Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

IN the Arts and Crafts Hall of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, the majority of the exhibits are traditional Chinese arts and crafts such as pottery and porcelain, carvings, jade ware, embroidery, and lacquerware, which makes the Western antiques brought by a British exhibitor all the more noticeable.

Daniel is a co-founder of a Shenzhen-based company called Treasure Trove Antiques which specializes in collecting antiques from Europe and then promoting them on the Chinese market. Except for some furniture mainly meant for display, most of the antique items are given second lives and turn out to be practical for the Chinese families who buy them. “We often look for something that Chinese people can use because Chinese people like to play with something,” Daniel said.

Silver kettles are a favorite of Chinese people, according to the co-founder. “People can use the silver kettles to boil water. There is an old English saying ‘born with a silver spoon,’ which indicates that if you use silver, you put it into your body and you’ll live longer,” he said.

Vanity boxes used by English people in the Victorian Era (1837-1901) are also popular among Chinese people, according to Daniel. “These vanity jars were often used by ladies or gentlemen during the Victorian Period to put small accessories in their suitcases. Chinese people now use them as tea cups,” he said.

Oil lamps, which have hundreds of years of history, are another Western antique that Daniel’s company often customizes for Chinese customers. “We once took off the caps of the lamps and sent them to Chaozhou and people used them as teapot burners, which is perfect for the Chinese market because they love drinking tea,” he said.

Apart from authentic Western antiques, the company also brings back to China some Chinese antiques which were exported to England in ancient times.

The price of the antiques ranges from a few hundred to some tens of thousands, but Daniel is optimistic about the market in Shenzhen. “Shenzhen is one of the richest cities in China, but Shanghai is much better because it has a culture for Western atmosphere,” he said, though he admitted that the antique business is tough. “We have to buy them, send them to China and then try to sell them. Taxes and profits should also be considered,” Daniel said.