Following on from breaking a record for ‘Asian art single owner collection sold at auction in New Zealand,’ our Asian Art Department has announced the inclusion of another unique assemblage into our upcoming live sale. The Nick and Susan Aucutt Collection will be up for auction at Webb’s Asian Art Live Auction on Sunday 14 September, 2pm.

In this article we explore some of the personal, cultural and political contexts in which the bulk of the exceptional Nick and Susan Aucutt Collection was put together.

Lot 70. A Set of Chinese Zitan Carved Master's Armchairs and Tea Table. EST. $20,000—$30,000
From Asian Art Live Auction on Sunday, 14 September, 2pm.

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Nick and Susan Aucutt lived in Singapore for more than three decades, during a period that coincided with the city-state’s emergence as one of the world’s great maritime and commercial hubs. Nick’s career as a shipping director required extensive travel throughout Asia, bringing him into direct contact with the region’s ports, trade networks, and fertile cultural landscapes. Such exposure fostered not only a professional expertise but also a personal engagement with the artistic and material traditions of Asia and, more specifically, those of the regions near Singapore, which were influenced by Indian, Chinese, and Islamic cultures among others.

Nick’s early encounters with nearby Indonesia occurred during the tense political climate of the mid-1960s, when the region was shaped by Konfrontasi — a policy of confrontation pursued by President Achmed Sukarno of Indonesia against the formation of Malaysia (1963–1966). Culturally, this was an era marked by individual countries seeking stronger art and craft voices that differentiated them from their neighbours, as well as enhanced trading through the Malacca Strait.

For a young professional involved in shipping, the period would have offered both challenges and opportunities for deeper cultural encounters. It was against this backdrop that Nick developed a sustained fascination with the artistic heritage of the region.

His earliest passion centered on celadon ceramics, a type of stoneware distinguished by its characteristic, smooth, translucent glaze in shades of greyish green. This specific colour comes from coating the clay surface with a slip rich in iron before firing. When heated in the kiln, the iron undergoes a chemical change that produces the distinctive glossy green surface that many have compared to the beauty of jade stone.

Although the term ‘celadon’ was introduced later in Europe —one theory is that the name comes from Céladon, a 17th century character in a French pastoral novel and who used to wear a jade-coloured robe — the glazing technique itself has much older roots in China, during the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1046-256 BC) dynasties.

Celadon was traded widely along maritime routes, circulating from China into Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan, where it influenced local traditions. What began as Nick’s curiosity about the serene beauty and technical mastery of such wares gradually became a passionate pursuit of study and collecting.

Over time, his collecting interests broadened beyond celadon to encompass other objects and materials as reflected by the depth and scope of this catalogue. Famille Rose, Dehua Porcelain, religious and ceremonial pieces and more.

In 1977, after more than thirty years in Singapore, Nick and Susan relocated to Nelson, carrying with them the full extent of the collection. Following Susan’s passing in 2025, the Aucutt Collection is now, for the first time, being catalogued and made available to audiences beyond the family circle. Its provenance is unusually clear, its themes coherent, and its range significant.

*Lots from Asian Art Live Auction on Sunday, 14 September, 2pm.*

In a way, The Aucutts’ Collection mirrors a dual narrative: a small sliver of the vast history of Asian trade and craftsmanship, and the biography of a couple whose life abroad intimately brought them into contact with objects that reflect that exciting flux. Each piece in the collection, whether a celadon bowl or a Ming-era porcelain vessel, reflects both a continuity of artistic tradition and the lived experience of a family situated at the crossroads of Asia’s maritime world.