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Important Chinese Art from the Collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee

The Chinese art collection assembled by Sir Quo-Wei Lee (1918-2013) is of superb quality, consisting of over 40 lots of the finest Imperial porcelain and jade, the majority acquired at Sotheby’s London and Hong Kong in the 1970s-80s. Highlights of the sale include a Yongle blue and white ‘grape’ charger and a white jade washer finely carved in the form of a lingzhi fungus from the Yongzheng to Qianlong period. 

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Sir Q.W. Lee was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable bankers, philanthropists and collectors of his generation. To be taken under his wing in all of these important areas was one of the greatest blessings of my life.

Although the Lee and Lam families had had a close relationship for over seven decades, it was not until the passing of my husband, Paulo Lam Sou-Leung, that I developed a more personal relationship with Sir Q.W. and his family. Sir Q.W. encouraged me to join the Hang Seng Bank after I qualified as a solicitor in 1978. Thereafter he mentored me through my entire banking career, guided me with a firm hand and solidified my pursuit of distinction. Under his tutelage, I came to admire Sir Q.W.’s meticulous attention to detail, always setting a high standard for himself and those around him; and most of all, his tenacious quest for perfection.

Sir Q.W.’s extraordinary commitment to excellence was manifested abundantly in all facets of his professional and personal life, but none more so than in his passion for collecting antiques. While he was one of the earliest and most senior members of Min Chiu Society, the group of knowledgeable and respected collectors, he also generously shared his interest with myself and others who were new to antiques.  It was with great kindness, patience and enthusiasm that he introduced me to the art of collecting and I am forever grateful to him for opening my eyes and initiating me to the joy of searching for and acquiring antiques across many categories.

Sir Q.W. applied the same dedication to his personal collecting which he displayed in his professional life. During my visits with him to various dealers and the flea markets, I noticed he always examined each object of desire, regardless of its price, with the stringent standards he adopted for anything he approached in life.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong began auctions of Chinese ceramics in 1973 under the late Julian Thompson (1941-2011). Julian was a true academic and connoisseur and he encouraged the local collectors to approach each work of art with rigour and pursue their collecting dreams by bringing top Chinese ceramics and works of art from Europe to Asia. Julian became a good friend and trusted advisor to Sir Q.W. and influenced much of his collecting. When I retired from banking and became Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, Sir Q.W. and I crossed paths again. He was already on Sotheby’s International Advisory Board, bringing with him his tremendous insight into Chinese antiquities, his understanding of the Asian market as well as his highly regarded business acumen. 

This collection to be auctioned at Sotheby’s is notable not merely for its scale and scope but as an unerring reflection of Sir Q.W.’s legendary diligence, and integrity as the consummate perfectionist of his time. Many pieces had been purchased from Sotheby’s in the 1970s to 1980s with guidance from Julian. The Lee Family has generously chosen to honour Sir Q.W.’s friend and advisor Julian Thompson with the proceeds of lot 106 to endow an annual internship at Sotheby’s for able art students from Hong Kong.

Dr Alice Lam

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Q.W. Lee as Collector

One day when the local gazetteer of Hong Kong is written, there will be a major entry on the life and work of Lee Quo-Wei, detailing his personal achievements and his many contributions to Hong Kong in public life.

One of Q.W.’s activities not in the public eye was his collecting of Chinese art. Like other collectors in Hong Kong, some of his acquisitions came from international auctions and dealers, but he seldom, if ever, travelled for that. He did it through trusted agents. The greater part of his collection was made personally on weekends on Cat Street (Upper and Lowe Lascar Row). Particularly through the 1970s, one would find him on a Saturday or Sunday sitting and chatting with the owner of one of the older (usually second generation) Cat Street shops – perpetuating the kind of collector-dealer relationship that has largely since disappeared. This scene also demonstrated one of the admirable aspects of Q.W.’s personality - he was totally at ease with anyone from any walk of life on any kind of occasion. Apart from an active interest in art, his Cat Street visits were perhaps also one way of relaxing from his many heavy duties.

Q.W.’s collection also reflects a local tradition. His taste was for fine porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties. This had been the case for earlier generations of Cantonese collectors. However, the type of jade carvings in his collection could not have been acquired by earlier generations, simply because they were not available before the end of the Qing dynasty. The carving of sizeable pieces of white jade only began in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, after he retained the control of Khotan, where the jade came from, in the second half of the 18th century. In the early 20th century, a large number of jade carvings in the style that began in the imperial workshops of Qianlong began to emerge on the market, mostly carved by workers released from the palace workshops. A small number actually came out of the Palace towards the end of the Qing dynasty, and also afterwards until the Government took control of the Forbidden City and established the Palace Museum. Most of the Qianlong-style jade carvings that came out of Beijing in the early 20th century were purchased by American collectors and now in museums. The pieces in Q.W.’s collection are amongst the relatively few items still in private hands.

This catalogue of the sale of Q.W. Lee’s collection is not just the record of another collection. It contains clues to the taste and cultural activities of the man himself and, by extension, the Cantonese tradition of art collection as preserved in Hong Kong through the 20th century.

James C.Y. Watt

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Sir Quo-Wei Lee (1918-2013) was known to all as a man of singular vision, wisdom and integrity, a man whose contributions to education, public service and philanthropy remain indelible. In contrast to his legacy of achievements in society, his study was the repository of a quiet and obsessive collecting journey through Chinese art. This lifelong passion began in the late 1950s, when Sir Quo-Wei and his family lived in quaint Village Terrace, Happy Valley, three floors above my grandfather, the Chinese art dealer Edward T. Chow. Lady Lee remembers how this fortuitous encounter sparked his interest in Chinese porcelain and how his neighbour guided him early on. The most prolific period in Sir Quo-Wei’s collecting came in the early 1970s after Julian Thompson, who then headed the Chinese art department at Sotheby’s, brought auctions of Chinese art to the city. The two men shared a love for Chinese porcelain and many of Sir Quo-Wei’s finest pieces were acquired in the 1970s and 1980s, that golden time in the Chinese art market.

The collection spans from the rarest early Ming porcelains to the finest Qing Imperial jade carvings. It reveals an exacting eye particularly sensitive to court taste, yet unceremonious, equally delighting in a baroque wall vase shaped as a luth or an understated late 14th century blue and white cupstand. The collection above all manifests a deep affection for blue and white porcelain in all its declinations, as well as for the purest, most exquisite jades.

This catalogue and the exhibition to follow will provide for the first time an insight into Sir Quo-Wei Lee’s lifelong passion for art. For connoisseurs, this very private collection, rich in its variety and distinct in its character, will no doubt be a revelation. We wish to thank Lady Lee and the Lee family for entrusting us with it.

Nicolas Chow
Chairman, Sotheby's Asia