But an impressive Asian art collection takes most visitors by surprise. The pieces, many of which date to 200 B.C., include 35 Chinese terra-cotta tomb figures collected by the late Jewel Nail Bomar, whose son and nephew opened the Old Jail Art Center. The museum's permanent collection also includes Japanese woodcut blocks, a Turkish prayer rug and Chinese stone carvings. Additionally, the Old Jail Art Center has more than 100 books on Asian art in its Green Art Research Library. Other items are on long-term loan from the San Antonio Museum of Art.
People are always surprised when they visit.
When they come through, they don't expect to find Asian art here in Albany, Texas. Most of the artwork was purchased from galleries in New York and Paris in the 1930s and 1940s. It fills up two galleries in the ground floor of the original Old Jail Art Center structure. They were used in funeral processions and burials, and were believed to bless the deceased with wealth and prosperity in the afterlife through their representations of court entertainers, court officials, livestock and warriors. Other impressive items are a Buddhist prayer book dating to the late 16th century with an ornate cover from the 19th century, a Chinese table screen with carved pieces of precious jade, and 17th century ink paintings on silk.