Victor Collin de Plancy

Victor Collin de Plancy set up an exhibition hall with hanok at the Paris International Exposition to display Korean traditional items and promote them to the world.

Against the strict laws of lineage Victor's father had illicitly added the "de Plancy" to his family name of Collin in a move that would later bring accusations against the son.

The young Collin de Plancy was described alternately as laborious, impartial and instructed, while being lauded as well for his more social qualities — charm, elegance of manners, impeccable taste and perhaps most importantly, amiability.

The introduction to his collected papers in the French Foreign Ministry notes the qualities for which Collin de Plancy seemed best known, "his tact, courtesy, and refined manners" and as one who excelled in "issues of etiquette... but who rarely ventured into the realm of general ideas".

Particularly well-received were his "chrysanthemum festivals" held every autumn in the gardens of the French legation, during which guests strolled the peaceful grounds in the midst of the budding capital, admiring the park with its greenhouses of flowers.

He was himself a collector; his respectable assortment of Asian art and ceramics was eventually donated to the Musée Guimet in Paris, where it forms a core part of the Korean collection.

Collin de Plancy helped a certain Mr. Saltarel establish official contacts in Seoul upon his arrival there as representative of several French companies in early 1898.

Collin de Plancy also brought in an expert from the Sèvres Ceramic Works to recommend ways of modernizing and expanding the Korean porcelain industry.

Upon the bureau's opening in January 1900 Clemencet sent the first international letter to Collin de Plancy (then on leave in France), as the "only fitting homage" to the man who had contributed so much to making the service a reality.