Lot 3039. A finely carved 'Peony Pavilion' rhinoceros horn libation cup, late Ming-early Qing dynasty, 17th century. Estimate HKD 2,000,000 - HKD 3,000,000 (USD 260,000 - USD 390,000). Price Realised HKD 4,580,000 (USD 590,710). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Of curved conical form retaining the original shape of the horn, carved and pierced in high relief with a tree-strewn landscape scene depicting Du Liniang seated within a pavilion perched on the side of a cliff below a plum tree emerging from the clouds, the reverse depicting Liu Mengmei seated on horseback accompanied by a servant approaching the pavilion below a poetic inscription describing the scene carved in low relief, the handle formed by the knotted branches of a pine tree continuing over the rim to the interior of the vessel, the material of an amber tone becoming darker at the core - 6 1/2 in. (16.8 cm.) high, wood stand, box

Provenance: The Songzhutang Collection, acquired from a European collection, 1998 

Note: The poem is a four-line verse which may be translated as: 

Raining clouds resembling smoke;
fast descending onto the Jade Pavilion in the yonder mountain.
In the pavilion one is dreaming of grassy fields;
as if in a drunken stupor, at a time when apricot flowers blossom. 

The scenes depicted around the sides of this libation cup refer to the late Ming dynasty play 'The Peony Pavilion' by Tang Xianzu in which the daughter of an important official, Du Liniang, dreams of an encounter with a young scholar, Liu Mengmei. When she wakes from her dream she is so consumed with her longing for the scholar that she dies and is buried in the family's garden beside a plum tree. It is only when Liu Mengmei coincidentally rests at the family's home on his way to the Imperial examinations and sees a portrait of Du Liniang, that he decides to open her coffin and finds her alive. This famous story remains by far the most popular vernacular play of the Ming dynasty. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 30 November 2011, Hong Kong

Lot 3042. A finely carved 'Pavilion' rhinoceros horn libation cup, Ming dynasty, early 17th century. Estimate HKD 2,000,000 - HKD 3,000,000 (USD 260,000 - USD 390,000). Price Realised HKD 3,260,000 (USD 420,462). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The thick walls deeply carved and pierced to depict plantain, wutongand maple trees growing by the banks of a river, finely detailed with incised rippled water and blossoming lotus plants, carved to one side with a crouching attendant washing an inkstone beside a large pavilion on the riverbank, the river meandering between the rockwork to the underside of the base, the handle formed by a large pierced rocky outcrop, the interior carved above the handle with a gnarled pine tree with leafy branches growing along both sides below the rim, the material of deep caramel tone with pale amber shading; 6¾ in. (17.1 cm.) wide, wood stand, box

Provenance: The Songzhutang Collection, previously sold at Christie's London, 16 November 1998, lot 113  

Literature: T. Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 222, no. 163

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, 2002-2005

Note: The present cup is well carved with differing layers to provide a varying degree of depth in the landscape. Instead of using tall trees to fashion the handle, in this instance ornamental rocks are rendered in openwork. The imagery of lotus blooms growing on rippled water with only a solitary depiction of an attendant washing an inkstone in the river, creates a scholarly theme of a lazy summer, drawing the viewer into the lone pavilion for a respite from the summer heat. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 30 November 2011, Hong Kong

Lot 3035. A finely carved peach-form rhinoceros horn libation cup, Late Ming-Early Qing dynasty, 17th century. Estimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 600,000 (USD 52,000 - USD 77,000). Price Realised HKD 500,000 (USD 64,488). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

In the form of a hollowed peach carved to the rounded sides in relief with gnarled branches laden with fruit and long slender leaves gracefully draped over the rim and extending to the base, the material of a light honey tone - 2¾ in. (7 cm.) wide, wood stand, box

Provenance: The Songzhutang Collection, acquired in New York, 1997   

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth: Gems of Antiquities Collections in Hong Kong, 2002-2005 

Note: Compare with another larger peach-form cup in the Chester Beatty Library Collection, Dublin, illustrated by J. Chapman, The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 174, no. 277 where the significance of the peach in Chinese mythology is discussed. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 30 November 2011, Hong Kong

Lot 150. A rare Vincennes gold-mounted bleu céleste-ground water jug and cover, most likely made for Marie Josèphe, Dauphine of France, dated 1754 (date letter A). Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 (€48,000 - 72,000). Photo Bonhams.

