Lot 18. Pierre Soulages (Né en 1919), Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 16 juin 1951, signé'Soulages' (en bas à droite); signé de nouveau et situé'SOULAGES 11 bis Rue Schoelcher PARIS 14' (au revers), huile sur toile, 81 x 54 cm. Peint le 16 juin 1951 à Paris. Estimate EUR 500,000 - EUR 700,000. Price realised EUR 631,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

signed 'Soulages' (lower right); signed again and located 'SOULAGES 11 bis Rue Schoelcher PARIS 14' (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 31 7/8 x 21 ¼ in. Painted on the 16th of June 1951 in Paris.

Provenance: Collection George David Thompson, Pittsburgh (acquis en 1953).
Collection particulière, Grande-Bretagne (acquis en 1960).
Puis par descendance au propriétaire actuel.

Literature: P. Encrevé, Soulages. L'œuvre complet. Peintures, Paris, 1994, vol. I, p. 128, no. 80 (illustré).

Exhibited: Copenhague, Galerie Birch, Soulages, août-septembre 1951.

Pierre Soulages dans son atelier, rue Schoelcher, en 1951. Photographie anonyme. © ADAGP, Paris, 2017.

« Une peinture est un tout organisé, un ensemble de relations entre des formes (lignes, surfaces colorées...) sur lequel viennent se faire ou se défaire les sens qu’on lui prête. »

'‘A painting is an organization, a set of relationships between shapes (lines, colored surfaces, etc.), on which the meanings which we give it are made and undone.''

Pierre Soulages.

Le tournant des années 1950 constitue une période charnière dans la trajectoire artistique de Pierre Soulages. Sa toute première exposition personnelle chez Lydia Conti à Paris en 1949 est immédiatement remarquée par la presse et, quelques mois plus tard, le musée de Grenoble devient la première institution à faire entrer l’une ses toiles dans une collection publique. Très tôt, son travail acquiert une solide reconnaissance outre-Atlantique. James Johnson Sweeney, alors conservateur au MoMa, sort enchanté de la visite de l’atelier de Soulages rue Schoelcher en 1948, alors que Leo Castelli l’inclut dans l’exposition Young Painters in US & France qu’il organise à la Sidney Janis Gallery en 1950, mettant ses œuvres en parallèle de celles de Franz Kline. L’année suivante, les peintures de Soulages sont exposées dans les musées américains de Washington, San Francisco, Chicago et Baltimore à l’occasion de l’exposition itinérante Advancing French Art. 

Ce n’est donc pas un hasard si le premier propriétaire de Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 16 juin 1951 a été un célèbre collectionneur américain, George David Thompson, important donateur du Carnegie Museum of Art de Pittsburgh, qui aura tout au long de sa vie amassé une collection de plus de 600 œuvres d’art, allant de Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti ou Henry Moore à Adolph Gottlieb, Josef Albers, Jean Dubuffet ou Willem de Kooning. Son ensemble de 70 œuvres de Giacometti a été acquis par l’intermédiaire d’Ernst Beyeler pour enrichir par la suite les collections du Kunsthaus Zürich, du Kunstmuseum de Bâle et du Kunstmuseum Winterthur ; tandis que sa collection d’œuvres de Paul Klee est devenue le noyau constitutif du Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen de Düsseldorf. Membre de conseil d’administration du MoMA, George David Thompson a dû suivre de près l’acquisition de Peinture 146 x 97 cm, 10 janvier 1951 par le musée en 1952, une œuvre qui frappe par sa ressemblance avec Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 5 mai 1951, l’œuvre qu’il choisit alors pour sa propre collection.  

Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 16 juin 1951 se révèle un exemple précoce du style emblématique de Soulages qui se formalise au cours de ces années décisives. Elle est également révélatrice du parti pris de l’artiste de mettre en valeur le noir si caractéristique de son œuvre. La lumière surgit ici du contraste réalisé entre le fond bleu et gris du tableau et les larges aplats d’huile noire épaisse qui scandent la toile de façon orthogonale et lui confèrent sa monumentalité. La vive opposition des couleurs, en petites surfaces fortement contrastées, engendre un effet de « clignotement lumineux », évoquant un vitrail gothique, une importante source d’inspiration pour Soulages, tandis que l’association du bleu et le noir profond renvoie à des recherches spatiales entreprises par Pierre Matisse un demi-siècle plutôt dans Intérieur, bocal de poissons rouges de 1914. Soulages entend ainsi renouveler dans Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 16 juin 1951 sa propre approche de la spatialité du tableau et des jeux de transparences qui s’y produisent. L’historien Charles Estienne évoquera en ces termes éloquents la peinture de Soulages de cette période : « un graphisme simple, viril, presque rude, des harmonies sombres et chaudes, un sens naturel de la pâte et des possibilités spécifiques de la peinture à l’huile, et surtout peut-être un son à la fois humain et concret, voilà l’apport de Soulages à la peinture abstraite actuelle.» (cité in P. Encrevé, Soulages, L'Œuvre complet - Peintures, Vol. I, 1946-1959, Paris, 1994, p. 169).

