Lot 3185. A blue and white ‘dragon’ jar and cover, Ming dynasty, 15th century, 8 1/2 in. (21.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000 (USD 38,686 - USD 64,478). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The jar is of ovoid form rising from a slightly tapered foot to a short neck. The globular sides brilliantly painted with two lively five-clawed dragons striding in pursuit of ‘flaming pearls’ amidst clouds and above a border crashing waves. All between a ruyi-head collar filling with lotus sprigs at the shoulders and a border lotus lappets at the base. The straight neck painted with a keyfret border. The domed and knopped cover painted with a band of ruyi cloud.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3186. A fahua‘lotus pond’ meiping, Ming dynasty, late 15th-early 16th century, 11 in. (28 cm.) high, Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000 (USD 38,686 - USD 64,478).  © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The vase is decorated with flowering lotus and lotus leaves above a band of crested rolling waves and below a band of pendent precious objects on a rich cobalt-blue ground, the decorative motifs on the vase are outlined in low relief slip lines.

Provenance: Hirano Kotoken, Tokyo, 2006

Note: Compare the current meiping to one of larger size and with different treatment to the shoulder, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2005, lot 1452.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3187. A large early Ming anhua-decorated tianbai'lotus bouquet' dish, Yongle period (1403-1425), 13 3/8 in. (34 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000 (USD 77,373 - USD 103,164). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

With rounded sides, the interior is delicately incised with a ribboned lotus bouquet surrounded by a composite floral meander issuing thirteen blooms. The decoration on the cavetto is repeated around the exterior but with fourteen blooms. Both sides have borders of classic scroll beneath the rim. A keyfret band circles the wedge-shaped foot. The dish is covered with an unctuous white glaze which stops at the foot rim.

Provenance: Johann Janssen (1896-1945), Berlin, and thence by descent within the family.

Note: Johann Janssen (1896-1945) was an employee of the art dealer Theodor Bohlken (1884-1954) and travelled to China on a yearly basis between 1928 and 1938.

Compare to two Yongle tianbai dishes with the same decoration but of slightly smaller size (31.5 cm. and 27.6 cm.) from the YC Chen Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lots 1907 and 1908.

A fine large early Ming anhua-decorated tianbai 'lotus bouquet' dish, Yongle period (1403-1425), 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm.) diam. Price realised HKD 1,710,000 (USD 221,315) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 1907. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

A fine early Ming anhua-decorated tianbai 'lotus bouquet' dish, Yongle period (1403-1425), 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm.) diam. Price realised HKD 1,470,000 (USD 190,253) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2013, lot 1908. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3188. A superb blue and white ‘dragon’ hexafoil basin, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619), 5 1/6 in. (38.2 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,800,000 (USD 154,746 - USD 232,119). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The basin is robustly potted in hexafoil section with deep rounded sides rising from a flat base to a broad everted rim, finely painted in bright cobalt-blue tones with two confronted, five-clawed dragons leaping amidst flames and clouds in pursuit of a flaming pearl. The lobed sides divided into six panels each with a dragon in pursuit of a flaming pearl, the rim repeated with the same subject, decorated to the exterior with the below further lingzhi scroll band around the underside of the rim, the base unglazed with a central circle glazed white and inscribed with the six-character Wanli reign mark in underglaze blue. 

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired from Shogodo in October 2010

Note: While similar Wanli-marked blue and white lobed basins are known, it is very rare to find one with the current pattern in hexafoil form. Only one other example with this combination appears to have been published, which is from the Chang Foundation and illustrated in Selected Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 104. Other blue and white examples, all in cinquefoil form, include one similarly painted with a descending and ascending dragon to the centre, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 7 July 2003, lot 651; and two with a single dragon amid floral scrolls to the centre, one from the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 18 September 1997, lot 152, the other sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 11th April 2008, lot 2936. For wucai examples from this group, compare to two hexafoil basins decorated with a dragon and phoenix to the centre, one illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 753, the second from the Tokyo National Museum, published in Oriental Ceramics, The World’s Great Collections, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 77; and a cinquefoil basin with a single dragon from the Jingguantang Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 1997, lot 89.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3189. A doucai'ruyi' dish, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double square and of the period (1522-1566), 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000 (USD 25,791 - USD 38,686). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The dish is decorated to the interior with a band of interlinking ruyi heads. The reserve is painted with seven lingzhi-form motifs in alternating colours. 

