Page 19 - Hodroff Collection January 2019 SaleCat

THE HODROFF COLLECTION, PART IV
(Lots 321 - 373 and 445 - 493)

THE LEO AND DORIS HODROFF COLLECTION OF CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN

Leo and Doris Hodrof built one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Chinese
export porcelain in private hands. Covering four centuries of the history of the China Trade, it
contains pieces as early as 1500 and as late as 1900, and has pieces made for the American,
British, Continental European, Middle Eastern, and Asian export markets. As represented by the
selection in this sale, it is especially rich in pieces with European subjects and coats of arms, the
latter partly infuenced by their long friendship with the armorial scholar David Sanctuary Howard.
But the Hodrofs did more than just amass one of the largest export porcelain collections in
existence just for themselves; they also generously gave parts of their collection to several
museums, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Norton Museum, the Peabody-Essex,
and Winterthur, where I was lucky enough to work with the Hodrofs and their collection.
They were active donors, drawing on their knowledge of the material to advise on how best to
display and interpret the porcelain they cared so much about. Leo encouraged Winterthur to
depart from its standard “museum gray” to pick a bright coral color for the cases, which he thought
would make the pieces “pop” and show to best advantage. Doris came up with the name “Made
in China” for the traveling exhibit and catalog, tying the past to the present and reminding visitors
that the West has long desired objects from Asia. Needless to say, in both instances they were
absolutely correct.
Ronald W. Fuchs II
Curator of Ceramics/Manager of the Reeves Center
Washington and Lee University

THE HODROFF COLLECTION: PORCELAIN AND PROVENANCE

Christie’s has been privileged to hold three diferent one-owner auctions of the magnifcent Leo
and Doris Hodrof Collection, each greeted with great enthusiasm by worldwide collectors, who
appreciated the careful selections the Hodrofs made as they assembled their stellar collection.
Two important books have been published on the collection, The Choice of the Private Trader, by
esteemed scholar David S. Howard, and Made in China, by Ron Fuchs, who writes above, each a
major contribution to the feld.
In Christie’s frst Hodrof catalogue (January 2007) we wrote of the threads of provenance that
link this great American collection to landmark collections of the past. The present selection, too,
refects this Chinese export family tree, with numerous rarities from the famed Raf and Mildred
Mottahedeh Collection as well as from the Benjamin F. Edwards III Collection. Now the labels
on these pieces are joined by their Hodrof Collection labels. After January 17 each piece will go
on to live and breathe in new hands, on diferent shelves, continuing the journey it began in China
centuries ago.
Becky MacGuire
Senior Specialist, Christie’s

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