ART TREASURES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 227, 25 September 1935, Page 5

ART TREASURES.

HISTORY IN JARS.

COLLECTOR'S ADVENTURES.

FORTUNES IN ODI> PLACES,

Centred in a section of the loan exhibition of antiques to open in Auckland on Friday next rests tho potter's history of China, the romance of a collector's life, and a fortune in porcelain that was gathered in the hidden places ot the ■world. It is the contribution of Captain G. Humphrey-Davies, New Zealand's most noted collector of early Chinese ceramics, and it represents not only artistic value in beauty of design and colour, but something, too, of the fascination that compels men to seek everywhere for hidden treasure. Captain Humphreys-Davies was found to-day assisting in tho unpacking and assembling of his collection, and tho story 110 had to tell was as remarkable for its unassuming brevity as for its scope. In brief sentences he disposed of 35 vears of fossicking in out of the way places—Malaya, Bali, Sumatra, Celebes, and in the dealers' shops of China, Japan and the European capitals —and of adventures encountered on the way. The Greater Thrill. "Which holds for you the greatest thrill—the collecting or the possession of the results of your collection ? he was asked, and he smiled in thought before ho answered. "Well, I like showing them to people." There was no need for hi in to say that; it was shown in the enthusiasm with which he displayed piece after piece of precious porcelain and the knowledge lie had of their every detail. But there' was also a gleam in his eye as he told how he had acquired a favourite piece, a lilac-glazed bowl of T'ang origin made in 700 A.D., in the face of competition by a dealer acting for the Oslo Museum. It was actually being made up with other pieces for tho museum by a Chinese dealer in Macassar,

but, as Captain Davies explained, "I happened to have, enough money to get in first." The possession of money has not, however, been the key with which Captain Davies has unlocked the treasuries of l art. Since he first had the love of porcelain engendered in him by his father, who was an enthusiastic collector, he has sought about the world, and his hobby has taken him into many lands. He found his first collection piece in an old shop in Bayswater, London. It was a valuable sacrificial wine jar, on which the markings were emblematic of eternal life. In a Shop Window.

Throughout his wanderings that experience has been repeated. A much sought after peach-bloom bottle of tho period of the Emperor Yung Cheng, of great value because of its exceptional size, he found in a shop window in a main street in Hongkong. It had been passed probably by millions of people and its value unrecognised. Captain Davies acquired it for a few pounds, and its value might possibly run into thousands. Of lesser value, but of local interest, is a Chinese rose dish which Captain Davies secured for a few pounds from an Auckland sale. His trained eye saw that the dish had been "clobbered" —a collector's term meaning that it had been redecorated. The original was revealed when the dish was scraped with razor blades. This "clobbering" was very popular about 150 years ago, and it was a vogue which spoiled many fine pieces of bine and white porcelain.

The story of a blue and white porcelain jar of ovoid shape, which Captain Davies picked up in a shop in Canton three years ago, would probably hold much of interest. Of the period of the Emperor Kang H'hsi, it is decorated with drooping prunus (the first blossom of spring) and representations of breaking ice, the whole being emblematic of renewed hope and life. It was shown to Captain Davies very mysteriously and bought for £80, though its value is a very great deal more than that. Where it camo from is not known, but Captain Davies recalls that during the trouble between Japan and China a good deal of the Imperial pieces were packed for safety and shipped away. When the cases were opened again, it was found that several contained only bricks. Probably, said Captain Davies, this was one of the missing pieces.

The Moral Aspect. What of the. moral aspect? Captain Davies points out that the history of nearly all the most valuable objects d'art iu the world has been one of robbery, cheating and violence. If the collector went too deeply into the history of any object of the kind he would never start his collection. His job is to know his hobby, to recognise tho "birth-marks" in the fashion of tho rim, the foot, and the finish, and to buy as cheaply as possible. Captain Davies acquired a T'ang lilac ting bowl from a dealer in Canton, refusing piece after piece until the treasure was brought from the seclusion of a safe within a safe. This is a niost remarkable piece, and to it there is 110 reference in the literature of porcelain. From the dealers' shops of the Orient to the back country of Malaya and the islands of tho East Indies is a far step, but Captain Davies has made it many times, and his collection is rich with pieces found as a result. Several pieces of Celadon porcelain, of tho first type ever to find its way from China to Europe, are represented, and given character by reason of the curious superstition held regarding them that they change in colour when poison is placed in them. They were found with some pieces of claire-de-lune porcelain among the rafters of native houses in mountain villages of Bali. One of them, too, he found in the house of his guide, who averred that toothache disappeared when he drank water from it. Thus each object shown is a masterpiece of the potter's art; a. piece of history; and a part of Captain Davies' life. What value can be placed upon them? "No one knows," said Captain Davies, with a smile and a shrug. "It depends on the auction-room, upon who is there, and even upon the day of the month."