Page 13 - Christies March 16, 2017 The Varata Collection NYC

THE VIRATA COLLECTION

It is the greatest honour and pleasure for all of us at Christie’s to have been able to work on
this superb collection of Chinese furniture assembled with such passion and dedication
by Marie Theresa ‘Bebe’ Virata. It is particularly special for me as Bebe’s son, Luis, who has
inherited his mother’s collecting gene, has been a close friend for more than thirty years.
When I read the tributes to Bebe that follow, it is the friendship and shared experience with
like-minded collectors and scholars that shine out from the pages, friends like Sir John Addis,
Margaret Medley, Sir John Pope-Hennessy, and then Amy Poster’s wonderfully evocative
description of New York in the 1970s and 80s with Alice Boney and Bobby Ellsworth – and
Tony Derham, the star of the Asian department in the early days of Christie’s New York in
the 1970s, who had inspired me as a trainee at Christie’s talking about the Frederick M.
Mayer collection which was sold in London in June 1974, just after I started. In turn I have
learnt from Luis, looking at his mother’s superb examples of Ming and Qing furniture – about
the links to the great pioneer collectors of Chinese furniture like Gustav Ecke and Christian
Humann, and about the purity of line and form, both so modern and so ancient, combined
with the density and perfection of the precious woods chosen, which in turn relate to the
English furniture that Luis and I love so much.

Bebe Virata shared her passion for beauty and knowledge not only with her collector
and scholar friends but she also worked tirelessly to preserve the cultural heritage of the
Philippines and she wanted to share what she had created on her collecting journey to
beneft and educate a wider public. All the proceeds of the sale will go to charitable causes
she particularly supported – children in need in the Philippines, cancer research and, in a
wonderful and ftting tribute to her passionate interest in the arts of her country, a museum
which will display her extraordinary collection of Filipino art and export Chinese art found in
the Philippines.

Charles Cator
Deputy Chairman, Christie’s International

佳士得為能呈獻瑪麗‧泰瑞莎‧“碧碧”‧維勒泰以其熱忱和奉獻凝鑄的精湛中國家具珍藏感到無比榮 11
幸。這對我有特別的意義，因為我與從碧碧那裡繼承了收藏基因的兒子路易有著超過三十年的情誼。在接
下來對碧碧的紀念文章中，我看到的是她與志同道合的藏家以及學者之間的友誼和共同經歷 ─艾惕思爵士
(Sir John Addis), 瑪格麗特‧麥德利（Margaret Medley），以及約翰‧軒尼詩爵士（Sir John Pope-
Hennessey）等人的名字在字裡行間閃耀； 其後，在艾米‧普斯特 （Amy Poster） 生動的描寫中， 1970
到80年代愛麗絲‧龐耐（Alice Boney）和安思遠（Bobby Ellsworth)等人活躍的紐約躍然紙上 ；還有，70
年代佳士得紐約亞洲部早期的翹楚托尼‧德翰(Tony Derham)，他與我談論1974年在倫敦拍賣的弗得李
克‧梅耶（Frederick M . Mayer）收藏 ，對當時才剛開始工作的我有極大啟發。接下來，通過閱讀路易
對母親收藏明清家具精品的描述，我了解到這個收藏與中國家具收藏先驅， 例如古斯塔夫‧艾克（Gustav
Ecke）和克利斯蒂安•修曼（Christian Humann）的聯繫；它們純粹的線條與造型，既古老又現代，還有
所選用之渾厚沉穩又完美的珍罕木料，皆與路易和我所摯愛的英國家具有所聯結。

碧碧‧維勒泰對美與知識的熱愛不僅分享給她的藏家和學者朋友，她孜孜不倦地保護菲律賓的文化遺跡，希
望把她收藏之路上所獲用於造福和教育廣大民眾 。是次拍賣所得將用於資助其所支持的慈善事業—包括幫助
菲律賓弱勢兒童﹑癌症研究，和一座展示其所藏卓越菲律賓和中國出口菲律賓藝術品之博物館，這座博物館
無疑是她熱愛自己國家藝術的最佳寫照。

柯士爾
佳士得國際副主席

THE MARIE THERESA L. V I R ATA C O L L E C T I O N OF ASIAN ART: A FAMILY LEGACY