H.H. Pao 鲍恒发 (Sear Hang Hwei Pao) (1937-2009) is recognised as one of Canada’s most revered dealers and collectors of Chinese art during the second half of the twentieth century. The Pao & Moltke gallery was an institution in Toronto’s prestigious Yorkville neighborhood for over forty years and was frequented by Chinese art collectors, academics, and curators alike.
Mr. Pao was of Shanghainese descent and came from a long line of Chinese art collectors. His father in particular had a well-known collection of Chinese huanghuali furniture. Surrounded by art throughout his childhood, Mr. Pao was inspired to study at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany, in the 1950s. It was here he met his future wife and business partner, Countess Nadia von Moltke-Kirsten. Together they studied at the Academy of Arts, Berlin, for another four years.
In the late 1960s, Mr. Pao and his wife moved to Toronto and opened the Peking Gallery at Church and Gerrard. In the 1970s, they changed the gallery’s name to Pao & Moltke Ltd., relocating to Yorkville Avenue, before finally moving to its iconic location at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel where it remained until his retirement in 2006.
Although Mr. Pao dealt in a wide range of Asian artwork, his primary passion was ceramic figures and vessels from the Han (206 BC-220 AD) to Tang (618-907 AD) dynasties. In Toronto, his inventory of early Chinese ceramics was arguably only surpassed by the holdings of the Royal Ontario Museum. Many of these objects were acquired through his travels to China from as early as the 1970s and from cities such as New York, London, and Hong Kong.
古董商鲍恒发 (H.H.Pao) 高古瓷器珍藏 (拍品编号 28-90)
鲍恒发 (H.H.Pao) (1937-2009) 被公认为是20世纪下半叶加拿大最受尊敬的中国艺术品交易商和收藏家之一。其所经营的Pao＆Moltke艺廊，坐落于多伦多著名的约克维尔 (Yorkville) 高端社区，历经40余载，生意兴隆，门庭若市。营业期间，受到众多中国艺术收藏家，业界名流，学者和策展人的频繁造访，可谓“谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁”。
鲍先生是上海人，来自顶级中国艺术品收藏世家。鲍先生的父亲以其精品中国黄花梨家具收藏而闻名。鲍先生在整个童年时代都被艺术所包围，长期的耳濡目染，使他决定于1950年代进入德国斯图加特国家美术学院学习。在这里，他遇到了未来的妻子和商业伙伴纳西娅·冯·莫尔特克·基尔斯滕伯爵夫人 (Countess Nadia von Moltke-Kirsten)，并一同在柏林艺术学院度过了四年的进修时光。
1960年代后期，鲍先生及夫人来到多伦多定居。在教堂街 (Church st.) 和杰拉德街 (Gerrard st.) 开设了北京艺廊 (Peking Gallery)，后于1970年代将艺廊的更名为Pao＆Moltke Ltd.，迁至约克维尔大街，最终移至位于多伦多四季酒店的标志性位置后，持续营业直到其2006年退休为止。
在鲍先生经手过的众多精美亚洲艺术品中，他偏爱从汉代 (公元前206年至220年) 到唐代(公元618年至907年) 的陶瓷造像及器物。在多伦多，鲍先生的的高古中国陶瓷收藏质量，从广度与深度上来讲，或许只有皇家安大略博物馆的库藏才可与之相提并论。鲍先生私人珍藏中许多藏品都为其70年代往来穿梭于中国，纽约，伦敦及香港的艺术品寻宝之旅途中所获。