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3190. A rare large wucai dish with lanterns and officials, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619), 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 600,000 (USD 51,582 - USD 77,373). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The dish, with the scene of Chinese lantern festival, is painted in the interior with a hanging banner at the centre surrounded by three lanterns and two attendants. The well with a band of lotus flowers and scrolling foliage. The underside is further decorated with ribbon-tiedruyi, coin, ingot and lonzenge, alternating with lanterns.

Note: Compare to a similar dish from the collection of Beijing Palace Museum, is illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan wenwu zhenpin daxi: wucai, doucai, Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, 1999, p.52, pl.48. See also another dish of this pattern illustrated in Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 850.

Compare to a further Wanli-marked wucai dish of similar size but with a dragon design, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 October 2015, lot 3667.

A wucai'dragon' dish, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619), 33.6 cm, 13 1/4  in.. Sold 1,000,000 HKD at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 October 2015, lot 3667. Photo: Sotheby's.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3191.  A blue and white ‘mythical animals’ bowl, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1573-1619), 6.5 in. (16.6 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 700,000 - HKD 900,000 (USD 90,268 - USD 116,060) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

 The deep rounded sides are well painted with a continuous band of animals, including five-clawed dragons, fox, qilin and ox, above six of the Eight Treasures around the foot and below a band of detached flowering and fruiting sprays around the mouth rim. The centre of the interior is painted with a medallion enclosing a five-clawed en facedragon coiling around a flaming pearl. 

Note: Wanli-marked blue and white bowls of this pattern are rare, and only two other examples appear to have been published, the first was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3827, and the second was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2013, lot 3122. Elements from this bowl can be found on other published examples decorated with mythical scenes from the Wanli period. Compare the fruiting sprig border beneath the rim as well as the interior ‘dragon’ roundel with an example decorated with a scene of Li Ji slaying a snake included in the University of Hong Kong exhibition The Fame of Flame, Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, Hong Kong, 2009, Catalogue no. 80, and the depiction of qilin with a dish, ibid., no. 87.

A fine and very rare blue and white ‘mythical animals’ bowl, Wanli six-character mark within double circles and of the period (1573-1619), 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box. Price realised HKD 800,000 (USD 103,315) at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3827. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

A blue and white ‘mythical animals’ bowl, Mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619), 16.5 cm., 6 1/2  in. Sold for 475,000 HKD at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2013, lot 3122. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Lot 3192. A rare blue and white ‘fruits and flowers’ box and cover, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566), 6 7/8 in. (17.3 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box.  Estimate HKD 350,000 - HKD 550,000 (USD 45,134 - USD 70,925). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The centre of the domed cover is finely painted with seven various floral and fruiting sprays above a frieze of similar design repeated on the sides of the box, all within double line borders.

Provenance: Acquired from Mayuyama Ryusendo between 1965-1975
A Japanese private collection

Exhibited: Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Tokubetsu tenji: Higashi ajiya no futamono (Special Exhibition: East Asian Boxes), Izumi, 18 March – 13 May 1984, Catalogue no. 89

Note: It is very rare to find a Jiajing-marked box with this design, as most other examples are painted with either cranes or dragons. For a slightly larger box and cover painted with cranes, compare to the example sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2007, lot 306, and one with dragons, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1184.

A blue and white 'dragon' box and cover, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566). Price realised USD 25,000 at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1184. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007

NEW YORK – Achieving a record-shattering $110.5 million, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled, 1982, led the Contemporary Art Evening sale on 18 May. The price is the highest paid at auction for a work by an American artist and for any artwork created after 1980. It was Basquiat's night, with five of the artist's works realising a combined $129.3 million. Kicking off the sale was Jonas Wood’s Black Still Life, which brought $1.2 million – wildly exceeding its $250,000 low estimate. Energetic bidding ensued, with with Roy Lichtenstein’s Nude Sunbathing bringing in $24 million and Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild reaching $15.4 million. Other star lots included Cy Twombly’s Silex Scintillans ($8.3 million) and Agnes Martin’s Untitled #13 ($8.1 million), both exceeding their high estimates. 

