The Museum Rietberg in Zurich possesses an old and important collection of Southeast Asian sculpture, but until now it has never been fully documented and analysed. It includes stone statues from the Cham culture of Vietnam, examples of which can otherwise only be seen in the Cham Museum in Da Nangand the Musée Guimet in Paris; sculptures of the Khmer from Cambodia which are among the earliest artefacts of this culture collected in Europe; and statues from Thailand and Indonesia.
 
The sixty-six objects presented in this catalogue mostly come from the collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt, the founding donor of the Museum Rietberg. A knowledgeable and discerning buyer, he knew the best art dealers of the 1920s and 1930s, took advice from the leading scholars of his time and built up an outstanding collection.
 
The works brought together in this publication give an excellent introduction to the fascinating world of Southeast Asian art. Lucid and engaging, the catalogue is filled with high-quality photographs of the artworks, and also includes some rare historical photos which among other things show two of the sculptures in their original locations.