Suzuribako writing box, Last third of the 19th century. Box: wood, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, ivory, stone. Techniques: iro-urushi, takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, togidashi, nashiji, ohirame, inlay, carving. Water-dropper: silver, non-ferrous alloys, 24.3 × 22 × 4.9cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

SAINT PETERSBURG - Around 700 first-rate exhibits – ceramics and metalwork finished in a variety of techniques, articles decorated with enamel and lacquer show visitors the beauty of the work of Japanese craftsmen. 

The second half of the 19th century was an exceptional time for Japan. The country abandoned its policy of self-isolation and began to change at a rapid pace, pursuing a course of modernization and “westernization” in all aspects of life. International treaties were concluded with several states regulating legal and commercial relations; the political system was reformed; large commercial enterprises were created; culture and art began to receive government support. The young Emperor Mutsuhito (1851–1912) came to power. His motto, and posthumous name, was the term Meiji (“enlightened rule”), reflecting an intention to create a new, modern Japan. By the end of the century, all-embracing reforms enabled the Land of the Rising Sun to occupy a worthy place among the leading nations of the world.

Ryōshibako box, Last third of the 19th century. Box: wood, lacquer, mother-of-pearl. Techniques: takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, togidashi, shu-urusi, nashiji, kirikane, inlay; 40 × 31 × 14.2cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

In the exhibition, metalwork is represented by the creations of the court craftsmen Kano Natsuo, Suzuki Chokichi, Hiratsuka Mohei and Komai Otojirō. These are pieces made from various alloys decorated in the techniques of gold and silver hatching and inlay, quite often covered with patinas in several shades. The painstaking finishing of such articles was compared to the weaving of brocade: the extremely fine details need to be carefully viewed, at times with magnification, to appreciate the quality of the workmanship. The exhibition includes some unique works of Japanese plastic art in metal: a pair of gilded vases by the master craftsman Mitsumine which have no known parallels in other collections.

Pair of vases, Circa 1880. Copper, gold, silver, alloys. Techniques: casting, chasing, engraving, inlay, gilding, patination. Height: 30cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

The field of applied art most fully reflected in the exhibition is enamelware. The time span here is fairly broad, covering a period from the early experimental attempts at enamelling to the 1910s, when the technique for decorating objects had been elevated to perfection. Vases and vessels embellished with transparent, translucent or opaque enamel, over a single-coloured, sometimes contrasting black mirrored ground, with transitions from one shade of colour to another or precise boundaries in the pattern of the ornamentation. Another distinctive feature of the enamelware is the naturalistic depiction of birds, flowers and landscapes that can be described as close to the realistic manner of painting. These exquisite objects are true masterpieces of coloured cloisonné (using fine silver partitions) and non-cloisonné enamelling. The exhibits include works by well-known craftsmen – Namikawa Yasuyuki, Namikawa Sosuke, Ando Jubei and Hayashi Kodenji.

The technique of making enamelware was exceptionally expensive, require enormous investments of time and effort. This may explain the fact that when the Meiji era drew to a close the majority of workshops closed down and soon the skills acquired through years of experience became lost.

Vase, Workshop of Namikawa Sosuke, 1890s–1900s. Copper alloy, shakudo, enamel. Height: 20cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

A remarkable collection of Japanese ceramics is represented by celebrated Satsuma vases and incense-burners, the painted decoration of which is remarkable for its exquisite conciseness. The province of Satsuma on the island of Kyushu, which gave its name to a whole class of ceramic ware, became one of the leading centres of Japanese pottery-making from the late sixteenth century. The local products of light-coloured clay covered with a translucent cream glaze with a craquelure network of fine cracks rapidly gained recognition across the whole of Japan as early as the 1600s. For all the variety in methods of decoration, there are obvious common technical, technological and stylistic features in the finishing of “Satsuma ware”. The most noticeable feature of such decoration (representing part of its innovative character) was the use of genre compositions, sometimes elaborately composed multifigure scenes that had previously been extremely rare in the decoration of Japanese earthenware and porcelain. The exhibition features pieces from the Kinkozan, Yabu Meizan and other workshops.