"Tonight, Jean-Michel Basquiat entered the pantheon of artists whose works have commanded prices over $100 million, including Picasso, Giacometti, Bacon, and Warhol,” commented Grégoire Billault, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Department in New York. “This extraordinary canvas from 1982 has broken so many benchmarks – a record for any American artist at auction and for a work of art created post-1980, to name just two – but those of us lucky enough to have been in its presence will only remember it’s awesome power. To think that it was created by a virtually-unknown 21-year old is humbling. We are thrilled that it was purchased by Yusaku Maezawa for his planned museum so others will have a chance to experience its magic firsthand.” 

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982. Sold for $110.5 million.  Purchased by Yusaku Maezawa. Auction Record for Any Work by an American Artist. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Irrefutably the most significant work by the artist to ever appear at auction, Untitled ranks among the ultimate paragons of the Jean-Michel Basquiat’s oeuvre, and is the commanding counterpart to Basquiat’s Untitled (Head) in the collection of The Broad Museum. As an indisputable masterpiece from the singular formative year of Basquiat’s meteoric career, the unveiling of Untitled marks an extraordinary moment within the legacy of Contemporary Art’s most mythic and revered figure. Built up of innumerable layers of vibrant hues and coursing rivulets of pigment, Untitled is an unparalleled example of the virtuosic ability to apply, execute, shift, and render paint upon canvas that distinguished Basquiat as an undisputed master within the vanguard of young and ambitious image-makers.

Roy Lichtenstein, Nude Sunbathing, 1995. Sold for $24 million. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Robert Rauschenberg, Rigger, 1961. Sold for $12.3 million. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Within the oeuvre of an artist whose work is unconditionally shaped and influenced by his immediate surroundings, Rigger pronounces an abstract vernacular that is exceptionally particularized to—and intimately revealing of—Robert Rauschenberg’s life in Lower Manhattan at the time of its creation. Emphatically architectural, the explicit elements which make up the present work speak to both the specifics of his downtown neighborhood and the rapid changes occurring there, the result of major urban re-development in New York in the early 1960s. In a thunderous cataclysm of gestural bravura, arresting multidimensionality, and staggeringly innovative experimentation, Rigger is a seminal example of Rauschenberg’s singular engagement with the very nature of artistic form in his celebrated Combine paintings. 

David Hockney, Building, Pershing Square, Los Angeles. Sold for $7.9 million. Photo: Sotheby's.  

A critical early landmark of David Hockney’s era-defining painted visions of Los Angeles, Building, Pershing Square, Los Angeles encapsulates the very genesis of his lifelong enchantment with the magnetic allure of Southern California. Furrthermore this work crucially displays the artist’s formative radical experimentation with various technical and compositional concerns at the beginning of his storied career. Evincing his ongoing dialogue with abstraction, Hockney’s painting is dominated by straight edges and simplified shapes—the primary image is isolated in the center of the composition, framed by a flat background and three strips of color approximating the city street that runs along the bottom of the picture.  

Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Face 41.05), 2010. Sold for $7 million. Photo: Sotheby's.  

With a bravado that echoes the rich action paintings of Abstract Expressionist titans Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, and a vectored composition that pays tribute to Futurists such as Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini, Untitled successfully integrates ineffable dynamism into a syntax of gestural expression. The radial bands of scarlet vermillion, deep phthalo blue, cadmium yellow, and viridian green explode layer by layer through the composition, setting the picture plane into undulating motion. Grotjahn juxtaposes these strong primary colors against more muted hues that he has tinted with white, grey, and other light neutrals.

Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, 2012. Sold for $6.9 million.Photo: Sotheby's.  

Upon exposure to Untitled, one is immersed in a spectacular vision of thousands of graffiti inscriptions that Rudolf Stingel has cast in eletroplated copper. Because of its reflective sheen, the gilded surface resists the gaze, like a mirror, so that one becomes aware of their presence in the face of the work. The installation comprised of expansive aluminum-coated Celotex boards that lined the gallery walls. Allowed to depart radically from traditional museum protocol, viewers were invited to imprint, scribble, and incise any kind of mark with any available material, imparting an aspect of performativity to Stingel's installation that aligns him within a greater tradition of relational aesthetics. 

 Philip Guston's Cigar boldly encapsulates the audacious innovation of the artist's celebrated late corpus of figurative paintings. Painted in 1969, Cigar is amongst the earliest iterations of Guston’s radical transformation when, after decades of acclaim as a key member of the New York School and the “high priest of the abstract expressionist painting cult,” the artist abandoned the gestural flourishes of abstracted color and interpretive freedom that had become the hallmarks of his distinctive aesthetic, replacing them with bold, stylistic, and symbolically charged figurative paintings. 

