Page 11 - Hu Collection of Imperial Monochromes Nov 29 2017 HK

THE MASTER OF ZANDE LOU

The collection of J.M. Hu represents a lifetime’s dedication 暫得樓主人
to connoisseurship and beauty. Across more than half a
century, J.M. Hu acquired an exceptional grouping of 胡惠春先生的珍藏，體現他對鑑藏之道和博
Chinese ceramics—and in particular imperial porcelain— 雅尚美的終生追求。在逾半世紀的庋藏生涯
that illuminated the rich history of China and its people. In 中，胡先生購藏了大批中國陶瓷奇珍（其中
both his personal collection and in his bequests to cultural 又以御瓷居多），它們件件俱見證了華夏民
institutions, J.M. Hu stood as a model of the modern scholar- 族博大精深的歷史內涵。觀乎其私人珍藏及
collector. 饋贈予各大文化機構的作品，胡先生亦不愧
為現代學者暨藏家之表率。
Hu Hui Chun was born in 1911 in Beijing; in later years,
he changed his given name to Jen Mou. The eldest son of 胡先生 1911 年生於北京，名仁牧，字惠春，
the influential banker Hu Chun, J.M. Hu was raised in an 其父是叱咤銀行界的胡筆江先生。胡惠春先
elegant private residence amongst his many stepbrothers and 生乃家中長子，與眾多同父異母的弟妹成長
stepsisters. In keeping with tradition, he was given a rigorous 於典雅氣派的胡家大宅。依照傳統習俗，胡
background in the Chinese classics; more unusually, this was 先生幼年即飽讀蒙學經典，而更難得的是，
supplemented by a Western-style education, as well. He first 他同時還接受了西式教育。他在求學階段初
encountered Chinese ceramics during his student years, when 次邂逅中國陶瓷，當時購入的是一件文房自
he purchased a nineteenth-century brush-washer for his desk.
This initial foray into collecting would become emblematic
of J.M. Hu’s poignant relationship with art: even amidst the
upheavals of war and the evolution of his collection, the
modest brush-washer stayed with him until his death in

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