The George Turner Marsh papers consist of personal and professional material related to Marsh's business selling primarily Japanese arts and antiques.

George Turner Marsh (1857-1932) was born in Richmond, Australia; son of Stephen Hale Marsh, who was court musician to Queen Victoria. When George Marsh was 15 years old his family decided to move to America. On the journey to America they stopped in Japan and the young Marsh fell in love with both the country and culture; he then persuaded his parents to let him stay. His father found him work with a tea import/export firm in Yokohama, Japan. Several years later he joined his family in San Francisco where he went on to use the expertise he gained in Japan to open one of the first Asian art galleries in the United States. Sometime after 1876, G.T. Marsh & Company: Japanese Art Repository opened at 625 Market Street at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California. Marsh married Lucy Elvira Whiteside in 1880; the couple had one daughter and five sons. He passed away in 1932 at the age of 75.

26 boxes, 2 oversize folders, and 1 envelope (11 linear feet)

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