Conversation Photos
Workshop Photos
Reception Photos

Photos by Celeste Fleming.

To 2001 Past Programs

Collecting Ancient Chinese Bronzes

Dr. and Mrs. George Fan

"Zhen, jing, xing, he." Authenticity, quality, condition and suitability. This, the Fan collecting mantra, is now etched into the minds of all those that were lucky enough to attend the conversation held by Curator Ronald Otsuka with prominent New York collector George Fan and his wife Katherine. These are the four criteria that Dr. Fan believes are essential to establishing and building a collection of Chinese bronzes. The slides of the objects he chose to illustrate his conversation showed just how effective these criteria have proven.

With the abundance of forgeries on the market, "zhen," authenticity, was perhaps the area of most concern to the audience, and Dr. Fan told in clear and elegant terms of his technique for weeding out ninety percent of the forgeries he encounters. His technical and analytical training as a physicist became evident, as he explained how careful examination of an object helps him to tell if its method of manufacture is consistent with the date suggested by its appearance. Similarly, successful judging of an object's "jing," quality, and "xing." condition, requires identification of the repairs that it might have undergone following millennia of entombment, and analysis of how it compares to objects of the same type. Finally, Dr. Fan described "he," suitability as a more subjective measure of how the object fits into the collection as a whole.

Workshop attendees were invited to put their newfound knowledge to the test with an array of bronzes provided by the museum and local private collectors. The conclusion? Dr. Fan's wise words were a good start but keen eyes can only be developed through years of experience. He did reassure the audience, however, that his own bottom line in a buying decision is "whether I like it, or I don't like it."

The Curator's Circle events were enlivened by the presence of Dr. Fan's wife, Katherine Hu Fan, and daughter, Madeline. Katherine brought the audience from ancient times into the present day with slides of her own paintings—abstract expressionist work that connects current conceptual issues with verbal imagery, both English and Chinese. Madeline, who is registrar at the Art Institute of Chicago, has inherited the skills of both her parents, and George proudly credited her with solving the puzzle of the inlay technique in an early bronze belt buckle.


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