Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/867995
76 Though they seem to have occupied this spot forever, the camels didn't arrive until a week before Wynn Macau's grand opening in 2006, when, says Roger Thomas, Executive Vice President of Design for Wynn Design and Development, "Steve Wynn and I were standing in the lobby evaluating the interior, which we do together as spaces are finished. Steve felt something was missing from the view." Thomas remembered the camels from a visit to Hong Kong's Foochow Lacquer Company months earlier and promised Wynn, "If you meet me here tomorrow morning at 11 am, I will show you a solution." Lam agreed to deliver them overnight to Macau. Meanwhile, Thomas recalls, "I conspired with Luis Marin in our horticulture department to have bricks painted black to create underwater stilt supports for the pair. By 11 am, we had this magnificent pair of camels walking on water. I can still see Steve's face when he saw them for the very first time." It wasn't the first time Foochow Lacquer had been a go-to resource for Thomas. Mr. Lam—as he was affectionately known—served as the quiet keeper of what Thomas has called an "Aladdin's cave" of treasures from which Wynn, through Thomas, got first pick. "My father always said, 'Mr. Thomas is a gentleman who only skims the cream from our best items,'" recalls Lam's son, Dennis. Through the relationships he cultivated all over the world, sharing his immense knowledge of Chinese history and decorative arts techniques, Mr. Lam is also credited with keeping some of the most treasured Chinese handicrafts not only alive but vibrantly relevant. The history of the Lam family business begins in India during World War II, where Mr. Lam's father-in-law—a native of Fuzhou (formerly spelled Foochow, the capital city of Fujian province)—fled to escape the Japanese invasion of China. Both India and Hong Kong were controlled by the British in those days, with India also providing the base for American operations in support of China in the China Burma India Theater. "My grandfather started selling Chinese handicrafts to GIs at the India and Burma border," Dennis Lam explains. Once the war ended, he settled with his family in Hong Kong, opening Foochow Lacquer Company in 1946. Mr. Lam had also been born in Fuzhou, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of 14, where he worked in his brother-in-law's decorative arts store. After marrying his wife, he joined her father's company. 在2006年永利澳門正式開業前一周，這對駱駝 才運到酒店，從此穩穩當當地矗立在大堂。Wynn Design and Development執行副總裁Roger Thomas 回憶說：『當時永利澳門已經全部裝修完畢，我和 Steve Wynn站在大堂裡上下打量，他總覺得似乎還 有哪裡缺少了些東西。』Thomas當時立即記起幾個 月前在香港的福州漆器公司見過的一對駱駝，便向 Wynn保證：『請明早11點鐘再來大堂，我會告訴你 應該增加些什麼。』福州漆器公司的林先生當即答應 連夜把駱駝運到澳門, Thomas這邊同時開始籌備安 裝：『我和園藝部的Luis Marin商量過，決定用黑色 石磚來做駱駝的水下支架。到第二天早上11點鐘，這 對精美絕倫的駱駝已經在站立在水面上。我現在還 記得Steve初次見到這對駱駝的表情。』 那次不是Thomas第一次找福州漆器公司幫忙 了。在Thomas看來，林先生就像一位阿拉丁寶藏的 看守人，總能找到適合永利的藝術品。林先生的兒子 Dennis回憶道：『我父親常說, Thomas先生有非常 精明的眼光，總能選走我們最出色的藝術品。』林先 生對中國歷史、裝飾藝術和工藝的深厚知識背景，讓 他得以在全球收藏界建立廣泛人脈；他努力推動保 育國寶級手工技藝的事蹟，更在業界獲得廣泛讚譽。 二戰期間，林氏家族在印度開始工藝品貿易生 意。林先生的岳父是福州人，為躲避日本侵略而遷居 印度。當時印度和香港都在英國控制之下，印度的中 緬印劇院(China Burma India Theater)是美軍支援 中國的行動基地之一。Dennis說：『外祖父當年就在 印度和緬甸邊境賣中國手工藝品給美軍。』戰爭結束 後, Dennis的外祖父帶著全家定居香港，在1946年開 設福州漆器公司。林存忠先生也是在福州出生, 14歲 移居香港，在姐夫的藝術裝飾品店裡工作。1971年林 先生與妻子結婚，隨後加入了岳父的公司。 公司以漆器這種福州最著名的出口產品來命名。 其中蜚聲國際的『脫胎漆器』工藝，需要用漆一層層 地塗上麻布或絲綢織物做成的胎型，成型固定後， 還要經過二十多個步驟處理 —調製漆料、上油、 塑形、打磨拋光等等。這項工藝始於清朝乾隆年間， 與北京景泰藍、景德鎮陶瓷並稱中國手工藝術的三 大寶藏。後來為了滿足大量出口廉價貿易的需要，這 些工藝逐漸轉向工業化批量生產。但福州漆器公司 仍然堅持收購純手工製作的作品。Dennis說：『父親 很喜歡景泰藍工藝，因為它複雜的製作過程完全以 人手完成。父親堅信，真正的藝術品擁有長久的生 命力。』 林先生與Thomas的友誼早在永利澳門建成前 二十年就已經建立。Dennis回憶說。『父親知道永 利準備在澳門開一家新酒店後，就開始著手幫老朋 從左至右：綠色景泰藍瓷罐的微型版； 永利澳門收藏的巴克勒公爵花瓶系 列；DENNIS LAM幼時與父親、外祖父 在福州漆器公司與顧客合影；攝於 1946年的福州漆器公司，位於香港彌 敦道29號。 Buccleuch vases in Wynn Palace. right, from top: Foochow Lacquer Company in Hong Kong, 1946; Dennis Lam as a child in Foochow Lacquer with his father, grandfather, and a customer; a green cloisonné jar in miniature. PHOTOGRAPHY © DAVID HARTUNG ( VASES); BY ROGER DAVIES (JAR); COURTESY OF DENNIS L AM (PEOPLE)