For this special twenty-fifth edition of ‘Asian Art in London’ we have chosen a group of pieces that represent the diversity of material we like to deal with in our day-to-day business. Each piece tells a story and has been selected not solely for monetary importance but for their beauty and how they speak to us.
Amongst the highlights are an important incised and gilt burnt jade brush pot (Kangxi period) with impeccable provenance, an important imperial inscribed mottled jade boulder (Qianlong period) from a private Taiwanese collection, a pale celadon dog (Song dynasty) previously in the collections of Raymond Oppenheimer and Anthony du Boulay and an excellent and rare cloisonné enamel pilgrim flask (Ming dynasty, first half 17th century).
We have great pleasure in presenting this small, select group of later Chinese bronzes during ‘Asian Art in London 2020’. Spanning the Song through Qing dynasties, this group is the product of many years of collecting as each has their own character and story.
During this challenging time for the world we pause to look back through pieces drawn from different periods of post-archaic Chinese history and hope these simple yet vigorous examples of bronze craftsmanship provide a little respite for the viewer.
This November we hope to welcome our friends from the collector, dealer and auction worlds and look forward to 2021 with renewed hope for a happier, healthier and more tolerant world.
Two Special Exhibitions at ‘TEFAF New York Fall’ and ‘Asian Art in London’ showing works of art from the Tang to the Qing Dynasty, including imperial porcelain, important pottery, archaistic bronzes, gilt bronzes and scholar’s objects.
An impressive large green and straw-glazed pottery watch tower (Liao Dynasty, 907-1125 AD)
Dimensions: 115 cm high
Provenance:
A private collection in The Netherlands
An English private collection, purchased in Hong Kong in the 1990s
Oxford TL-tested, Sample No. C103x32 (27 November 2003)
A very rare celadon-glazed double gourd vase from the Indianapolis Museum of Art Collection (Qianlong mark and period, 1736-1795)
Dimensions: 24.1 cm high
Provenance:
A private Asian collection
Christie’s Art of China: Online Spring Sale March 21-29, 2017 (Lot 43)
Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Herzman Collection, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, accessioned in 1984.
Literature:
Little, The Herzman Collection, privately published, 2000, p. 89, in the section of gifts to the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Compare an identical vase from the Hosokawa Morisada Collection, offered at the ‘HEIRLOOMS OF CHINESE ART FROM THE HOSOKAWA CLAN’ sale at Sotheby’s Hong Kong (8 October 2014).
A chestnut-glazed Tang pottery horse (Tang Dynasty, 618-906 AD)
Dimensions: 83 cm high
Provenance:
A private collection in The Netherlands
An English private collection, purchased in Hong Kong in the 1990s
Oxford TL-tested, Sample No. C201d38 (18 January 2002)
Provenance:
A private Asian collection
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, ‘CHINESE ART INCLUDING SELECTED WORKS OF ART FROM THE T.Y. CHAO FAMILY COLLECTION’, 30 NOVEMBER 2017, lot 542
Sotheby’s London, 11th June 1996, lot 12
Huang Junbi – Running Stream in Cloudy Mountains (1947)
Ink and colour on paper, hanging scroll
Dimensions: 133.8 by 60.9 cm, 52 5/8 by 24 in.
Provenance:
A private Asian collection
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, ‘Chinese Art from the T.Y. Chao Collection’, 30 Nov. – 1 Dec. 2017
A Hong Kong private collection
Sotheby’s London, 11th June 1996, lot 159.
A flambé-glazed ‘Meiping’ vase (Qianlong six-character incised seal mark and of the period, 1736-1795)
Dimensions: 35cm high
Provenance:
Christie’s London (May 2018)
A private English collection, acquired in the 1970s
A silver-inlaid tripod censer with wood stand and cover (Ming dynasty)
Dimensions: Height 25cm
Provenance:
A private Irish collection
A black-glazed ‘trompe l’oeil’ wall vase with faux-ivory celadon stand decorated with ‘ruyi’ (Qianlong period, 18th century)
Dimensions: 25cm high
Provenance:
A private European collection
Christie’s Paris, ‘Palais Abbatial de Royaumont’, 19-21 September 2011, lot 497
Palais Abbatial de Royaumont (Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild)
A group of Chinese bronzes from a private collection (Song to Ming dynasty)
Dimensions: various
Provenance:
A European private collection, acquired between the 1980s and 2000s
Sold separatelyA ‘Yue’ ware celadon-glazed ‘chicken head’ ewer (Western Jin, 266–316 AD)
Dimensions: 19 cm diameter
Provenance:
A private English collection, acquired in Indonesia in the 1970s
Compare an almost identical ewer excavated from Wujindun Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, illustrated by the Cultural Relics Protection Management Office.
