About
Clare Chu
- Clare Chu has been active in the field of Chinese snuff bottles for forty years as a gallery owner, curator of exhibitions, auction consultant, lecturer, and writer. She is the author of many articles, books, and catalogues of snuff bottle collections on paper and online.
- Clare is a director and the secretary of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society (snuffbottlesociety.org). She has attended every annual convention of the society since 1985 and has been actively involved in planning a number of them. In 2021 Clare was appointed editor of the society’s Journal. She is also a director of Snuff Bottle Collectors of California. Clare continues to work as a scholar-dealer, focusing on the development of collections with their owners, and as a lecturer and teacher.
- Clare has curated a number of museum exhibitions of snuff bottles, one in 2016 at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California and, another, in 2018 at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. In October 2021 she curated an exhibition of over 750 snuff bottles held at the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei. Clare Chu is also a published poet, who often draws upon her knowledge of Asian art for inspiration.
- Clare frequently lectures at museums and societies worldwide on the subjects of Chinese snuff bottles and Chinese glass. Museums lectured at include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Walters Art Museum, The Portland Art Museum, The Percival David Foundation (London) and the San Diego Museum of Art. Societies lectured at include The International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, The Royal Gemological Society U.K., Snuff Bottle Collectors of California.
- From 1993-1999, Clare lectured on ‘Chinese Snuff Bottles’ and ‘Chinese Glass’ at SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London, on the Foundation Course and on the Post-Graduate Degree Course for Asian Studies (University of London in conjunction with Sotheby’s).
- From 2016-2018, Clare lectured on both ‘Chinese Snuff Bottles’ and ‘The Secondary Market in East Asian Art’ to the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Master’s Program in Art Business, in Los Angeles and New York.