Keith Haring, Untitled, 1982. Sold for $6.5 million. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Untitled epitomizes Haring’s inimitable aptitude for conveying pulsating movement through forms distilled to their most basic, essential components. Haring’s confident hand draws bold, self-assured strokes, eschewing a pre-meditated schematic plan for spontaneous genius; never erasing or reworking, Haring’s virtuosic gestural ingenuity flows directly through his brush onto the canvas. Unmistakably charged by the explosion in the painting’s epicenter, the present work harnesses the conceptual framework of a “blast” to comment on parallel outbreaks within the cultural and political lexicon of Haring’s current day. 

Paris– La journée du 17 mai s’ouvrait avec la vente de Design proposant un tour d’horizon des arts décoratifs de 1900 à nos jours, mêlant chefs-d’œuvre Art Nouveau et Art Déco, jusqu’au Design contemporain. Elle fut suivie par la vente dédiée à Diego Giacometti, concept de vente thématique lancé depuis 2015 après celles consacrées au couple Lalanne et Emile Gallé. Avec un total de près de 11 millions €, chacune des deux sessions ont largement dépassé leur estimation haute.

Florent Jeanniard, directeur du département Design chez Sotheby’s France : «We are all over the market ! Ce succès récompense le travail d’une équipe internationale basée entre New York, Londres et Paris et la stratégie mise en place par la maison : une sélection construite de pièces représentatives des différents mouvements du XXe siècle. » 

Cecile Verdier, vice-présidente Sotheby’s France et co-directrice monde pour le Design chez Sotheby’s, qui dirigea la vente Diego Giacometti: «Le succès de la vente Diego Giacometti exprime la joie d'une vente parfaite et le plaisir de voir une équipe internationale solide et solidaire. »

Design

Pour cette première session, ce sont les artistes de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle qui furent ovationnés. Au premier rang desquels Philippe Hiquily qui, avec une table de salle à manger en laiton martelé et verre, dessin de 1968, a remporté la plus haute enchère de la vente Design. Cette œuvre provenant de la famille de l’artiste a largement dépasséà 283.500 € son estimation haute de 150.000 € (lot 89). Charlotte Perriand avec la célèbre bibliothèque rythmée d’un camaïeu de blanc cassé et de noir, disséminé entre des lignes géométriques, vers 1950-1960, s’est quant à elle vendue 146.250 € (lot 81). Citons également Line Vautrin avec le miroir en talosel noir de 1958 disputé jusqu’à près de 200.000 € contre une estimation de 40.000-50.000 € - record mondial pour ce modèle (lot 62).

Lot 89. Philippe Hiquily, Table de salle à manger, le modèle créé vers 1968, cet exemplaire réalisé en 2012, laiton martelé et verre. Signé Hiquily et numéroté EA 2/2. Edition de 6 exemplaires et 2 épreuves d'artiste, 73 x 170 x 250 cm ; 28 3/4 x 67 x 98 1/2 in.  Lot. Vendu 283,500 EUR  Photo: Sotheby's.  

Lot 81. Charlotte Perriand, Bibliothèque murale, vers 1950-1960, chêne et métal laqué, 161,5 x 185,8 cm ; 63 1/2 x 73 1/8 in. Lot. Vendu 146,250 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Lot 62. Line Vautrin, Miroir sorcière folie ou Le soleil a rendez-vous avec la lune, vers 1958, cadre en talosel noir, miroirs convexes. Signé Line Vautrin au revers, 64 x 80,5 cm ; 25 1/8 x 31 5/8 in. Lot. Vendu 199,500 EUR. Record mondial. Photo: Sotheby's.  

 Les prix obtenus pour les œuvres d’Alberto Giacometti et Jean-Michel Frank attestent de l’engouement des amateurs. La première session proposait quatre œuvres d’Alberto Giacometti qui ont toutes trouvé preneur. Les deux plus convoitées : un bas-relief Vue de l'atelier (nature morte), 1936-1939, issue de l’ancienne collection du sculpteur Georges Boulogne s’est vendu 223.500 € (lot 50) ; lampe Ecossais en plâtre doré dont le modèle fut créé vers 1935 a doubléà 137.500 € son estimation haute (lot 49).

