Page 29 - SHANG, bronzes of the Shang Dynasty , March 18th , 2021 , Christie's New York.

THE LUBOSHEZ GONG

The celebrated collection of Captain S.N. Ferris he found a welcoming group of Chinese collectors and
Luboshez (1896-1984) has captivated collectors of Chinese scholars, from whom he learned and eventually purchased
art for nearly three decades, since it was offered for sale works of art. He was recognized as a serious connoisseur
in New York in 1982. Captain Luboshez, raised in England with a discriminating eye at a time when foreigners were not
by American parents, was taught the fundamentals of art generally included in such circles or offered works of art to
appreciation by his father, a scientist, who thought the purchase. From archaic jades and bronzes, to Tang-dynasty
study of art was valuable regardless of his sons’ eventual pottery figures, to Ming and Qing porcelains, the Luboshez
occupations. While both Luboshez and his brother trained Collection reflects one man’s discerning taste across a variety
as scientists, and Captain Luboshez later as a barrister and of media, forms and dynasties.
lawyer, both became interested in Asian art.
In 1949 when Captain Luboshez and his wife returned to
At the outset of World War II, Luboshez entered the US Navy, the US they settled outside of Washington D.C. and brought
eventually receiving a post in central intelligence. At the end their collection with them. He designed his home in Maryland
of the war he was focused on China and Japan, receiving with specially fitted cases to display his pieces, as he believed
the position of general counsel to the office of the Foreign that art should be lived with and enjoyed, not stored away.
Liquidation Commission of the US Department of State, By the time Luboshez sold his pieces in 1982 he had lived
eventually headquartered in Shanghai. It was during this with them for over 30 years, telling the Washington Post,
time, from 1945-1949, that Luboshez formed the substantial “I don’t need the objects any more. They are embedded in
core of his collection. In Shanghai, and in travels to Beijing, my head.”

Captain S.N. Ferris Luboshez with the present gong, circa 1972.
Photographer unknown.
S.N. Ferris Luboshez 海軍上校與是次拍賣之青銅觥, 攝於1972前後。攝影師不詳。

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