Pierre Soulages, Peinture 146 x 97 cm, 10 janvier 1951. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © ADAGP, Paris, 2017.

Pierre Soulages’ artistic career really began to take of at the turn of the 1950s. His frst solo exhibition at the Galerie Lydia Conti in Paris in 1949 made an immediate impression on the press and, a few months later, the Musée de Grenoble became the first institution to include one of his paintings in a public collection. Before long, he had gained a solid reputation for his work on the other side of the Atlantic. In 1948, James Johnson Sweeney, at the time curator for MoMA, visited Soulages’ studio in Rue Schoelcher and left thrilled by what he had seen. In 1950, Leo Castelli included him in theexhibition Young Painters in US & France that he was organizing at the Sidney Janis Gallery, putting his works in parallel with those of Franz Kline. The following year Soulages’ paintings were shown in the American museums of Washington, San Francisco, Chicago and Baltimore as part of the travelling exhibition Advancing French Art. 

It should therefore come as no surprise that the first owner of Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 16 juin 1951 was the noted American collector George David Thompson, who was also an important donor to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Over the course of his life he collected more than six hundred works of art, the collection including works by Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Henry Moore, Adolph Gottlieb, Josef Albers, Jean Dubufet and Willem de Kooning. His collection of seventy works by Giacometti was acquired by Ernst Beyeler to subsequently enrich the collections of the Kunsthaus Zürich, the Kunstmuseum Basel and the Kunstmuseum Winterthur; while his collection of works by Paul Klee came to form the core exhibit of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf. George David Thompson, a member of the Board of Trustees of MoMA, closely monitored the acquisition of Soulages’s Peinture 146 x 97 cm, 10 janvier 1951 by the museum in 1952, a work striking in its resemblance to Peinture 81 x 54 cm, 16 juin 1951, the work he then chose for his own collection.

Christie's. Paris Avant-Garde, 19 October 2017, Paris

Lot 19. Nicolas de Staël (1914-1955), Composition, signé'Staël' (en bas à droite), huile sur toile, 27 x 35.2 cm. Peint en 1950 à Paris. Estimate EUR 300,000 - EUR 500,000. Price realised EUR 559,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

signed 'Staël' (lower right), oil on canvas, 10 5/8 x 13 7/8 in. Painted in 1950 in Paris.

Provenance: Jean Leymarie, Paris (don de l'artiste, en 1950); vente, Artcurial, Paris, 5 décembre 2016, lot 2.
Acquis au cours de cette vente par le propriétaire actuel.

Literature: F. de Staël, Nicolas de Staël, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Neuchâtel, 1997, p. 272, no. 215 (illustré).

Note: Avec ses aplats rectangulaires de matière lumineuse, Composition (1950) offre à voir l’art résolument moderne de Nicolas de Staël. Abandonnant au tournant des années 1950 ses compositions en bâtons brisés, l’artiste privilégie alors des formes plus douces qu’il dépose sur sa toile, au couteau, par strates. À priori abstraites, celles-ci restent, comme malgré elles, empreintes du réel. Composition (1950) convoque ainsi les couleurs de la nature : un camaïeu de bleu rappelant le ciel côtoie un jaune de sable, auxquels répondent des touches de vert-de-gris terreux, un nuage de blanc et un gouffre noir. L’œuvre, qui a appartenu au conservateur et historien de l’art Jean Leymarie, intervient également à une étape charnière pour l’artiste. C’est en effet en 1950 que Staël intègre pour la première fois, sous l’impulsion de son directeur Bernard Dorival, les collections du Musée national d’Art moderne ou encore que le Museum of Fine Arts de Boston fait l’acquisition de Rue Gauguet (1949). Une œuvre que Jean Leymarie lui-même, qui prend alors la direction du musée de Grenoble, tente d’acheter pour son institution avant de s’y résigner, faute de moyens. Composition(1950), offerte par Staël au conservateur visionnaire, qui dirigera le Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris puis l’Académie de France à Rome, est ainsi le fruit de l’évolution artistique du peintre mais également le marqueur d’une époque, celle de la reconnaissance institutionnelle de sa palette demeurée unique. 

