Board of Advisors

Kevin Ching

Kevin Ching is the chief executive officer of Sotheby's Asia since 2006. A lawyer by training, Ching has also worked in the luxury retail sector, opening Seibu department stores in China and Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong.

Francois Curiel

Francois Curiel is the chairman of Christie's Asia and Europe, having started his career at the auction house as a jewellery specialist. In his time with the company, he launched the jewellery department in New York, as well as worked as the International Head of Jewellery in Europe. Curiel is also recognised as one of the top auctioneers in the world.

Meredith Etherington-Smith

Meredith Etherington-Smith was the former editor of Art Review, and the current London editor of artinfo.com. Etherington-Smith's previous publications have included a book on Graff and his jewels as well as a biography on Salvador Dali. A world-renowned expert on jewellery design, Etherington-Smith is also the curator of our minaudieres and necessaires collection.

Li Ji

Li Ji is the recently retired deputy director of The Palace Museum in Beijing. Prior to that, Li worked in the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, as well as at the Museum of Chinese History as deputy director. Li is currently the vice president of the China Art Research Initiative, vice chairman of the Chinese society of relics, head archaeologist of the Palace Museum's Archaeological Institute, as well as the Palace Museum's research fellow deputy director.

Ma Weidu

Ma Weidu is one of the most well-known collectors of Chinese antiques today. Not only does he curate the collection at his own Guan Fu museum of classic and antique arts in Beijing and has also hosted a series of lectures on collecting Chinese arts and antiques on China Central Television.

Rosemary Scott

Rosemary Scott is an internationally renowned specialist on Chinese ceramics. Scott was the deputy keeper of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, curator of the Percival David Foundation, and she was also in charge of opening the Brunei Gallery at SOAS, University of London.

Yifawn Lee

Yifawn Lee is the publisher of Orientations, a magazine for collectors and connoisseurs of Asian art, and founder of Asian Art Hong Kong - an annual week-long festival that provides unique access to Asian art from the antiquities to the contemporary through seminars, gallery tours and special exhibitions. In 2014, she launched a Chinese-language edition of Orientations, Meichengzaijiu Orientations.