Heirloom Series

After many years which saw an iconoclasm towards the rich material heritage of the past, it seemed that collecting heirloom pieces is all the rage again with rising affluence. This pursuit of authenticity, ancientness, and an unbroken tradition of preserving ancient objects and nostalgia was not new to Asia. Many emperors or kings in the past were prodigious collectors of objects d’art and built palaces to showcase them. Similarly, wealthy Asian families also cherish their heirlooms be it a snuff bottle, or a nephrite ring, a jadeite hairpin, seals and other curios of the literati such as inkstones and censers. Asian culture generally reveres ancient objects and texts which were deemed instrumental in passing on the culture and the structures of social, cultural and political life that have endured in an evolving form for centuries.