Page 15 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

Stephen Junkunc, III: Portrait of a Collector

史蒂芬•瓊肯三世：一個收藏家的故事

here are a handful of names in the world of Chinese art that are inextricably associated
with works of exceptional quality. Stephen Junkunc, III is amongst these luminaries.
TThe name itself is instantly evocative of a period during which some of the greatest
Chinese treasures came to America. The Junkunc name today serves as one of the most important,
and indeed desirable, provenances for Chinese art. Formed in America in the mid-20th century by
Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978), the Junkunc Collection at its height numbered over 2,000 examples
of exceptional Chinese porcelain, jade, bronzes, paintings and Buddhist sculptures; serving as a
testament to a period of unprecedented wealth of Chinese material available in the West, as well as to
an astounding intellectual curiosity and the means with which to buy internationally from the leading
dealers in the field.

Stephen Junkunc, III was born in Budapest, Hungary circa 1905, and emigrated to Chicago, Illinois as
a young child, where his father Stephen Junkunc, II (d. 1948), a tool-and-die maker, founded General
Machinery & Manufacturing Company in 1918. The company specialized in the manufacture of knife-
edge fuel nozzle heads. With the outbreak of World War II, General Machinery converted its shop for the
war effort and began manufacturing various aircraft parts, including B-29 hydraulic spools on behalf of
Ford Motor Company, who was sub-contracting work from engine maker Pratt & Whitney.

Alongside his role as manager and part owner of the company, Stephen Junkunc, III spent his free time
forming an extraordinary collection of Chinese art. With an unabated hunger for knowledge, Junkunc
was a voracious reader who studied the Chinese language and kept extensive libraries of Chinese art
reference books and auction catalogues at both his home and office. Junkunc appears to have made his
first acquisitions in the early 1930s, apparently after having happened upon a book on Chinese art. It is
perhaps no coincidence that Junkunc’s initial collecting activity largely coincided with the establishment
of the Chicago branch of the reputable Japanese dealers Yamanaka & Co., Ltd., who opened a gallery
at 846 North Michigan Boulevard in 1928. Many of Junkunc’s early purchases came from Yamanaka,
and before long, he was buying directly from the leading London dealers specializing in Chinese art:
Bluett & Sons, W. Dickinson & Sons, H.R.N. Norton and, of course, John Sparks, seeking fine examples of
porcelain for his collection.

在中國藝術品收藏界，僅有為數不多的一些名字能夠 機械製造公司，專門製造燃油噴頭。後來二戰爆發，
使人立刻聯想到那些精美絕倫的不世之珍，史蒂芬• 公司轉型開始生產各種飛機零件，其中包括幫福特公
瓊肯三世便是其中之一。通觀其建立的瓊肯收藏，尋 司生產引擎製造商普惠公司分包給其的B-29液壓滑
盡千古，集成大宗，珍如滄海之遺珠，廣若浩瀚之星 閥。
雲。先生於二十世紀中葉開啟鑑賞之路。時大量中國
藝術精品湧入西方，加大了西方對中國文化的了解與 瓊肯三世當時身兼公司負責人及經理，閒暇之於，醉
興趣，同時各大中國藝術品古董商在國際市場上也表 心於中國藝術品收藏。先生求知若渴，飽讀群書，並
現活躍。先生趁此機緣集成雅敘，在高峰時期藏品數 研習中文，在公司和住家各自設立圖書館，藏大量藝
量一度高達兩千件有餘，其中包括了瓷器、玉器、青 術參考書籍及拍賣圖錄。瓊肯先生在1930年代初入
銅器、書畫和佛教造像，藏寶聚珍，締造了一個璀然 藏第一件中國藝術品，據傳是因為他無意間接觸到了
於世的收藏傳奇。 一本中國藝術參考書籍。1928年，山中商會在芝加
哥設立分號，這對於先生早期收藏的建立有非常直接
史蒂芬•瓊肯三世約1905年出生於匈牙利的布達 的影響。沒過多久，先生開始直接從各大倫敦古董商
佩斯，年幼時跟隨父親移民到芝加哥。瓊肯二世 如 Bluett & Sons、W. Dickinson & Sons、H. R.
（1948年逝）為模具製造商，在1918年建立了通用 N. Norton 以及 John Sparks 等處大量購買品質精
良的瓷器。

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