In honor of the Year of the Pig, Jin Chi Foods, a Hsinchu County-based company that has been making meatballs for more than 80 years, is to exhibit more than 1,000 pig-themed collectibles from Saturday.
The collection, which includes items from more than 50 countries, was amassed by Yeh Tsung-min (葉聰敏), the third-generation owner of the company.
Among his collection is a NT$30,000 ceramic pig purchased in France that is dressed like Marilyn Monroe; several figurines made of silver, emerald and white jade; and toys of cartoon pig characters, Yeh said.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Yeh said that he began collecting pig-shaped items 15 years ago.
While others look at scenery while on vacation, he searches for pig-shaped collectibles, Yeh said.
Once while purchasing a carved wooden pig in Kenya, a vendor brought him a live wild boar, Yeh said.
Another time, in Xiamen, China, he and another collector fought over the purchase of a pig-themed artwork, he said.
He once left behind a box of pig-themed artwork worth more than NT$100,000 in Europe, and, on a separate occasion while browsing in a store in the Czech Republic, he mimicked pig sounds for the shop owner, as he was unable to speak Czech, Yeh said, adding that the owner understood.
As his family sells meatballs, he opened a space dedicated to meatball culture in 2012, he said.
The exhibition is at 31 Beimen St in Hsinchu City and is on view until Feb. 10.
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