Page 17 - Dr Yip April 2017 Poprtable Treasures

MY COLLECTING LIFE Nanyang Ye Family Tree
after Ye Cheng Jian zhupu Family Tree of Ye Cheng Jian, Nanhai 2006
After receiving a good medical and specialist education in
Hong Kong and abroad, namely pre-medical school at Hong 南陽葉氏宗譜
Kong University, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, 錄自《葉正簡族譜》南海，2006年
University of London, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of
Cambridge, and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston,
Harvard Medical School, I started a consultant dermatology
practice in Hong Kong in 1966. It was smooth sailing, and in
1969, I took up interest in renewing knowledge of Chinese art
and culture, and started collecting. This was a natural pathway
as both my fifth and seventh uncles were avid collectors. The
Yips came down from a distinguished lineage of a family tree
dating back historically to 600 B.C. from a prime minister in the
Kingdom of Chu, in the late spring and autumn period. A later
prime minister in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) retired
to Guangdong. He had seven sons who were all high ranking
officials, and two wives both ranked as premier ladies. His family
tomb compound and memorial hall has been recently rebuilt when
sanctioned by the Government of Guangdong in Foshan County,
Guangdong, on the original Southern Song site, to commemorate
such a distinguished family. The Yips become scattered all over
Guangdong and my grandfather came to Hong Kong.

I joined the Minchiu Society, a world-renowned collectors
society based in Hong Kong, in the early seventies, under the
mentorship of the distinguished collectors J.M. Hu and J.S. Lee
to learn Chinese art such as porcelain, paintings and calligraphy.
I became Chairman of the Minchiu Society in 1988 and again
in 2012, and was Chairman of the Oriental Ceramic Society of
Hong Kong in 1993-95.

In the 1980’s, Ming furniture began to trickle down to the
Hong Kong market, re-opened after the Chinese art market was
closed during the Cultural Revolution from 1966-76. This became
a steady stream, and in 1988, I began to collect them earnestly.
Since good Chinese art pieces often flowed abroad to Europe and
the United States, I promised myself that I would select the best
pieces at their first stop in Hong Kong before others could get their
hands onto them. This was a relatively tall order, as I would pay
top prices and buy a fairly large number of pieces over a short
period of time.

PORTABLE TREASURES : THE DR S.Y. YIP COLLECTION 15