Rare Chinese art, remarkable Buddhist artefacts on show to mark 60th anniversary of exclusive collectors’ club the Min Chiu Society

The Min Chiu Society of Chinese art collectors is holding its biggest ever exhibition of treasures from members’ collections at the Hong Kong Museum of Art

A translucent white porcelain bowl, an emperor’s birthday dish, and an extraordinary gold statue of the Dragon God’s daughter are among the highlights

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Interactive installation “Room Tour” part of “Honouring Tradition and Heritage: Min Chiu Society at Sixty” exhibition at Hong Kong Museum of Art. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 5:15pm, 21 Feb 2021Updated: 10:07am, 22 Feb 2021

Corrected [9:48am, 22 Feb, 2021]

[9:48am, 22 Feb, 2021]
The exhibition runs until June 2021, not June 22.
[9:59am, 22 Feb, 2021]
The story summary should have said the society was founded 60 years ago. The word "ago" was missing.

Turning 60 is a major landmark in many Asian cultures, so the diamond jubilee of Hong Kong’s most exclusive private club of Chinese art collectors has to be marked with some fanfare.

Unfortunately for the Min Chiu Society, the coronavirus pandemic delayed the December opening of its biggest ever exhibition after a lengthy gestation. But with the reopening of public venues on February 18, members of the public can finally catch a glimpse of an extraordinary treasure trove that is normally hidden away in private homes or high-security vaults, including many prized paintings, ceramics, Buddhist statues and dragon robes that used to be owned by emperors in China.

The first piece in the exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which covers most major categories of Chinese art, is a large dish in coral red made 300 years ago to mark the Qing dynasty Emperor Yongzheng’s 50th birthday. Two stylised characters in the middle meaning “long life for the emperor” are surrounded by five bats – the bat being an auspicious creature because its name is a homophone of the word luck.

Another highlight of the ceramics section is an exquisite white dish from the Ko family’s Tianminlou collection. This piece, and a number of well-known blue-and-white Ming vases nearby, show that the family has retained some very valuable pieces despite having to sell off part of their legendary collection in 2019 when the then 85-year-old Ko Shih-k’o fell victim to a notorious gold investment scam.

An exquisite white dragon dish from the Ko family’s Tianminlou collection. Photo: courtesy of the Hong Kong Museum of Art

The paper-thin dish, which has a special “sweet white” glaze, only reveals a five-dragon pattern and the Ming Emperor Yongle’s mark when light is shone through it. The museum has placed it on a special display stand so that visitors can see the patterns fading in and out.