Ming's The Thing

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday September 26, 2007

James Cockington

Just as it is in the world economy, China is the most recent success story in the world auction scene. Chinese art now fetches prices that would have been unimaginable 10 years ago. Sotheby's and Christies have branches throughout Asia to cater to a new, cashed-up generation of collectors and investors.

On October 9, Sotheby's Hong Kong will stage a big auction at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Among the 200 works to be sold is a bronze horse head featured in the Lost Treasures from the Qing Palaces exhibition. This item alone is expected to fetch more than $HK60 million ($9 million). The estimate for the total sale is more than $60 million.

The boom also applies to contemporary art. The Pope, a stunning painting by Yue Minjun, part of China's so-called Cynical Realist movement, sold at Sotheby's London earlier this year for $4.8 million, setting a world record for a Chinese contemporary artist at auction.

Also hot are traditional Chinese art and textiles. Many collectors are of Chinese heritage who want to buy back the symbols of their culture that disappeared with the Communist regime. But there are also Western admirers of Asian art, just as there has been since trading between the two cultures began.

Mecca for these collectors is the annual New York Arts of Pacific Asia Show, usually held at the end of March. Here all aspects of Chinese art are sold. Clothing from the pre-Revolution period is especially prized. It was once thought that most traditional Chinese costumes had been destroyed but enough was either hidden or taken out of the country to sustain the growing breed of collectors from around the world.

The spectacular embroidered robes are the most obvious symbols of the culture, with those of the Ming period (1368-1644) the most highly valued today. There was a strict code of colours and designs, with the yellow robes worn by the Emperor the most desirable. Some imperial robes featured the dragon design in seed pearls, which explains their present value of half a million dollars or more. Brown, orange and blue are the other significant colours. Imperial robes of any description are things that most collectors can only dream of owning.

Rank badges are much more affordable. These were worn by members of the royal and civil hierarchies that dominated Chinese society. There are some who collect only these symbols of status and, in the manner of stamps, want a complete set from every period. The other main indication of rank were hat finials. These are also very collectable.

Then there are the curiosity items. The most bizarre are the shoes made for women with bound feet, a thankfully extinct practice aimed at stopping a child's feet from growing. Collectors of Asian descent tend to find these shoes unnerving. A few appear to be obsessed by them, including one Chinese doctor who has so many pairs he recently staged a one-man exhibition, including medical photos of the binding techniques.

Disturbing they may be but a pair of bound-feet shoes will always attract a premium price, especially at an auction in the West. Shoes made for children are also fascinating, partly because they show no signs of wear. Chinese boys of high rank rarely walked. They were always carried by attendants.

More palatable to modern tastes are another rarity, the cheat's handkerchiefs. In the 19th century answers to questions likely to be asked at civil service entrance exams were written on these delicate fragments of silk. Candidates would hide these up their sleeves or sew them to the inside of their coats. To be caught cheating would have resulted in disgrace but the advantages of being admitted to the civil service were apparently worth the risk. These items are now considered museum pieces (Sydney's Powerhouse has one) but the few that appear for public sale are in big demand.

Another item of interest are the bamboo vests worn for cooling purposes in hot weather. These were laboriously constructed of thousands of hollow sections of bamboo tied together with thread.

For women in a male-dominated society, hair adornment was one of the few personal expressions allowed. Chinese hairpins and brooches are now desirable items, especially those made of exotic materials such as hand-carved coral, jade and kingfisher feathers. These are relatively common and can still be picked up for less than $1000. A pretty good investment in the present climate, according to the experts.

It's worth mentioning that in the world of Chinese art, fakes and forgeries are not exactly unknown. Before buying anything described as a Chinese antiquity, you'd be advised to check first with an expert. That so-called Ming dynasty rank badge could just as easily date from the new millennium.

My collection

When Chinese antiques expert Judith Rutherford started amassing her collection 30 years ago she admits "people thought I was mad ... it got to the point that I stopped showing them things that I'd bought".

Rutherford first picked up some embroidered skirt panels at the C.K. Tang department store while on holiday in Singapore. The staff were amazed that anyone would want their old material and brought out everything they had.

How things have changed. Now she is in demand as an authority on Chinese art and craft, especially the history of costume. She exhibits twice a year, at the AAADA Fair in Sydney and at the Arts of Pacific Asia Show in New York. At both events she is one of very few to specialise in antique textiles.

Her speciality is in tracking down absolute rarities such as the 19th century cheat's handkerchiefs and the more obscure rank badges. But even she finds it hard to unearth the Ming Dynasty robes that are in such demand these days. Especially those priceless Imperial yellow examples.

$1500

Too spooky for some, but many collectors of Chinese antiques are fascinated by bound-feet shoes. These are from the late 19th century.

$4500

Cheat's handkerchiefs are among the rarest symbols of 19th-century Chinese society. This one, made of silk, was designed to be sewn to the lining of a coat.

$8000

Rank badges are more than decorative, they indicate the status of an official in the military or civil service. There are some who collect nothing else.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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