Vase with “mille-fleurs” decoration, Workshop of Kinkōzan (Kinkōzan Sōbei), Kyoto, Middle to second half of the 19th century. Earthenware, glaze; polychrome overglaze painting, gilding. Height: 30cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

The collection of lacquerware, made from precious varieties of wood and decorated in a manner traditional for the Far East, is represented by objects typical for the time in question. There are cabinets with doors inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and expensive imported materials; caskets embellished with gold lacquer in different shades. The decorative compositions had popular subjects: personages from literature, history or mythology, topographical views and the temples of Japan, motifs in the “flowers and birds” genre. Gold painting in low relief, sometimes executed with a brush literally as fine as a single hair, and inlaid gold spangles are testimony to the labour-intensive and expensive nature of the work. Various methods of finishing lacquerware can be seen in the decoration of a cabinet attributed to the craftsman Shibata Zeshin.

Sagedansu cabinet By Shibata Zeshin (attrib.), 1890s. Lacquer, mother-of-pearl, silver. Techniques: takamaki-e, hiramaki-e, iro-e, inlay, forging, engraving, patination; 36.6 × 21.3 × 28.9cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

It is appropriate to note the difference between Japanese and Russian lacquer. In Russia, as in Europe, lacquer or varnish was always a coating material, applied in a thin layer at the final stage and intended to provide protection against environmental factors for the oil paints on a canvas, for example, or the painted decoration on Palekh boxes. It was never regarded as a material in its own right, possessing its own beauty. Japanese craftsmen, by contrast, took to applying lacquer in multiple coats, “immersing” an image in its depths. As a result, the decoration acquired the optical effect of volume.

The exhibition curators are Anna Vasilyevna Savelyeva, head of the Far East sector, and Maria Lvovna Menshikova, senior researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of the East. The owner of the collection is Zakhar Davidovich Smushkin. A four-volume scholarly illustrated catalogue has been prepared for the exhibition in both Russian and English. 

From 19 November 2016 to 2 April 2017

Benkei and the Bell, Workshop of Miyao Eisuke, Circa 1890. Bronze. Techniques: casting, engraving, gilding, patination. Stand: wood, takamaki-e lacquer. Height with the stand: 71cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

Owl, By Hideyoshi, Circa 1900. Bronze, silver, non-ferrous alloy, glass (eyes). Techniques: casting, engraving, gilding, silvering, enamel, patination. Height with the stand: 23.2cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

Buddha Shakyamuni. Mark: Meibidō, Mid-19th Century. Earthenware, glaze; polychrome overglaze painting, gilding. Height: 30cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

The Goddess Kannon, By Kizan, Mid-19th Century. Earthenware, glaze; polychrome overglaze painting, gilding. Height: 37cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

Vase with a depiction of flowers, fruit and insects, By Meizan, Late 19th century. Earthenware, glaze; relief, polychrome overglaze painting, gilding. Height: 39cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

Censer with openwork carving, Workshop of Chin Jukan, Early 20th century. Earthenware, glaze; openwork carving. Height: 19.2cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

Lidded vase with a depiction of peonies, Workshop of Yabu Meizan, Osaka, Late 19th century. Earthenware, glaze; polychrome overglaze painting, gilding. Height with lid: 33.7cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

Pair of vases, Ando workshop, 1910s. Copper alloy, silver, enamel. Height:44.8cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum. 

Pair of vases, Made by Kawade Shibataro, Early 1900s. Copper alloy, silver, enamel; carved wood (stand). Height: 31.3cm © 1998 - 2016 The State Hermitage Museum.

Caspar David Friedrich, After the Storm, 1817.

COPENHAGEN.- The National Gallery of Denmark has received a spectacular gift: a painting by one of the most important landscape artists ever to come out of Germany, Caspar David Friedrich. The acquisition is nothing short of marvellous, says SMK director Mikkel Bogh, and in fact the painting came into the museum’s hands through something of a coincidence. 

The SMK collections are now enriched by an important new work. Thanks to truly extraordinary support from the Augustinus Foundation, Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen’s Foundation and the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, the museum has been able to acquire the painting After the Storm from 1817 by the German artist Caspar David Friedrich. 

Friedrich holds a special position within Romantic art and is considered the most important German painter of the first half of the nineteenth century. His landscapes are carried by a dual approach: a visionary outlook on nature and a meticulous study of even the smallest of natural phenomena. Depictions of nature imbued with a keenly felt spiritual or religious quality are an important aspect of his art. SMK has long wished to acquire a painting by Friedrich, says Mikkel Bogh, director of SMK. 

