Anthony John Evans

Anthony John Evans (1954-2008) was a collector of Chinese ceramics and an author.  Evans was born in Culcheth in Lancashire.  His family soon moved to Solihull where he spent most of his childhood and adolescence. 

Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, Evans went on to Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Psychology and Physiology from 1973-1976.  He stayed on to study for an PhD in Experimental Psychology at Wolfson College, Oxford, but did not complete it.  On joining Post Office Telecommunications, later British Telecom, Evans took a post as a systems analyst in their Finance Department.  He also qualified as a professional accountant. 

Evans started to study Chinese in evening classes in 1981.  Later he embarked on a part-time B.A. degree in Chinese at the Polytechnic of Central London.  He became proficient in the language and developed an interest in the late Ch'ing and early Republic period in China.   

In 1984 he submitted an essay entitled 'Iconography of Hongxian and related wares' to a competition organised by Bluett and Sons to celebrate their centenary.  This was in the early days of his collecting of Chinese ceramics, and over the next 20 years he built up an excellent knowledge of his subject.  

During the late 1980s and the 1990s a considerable amount of 19th and 20th artist painted porcelains came on to the market.  This enabled Evans' to build up his collection.  Although he never visited Asia dealers brought to his attention many important pieces.  Of these Peter Wain was the most foremost and supplied many of Evans' finest pieces.  Evans became one of the leading English collectors of Chinese ceramics.  By the late 1980s he was a well known translator of Chinese inscriptions for the Asian art trade in London. 

Evans also began collecting British studio wares in the late 1980s. His purchases focused around his interest in the chemistry of glazes, kiln technology and firing techniques.  Evans' early acquisitions featured examples of lustreware by the Ruskin Pottery and Bernard Moore. In the background he continued collecting pieces exploring these techniques for the rest of his life.