Utz by Bruce Chatwin

Kasper Utz is a fictional collector of porcelain in Prague. During World War II and the subsequent political upheavals in Czechoslovakia, he nurtured his collection saving it from confiscation from the Nazis and the communists. Mostly a character study, the novel does not have much in the way of a plot. However, the writing is brilliant and colorful. Chatwin is a well-traveled author who had worked for Sotheby's and was familiar with the art world, so Utz is loaded with details of European travel and art set against lightly portrayed political situations.