"We have dreamt of adding Caspar David Friedrich to our collection for a long time, and we’ve been particularly interested in this painting. Friedrich, whose approach to landscapes had a massive impact on Nordic art in the nineteenth century, very rarely appears on the art market. This work is a truly unique and magnificent addition to our collection of European art, and I am very pleased that we are now able to share this painting with our guests,”says Mikkel Bogh.
 

In After the Storm a ship has run off course, smashing onto the rocks. But perhaps the rocks are also the ship’s salvation, embedding it on firm ground. Ships at sea were a recurring theme in Caspar David Friedrich’s art, often symbolising the journey of life. Perhaps this scene shows the firm bedrock of faith saving the ship. 

After the Storm belongs to Friedrich’s mature period, a time when several of his most important works were created. Its subject matter prefigures his masterpiece The Sea of Ice from 1824. On the back of the old nineteenth century frame is a wax seal that provides key information about the past history of the painting. The seal belongs to a Dresden family called Bongardt, which presumably acquired the painting back in Friedrich’s own day, and the work remained in the family’s ownership until 1956. This is to say that the painting did not change hands during the years of Nazi rule. The most recent owner bought the painting in the late 1980s, and it was presented to the public through Galerie Arnoldi-Livie in Munich in 1987.  

The then-director of SMK, Villads Villadsen, contacted the gallery to inquire about the price, but at the time it was beyond the museum’s purse. The painting remained unsold, but was loaned to Neue Pinakothek in Munich, where it hung for twenty-five years. SMK borrowed it for the exhibition Caspar David Friedrich and Denmark in 1991. The fact that the Friedrich painting has now found a new home at SMK is something of a coincidence, explains Kasper Monrad, chief curator and senior researcher at SMK. 

”Amusingly, the process was actually launched by a rather too fantastical proposition. Back in 2012, a Danish art dealer contacted us, offering to sell us this exact painting. The price was somewhat vague, but quite high, and it was not quite possible to ascertain whether the art dealer actually had the painting in his possession or whether he was merely a go-between. After some time, however, he announced that the painting had been sold to an American art museum. When I saw the painting in its accustomed place at Neue Pinakothek a few weeks later, I was of course rather surprised and so contacted its owners – who had never heard of the Danish art dealer. The painting was not for sale at that time, but we had an excellent chat, and the owners promised that they would keep SMK in mind if they ever decided to sell. They did so a few months ago,” relates Kasper Monrad.  

Friedrich’s paintings are highly sought-after, and only very few remain in private ownership. Over the last twenty-five years only five paintings have been sold at auction. Four out of those five have ended up at some of the leading museums in the world: the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. 

Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) grew up in Greifswald near the Baltic Sea, and he visited the nearby island of Rügen all his life. Here he repeatedly observed the sky and sea in all weathers, and coastal scenes and marines make up a very sizable part of his paintings and drawings. It is likely that his preliminary sketches for After the Storm were made at the coast of Rügen. The dramatic, finely nuanced depiction of the stormy sky testifies to how Friedrich, like many other European painters, was keenly interested in exploring cloud formations and changing lighting conditions. He has very carefully portrayed details such as the gulls, the partially broken mast, the fluttering ropes and the rain falling out at sea.
 

Friedrich’s art was well known and much admired in Denmark during his own day, and after studying art in Copenhagen in 1794–98 he maintained some contact with the Danish art scene. He lived in Dresden, but several Danish artists made his acquaintance, not least due to his friendship with the Norwegian landscape painter J.C. Dahl. His painstaking study of nature in particular linked Friedrich to Danish art. Several young Danish painters looked to Friedrich for inspiration, wanting a more atmospheric and Romantic feel to their art than was offered by their teacher, Eckersberg. 

At SMK After the Storm hangs in Room 217 E, side by side with paintings by J.C. Dahl and other landscape painters of the Romantic era.

