent-collections/asia/index.html]
# Musee Guimet, Paris, France
#: ~50,000 objects [http://www.museeguimet.fr/-The-collections-]
# Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
#: ~40,000 objects [http://www.mfa.org/collections/sub.asp?key=22&subkey=109] (Asian collection includes books, prints, postcards and modern paraphernalia; website indicates a massive collection, which is misleading)
# Horniman Museum, London, UK
#: 32,000 objects [http://www.horniman.ac.uk/collections/asia.php]
# Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, Germany
#: 20,000 objects [http://www.smb.museum/smb/kalender/details.php?objID=13313&lang=en&typeId=10]
#Art Institute of Chicago, USA
#: 35,000 objects [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/prints/index.php] (The Near & Middle East objects are included within the scope of the collection, overinflates size)
# Freer Gallery of Art / Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., USA
#: 18,200 objects [http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/default.htm]
# Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, USA
#: 17,000 objects [http://www.asianart.org/collection.htm]
# Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA
#: 10,450 objects [http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/Chinese.cfm]

* These three museums specialise in only Chinese items; the collections are not comprehensive for all Asia