Henri Lecourt’s La Cuisine Chinoise, 1925 – (#2 of 3) – Albert Nachbaur (1879-1933) and Peking Art Nouveau

Posted: December 28th, 2025 | No Comments »

A word on the publisher of Henri Lecourt’s La Cuisine Chinoise – Albert Nachbaur (1879-1933). Born into a family of French architects from Nogent-sur-Marne Nachbaur was himself initially an architect dedicated to Art Nouveau/Art Deco. Before coming to China he had been a performer under the stage name “Max-Nar” in Montmartre singing satirical songs. During the Great War he visited China to recruit labourers for the French contingent of the Chinese Labour Corps. After World War One he returned to China and lived the rest of his life (till a young 54) in Peking with his wife Aline and their son André.

Nachbaur had a range of jobs – he was the manager and editor of the Journal de Pékin (after 1918) as well as the proprietor of the Na-Che-Pao (a derivative of his own name in Chinese) printers, general manager of Le Chine (a fortnightly review launched in 1921) and the owner of Agencie Radioklegraphique (X-Ray). All these businesses appear to have been run from and registered at 16 Kan Yu Hutong (see part 3 following this).

At some point Nachbaur must have got into publishing. Interestingly as well as some works of his own he published Lecourt and others – mostly French. This is interesting as French people of some standing and longevity on China would normally have been the preserve of French publisher and bookseller Henri Vetch of the French Bookstore in the Grand Hotel de Pekin on Chang’an Avenue. However. Lecourt liked to do highly colourful and Illustrated limited editions. Other Nachbaur editions include the French Sinologist Georges Bouillard, Pekin et ses environs, 1921 – a series of books – I am indebted to Histoire de Chine for this profile of him here. As well as food he was also interested in Chinese traditions, including woodblock prints for decoration, Chinese theatre, architecture (he published La Charpente Chinoise), and games (like Le Jeu de Matchang). More details on Nachbaur’s publications here, again from Histoire de Chine.

And a few pages from Nachbaur’s books showing his art nouveau and art deco influences….

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