Lot 2924. A fine peachbloom-glazed beehive waterpot, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period (1662-1722). Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,800,000 (USD 160,000 - USD 230,000). Price Realised HKD 1,340,000 (USD 172,828). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

The rounded sides rising to a short, slightly flaring neck, incised with three archaistic dragon roundels beneath a glaze of even, crushed strawberry tone suffused with mottled areas of copper-green, the rim, interior and base white - 4 15/16 in. (12.5 cm.) diam., box 

Provenance: Previously sold at Christie's New York, 6 June 1985, lot 441
Acquired from a private collection, Milan 

Notes: Waterpots of this form are known as Taibai zun, after the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai (also named Li Taibai, 701-762) who is often depicted leaning against a large wine vat of this shape. They are also known as jichao zunbecause their shape resembles that of a basketwork chicken coop that is woven with a small opening at the top through which the chicks are fed. This form belongs to a group of vessels for the scholar's desk, known as the badama, 'Eight Great Numbers', which were specially devised in these classic forms to serve as requisite appointments for the Emperor's writing table, with the peachbloom glaze specifically used for these eight shapes.

Similar peachbloom waterpots are in various museums and collections worldwide, including the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Earth, Fire and Water: Chinese Ceramic Technology, London, 1996, no. 24, p. 34; the Baur Collection, Catalogue, vol. III, Geneva, 1999, nos. A305, A310 and A313-A316; a full set of the eight vessels at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 237; the British Museum, Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, no. 230. 

Lot 2926. A fine and very rare café-au-lait-glazed chrysanthemum dish, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate HKD 2,500,000 - HKD 3,500,000 (USD 330,000 - USD 450,000). Price Realised HKD 2,900,000 (USD 374,030). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

The rounded sides moulded to the interior and exterior as petals rising to a scalloped rim, supported on a similarly shaped short foot, covered overall in a lustrous coffee-brown glaze, the base white - 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm.) diam.  

Provenance: The K.W. Woollcombe-Boyce Collection (no. 17) 
The E.G. Kostolany Collection
The Lorant Goldschlager Collection 

Literature: A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 223, fig. 14 

Notes: Chrysanthemum-shaped dishes from the Yongzheng period were made in a series of twelve colours, a complete set in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain,The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 282-283, no. 257. Six are illustrated by Feng Xianming, Wenwu, 1984, p. 37, no. 10, where the author notes that a decree was issued in the eleventh year of Yongzheng (corresponding to 1733) instructing Nian Xiyao, Minister of the Imperial Household, to send 'the twelve colours of chrysanthemum dishes, one of each colour, for the inspection of the permanent guardian of the treasury and chief eunuch Samuha'. The decree further mentions 'forty pieces to be fired of every type according to the samples'.

Other similar Yongzheng cafe-au-lait glazed dishes are published, one in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Xiong Liao, Beauty of Ceramics: Gems of the Official Kilns, Taipei, 1993, pl. 153; one included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition, Monochrome Ceramics of Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1977, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 95; and one with a pale cafe-au-lait enamel in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in the Catalogue, Section 6, no. B597. 

Lot 2927. A fine and very rare turquoise enamelled chrysanthemum dish, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate HKD 3,000,000 - HKD 4,000,000 (USD 390,000 - USD 520,000). Price Realised HKD 5,420,000 (USD 699,050). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

The rounded sides moulded to the interior and exterior as petals rising to a scalloped rim, supported on a similarly shaped short foot, covered overall in an opaque turquoise enamel except for the medallion with the reign mark on the base and foot rim - 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm.) diam.  

Provenance: The T.Y. Chao Private and Family Trust Collections, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18 November 1986, lot 106  

Exhibited: Included in the Exhibition of Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1978, Catalogue, no. 57 

Notes: Chrysanthemums have proved an inspiration to Chinese craftsmen working in many media - providing both shapes and decoration. The admiration for this flower in China has a very long history, and they are even mentioned in early classical Chinese literature, such as the Zhou Dynasty (1027-476 BC) Book of Odes. Chrysanthemums are one of the 'flowers of the four seasons' in China, representing autumn, while along with lotus, orchid and bamboo, they are regarded as one of the 'four gentlemen of flowers', and are symbols of longevity and wealth. The reason they are associated with longevity is because in Chinese the word for chrysanthemum sounds similar to a word meaning 'long enduring', and also because infusions made from their petals have medicinal properties.

Chrysanthemum-shaped dishes with slender petals, like those on this dish, were made in both the Yongzheng and the Qianlong reigns, but those made for the Yongzheng Emperor have petals with slightly more pointed ends, adding to the delicacy of the form. Palace records for the 27th day of the 12th month of the 11th year of Yongzheng's reign (1733) note an order from the emperor to the director at the imperial kilns requesting twelve chrysanthemum-shaped dishes in different colours. A good deal of research was undertaken at the imperial kilns, at the behest of the emperor, during the Yongzheng reign, including the development of a significant range of new monochrome glazes and enamels. However, surviving examples of chrysanthemum dishes in this beautiful turquoise are very rare. 