Lot 50. Alberto Giacometti, Vue de l'atelier (nature morte), réalisé en 1936-1939, plâtre patiné. Oeuvre réalisée en 3 exemplaires, 49,5 x 69,5 cm ; 19 1/2 x 27 3/8 in. Lot. Vendu 223,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Lot 49. Alberto Giacometti, Lampe dite Ecossais, le modèle créé vers 1935, plâtre teinté dans la masse et doré, Hauteur : 52 cm ; 20 1/2 in.. Lot. Vendu 137,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Le catalogue comprenait les œuvres d’un palazzio vénitien aménagé par une figure incontournable du design postmoderne des années 1980 et 1990, Pucci de Rossi. L’univers onirique et fantasque du créateur italien séduisit les acheteurs, en témoigne une armoire semainier Jumbo, estimée 6.000 à 8.000 €, partie pour 15.000 € (lot 170). Les œuvres du designer cohabitaient avec d’autres pièces, comme le Cabinet oriental d’André Dubreuil (lot 165), qui trouva preneur à 75.000 € (estimation : 40.000-60.000 €), et des œuvres contemporaines. Citons parmi elles Promenade in the Heredity Chromosome de l’artiste japonais Tetsumi Kudo (lot 164) vendue 100.000 €, estimée entre 30.000 et 50.000 €, et une huile sur toile de l’artiste tchèque Frantisek Muzika, Bath in the see, 1925 (lot 171, estimation : 20.000-30.000 €) qui pulvérisa son estimation à 211.500 € - record mondial pour l’artiste.

Lot 170. Pucci De Rossi, Armoire semainier Jumbo, 1990, feuille de plomb sur âme en bois. Signé PDR.MKF, daté 90, monogrammé JCB et numéroté N. 6 et 6/6 au revers. Editéà 6 exemplaires, 238,5 x 101 x 55,5 cm ; 93 7/8 x 39 3/4 x 21 7/8 in. Lot. Vendu 15,000 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Lot 165. André Dubreuil, Cabinet oriental, pièce unique, vers 1990, cuivre, acier, perles de verre, émail et marbre, l'intérieur gainé de cuir, 171 x 119 x 48 cm ; 67 3/8 x 46 7/8 x 18 7/8 in. Lot. Vendu 75,000 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.  

Lot 164. Tetsumi Kudo, Promenade in the Heredity, Chromosome, 1979, technique mixte dans boîte en plexiglas, signé, daté 79 et titré sur la base, 27 x 34 x 19 cm (cage et base); 10 5/8 x 13 3/8 x 7 1/2 in.(cage et base), 37 x 40 x 27 cm (avec boîte en plexiglass); 14 9/16 x 15 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.(avec boîte en plexiglass). Lot. Vendu 100,000 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Lot 171. Frantisek Musika, Koupel V Moři  (Bath in the see), 1925, huile sur toile. Signé F. Muzika et daté 1925 en bas à gauche, Le cadre en bois recouvert d'une feuille de plomb réalisé par Pucci De Rossi, 43 x 90,5 cm (Encadré: 76 x 100 cm) ; 17 x 35 1/2 in. (Encadré : 30 x 39 3/8 in.). Lot. Vendu 211,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Diego Giacometti

La vente du soir organisée chez Sotheby’s à Paris faisait écho au nouveau record mondial obtenu chez Sotheby’s New York pour la monumentale bibliothèque de l’île Saint-Louis de Diego Giacometti à 6.3 millions $. C’est à Paris que les batailles d’enchères furent les plus passionnées pour les œuvres de cet artiste. Avec un total de 5.5 millions € et 90% des lots vendus au-dessus de l’estimation haute, le succès fut au rendez-vous avec des résultats remarquables. 100% des lots vendus en valeur. Les collectionneurs des cinq continents sont restés émerveillés par cet ensemble poétique, intemporel et universel crée par le sculpteur suisse.

Les trois plus hautes enchères de cette session ont récompensé le paravent Les animaux Rois, 1984, qui a pulvériséà 727.500 € son estimation de 400.000 € (lot 212), la table Carcasse à la chauve-souris, 1982, qui a doubléà 607.500 € l’estimation haute de 300.000 € (lot 223) et la paire de fauteuils Tête de lionne, vers 1980, vendue 559.500 € contre une estimation de 200.000 à 300.000 € (lot 210). En sculpture, c’est la facétieuse Promenade des amis, 1984, qui fut la plus convoitée, vendue 403.500 € contre une estimation de 100.000- 150.000 € (lot 206). 

