A Chinese proverb says “give a man a fish, it will feed him
for a day. Teach him to fish, it will last him a lifetime. Most of the Chinese
antique collector has known what are genuine and what are copies or fakes by
now. I am very sure that collectors wants their collections to last them a
lifetime and also to the next generation.
My late father was known as “George” by some of the English
people who were here in the earlier years and there was one case that he sold
some ivory items before wild life law was enforced to a British Colonel in
Green Lane, Seremban and he claim them to be plastic. Years later this British
Colonel was at his friend’s house and he met my late father asking why he
didn’t go to Green Lane because he knew he was wrong in the accusation. My late
father said that all Green Lanes’ customers close the door at him in front of
his friends and he felt so embarrassed. My late father told me this happening
and said that with business like this won’t make you a millionaire and without
won’t make you a beggar. A lesson well learnt.
Last year there was a talk by a Chinese lady expert and when
I asked in mandarin on how to tell the difference between the old and new so
that rubbish do not turn treasure, the audience started to laugh at me but the
expert told to sit down and when my question was answered, the audience kept
quiet. The answer is for you to find out and I will keep it my secret which
tells me that I am on the correct way learning to keep Chinese antiques. The
Sinan cargo found in South Korea was said to be imitation by some experts and
later it was discovered to be genuine. (From reader’s digest Aug 1980).
A book written about antique Chinese porcelain by an English
author, dedicated to H.R.H. The Crown Prince of Sweden has been very helpful but
not many collectors took interest. Books are like road maps will lead the way. Singapore
has a number of Chinese experts in Chinese porcelain and I have been told ku
tong wong in Ipoh has known the Singaporean experts who are good at authenticating
Chinese antique porcelain and yet there is a visitor looking for experts and
cannot find which is something amusing. I came across blue and white shards of
a few plates found in a book written in Japanese named “Ceramic Art of the
World Volume 13” by Tsugio Mikami. The shards were from Archaeological Survey
of India, E. Smart and I found that I have the few plates in my collection
which is not found in other places. These items will be my family treasure
because I have recorded them in my journal for children.
A visitor from Leeburg, Virginia searching for “How much is
a Wai Ming H.K. bowl worth?”. It depend on how many collectors know what “Wai
Ming H.K. bowl” are and interested party are always ready to pay in order to
own it. I don’t know what is “Wai Ming H.K. bowl” is and has not heard about
it.
Another visitor from Central district Hong Kong searching
for “Singapore antique shop” and the answer is in this blog already.
I am waiting for the photographs of the new batch of “nei
siau for” from the experts who claim that they are more valuable than ‘wai siau
for”.