Lot 2928. A fine and very rare carved archaistic turquoise-enamelled bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate HKD 1,000,000 - HKD 1,500,000 (USD 130,000 - USD 190,000). Price Realised HKD 5,540,000 (USD 714,527). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

The bowl is potted with thin rounded sides turning out slightly at the rim, carved in relief with two stylised archaistic mythical dragons around the lower body against a ground of incised leiwen, below a plain band and a keyfret border around the mouth, the exterior covered with a turquoise enamel, the interior and base with a transparent glaze - 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam., box .  

Provenance: Sold at Christie's London, 3 December 1973, lot 339
The Glatz Collection, London, 1977
Acquired from a private collection, Milan   

Literature: A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, 1984, p. 222, no. 6  

Notes: Bowls of this pattern were produced in the 18th century and reflected the Qing emperors' interest in archaism.

Compare with very similar examples of this colour illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics: from the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, London, 1996, fig. 559; and R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 2, no. 911. A larger bowl but without carved dragons is illustrated in Palace Museum Collection of Official Ware of the Qing Dynasty, vol. 1 part 2, Beijing, 2005, p. 448, pl. 211 (26 cm. diam.).  

Lot 2929. A fine and very rare Ru-type bronze-form footed-cup, Yongzheng six-character sealmark and of the period (1723-1735). Estimate HKD 1,000,000 - HKD 1,500,000 (USD 130,000 - USD 190,000). Price Realised HKD 5,540,000 (USD 714,527). © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

The heavily potted upright sides rising from a splayed foot with rectangular perforations to either side, covered overall with a thick glaze of pale bluish-green tint, the foot rim painted with a dark brown wash imitating the dark biscuit on celadon wares of the Song dynasty - 4 in. (10 cm.) diam., box   

Provenance: The J.M. Hu Family Collection, sold at Sotheby's New York, 4 June 1985, lot 48
Acquired from a private collection, Rome   

Notes: Ru glazes have traditionally been much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, and were copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were being made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984, a porcelain bowl with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns, illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Urban Council Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 276-277, no. 97. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.

No other bowl of this form appears to be recorded. As most Ru-type wares of the period imitate archaistic forms such as different bronze vases, this form is likely to have been inspired by an ancient prototype. Compare with a Guanyao vase with similar perforated foot ring dating to the Song dynasty (960-1279), illustrated by Weng Wan-go and Yang Boda, The Palace Museum, Peking: Treasures of the Forbidden City, New York, Abrams, 1982, pl. 18. Also see a pair of Yongzheng-marked lavender-blue bottle vases with perforated feet from the Meiyintang Collection, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 April 2011, lot 29.  

A pair of fine and extremely rare lavender-blue bottle vases, marks and period of Yongzheng. Sold 12,980,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, the Meiyintang Collection, 7 April 2011, lot 29. Photo: Sotheby's

Cf. A fine and extremely rare pair of lavender-blue bottle vases. Marks and period of Yongzheng

Lot 20. Rare ours en jade céladon-jaune, Dynastie Song ou antérieur. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 €. Lot sold 247,500 €. Photo: Sotheby's

finement sculpté en position assise, la patte arrière gauche allongée entre les pattes avant fermement plantées au sol, le dos arrondi, l'animal regardant vers l'avant, la gueule entrouverte détaillée d'oreilles aplaties en arrière, les yeux ronds dans des paupières creusées, la pierre vert clair aux tons jaunes rehaussée de fines mouchetures rouille, couverte d'une belle patine brillante - 5,1 cm, 2 in.

Provenance: Christie's New York, 1st December 1988, lot 66.
Christie's New York, 19th September 1996, lot 205

Notes: From the Western Han Dynasty onwards, an artistic tradition of creating jade animals of the highest quality flourished. In contrast to the majority of earlier two-dimensional jade carvings, made for the afterlife or to adorn the individual, these figural sculptures were created in the round as independent objects, not just as sumptuous display items for the appreciation of the elite, but also to provide the owner with a constant and concrete realisation of the powerful supernatural forces latent in the world around.

