The Wou Collection: One Man’s Vision to Preserve 4,000 Years of Chinese History

collections like the woo collection so encyclopedic in its breadth really don't exist anymore and they definitely don't appear on the market this collection teaches the history and the craftsmanship of classical chinese arts it's definitely one of the most magnificent collection that i've worked with this march sotheby's new york presents part one of the collection of dr wu chuan in a sale entitled a journey through china's history over 140 lots porcelain bronzers lacquers paintings this collection is very comprehensive and extensive in epigraphical works it symbolizes the development of language from the early neolithic cultures through to the early 20th century wuchuan was born in 1910 the son of a rather famous political figure in early 20th century china at a relatively young age he was sent to study in france he earned his doctorate-in-law from the sorbonne in paris and he stayed in europe representing the nationalist government at its embassies in london and paris buying heavily through the 1950s and 1960s wu was one of the very few if not the only chinese bidders active in europe and this gave him a distinct advantage and that he could read and understand the significance of many of the inscriptions he was seeing a pair of auctions extremely important imperial commissions and works of art and he felt i would say a responsibility to preserve them to educate the public about china's glorious history the way he collected it was very academic more akin to an institution or a museum than it is to a private collection he assembled inscribed bronzes highly treasured because the characters and the pictograms are basically the earliest form of writing in the history of china by the mid-1960s wu had formed a formidable collection of close to 1 000 objects [Music] the entire chronological visual history of china and in 1968 he opened the doors to the empire museum named in honor of his father one of my favorite pieces is the 14th century a dish carved with three lush hibiscus blooms lacquer production was an incredibly time consuming process thin layers of lacquer had to be allowed to dry polished and repeated until the design could be carved through the entire process could take years there certainly appears to be no other lacquer of this size carved with this design the size of this vessel is quite compact but it has this monumental presence it has architectural elements which is actually quite rare for chinese sponsors the body of the vessel resembles a well-structured building the vertical flanges are just like the pillars the cover a roof there is a single pictogram which should be the name of a clan or the name of a person and this bronze form is called fungi therefore the name do a family this large blue and white lotus because charger was produced during the yonglo period from 1403 to 1424. lotus became charges of this type were popular and were widely exported to the middle east measuring over 40 centimeters a somewhat unusual combination of lotus flower and water weeds tied with a ribbon the woo charger is one of the largest examples of this design this balance is very special because of its long 27 character inscription identifying the maker to be someone named dai shujen from the united states of the joe dynasty he made this food vessel for himself for his longevity and for the eternal use of his descendants some scholars believe that shujin was a member of the dai royal family others have suggested that shujan could be one of the kings of the united states now this remarkably large jade boulder has been carved in the form of a grotto and seated here we have a law han carved in this very distinctive style which must be reminiscent of guangxiuo's painterly style and then the cenlock emperor's calligraphy this is the poem he penned having seen the paintings himself and we have his seals around it handling these ancient relics deciphering the pictograms the characters feels like you're connecting with the past we're looking at a legendary collection one of the last remaining collections of chinese art of this kind in the west part one of the wuchuan collection which is offered for sale in new york this march asia week represents a unique and extraordinary opportunity to own a piece from this remarkable collection that represents a microcosm of the museum as a whole you

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Length: 5min 10sec (310 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 10 2022