Winter 2016

furniture rose. That’s something I wouldn’t have imagined twenty years ago. Last week, there were probably a dozen occasions where young Chinese people came into the gallery and I found myself in the curious position of telling them about these objects from China. China has changed so fast and the young people there haven’t experienced this kind of material culture that was very ordinary to their parents and grandparents. They’re fascinated by it and to be a translator in that way is an honor. InCollect: What is your best advice for young collectors? BN: I’ll share some advice that my mentors gave me—once you become interested in something, stick with it. It can be almost anything, but you want to educate yourself deeply and then you want to see as much of it as you can. If each year you buy one thing, in twelve years you will have a collection that’s meaningful. But stick with it! With this kind of material, which is really still emerging, things like bound foot shoes aren’t really being collected by a lot of people yet so there’s a lot of opportunity to gain a foothold. Folk art in America is already accepted and respected, but Chinese folk art is still coming along. It’s in its infancy. InCollect: When someone has bought something from you, what do you hope they will take away? BN: We had a client last week who came into the gallery and bought some blue and white porcelain. She called me after she had taken it home and said “I just want to tell you, I had such a great experience.” The experience of acquiring things has changed so much in recent years and it’s great to just look at things and select and learn. InCollect: Do you live with the kinds of objects you offer? What are some of your favorite objects that you have collected? BN: I collect Chinese headrests, reverse glass paintings, bound foot shoes, and erotica. I also collect furniture from the early-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from the Shanxi Province. At one time, it was a banking center and was home to a lot of wealthy people who, for their stately homes, commissioned works in finishes and configurations similar to folk furniture today. You can tell that the pieces were made for someone in some special way. Those pieces have been my favorite. InCollect: What do you see on the horizon for your industry? BN: The market has evolved significantly as hardwoods become less and less available. Prices for lacquer furniture, folk art, and provincial furniture have risen remarkably. But there are still opportunities to break into the industry as a collector. It has been incredible to watch the world of Chinese furniture change during the past twenty years. As tastes evolve, the market evolves, and it has been endlessly interesting. It’s also exciting to see how contemporary Chinese artist and designers are juxtaposing the new with the old and using traditional materials in innovative and exciting ways. For instance, one of the artists we work with, Taikkun Li, embarked on a new series that involves creating porcelain apples that he then paints with traditional blue and white landscapes. His works were featured this past spring in a retrospective of 5,000 years of Chinese ceramics at a museum in New Mexico. He was one of four contemporary artists representing this moment in time. InCollect: Have your tastes evolved over the course of your career? BN: When I began, I had very little appreciation for traditional Chinese painting. I just had no palate for it. Now, I have really come to enjoy it and I understand the power of a single stroke. Interestingly enough, at the end of September we’ll be presenting an exhibition of contemporary Chinese ink paintings, which would have never happened at the beginning of my career.  A collection of ten Dreamscape paintings by Liu Jian are on view at Pagoda Red (400 N. Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60642). For more information, visit www.pagodared.com/t/paintings-by-liu-jian. All images courtesy of Pagoda Red. An apothecary chest at Pagoda Red. Blue and white porcelain at Pagoda Red. A group of chairs at Pagoda Red. Winter 50 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com continued from page 48 dealer focus