Dick Hardy

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The Dick Hardy Collection, like the Thewlis Collection, has its origins in Hong Kong. Richard ‘Dick’ Hardy initially moved to the city in 1970 to work for the British Government. Having fallen for its charms, he then transferred to the employment of the Hong Kong Government. After only a year, Hardy started buying snuff bottles from small antique shops in and around Hollywood Road - then a mecca for enthusiastic collectors - and soon after the Sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. It was 1975 before his collecting took a more serious turn. Like many other collectors, he met Michael Kaynes, and joined the then Hong Kong based Snuff Bottle Society. He later became a member of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society.

A Chinese agate painted crystal snuff bottle signed by Wang Xisan

Lot 32 |  £500 - £1,000

Every collector naturally seeks to make their collection reflect their own tastes and values. Dick Hardy has a passion for horses, and they appear frequently in his collection of snuff bottles. A quiet and unassuming man, he is also a very good artist who has an eye for natural beauty; in snuff bottles this is reflected in his love for hardstone bottles and what a better combination than a chalcedony bottle carved relief with a horse!

‘I think that collectors find snuff bottles so satisfying for a myriad of reasons and it is this fascinating variety of materials, styles and decorative techniques that makes them so endlessly appealing’ – Dick Hardy

A Chinese agate snuff bottle

Lot 51 | £400 - £800