Lot 212. Diego Giacometti, Paravent Les animaux Rois, 1984, bois et bronze, à quatre feuilles. Signé Diego Giacometti et daté 84 sur un panneau. Chaque feuille : 160,5 x 50 cm ; 63 1/8 x 19 5/8 in. ; Longueur total : 200 cm ; 78 3/4 in. Lot. Vendu 727,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Lot 223. Diego Giacometti, Table Carcasse à la chauve-souris, 1982, bronze patiné et verre. Estampillé DIEGO et monogrammé DG sur une traverse, 43 x 125,5 x 80,5 cm ; 17 x 49 3/8 x 31 5/8 in. Lot. Vendu 607,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 210. Diego Giacometti, Paire de fauteuils Têtes de lionne, deuxième version, vers 1980, bronze, métal et cuir, 82,5 x 52 x 54 cm ; 32 1/2 x 20 1/2 x 21 1/4 in. Lot. Vendu 559,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Lot 206. Diego Giacometti, La promenade des amis, 1984, bronze patiné. Estampillé DIEGO et monogrammé DG sur la terrasse, 28,5 x 32 cm ; 11 1/4 x 12 1/2 in.. Lot. Vendu 403,500 EUR. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 3022. A wucai‘chicken’ cup, Qing dynasty, 18th century, 3 in. (7.8 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 350,000 - HKD 450,000 (USD 45,168 - USD 58,073). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The cup is painted around the exterior depicting a cockerel on one side and a hen watching over her small chicks on the other side, divided by two clusters of flowers emerging from rocks. The base is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark in a double square.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s London, 11 May 2011, lot 227

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3023. A fine and rare small Ming-style doucai‘chicken’ cup, Kangxi-Yongzheng period (1662-1735), 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,800,000 (USD 154,862 - USD 232,293). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The cup is finely potted with thin rounded sides, delicately painted to the exterior in soft translucent enamels and underglaze blue with a continuous scene depicting two groups of cockerel, separated by tall garden rocks in underglaze-blue wash, one partially concealing a palm tree and yellow day lilies, the other a rose bush with ironred flowers, all between a blue double-line border around the mouth rim and a single line above the footless, countersunk base, which bears an apocryphal six-character Chenghua mark within a double square.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s London, 11 May 2011, lot 227

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3024. A very rare small grisaille-decorated 'chrysanthemum' cup, Yongzheng six-character mark within a double circle in underglaze blue and of the period (1723-1735), 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) diam., box. Estimate HKD 1,800,000 - HKD 2,800,000 (USD 232,293 - USD 361,344). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The delicately potted bowl is painted on the rounded sides in shaded blackish brown grisaille with a frieze of chrysanthemum scroll bearing seven large blossoms.

Note: The pattern seen on the present tea bowl is very rare and exemplifies the exquisite and elegant taste of Emperor Yongzheng. An identical pair of grisaille-decorated small tea bowls with this rare pattern, bearing Yongzheng reign marks, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29 November 1978, lot 343, and illustrated in Chinese antiquities from the Brian S. McElney Collection , Hong Kong, 1987, no. 102. A further example was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 13 November 1990, lot 24.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3025. An iron-red decorated blue and white 'four-dragon' vase, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735), 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm.) high, box. Estimate HKD 6,000,000 - HKD 8,000,000 (USD 774,310 - USD 1,032,413). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The high-shouldered, tapering body is standing on a short, spreading foot and finely decorated with two pairs of writhing five-clawed dragons contesting flaming pearls outlined in underglaze blue and highlighted in iron red amidst clouds in underglaze blue, all below a slender cylindrical neck.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 21-22 May 1979, lot 225

Note: No other example of the same shape and iron-red decorated motif as the present vase appears to have been published although the shape of this vase is closely related to a group of bottle vases which are most certainly developed from a metal prototype. Often referred to as ganluping or jingshuiping, ‘nectar’ bottle or ‘pure water’ bottle, this group is particularly associated with the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin). A few iron-red decorated porcelain examples of this type were made during the Qianlong period as court gifts to Tibetan monks, such as the one in the collection of the Nanjing Museum, illustrated by Xu Huping in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 225, and a pair in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Monarchy and Its Buddhist Way: Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual Implements in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, p. 184, no. 91. 

