Page 55 - Sotheby's Arcadian beauty Song Pottery Oct. 3, 2018

fig. 5 fig. 6
Portrait of Edward T. Chow (1910-1980) Portrait of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999)

Pieces such as this guanyao washer enjoyed an unbroken to assemble his collection, first in Shanghai, later in Hong
history of appreciation by sophisticated connoisseurs, both Kong, and eventually in Switzerland. His expert knowledge of
for actual use or just for delectation. Their appeal was of Chinese art, his high aesthetic standards and his relentless
course not lost on the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795), one demand for quality made him one of the favourite addresses
of China’s greatest self-proclaimed art lovers. The Huojidang for the major collectors of the time, such as Sir Percival
[Archives of the Imperial Workshops] for the Qianlong period David, King Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, Eiichi Ataka, J.M. Hu, or
tell us that in 1744, one guanyao mallow-shaped washer Barbara Hutton, many of whom he managed to advise and as
with zitan stand, which the Emperor ranked as ‘top quality’, such to play an important role in the formation of collections
was ordered to be sent to the Qianqinggong, the Palace as, for example, also the Meiyintang collection. The sale of
of Heavenly Purity, one of the main palace buildings in the his own collection in three parts at Sotheby’s Hong Kong
Forbidden City, after a fitted brocade box and wrapping and London in 1980 and 1981 created a splash in the art
cloth had been made for it; in 1745, the Emperor had another world and heralded an explosion of prices in this field. The
such washer sent to the Yuanmingyuan Summer Palace, to Edward T. Chow collection remains one of the most coveted
be stored there in a treasure box; in 1749, he ordered that a provenances for a piece of Chinese art.
drawer be made for the stand of such a washer, perhaps to
T.Y. Chao (1912-1999), shipping magnate and leading real
house a small album of paintings and poems by the Emperor
estate developer of Hong Kong, had collected Chinese art
himself, as we know he had done for a piece of Ru ware; and
for decades prior to the Chow sales and besides porcelains,
in 1773 four such washers with zitan stands were apparently
also sought out classical paintings and calligraphies as well as
displayed on curio shelves in the Jingyanggong, Palace of
jades. An exhibition of one hundred Ming and Qing porcelains
Great Brilliance, one of the side halls of the Forbidden City,
from his collection was held at the Hong Kong Museum of
which today also houses a display of works of art.
Art in 1978. Recognizing the rare opportunity the Chow sales
In more recent times, this washer belonged to two of the most provided, he became one of the major buyers there, despite
important Asian collectors of Chinese art in the twentieth the very high prizes. Many pieces from the Edward T. Chow
century, Edward T. Chow (fig. 5) and T.Y. Chao (fig. 6), and sales therefore re-appeared on the market in 1986 and
figured in two of the most memorable sales in Hong Kong, 1987, when the T.Y. Chao collection itself was offered in two
which have made auction history. Edward T. Chow (1910- auctions, also at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, echoing the success
1980), one of the most renowned dealers and collectors of of the Chow sales.
Chinese art, began at an early age to work in this field and

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