Munthe was born in
Bergen, Norway. He received a military education at the Cavalry Cadet School (
Kavaleriets underoffiserskole) in
Trondheim. He emigrated to
China in 1886, and first started working with the
Chinese Maritime Customs Service. He enlisted in the
Chinese Army during the
First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95). Munthe had mastered the
Mandarin Chinese language and remained as a cavalry instructor under General
Yuan Shikai. Munthe's association with Yuan Shikai proved advantageous. He advanced in rank to lieutenant General and Chief of Legation Quarters Beijing. He was also an advisor to the Ministry of War; the first and only foreigner to achieve such a position. Munthe was an avid collector of Chinese works of arts, and his collection includes porcelain, paintings, costumes, and statues in bronze and marble. The collection now resides with the
West Norway Museum of Decorative Art (
Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum) in Bergen. The
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the
University of Oregon also holds a large number of works collected by Munthe and later acquired by the museum's founder,
Gertrude Bass Warner (1863–1951). ==Personal life==