Loet Vanderveen was born in Rotterdam, Holland. His home was very close to the zoo where during his early years he spent a great deal of time. It was during this period in his life that he developed his love for animals and would often fantasise about safaris to Africa! After fleeing from occupied Holland during the war he served in the RAF, then during the first eleven years following the war he worked as a fashion designer. Not satisfied with this profession, a meeting with Fong Chow, the curator of the Far Eastern Dept of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, led to private ceramic studies where he learned a great deal about Chinese glaze techniques and eventually applying patinas to bronze animal forms.
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