Evidence of this rich tradition of craftsmanship has been transmitted down through a small number of exquisite carvings, of which the present small yellowish-green jade bear is a fine example. The craftsman has made good use of a lustrous coloured pebble in which the full contours have been so skillfully and compactly utilised to depict the form of a seated bear. While it is realistically rendered, it lacks some of the strength and force of Han examples, being slightly more benign in appearance and pointing to a date closer to the Song Dynasty when a deliberate revival of ancient styles and forms was behind some of these exquisite carvings of jade animals.

Compare the small white jade figure of a bear carved in a similar standing position, and with similar features, found in the area of the tomb of the Han Emperor, Yuandi (r. 48-33 BC), near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, which is illustrated by Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade. From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 351, fig. 2(a).

Sotheby's. Jades Archaïques de Chine Comprenant L’ancienne Collection Max Loehr / Early Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings Including The Collection Of Max Loehr, Paris, 15 Dec 2016

Lot 39. Rare grande Dague cérémonielle en jade, ge, Dynastie Shang, ca. 1300 avant J.-C. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 €. Lot sold 87,500  €. Photo: Sotheby's

la lame fuselée se terminant en une pointe asymétrique et légèrement courbée, taillée de bords biseautés et de trois nervures nettement définies sur les deux faces, la jonction entre la lame et le tang percé d'une petite ouverture, la pierre brun olive naturellement mouchetée et par endroits calcifiée, la surface lisse couverte d'incrustations de terre et de cinabre - 34 cm, 13 3/8  in.

Provenance: Gifted by Bill Sawyer, November 1948 (according to Max Loehr's notes).
Collection of Prof. Max Loehr (1903-1988).
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993.

Exhibited: Chinese Archaic Jades and Bronzes from the Estate of Professor Max Loehr and Others, J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993, no. 43.

Literature: . J. Lally & Co., Chinese Archaic Jades and Bronzes from the Estate of Professor Max Loehr and Others, New York, 1993, cat. no. 43.

Sotheby's. Jades Archaïques de Chine Comprenant L’ancienne Collection Max Loehr / Early Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings Including The Collection Of Max Loehr, Paris, 15 Dec 2016

Lot 68. Neuf anneaux en agate, Dynastie des Zhou Orientaux, ca. VE-IIIE siècle avant J.-C. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 €. Lot sold 60,000 €. Photo: Sotheby's.

un petit en cornaline rouge et grise, un aux faces bombées en agate gris pâle translucide tachée de rouille et de brun, un aux bords arrondis en agate jaune pâle tachée de brun rougeâtre, une en agate translucide grise aux bords facetés, un large en agate vert mousse, un en agate tranluscide brun clair, un petit en agate gris translucide, un grand en agate translucide gris pâle tachetée de brun, et un en agate translucide grise aux inclusions brunes et de rouille (9) - De 3,3 à 6,1 cm, from 1 1/4  to 2 3/8  in.

Provenance: Collection of Prof. Max Loehr (1903-1988).
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993.

Exhibited: Chinese Archaic Jades and Bronzes fom the Estate of Professor Max Loehr and Others, J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993, no. 86. 

Literature: J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Archaic Jades and Bronzes. From the Estate of Professor Max Loehr and Others, New York, 1993, cat. no. 86. 

Sotheby's. Jades Archaïques de Chine Comprenant L’ancienne Collection Max Loehr / Early Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings Including The Collection Of Max Loehr, Paris, 15 Dec 2016

Lot 42. Huit dagues miniatures en jade, ge, Dynastie Shang-Dynastie des Zhou Occidentaux, ca. 1200-950 avant J.-C. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 €. Lot sold 35,000 €. Photo: Sotheby's.

EIGHT MINIATURE JADE DAGGERS, GE, SHANG DYNASTY TO WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, CA. 1200-950 BC

la fine lame allongée à la pointe en double biseau, le tang percé d'un petit orifice : l'une en jade de couleur vert olive aux tons jaunes, l'une en jade vert foncé (non percée), l'une en jade brun aux tons jaunes, l'une en jade couleur ivoire, l'une en jade gris et brun, l'une en jade vert épinard aux inclusions noires, l'une en jade gris olive au tang cranté, l'une en jade blanc à tons verts (8). De 5,9 à 12,6 cm, from 2 3/8  to 5 in..