A rare white-glazed Anhua-decorated ‘lotus’ stem cup (Ming dynasty, Jiajing period)
Dimensions: 14.5cm diameter
Provenance:
A private Asian collection
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, ‘CHINESE ART INCLUDING SELECTED WORKS OF ART FROM THE T.Y. CHAO FAMILY COLLECTION’, 30 NOVEMBER 2017, lot 432
Sotheby’s London, 11th June 1996, lot 33
Compare a similar stem cup from the PHILIP CARDEIRO COLLECTION sold at Christie’s London, 13 May 2014.
An amber and cream-glazed pottery groom (Tang Dynasy, 618-906 AD)
Dimensions: 58 cm high
Provenance:
A private collection in The Netherlands
Christie’s London 2001
A private English collection, acquired in Hong Kong in the 1990s
Oxford TL-tested, Sample No. C101k89 (25 May 2001)
A silver and turquoise inlaid gilt bronze figure of ‘Yama’ (14th century)
Dimensions: Height 5” without stand
Provenance:
A private American Collector, acquired from an important Hong Kong gallery in the 1990s
A small ‘Qingbai’ lobed box and cover, moulded in the shape of chrysanthemum petals with a workshop mark reading ‘Li Jia He Zi’ (Song dynasty, 12th-13th century)
Dimensions: 6.9cm diameter
Provenance:
A private English collection, acquired in Indonesia in the 1970s
Compare a nearly identical, slightly lower ‘qingbai’ porcelain box of the same shape and diameter was excavated from the Hutian kiln in Jingdezhen between 1988 and 1999 and is now in the collection of the Jingdezhen Museum of Civilian Kiln. Another larger, but in terms of design closely comparable, ‘qingbai’ box is in the Yuegutang collection in Berlin, illustrated in ‘Yuegutang – A Collection of Chinese Ceramics in Berlin’, Krahl, R. Berlin, 2000, no. 205, p. 251.
A small blue ‘lotus’ jar and cover with applied blossoming branch (Yuan dynasty, 1269-1368)
Dimensions: 10cm high
Provenance:
A private English collection, acquired in Indonesia in the 1970s
A silver and gold inlaid bronze archaistic vase, ‘Hu’ (Qianlong period, 18th century)
Dimensions: Height 181/4 inches
Provenance:
A private European collection
Christie’s London, 6 November 2007 (lot 111)
A gilt bronze figure of Mahakala (17th century)
Dimensions: Height 4 3/4” without stand
Provenance:
A private American Collector, acquired from an important Hong Kong gallery in the 1990s
A rare reticulated ‘Longquan’ celadon pear-shaped vase, ‘Yuhuchunping’, with incised decoration, and Japanese fitted box (Yuan dynasty, circa 1400)
Dimensions: 31.5cm high
Provenance:
A private Asian collection
Longquan celadon glazed vases of this type are rare, and the few existing examples mostly date to the Ming Dynasty. Compare a similar, albeit smaller example dating to the Ming Dynasty offered at Christie’s HK in the ‘Imperial Sale’ on 1 June 2016, lot 3314. Another example was sold at Sotheby’s London, 7 November 2012, lot 221.
A pair of white-glazed Meiping vases (Ming dynasty, 16th century)
Dimensions: each 21cm
Provenance:
A private Asian collection
Sotheby’s London, 10 November 2017, lot 248
An English Private Collection
Collection of Warren E. Cox
Collection of Ira and Nancy Koger
Literature:
John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics: The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pl. 53.
A ‘Yue’ ware celadon-glazed vessel in the form of a bear (Western Jin, 266-316 AD)
Dimensions: 9 cm high
Provenance:
A private English collection, acquired in Indonesia in the 1970s
Compare another animal, a celadon-glazed ram dating to the Western Jin Dynasty, sold at Sotheby’s London, Important Chinese Art (16 May 2018).
‘Asian Art In London brings together over sixty of the world’s top dealers, major auction houses and museums for an annual ten-day celebration of the finest Asian art.’
We are excited to be part of this prestigious event again this year.
A blue-glazed reclining buffalo (Tang Dynasty, 8th century)
Dimensions: 18.5 cm wide, 12 cm high
Provenance: Sze Yuan Tang Collection
We will be exhibiting various Chinese works of art, including ‘Sancai’ pieces from the important ‘Sze Yuan Tang Collection’.
