Going Dutch: old collector shares Chinese porcelain with the world

A collection of antique Chinese porcelain dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties that has passed through the hands of three Dutch generations is now back in China and currently on display at the Shanghai Museum.

The family collection started with Dutch businessman Henk Nieuwenhuys' grandfather, who had an eye for beautiful things, particularly ceramics. Nieuwenhuys later acquired 40 percent of the collection from his father and eventually expanded the collection to 97 pieces.

The 58-year-old property investor who has lived in Shanghai for the past two years first came up with the idea of donating his collection when it came time to continue the family tradition and pass the collection down to his grown-up kids.

"Like my father and grandfather I could have passed on the porcelain to my children, but modern houses are smaller, and there isn't always room for such a large cabinet," he said. "There was no question of splitting up the collection.

"I wanted to keep it together. If I gave it to my children, the pieces in the collection would have had to be separated."

He spent six months mulling over what to do. But parting with the family's stock, valued at up to $3 million, proved more difficult though it was easy to turn down offers he received to sell pieces separately for millions of dollars each, he said.

"Selling goes against the grain of any collector," he added.

Thanks to the discovery of shipwrecks holding similar salvaged relics in recent years, such exported ceramics have drawn increasing attention from historians and antique collectors around the world.

Though many museums from his own country pushed for the collection, Nieuwenhuys opted to give it to the Shanghai Museum last year. He felt its collection could use more pieces after viewing its stunning but limited amount of imperial Chinese porcelain back in 2007.

Shanghai also seemed like the collection's rightful home.

"It's nice to see these antiques, which left China hundreds of years ago, return to China," he said.

The collection is historically significant because it contains pieces with several patterns and shapes that are rarely seen in other such artifacts at Chinese museums, according to Lu Minghua, a curator who heads up the ceramics department at the Shanghai Museum.

A couple of old plates are also unique as they depict a sailing ship, representative of the trade relations that began between China and Europe hundreds of years ago, he added.

Still very attached to the old porcelain pieces, Nieuwenhuys, who works near People's Square, walks to the museum every week, where he likes to linger over the collection. Several pieces from will become a permanent display at the museum once this dedicated exhibit concludes at the end of the year.

The Shanghai Museum will also hold an exhibit featuring imperial Chinese ceramics in the Netherlands next year, which will include pieces from Nieuwenhuys' collection. He hopes this will further Sino-Dutch ties.

Until Dec 20, 9 am - 4 pm (daily)

Shanghai Museum, No 3 Exhibition Hall 201 Renmin Avenue

人民大道201號，上海博物館

Tel: 6327-3500

(China Daily 10/24/2009 page14)