Photos and video clips are permitted in this museum without flash. copyright 2013 Lisa B. Falour, B.S., M.B.A. all rights reserved cutecatfaith.com

Musée Cernuschi, 7, avenue Vélasquez (entrance also at 111-113, boulevard Malesherbes) 75008 Paris (France) +33(0)153962171 www.cernuschi.paris.fr Closed Mondays and many holidays; otherwise, open from 10h00 - 18h00. Admission is usually free except for certain (temporary?) exhibitions. Asian arts are preserved and shown here. Parc Monceau is adjacent. Métro VILLIERS or MONCEAU, bus 30 or 94, Vélib station at 75, rue de Monceau.

Cernuschi was Italian, but traumatized by the Italian revolution in 1848, he sought refuge in France, where he had success as a banker and economist under the Second Empire. Horrified by the Paris Commune, he traveled for two years with art critic Duret and acquired some 5,000 items in Asia. The architect Bouwens der Boijen was engaged to build a beautiful mansion to house Cernuschi and his collections, and he immediately bequeathed both to the City of Paris. This museum was opened in 1898, two years after his death.

A child's father asked her to identify the instruments played by the mounted musicians. These ancient Chinese figures are full of life and personality.