The combination of underglaze-blue and overglaze iron-red decoration was first developed in Xuande period of Ming dynasty. Though it had a revival in later Ming period as well as in Qing dynasty, it remained a rare colour scheme probably due to the high cost and technical difficulties associated with producing such wares. The blue decoration, such as the scrolling clouds as well as the outline of dragons on this vase, was executed in underglaze cobalt blue first, then fired at high temperature. Following this procedure, the artist would apply other decorations, seen on this vase as two pairs of leaping dragons, in iron-red enamel over the glaze, and fired the vessel for the second time at a lower temperature. The laborious twice-firing process would certainly increase the cost and the rate of unsuccessful firing.  

Most of the known examples decorated in underglaze blue and overglaze iron red from the Yongzheng period are chargers, or smaller objects such as dishes and bowls. While larger example can be found, the unusual shape as well as decorative techniques such as outlining the dragon in underglaze blue, and freely highlighting the cloud scrolls with blue wash, makes the present vase extremely rare. 

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3026. A very rare turquoise ground puce enamelled mallet vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795), 7 in. (17.8 cm.) high, box. Estimate HKD 5,000,000 - HKD 7,000,000 (USD 645,258 - USD 903,361) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The rounded body of the vase is finely potted with a broad base and a rounded shoulder under a high cylindrical neck. The exterior is superbly decorated in bright rouge on turquoise ground with two phoenixes amidst clouds.

Provenance: Acquired in London in 1990s.

Note: The rounded body of the vase is finely potted with a broad base and a rounded shoulder under a high cylindrical neck. The exterior is superbly decorated in bright rouge on a turquoise ground with two phoenix in flight amidst cloud scrolls.

No other vase of this shape and decorative scheme appears to have been published. A related Qianlong mark-and-period hu-form vase with dragon-form handles decorated in rouge enamel on turquoise ground, is in the collection of National Museum of China, Beijing, and illustrated in Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China, p. 163, pl. 107 (fig. 1).

A turquoise ground rouge enamelled hu-form vase, Qianlong mark and period (1736-1795). Collection of the National Museum of China.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 3027. A very rare polychrome-enamelled lotus-leaf-form cup, Qianlong two-character moulded mark and of the period (1736-1795), 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm.) wide, box. Estimate HKD 800,000 - HKD 1,200,000 (USD 103,241 - USD 154,862).  © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The cup is delicately hand-modelled in the shape of an open lotus leaf borne on a curled stem, with delicate details including a furled, undulating rim and characteristic veining to the interior and exterior, and three tiny holes to imitate insect bites. The interior is further applied with a stalk of millet and a spider. The two-character Qianglong mark is moulded to the centre of the interior.

Note: The present cup attests to the excellent craftsmanship of the skilful porcelain artists in the Qianlong reign to imitate a range of different materials. The Qianlong Emperor had great admiration for novel and exotic products, thus a large number of porcelains were made to imitate other materials during his reign. 

No other example appears to have been published, and only a few related examples are known. A Qianlong-marked famille rose washer in the shape of lotus, is in the collection of Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Selected Porcelain of the Flourishing Qing Dynasty at the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1994, p.330 pl. 64. Another example is a pair of famille rose lotus leaf ink palettes from the Meiyintang Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2011, lot 11. 

A highly unusual and exquisite pair of white and famille-rose lotus-leaf ink palettes, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period, from the Meiyintang Collection. Sold for  4,820,000 HKD at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2011, lot 11. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 3028. A rare pair of famille rose ‘fruit’ dishes, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within double circles and of the period (1723-1735), 7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diam., boxes. Estimate HKD 2,400,000 - HKD 3,500,000 (USD 309,724 - USD 451,681) © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Each dish is finely potted with gently rounded sides rising from a short foot ring and superbly enamelled in varying shades including pink, green, brown, yellow, white and black. One dish is decorated with three peaches growing on a gnarled branch, the other with two pomelos opposite a falling blossom.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s London, 14 May 2008, lot 706

Note: In China, peach is the symbol of extended long life through its association with Shoulao, the Star God of Longevity, and also through the association with the peaches of longevity grown in the orchard of the Queen Mother of the West, whereas pomelo, with its pronunciation similar to the word ‘to have’ (you), represents the wish ‘May you have everything you need.’ While peach has been long used as an auspicious motif on porcelain and other works of art, it is extremely rare to find dishes or other vessels decorated with pomelo.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2017, Convention Hall

