The Culture of Collecting Chinese Antiques

Dr. S. Y. Yip

The audience at the inaugural Curator's Circle program was greatly honored to welcome to Denver the distinguished Hong Kong collector of Chinese antiques, Dr. Shing Yiu Yip. An expert in many fields of Chinese art, Dr. Yip is best known for his collection of Ming hardwood furniture, part of which has been on loan to the museum. His conversation with Curator Ronald Otsuka focused on this collection and his experiences in building it.

Dr. Yip was fortunate to begin collecting in Hong Kong in the 1980s when furniture was still under-appreciated, and thus was able to amass 68 pieces within three years. Those days are long gone, but Dr. Yip reassured the Denver audience that it was never too late to start. Though there are far fewer objects on the market now, dealers still come by important pieces, largely through misfortunes that Dr. Yip referred to as the 3 Ds—debt, divorce, and death—and sometimes from unlikely sources. Dr. Yip was particularly surprised to find on the market a number of fine pieces from a ranch in New Mexico, which the owner had collected in China in the 1930s, and were now being sold in order to keep the ranch in operation.

Dr. Yip takes a very individual approach to collecting. He first focused not on the standard types of furniture found in a number of existing collections, but on more unusual pieces, including furniture that could be folded for easy transportation. On the basis of his extensive research, he broadened furniture expert Wang Shixiang's classification of Ming pieces to include categories "on and off the ground." During the conversation, these categories were well illustrated with Dr. Yip's choice of slides.

Dr. Yip stressed the importance of buying quality rather than quantity, but cautioned that authenticating Ming furniture is particularly difficult. Ersatz pieces are often fabricated with old wood, and therefore can appear correct in style and patina. An examination of the joinery used would be more conclusive, but dealers are usually unwilling to dismantle furniture for a would-be buyer. Hence the need for a dealer who is both trustworthy and knowledgeable. According to Dr. Yip, there are only about ten in the world in this particular field.

The many questions from the audience showed their great interest in the topic, and their appreciation for getting first-hand information to shape their own collections. Given the caliber of speakers still to visit, this enthusiastic reception bodes well for the future of the Curator's Circle series. Our thanks to Dr. Yip for so successfully launching the series!

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