Provenance: Six daggers: Acquired in Beijing, between January 1941 and November 1943, at least two acquired from Huang Jun (1880-1952) (Huang Bochuan), owner of Tong gu zhai (according to Max Loehr's notes).
Collection of Prof. Max Loehr (1903-1988). 
J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993..

Exhibited: Early Chinese Jades. A Loan Exhibition Presented by the Museum of Art, University of Michigan, Alumni Memorial Hall, Ann Arbor, March 22 through April 22, 1953, nos. 37-40.
Chinese Archaic Jades and Bronzes from the Estate of Professor Max Loehr and Others, J. J. Lally & Co., New York, 1993, no. 44. 

Literature: Max Loehr, Early Chinese Jades. A Loan Exhibition Presented by the Museum of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1953, cat. nos. 37-40.
J. J. Lally & Co., Chinese Archaic Jades and Bronzes from the Estate of Professor Max Loehr and Others, New York, 1993, cat. no. 44. 

Sotheby's. Jades Archaïques de Chine Comprenant L’ancienne Collection Max Loehr / Early Chinese Jade and Hardstone Carvings Including The Collection Of Max Loehr, Paris, 15 Dec 2016

Lot 129. Oratory with the crucifixion, Indo-Portuguese, Goa, 17th century. Estimate 70,000 — 100,000 GBP (92,792 - 139,188 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's.

teak, ebony with silver mounts, ivory, and gilt copper  - 110 by 64 by 32cm., 43¼ by 25 1/8  by 12 5/8 .

Literature: P. Dias, Mobiliário Indo-Português, Moreira de Cónegos, 2013, p. 160-165.

Notes: Oratories of this type were used in domestic interiors as private praying altars, although it is possible that they could have been used in individual monastic cells. The present example is exceptional not only for its scale but also for being the only known oratory which combines the traditional Goanese inlaid work of ebony and ivory on teak with a carved interior.

The subtle outside, decorated with exquisite floral designs issuing from vases, opens through hinged doors and sides, with richly carved scenes from the life of the Infant Christ, certainly inspired by European prints, as can be seen by the image of the Holy Family with the Holy Spirit by Hieronymus Wierix (fig.1). 

Earthly and Heavenly Trinity, engraving by Hieronymus Wierix (1553-1619).

The compartmentalised arrangement of scenes, although deprived of an architectural frame, follows the structure found in Goanese carved altars, the foremost example being the main altar at Goa Cathedral, which also has the unusual feature of a reticular decoration to columns. 

The coeval - and presumably made for this oratory - ebony Calvary group is unusually adorned with silver mounts, instead of the more common gilt copper, and presents a base which follows the early Baroque architectural structure of Goanese church facades. It holds six figures in niches representing episodes of Christ’s Passion. Above these, attending Christ, are ivory figures of Our Lady, St Magdalen and St John the Evangelist, of typical Goanese models (see Ferrão, figs. 173-4, p. 132).

RELATED LITERATURE: B. Ferrão de Tavares e Távora, Imaginária Luso-Oriental, Lisbon, 1983; P. Dias, A Talha Indo-Portuguesa, Coimbra, 2014.

Sotheby's. Of Royal and Noble Descent, London, 19 Jan 2017, 10:00 AM

Lot 304. An impressive and large pair of Chinese famille-rose soldier vases and covers, Qing Dynasty, Late 18th Century.  Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP . Photo: Sotheby's.

each of baluster form, brightly painted in famille-rose enamels with birds amongst flowering peony in a fenced garden, all between ruyi-shaped bands enclosing stylised flowers, the neck with floral scroll bands above a keyfret band, on later giltwood stands. Quantity: 4 - 133.7cm, 52 5/8  in..

Lot 281. A Chinese blue and white reticulated hookah base, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. Estimate 1,500 — 2,000 GBP . Photo: Sotheby's.

the double-walled globular body rising from a recessed base to a tall flanged neck with cup-shaped mouth, pierced around the exterior with ten rectangular diaper panels centred by a painted flower and divided by floral bands, the neck with vertical floral panels, the rim and flange dressed with brown glaze - 24cm., 9 1/2 in.

Property of the Princes Von Hatzfeld, Dukes of Trachenberg

Provenance: Formerly at Schloss Trachenberg, Silesia. 

Lot 120. A large Chinese bronze mirror, 17th-18th century. Estimate 1,000 — 1,500 GBP . Photo: Sotheby's.