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Char-Ming The piece de resistance arrived three days ago in the mail for Linda Lee. A pair of ivory earrings and a matching brooch, carved and hand-painted in bright orangy red to resemble the flowers of the African tulip tree. The cast sterling silver leaves slightly tarnished, but the secret-formula colors still vibrant -- a happy result of human neglect for many years. Every delicate ruffled edge on the carved flower petals intact and perfect.
A Honolulu jeweler's
intricate designs are
golden to Linda LeeBy Suzanne Tswei
stswei@starbulletin.com"I couldn't believe it when I got it in the mail. I was SOOO, SOOOO, SOOOOO happy," said Lee, who hasn't gotten over her good luck at finding the definitive set of rare made-in-Hawaii adornment from the 1940s.
She saw it for sale on eBay.com, won the bidding at what she considers "a reasonable price," and waited -- with her heart in her throat -- nearly three weeks to finally hold "the little pieces of sculptures."
"I turned the pieces over. On the back it says 'Ming's.' It's marked in this tiny handwriting in ink. I knew I had the real thing," Lee says.
She wasn't too worried about fakes. Forgers would have difficulty replicating Ming's superb workmanship and graceful designs -- trademarks of the Honolulu jeweler that flourished for more than half a decade before shutting its doors in October 1999.
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The forgers probably wouldn't bother with something that fetches only modest prices in the collectibles market (between several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars for a set, depending on the devotion of the collector).Lee never dreamed she would find the unusual African tulip design, especially in such pristine condition. A brooch she found earlier had a broken petal.
"I told myself if I ever find it (in good condition), I'd quit. I found it, so I am done. I don't need another piece of Ming's jewelry. I am perfectly content now," she declares.
It's tempting to take her word for it. She had the discipline to winnow her collection from more than 300 pieces down to about 100. She doesn't hesitate to part with her treasures when it's for a good cause.
For the second year, Lee, an animal lover and "mother" to two bichon frisés, is donating pieces from her collection to help raise money for the Hawaiian Humane Society during its "Tuxes and Tails: Hooray for Hollywoof" fund-raiser Saturday night at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
"I am not one of those collectors who has to have everything," she said. "Part of the joy of collecting is to be able to share what I have. It really makes me happy to see other people get something out of these beautiful pieces of art."
This year, Lee's contribution to the auction is a necklace and earring set in the pikake design, one of the most popular motifs for island collectors. The set would easily retail for $500 to $750, and Lee has recommended that the bidding begin at $300.
LEE ALSO IS LOANING a portion of her collection to the Honolulu Academy of Arts for "Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections," a groundbreaking exhibition of Hawaiiana collectibles and fine art. The exhibition opens today, featuring 250 works ranging from pre-Western contact Hawaiian artifacts and rare books to tourist souvenirs and contemporary paintings. They are on loan from local and mainland collectors and will be featured in a companion book to be released later this year.
The African tulip jewelry arrived too late to be included in the exhibit, but there will be other floral designs and a rare brooch of blackened ivory featuring a male hula dancer. A pair of sterling silver 'uli'uli earrings complements the brooch.
"It looks so politically incorrect now. The dancer is really modeled after the popular African type of look at the time. He looks nothing like a Hawaiian. But it was appropriate then," Lee said.
Ming's jewelry reflects the popular images of its time and has become a cultural icon sought by collectors worldwide. The gifted jeweler Wook Ming and his family opened the jewelry store on Fort Street Mall in 1941, six months before the outbreak of World War II. Despite the grim outlook then, the little store offering carved ivory, jade, pearl, gold and silver jewelry became a household name among working women and tourists. The Ming family opened a string of stores on the mainland as well.
Ming designed the jewelry and often crafted the pieces himself. Apprentices also were trained to reproduce his designs, as well as those by other well-known Hawaii artists commissioned to create pieces. Among the latter was Isami Doi, a painter and leader among island artists of Japanese descent, who created a horse, deer, unicorn and flower that will be featured in the exhibit.
"Mr. Ming worked on the Doi pieces himself. You can tell because nobody can carve ivory like him. His work is just so, so fine," Lee says.
LEE BEGAN HER Ming's quest about eight years ago after she happened upon a pair of carved ivory bamboo earrings at a collectibles show in Honolulu. "I just thought they were wonderful, such little pieces of art. I didn't even know Ming's made the ivory pieces," Lee says.
She didn't know much beyond the jeweler's name. She remembers her father always gave her mother gifts of Ming's jewelry -- only the jade and pearl pieces -- on special occasions. She also recalls seeing Ming's large ads that ran every Wednesday and Sunday in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
"I kind of went crazy when I first began collecting," says Lee, who prefers ivory pieces. "I wanted everything, and I was willing to go anywhere to get them."
She combed through all possible sources and made connections with mainland dealers who'd look for Ming's pieces for her. She struck up friendships with other collectors and former employees of the jeweler who sold her pieces from their own collections and shared stories about the Ming family operations. In fact, a fellow devotee of Hawaiiana collectibles, Watters Martin Jr., alerted her to the African tulips on eBay.
"The people I've met have been incredible," she said. "That's what collecting's all about. In a way, you can say I've been collecting wonderful people and stories, not just beautiful jewelry, and that has been a very rewarding experience," Lee says.
Annual black-tie fund-raiser for Hawaiian Humane Society 'Hooray for Hollywoof'
Place: Monarch Room, Royal Hawaiian Hotel
Time: Silent auction from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, dinner and entertainment from 6 to 11 p.m.
Cost: $150 a ticket (only a handful of tickets are available)
Phone: 946-2187, Ext. 225
Place: John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery, Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 S. Beretania Finding Paradise: Island Art
in Private CollectionsTime: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, through May 26
Admission: $7, $4 for seniors, students and military; free to members and children 12 and under; free on the first Wednesday and Sunday of the month, also free this Sunday for Founder's Day celebration in honor of the academy's 75th birthday
Call: 532-8700
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