Sotheby’s Celebrates Return of Asia Week in New York
With Single-Owner Sale of the Dr. Wou Kiuan Collection

Among the Last Great Collections of Chinese Art Remaining in Private Hands

Collection Represents Over 4,000 Years of China’s Visual History
Featuring Porcelain, Jades, Bronzes, Paintings & More

Highlighted By Dedicated Auction of
A Highly Important and Magnificently Carved Soapstone Seal Carved for The Qianlong Emperor
This April in Hong Kong

A Journey Through China's History: The Dr. Wou Kiuan Collection Part I
Dedicated Live Auction on 22 March in New York

The Dr. Wou Kiuan Collection To Be Sold Throughout 2022
With Sales in Hong Kong and London

NEW YORK, 10 February 2022 – Coinciding with the return of New York Asia Week this March, Sotheby’s will present the first of a series of four single-owner sales to held globally throughout 2022 from one of the last great collections of Chinese art remaining in private hands, The Dr Wou Kiuan Collection. Celebrating 4,000 years of Chinese culture and art history, the Dr Wou Kiuan Collection spans pottery, porcelain, jades, bronzes, paintings, calligraphy and more, the extraordinary scope of the collection sets it apart from all other private collections of Chinese art formed in the mid-20th century. 

Estimated to achieve in excess of $40 million and featuring more than 1,000 works, the collection together represents a comprehensive visual history of China, ranging from utilitarian storage vessels made by the first Neolithic cultures that emerged along the Yellow River to the most dazzling porcelains ever commissioned to adorn the palaces of the Qing Emperors of China’s final dynasty.

Driven by a desire to promote Chinese art and culture and preserve the relics of China’s rich historical past, Wou created a private gallery in 1968 located in the ground floor of his home to present the collection, which has housed the works for over five decades.

The collection is highlighted by a highly important and magnificently carved soapstone seal carved for the Qianlong emperor early in his reign, on offer in a dedicated auction this April in Hong Kong. Found prominently impressed on countless important Chinese paintings including the two most revered classical masterpieces in the world, no other imperial seal to have come to market appears on such a large number of historically important paintings.

On offer in a dedicated auction on 22 March in New York titled A Journey Through China's History: The Dr Wou Kiuan Collection Part I, additional objects from the Wou Collection will be offered in dedicated auctions in Hong Kong and London throughout 2022.

Public exhibitions of Sotheby’s Asia Week auctions will open on 17 March in our New York galleries. 

Angela McAteer, Head of Sotheby’s Chinese Works of Art Department in New York, commented: “We’re thrilled to kick off the return of our March Asia Week sales with the single-owner auction of the renowned Dr. Wou Kiuan Collection. Among the most comprehensive collections of Chinese Art ever assembled, the 130 works emerging in the New York auction from this extraordinary collection represent the finest examples of virtually every category of Chinese art, ranging from pottery to porcelains, jades, bronzes and more. From utilitarian storage vessels to Imperial treasures, each work of art is a story of Chinese history to be discovered."

WOU KIUAN

The uniquely comprehensive collection was formed by Wou Kiuan, son of Wou Lien-Pai (Wu Jinglian, Wu Lianbo), a prominent politician instrumental in the reformation of China during the Republic period. A collector in the truest sense, Wou Kiuan collected stamps and books before turning his attention to Chinese art. Upon settling in London after his retirement, Wou devoted his time to the study of Chinese archaeology and art, and rigorously researched each work that entered his collection. He developed a close friendship with Cambridge-based scholar of Chinese art and archaeology Professor Cheng Te-K’un, who was instrumental in nurturing Wou’s passion for Chinese art and who guided him in his early collecting journey.

Wou’s years of collecting fortuitously coincided with an abundant availability of exceptional Chinese art on the London market. From the mid-1950s to late 60s, Wou formed a collection of well over 1,000 works that together represented every category of Chinese art. Wou acquired works from sales of some of the most prominent collectors of the early 20th century including Sir Percival David, Brenda Zara Seligman, and Henry Knight, as well as Alfred Morrison, whose legendary collection of ‘Fonthill Treasures’ included some of the most important porcelains and enamels to have been produced for the Qing Emperors of the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 1965 and 1971 auctions of works from the Fonthill Collection, Wou acquired no less than five Imperial treasures, which rank amongst the most important works in the collection. 

His early foray into the world of Chinese art collecting focused on archaic bronzes and other works of historical significance. As one of the very few Chinese collectors active in the salerooms at the time, Wou had the distinct advantage of being able to read the inscriptions found on some important bronzes, jades and sculptures. As a result, the collection is particularly rich in epigraphical works.