Antiques jostle for space in shikumen room
Print Edition
FOR two decades You Jianrong has been collecting antiques in a quiet, traditional shikumen (stone-gated) house on Shanghai’s Beijing Road W.
His showroom is a 15-square-meter tingzijian, or pavilion room, that is sandwiched between the kitchen and a terrace. In that little space are over 20,000 pieces of antiques, including boccaro teapots, ceramics, lynx stone, emerald ornaments and jade carvings, among others.
A huge piece of absurd stone with several wooden shelves of antique flower pots greets visitors. Beside the shelves are two cabinets filled with all kinds of small accessories.
At the other end of the room, a rosewood showcase displays a number of precious boccaro teapots. Looking through the window, several bonsai are lined in the balcony. You religiously waters them every morning.
He also has two pets — a cat and a dog — who jostle for space in the tiny room, and at ease with all the cultural richness around.
You, who’s in his 50s, says his favorites among all the collection are boccaro teapots and absurd stones. That explains his online name Hushi, which literally translates as “teapot and stone.”
You’s most valuable boccaro teapot is a broken one. A craftsman fixed it for him with juding, an endangered technique that originated four centuries ago in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The interesting part is that cracks can still be found on the surface after it was fixed, but not a drop of liquid leaks from inside.
You points to a set of boccaro flower pots and says, “I was once about to sell them to a friend’s friend for a big discount, but changed my mind after finding out that he was basically keen on making profits and selling it at an auction in Europe.”
You says that Chinese antiques tend to be overpriced. As a result, people find newer ways to make money by buying them in China and auctioning them overseas.
“These kind of people can’t appreciate my collection. Even if they are willing to pay a high price, I won’t deal with them. I cannot remember how many times I gave my collections to people as gifts, as long as I believe that they appreciate the antiques as I do.”
Over two decades ago, You became interested in antiques while working as a farm worker. He has never been abroad, but traveled to different parts of China and sought good pieces in local antique markets. He even quit drinking and invested all his spare cash on the cultural relics.
You says his room is too small for displaying everything; he stores some of his collections in the attic, or at his friends’ home.
However, the entire block has been marked for demolition.
“I’m going to set up another exhibition room for people to visit near my new address. I don’t do it for profits, but for the sheer enjoyment,” You says.
His only worry is that his daughter is not interested in antiques at all.
“I’m not sure what she would do to my collection after inheriting them.”
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