Treasured Collection Up For Sale in Aid of the Less Privileged

Tales of Collecting is an exhibition that features the personal eclectic collection of Ipoh personality SeeFoon Chan-Koppen, who has generously put up her 50-year memorabilia collection for sale, where proceeds will go to the Perak Women for Women Society (PWW) for their work in the empowerment of the less privileged, especially women and children in our community.

Lovingly collected since her university days in the late 1960s as well as during her time managing Holiday Inn properties which took her across the Asia Pacific and beyond, among the items one can find at Tales of Collecting and that are available for sale are ceramics, mixed metal trinkets, ethnic clothing, pure silver jewellery from the Silk Road, antique Chinese baby tubs and more.

The more than 250 pieces of items, which took the PWW team a month to curate, were slowly acquired by SeeFoon from her days as an Art History student at the University of Singapore. Influenced by her mentor, Professor Willy Willard who wrote and published a huge tome on the Art of Asia, and was curator of the Art Museum at the University, SeeFoon’s love for antiquities began with her maiden purchase of a small early Ming vase at a price of SGD30, money that was for her meals.

Although not many of her peers understood her newfound passion, that very first piece in her soon-to-grow collection became her most prized possession even to this day, travelling with her from Singapore to Tokyo, then Hong Kong and for the past 26 years, in Ipoh.

treasured collectibles looking for new owners

In SeeFoon’s own words, “In this fourth stage of my life, I have stopped acquiring but began giving. The final act of letting go has arrived. While every single piece in Tales of Collecting has been cherished and treasured, I have come to realise as time passes, that all I need are close relationships and a few objects of beauty. These pieces of history may no longer serve me today, but I trust that they will bring the new owners many more years of joy. Moreover, proceeds from this sale will go to PWW, an NGO with a cause that’s close to my heart.”

Over the years, SeeFoon has been a staunch supporter of PWW and had donated a lot of personal possessions to the shop. This is her largest donation yet. Tales of Collecting is open for viewing and purchasing from 6th August from 10am until 3pm daily, at PWW Shop (1st floor). Pieces are priced from as low as RM30 to as high as RM8,000 for a tribal hand-stitched silk blouse. Do take note that these items are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.