Lot 455. A superb and very rare imperial three-colour cinnabar lacquer panel with eight of the sixteen luohan with imperial inscription, China, Qianlong period (1736-1795), 80 x 114,5 cm. Estimate€80 000-120 000. Photo Nagel

Cinnabar above a layer of black lacquer. Few very small restored chips and a filled crack;

Property from an old Austrian private collection

Depiction of eight of the Sixteen Luohan (Arhats) along with six attending monks. The figures are embedded in a landscape, framed by peony and lotus scrolls. They are meticulously carved, showing each Luohan in detail and with their respective attribute or in their typical pose. Thus, we can see the Luohan nine to sixteen, according to the order by the Qianlong Emperor. They are arranged along the panel's main path: Entering the scenery on the right, we first encounter Bakula with his prayer chain, followed by Rahula and Cudapanthaka to his left. Above them, Pindola Bharadvaja is depicted holding his staff, next to Panthaka. Nagasena, Luohan fourteen, is leaning on a rock on the far left, whereas fifteen and sixteen, Gopaka, holding a fan, and Abheda, next to his censer, are positioned to his left, which is where the order is slightly adjusted for pictorial purposes. The inscription on the upper right mentions these Luohan in the new sequence and thus depiction and inscription are almost perfectly consistent when reading the panel from right to left.

Note: This lacquer panel is of special significance due to it having a partner piece which was sold by Sotheby's London, 4th November 2009, lot 123. That panel is an exact fit as it shows the first eight of the Sixteen Luohan along with the equivalent inscription. The depiction of the Sixteen Luohan, though in the new 18th-century sequence, serves as a Sinicised version of the original figures, first individualised by Guan Xiu (832-912), who painted the Luohan with rather bizarre faces. The attributes and poses, however, have been adopted very faithfully, today allowing a precise attribution of each character.

A large imperial inscribed carved lacquer panel, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795), 78,5 by 114.5cm. Sold for 313,250 GBP at Sotheby's London, 4th November 2009, lot 123. Photo: Sotheby's.

For wall panels of similar shape and dating, cf.: Christie's HK, 31st May 2010, lot 1927; Christie's New York, 16th Sep 2011, lot 1324 as well as Christie's New York, 21st Mar 2000, lot 67.

A very rare imperial aloeswood embellished lacquer and zitan veneer panel, Qianlong period (1736-1795), 115 x 84.5 cm. Sold for HKD 680,000 (USD 88,008) at Christie's Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 1927. © Christie's Images Ltd 2010

A rare pair of mother-of-pearl-inlaid zitan-veneered wall panels, Qianlong period (1736-1795), 69.9 x 106.7 cm. Sold for USD 116,500 at Christie's New York, 16th September 2011, lot 1324. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Nagel. Asiatische Kunst. Sale 100, 16.06.2017

Lot 478. A fine bronze figure of Manjushri, China, Ming dynasty, 15th-16th century, 40 cm. Estimate 20 000-30 000 €. Photo Nagel

seated in vajrasana on a lotus base with both hands in vitarkamudra, holding each a stem of a lotus which flowers along his upper arms supporting the manuscript and originally the sword, wearing dhoti, its border finely incised with scrolling tendrils, scarf draped around the shoulders, its streamers encircling both arms while the finials fall over the rim of the base, bejewelled, his face displaying a serene expression with downcast eyes below arched eyebrows running into his nose-bridge, smiling lips, elongated earlobes with ear-ornaments, his hair combed in a chignon secured with a tiara decorated with a pair of pattras and a pair of floating ribbons. Wear, slightly chipped.

Property from an old Berlin private collection, bought in the 1980'ies, by descent to the present owner.

Note: A bronze figure of Guanyin dated to the second half of the 15th century and similar to the present lot was sold at Christie's Hong Kong 3rd November 1998, lot 1014; another similar example with a different lotus base, cast with the date 1516, Zhengde Period, was sold at Christie's New York, 21st March 2000, lot 171.

Nagel. Asiatische Kunst. Sale 100, 16.06.2017

Lot 481. An ivory carving of standing Shoulao holding a staff, China, Ming dynasty, H. 31,5 cm. Estimate 12 000-18 000 €. Photo: Nagel

Repairs.

Property from a French private collection, acquired at Christie's London, May 2012, lot 254. 

Nagel. Asiatische Kunst. Sale 100, 16.06.2017