Alan Chan: Collecting Inspiration for Design

by Catherine Shaw, Aric Chen (Contributor)

Alan Chan, the renowned designer with an impeccable eye for Asian artifacts, has amassed a remarkable collection of over 10,000 exquisitely designed and crafted pieces.

This rare personal insight into the influences and inspirations behind acclaimed Hong Kong designer and collector Alan Chan gives an intimate view of the collection of objets he has fastidiously assembled throughout his life, and the creative process they have informed.

The pioneering, award-winning, and self-taught designer is known for his inventive and innovative designs. Effectively organized by theme, from tea to dragons, and with an emphasis on objets produced for China Trade, many of the elegant pieces photographed for this book showcase Chan’s insatiably inquiring mind. They offer insights into how his passion for collecting drives his characteristically whimsical signature take on East and West, tradition and innovation, where there is always a twist of the unexpected. Part autobiography, part reflection on creativity, it is full of insights into Chan’s remarkable design process, making it a treat for the eyes and a valuable resource for new and established designers alike.

376 pages, Hardcover

Published January 25, 2022

About the author

CATHERINE SHAW is a pseudonym used by Leila Schneps. She is a mathematician and academic and writer of murder mysteries. She lives in Paris, France.

After taking an undergraduate degree in pure mathematics at Harvard University, Leila Schneps moved to France definitively in 1983, where shortly after obtaining her Ph.D., she was hired by the French National Scienctific Research Centre as a researcher in mathematics. Over twenty years of doing maths, teaching, and mentoring graduate students, her interests have widened far beyond the horizons of pure algebra to aspects of mathematics - such as probability and statistics- that play a more visible role in the world around us, and to the way in which people absorb, reject or react to mathematics.

At the same time, a lifelong passion for mystery stories led Leila to try her hand at writing one herself, eventually leading to a series of "Cambridge Mysteries" published by Allison & Busby.