Discovering a treasure trove of Chinese antiques and antiquities is "so elusive and rare," says Mee-Seen Loong, fine-art consultant for the auction house Sotheby’s New York.
"Ninety percent of the objects people think are valuable are fakes, and the fakes are becoming very good. But that’s the fun of it. To find the other 10 percent keeps me going," she said. "My colleagues and I are constantly on the road, and we average a trip out of town every two weeks, always on the chase.
"Sometimes we get exciting calls or emails out of the blue and, with the help of good technology (high-resolution photos), an incentive to hop on a train or plane."
The latest leads brought Loong to Honolulu, where she and colleague Emily Chang had a dozen private appointments last week at List Sotheby’s International Realty about items they are continuing to research.
She said Hawaii is a promising spot in their search for Chinese valuables because of its lure for the wealthy who retire or keep second homes here, as well as the presence of kamaaina families whose forbearers may have fled China during times of upheaval, bringing their valuables with them.
The investigative trips are also about relationship and trust building. "We know where the good things are and simply wait until the collectors are willing to sell," Loong said.
People are welcome to submit photos of their items online. To get the best pictures, Loong recommends photographing outdoors at 10 a.m. or 5 p.m. when the natural light has the effect of a "portable studio."
"Usually people take the photos indoors with a flash, which blasts out all the details."
With the rise of Chinese economic prowess has come a growing interest in collecting Chinese art, particularly as values continue to climb.
In 1988 a jadeite bangle from Honolulu sold for nearly $1 million in Hong Kong. "I would have been happy if it had made $50,000," Loong said.
At Sotheby’s New York, a pair of Tang dynasty glazed pottery horses, each about 3 feet tall, sold for almost $4.2 million in 2013. A Song dynasty Ding bowl — picked up at a yard sale for $3 — sold for more than $2.2 million in 2014.
"There have been several waves of collecting, with the Western and Japanese collectors dominant in the first three quarters of the 20th century, the Taiwanese and Hong Kong Chinese coming to the front in the 1980s to the 1990s and then — pow! — the mainland Chinese buyers with their interest and buying muscle from the 2000s," Loong said.
"The American collectors have always been very strong, able to trump other buyers whenever there is anything of interest to them. But they are on the whole more patient, willing to sit out if the bidding seems too wild. Collections are never forever. They get disbanded, passed on and do arrive back on market. So every generation has the opportunity to buy something."
She said it was inevitable the Chinese would become collectors because of their reverence for scholarship and cultural pursuits. She said it is not unusual for middle-class buyers to spend $10,000 to $50,000 for a single acquisition.
While the Western collector is typically a singularly obsessive individual, she said it’s amusing to watch Chinese collectors who arrive at sales en masse with entourages in tow.
"They’re very serious about education, so each major collector has an adviser. They come to New York or London and feel like they need someone to help them navigate, cross the language barrier. On certain days it’s like a great Chinese market. All the collectors will get together to discuss each item and banter among themselves."
LOONG wasn’t born into this rarefied world. She grew up ethnically Chinese in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she was not exposed to fine art.
"Growing up in a Third World country, I was supposed to become a doctor, lawyer or schoolteacher. We didn’t have great museums and never heard of art history. But I was at Wellesley, sitting in this class about antiquities, and the light came on. I realized the things I had considered art while growing up were so provincial. I switched my major from political science."
She started working at Sotheby’s in 1975 and over time has served as managing director of Sotheby’s Hong Kong and head of the company’s International Asian Business and Client Services in New York.
Currently, collectors are clamoring for Chinese imperial pottery, and demand has led to an increase in forgeries.
"I went to the home of one collector who led me to a room of fakes, which he described as ‘my education.’
"A lot of people have copies of 18th-century ceramics with fake markings," Loong said. "I feel so sad when they find a mark, read about it on Google and get excited that they’ve found something.
"But the real marks were made by specific people in the factories, and the forgers always get something wrong. When we do find something authentic, it’s like Christmas."
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Sotheby’s is accepting consignments for the fall auction season in New York. Those interested in a consultation may send clear photographs of items and provenance information to Chinese.NewYork@sothebys.com, with the notation "September2015Honolulu." For more information, call 212-606-7332.
