Ceramique - objet d'art

• Recent Acquisitions
• Ming and earlier Ceramic
• Blue and White porcelain
• Imperial
• Monochromes
• Famille verte
• Famille rose
• Scholar objects
• Chinese export
• Biscuits and Blanc de Chine
• Jades and hardstones
• Bronze, cloisonnes, enamels
• Ivory, wood, lacquer
• Snuff-bottles
• Paintings and textiles
• Furniture
• Japan and other Asian countries

History

Exhibitions

Contact

Victoria Hougron

Born in 1941 of Castilian extraction, she meets then marries the novelist Jean Hougron, the author of the saga « Nuit Indochinoise » (Indo-Chinese Nights). The latter's interest in the Asiatic world – which inspired several of his novels – rubs off on her and she develops a passion for Chinese antiques in the late sixties. She then devotes her time to her job as a bookseller, to her husband's writing career together with regular visits to Asian Art museums. In 2003, she finally fulfils her dream by opening up an Asian Art Gallery at the Flea Market of Saint-Ouen, the north gate of Paris, which she called « Beauté Chinoise » (Chinese Beauty) after the title of Jean Hougron's last novel and as a tribute to her husband.

Here is a quotation from what she says about Far Eastern Arts:

« I strove to learn Chinese and Japanese Arts and, at present, I am still in the process of going deeper in them. A wholelife would not be enough to study them thoroughly. I used to spend a lot of time in museums and dealers would give me only scraps of knowledge. I dreamt of becoming an art dealer myself and had sworn to myself I would handle this trade with my personal touch of enthousiasm, uprightness and sharing of knowledge. My experience as a bookseller helped me to become an antique dealer. By dint of being next to objects, of proceeding by trial and error, of questioning myself, I developed a pretty good flair so that I am hardly ever mistaken : this enables me today to say that I sell the objects for what they are worth, which in the Asian Art trade is an invaluable asset ! »

Alexandre Hougron

Born in 1966, he successfully studies Art, French litterature and classics, passing the classics Agregation (the highest competitive exam for teachers in France), a doctorate in cinema, and the Ecole Normale of Ulm Street (University –level College that prepares students for Senior posts in teaching and other professions). He quits his quite advanced teaching career to join his mother Victoria in the Asian antique trade soon after the setting-up of the « Beauté Chinoise » gallery. Besides chinese porcelain, which remains the specialty of the gallery, he expands the sectors devoted to the other media of Asian Art : jade and hardstones, metals, wood, lacquerwares, ivory, textile and paintings.

Here is his comment on this commitment:

« I did not find it too difficult to leave teaching and research to pass on to the world of antiques. Indeed, Asia and its mythology, through the everyday talks of my parents, sounded almost more familiar to me than the european culture. In other respects, on account of my past, I do not feel like practising this job as everybody since I studied in detail the links between society and cinema, this modern art.

In my opinion, selling an object is of little interest in itself if it is not first connected to a history and a culture in the seller's mind and especially in the buyer's mind. However, this prerequisite is not enough : in this human and artistic environment whose product it is, this object must paradoxically be unique and outstanding, which is a double challenge ! Therefore, when we advise a work of art, we sell an antique endowed with market value, aesthetic qualities and historical significance as much as the most personal reason why we chose it and it caught our eyes. Between several other works of art from the same period, we enjoy putting up for sale the one we selected because of the quality of its making, the originality of its decor, its size out of the ordinary, or on the contrary its perfectly standard features.

As Keats put it : « A thing of beauty is a joy for ever ». This sublime – which is naturally part and parcel of Far Eastern Art – is nevertheless not found more easily than in other types of art. Common objects are to be discarded before one extracts the nugget about which the beholder could say : « there the artist has enshrined something unique, a piece of genuine beauty. » It is no use possessing a lot of this kind of objects : sometimes a single piece can prove a treat for one's eyes and a daily joy. This sort of piece is worth being collected and thus our selling it. That is why we spare no energy to find one even if thus hunting involves much travelling.

Numerous speculations and fashion trends that are sometimes harmful affect the antique Asian Art market. Though only a small part of these works of art is at the top, we try to guide our customers by opening them up to types of objects which are promising and worthy of interest in spite of their being less trendy. The art market is cyclical that is why what is less appreciated today may tomorrow be praised to the skies.

As a matter of fact, it is our taste and our outlook which will, in the long run, give the object its value together with the object itself, its being antique, its authenticity, its rarity. Thus we consider ourselves successful when we manage to share with our customers the great pleasure an asian antique make feel. »