Mr. Andrew Yu

Collector of Ming and Ching Porcelain Ware §EÀÙ´Ë Andrew Yu (Chief Evaluating Consultant of TREASURE-AUCTION.COM)TREASURE-AUCTION.COM
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Andrew Yu
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Mr Andrew Yu, the chief evaluation consultant, is a well-known antique collector, as well as being an expert antique evaluator.He has practised as an evaluator for ten years and more, becoming involved through his deep interest in antiques, but the story really begins with his father.
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Andrew Yu's family was far from wealthy at the time, but he had already developed an appreciation and love of antiques, so that when he graduated from Zhong Shan University in 1964, he started research work on Ming and Qing porcelain wares at the Beijing Palace Museum in 1965.When life pressures brought him to Hong Kong from Canton, he abandoned his career as an evaluator of antiques and studied to become a hair designer.He maintains that art is all about beauty;

in hairdressing just as much as antique evaluation.He goes on to say that in reality art is without boundaries, it stems from the world of the senses.
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Towards the end of the eighties Andrew while still working as a hair fashion designer continued apace with his first passion, getting together with some friends, he set up the first Chinese auction house for objets d'art.
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Once Andrew was visiting a doctor, when he saw a Qing-Yong Zheng era double-ringed, rouge-red figurine vase which he liked very much and wanted to buy.As this red vase is rare, and it being the first time Andrew had come across one, he wanted to buy it.After careful examination, he decided to purchase it,

Andrew's Qing dynasty Yong Zheng Ruby Red Vase

confident that it was genuine.The doctor however set an unusual condition for selling it, which was for Andrew to purchase all the antiques in the house in exchange for cash, the asking price for the vase being quite low.This Andrew found a bit disconcerting but did in the event trust his own judgment, going ahead and buying all the china to obtain this vase.At a later date Andrew invited a well-known international antique evaluation expert to assess this precious vase, this expert dismissed it out of hand as being a fake, although he had never previously seen a similar red vase.Andrew was naturally disappointed, but never wavered in trusting his own judgement.Sometime in the 1980's his teacher, chief curator of the Palace museum, happened to be visiting Hong Kong.Andrew took this same red vase for him to evaluate.
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At a later date the same antiques expert as before visited Andrew to look at this red vase again, and agreed abashed that it was indeed extremely rare objets d'art.Andrew had not only proved himself right, the value of the vase also rose considerably.

Qing - Yong Zheng enamel glazed hexagonal Gu Another unforgettable story was the time back in the 1980's when Andrew saw in an auction catalogue a three-in-one item including a flower vase and incense burner, which the auction house had evaluated as being Qing; the three-in-one set was going for £1,500 to £2,000, which was a very low asking price.Andrew took note and without further ado bought it because he recognised that these were Qing-Yong Zheng enamel glazed hexagonal Gu (wine vessel) come incense burner.The value of a Gu far exceeded the asking price.Later on in 1995 the same auction house was auctioning a similar hexagonal Gu with the asking price estimated at HK$4,000,000.Today a similar three-in-one objets d'art would generally be valued at more than HK$20,000,000.

These are stories for only two of the many pieces Andrew has in his collection.
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It is worth noting also that at the time Andrew had recourse only to black and white catalogues current at the time to make his decisions, this lent an impetus to setting up an electronic auction web page with friends.One of the advantages of setting up auctions on the net is that it is possible from colour photographs to view the shape and materials of the item on display clearly from a variety of angles.One is also better able to gauge the going prices making auctioning even more transparent.On a cautionary note Andrew insists, however, that if bidding on the net, care should be given to examine a company's background and reputation in order to avoid fakes and ensure genuine purchases.
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As well as being involved in auctions, directing net auctioning, and being chief consultant of the collectors evaluating group, Andrew has acted as antique investment consultant to company funds and private collectors alike, systematically evaluating and purchasing for the client.He maintains quite categorically that antiques are a good investment.A recent example is that of a Qing-Yong Zheng enamel wine cup which was worth HK$4,000,000 at the beginning of the nineties, but which now has increased in

A Qing - Yong Zheng enamel glazed cup depicting the poem "Moon on the green bamboo"

value to HK$17,000,000; a very definite increase in value.As mainland Chinese are becoming richer they increasingly want to buy back Chinese antiques and objets d'art, and Andrew predicts that the value of Chinese antiques will increase dramatically in the next ten years.

Andrew explains further that investing in antiques should not be difficult, as long as some basic guidelines and principles are followed:
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Andrew himself has a predilection for Ming and Qing porcelain ware, which is why he elected to specialise in these areas when studying at the Palace Museum.Andrew explains his personal strong liking for Ming and Qing wares because during the reigns of Kang Xi, Yong Zheng, and Qian Long, research into improved production methods such as glaze color, porcelain matrix, duration of heating, and scripting reached its zenith, outstripping previous periods by far.
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China wares already flourished during the reigns of Xuan De, Yong Le, Cheng Hua of the Ming dynasty, but reached a zenith under the reigns of Kang Xi, Yong Zheng and Qian Long, Andrew is at pains however to emphasise that only during times of national stability when people are at peace is art able to flourish fully.
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Of the many items collected by Andrew, his favourites are three-dimensional vases and cups.He explains that he enjoys collecting wine cups due to their rarity and collector value.This due to the fact that when the emperor had a banquet a place would be laid per table with large, medium, and small sized plates and bowls however it was different for the wine cup of which only one was laid per table.Andrew emphasizes however that everybody has different interests, likes and dislikes, and so cups, plates, bowls and vases all have their value, which make it impossible to generalise.