Learn with your eyes and mind and feel it with your soul....  that is why I love this forum as different people have different passion on a particular type... 

Hi Gary,

That's a good question and you've gotten some very thoughtful replies. 

I found, having a small buget, that I had to work within what I can afford and with space allowed in my studio apartment. I have bought stuff that I hope to resell someday but they're small and I stored them away as they're not as interesting to me as my beloved collectables. 

If you decide to collect something that isn't too rare, don't be afraid to be very picky about quality and hold out for the good stuff. 

My general interest is blue and white Chinese export but I have some famille rose as well (as a small ensemble). Some of the things I collected at the beginning I gave to family whom I knew would really appreciate it. I have an eclectic side as well with some of my displays.

Good luck and happy hunting! Keep us updated, OK?

Steve

My suggestions is to first be honest about your intention to collect:  Are you collecting for personal enjoyment, or are you building a collection with the hopes that it will have economic value?

As a kid, I use to collect match books from everywhere I travelled - they were free, so it fit my budget, and the more exotic locations (like Disney World) had spectacular designs..... collected hundreds, maybe thousands, in just a few years.  Not sure what happened to the collection (probably went into the trash when my mom sold the house while I was at college), but most certainly it would have little to know worth in today's market.

On the other hand, if you have the money, then look at articles written by Christie's and Sotheby's on collecting tips...perhaps this will spur you towards one area or another.

As others have already stated, you need to like what it is that you collect.  And, regardless of your level of financial means is at, the fun of collecting is building a collection... not just buying one already put together.  The stories of successes and failures is really what makes collecting fun - else it's just a business.

My start with collecting Asian art was with Japanese woodblock prints in 1993.  I was working for Walt Disney World as a zookeeper, and my sister was getting married, and I needed to buy a present.  Zookeppers don't make very much money, so I shopped at a thrift/antique shop and found 3 Japanese prints of birds. 

I brought them with me to work one day, and a co-worker told me that they were 'ukiyo-e' prints, and were collectible.  And, when I went to the library to research 'ukiyo-e' and saw the array of prints....WOW!  It blew me away. 

From then on, every thrift store and antique shop I drove by, I was compelled to stop and look for Japanese prints.  

This spread to collecting many other areas of Asian art, and the rest is history.  

Good luck!

I would say collect what you find pretty, interesting or both.  Collect based on quality and I don't think you can go wrong.  I am in a different situation as  95% of what I have I will sell at some point, and most of what I have is listed in one way or another.  Currently my house is under construction so most of my pieces are scattered about or packed away, but here are a few shelves that while they are listed I can enjoy looking at, there are a few ongoing trends in there but every single piece I find intriguing for one reason or another and that is really all I end up looking for.  For my personal consumption or for my personal collection, odd kilns and odd glazes are what I go after, things I have never seen before and the like.  You just have to develop a taste, and eventually you have a collection.

Just my take...

Cheers,

Jeremy

Have any of you had success identifying a collecting focus?  There are so many Chinese or Asian ceramics, even the old ones.  How do you narrow the topic down to a something manageable to collect?  

Thank you!