Sean Scully, Small Horizontal Robe, 2003. Collection privée, Europe. Christie’s Images, 2017 © Tous droits réservés.

Lot 17. Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013), 5.6.65, 1965, . signé en Chinois et en Pinyin ‘ZAO’ (en bas à droite); signé de nouveau et titré‘ZAO WOU-KI 5.6.65' (au revers), huile sur toile, 100 x 81 cm. Peint en 1965 Estimate EUR 700,000 - EUR 1,000,000. Price realised EUR 679,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

signed in Chinese and in Pinyin 'ZAO' (lower right); signed again and titled ‘ZAO WOU-KI 5.6.65’ (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in. Painted in 1965

Provenance: Galerie de France, Paris.
Acquis auprès de celle-ci par les propriétaires actuels, en 1973.

Provenant d'une collection particulière de Charente-Maritime

Literature: J. Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, Paris, 1986, p. 172, no. 121 (illustré en couleurs).

Exhibited: Los Angeles, Frank Perls Gallery, Zao Wou-Ki, février-mars 1968.
San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, Paintings by Zao Wou-Ki, mai-juin 1968.

L’authenticité de cette oeuvre a été confirmée par la Fondation Zao Wou-Ki. 

Zao Wou-ki, dans les années soixante. Photographe anonyme. © Tous droits réservés.

« La musique du ciel est formée par les sons combinés de mille façons dont chacun n’émane que de soi-même mais parvient à déclencher la spontanéité universelle »

“The music of the heavens is composed of sounds combined in a thousand ways, each of which emanates only from itself but manages to trigger universal spontaneity”

Tchouang-tseu.

Les mots du philosophe chinois antique Tchouang-tseu font écho à 5.6.65 de Zao Wou-Ki, peinture à la fois intime et universelle. .Intime, parce qu’elle est mue par l’émotion de son créateur. Depuis quelques années, Zao Wou-Ki s’est échappé du carcan de la narration et s’attache à apprivoiser la traduction plastique des soubresauts de son esprit : « je compris peu à peu que ce que je peignais ressemblait à ce qui se passait en moi. Je me surpris à imaginer, en regardant les tableaux terminés, qu’ils exprimaient de la colère, de la tranquillité ou de la violence puis de nouveau le calme » (cité in Zao Wou-Ki et Françoise Marquet, Autoportrait, Paris, 1988, p. 119). 5.6.65 est ainsi l’expression d’une émotion intense, impénétrable, dont Zao va se libérer au contact du pinceau. Au cœur de la toile, une explosion de texture colorée laisse d’abord entendre une dissonance musicale : des touches de blanc nacré s’échappent de lignes noires brisées, d’où s’enfuient également les nervures d’un bleu opalescent et des fuites de lavis brun, préférant la projection dans le vide à l’enfermement. Puis, par à-coups, le trouble se dissout dans la surface brumeuse dégradée qui passe de bas en haut d’un gris épais à un blanc crémeux, couvert à droite par un nuage translucide de bistre. De la confrontation rythmée entre l’agitation du noyau centrifuge et le calme du fond aérien émerge ainsi une symphonie harmonieuse. La peinture devient dès lors catharsis et les années 1960, marquées pour l’artiste par la maladie de May, sa deuxième épouse, se retrouvent figées dans l’intimité de 5.6.65. 

En ce qu’elle porte, presque malgré elle, un mouvement naturel qui transcende la subjectivité du peintre, l’œuvre est aussi ouverte sur l’univers tout entier. Les couleurs telluriques et le mouvement qui naît du dialogue entre espaces vide et plein enferment ainsi dans la toile la force expressive d’un fleuve en crue, d’une cascade qui chute ou d’un tonnerre qui se dissipe. Zao Wou-Ki, artiste chinois devenu français, mêle ce faisant les deux cultures qui ont forgé son art : il tire de ses racines l’évocation de la nature et la recherche d’une harmonie ; de Matisse et Picasso une grande liberté dans la gamme chromatique et un rejet des formes. 5.6.65, à l’image d’un rêve, laisse à la conscience la possibilité d’une flânerie. Les mots du poète Henri Michaux résonnent alors avec la peinture : « vide d’arbres, de rivières, sans forêts, ni collines, mais pleine de trombes, de tressaillement, de jaillissement, d’élans, de coulées, de vaporeux magmas colorés qui se dilatent, s’enlèvent, fusent. (…) Les toiles de Zao Wou-Ki – cela se sait – ont une vertu : elles sont bénéfiques » (cité in Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, Paris, 1986, p. 41-42). 

Claude Monet, L’ële aux Orties, Giverny, 1897. Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, Caroline du Sud. © Tous droits réservés.

The words of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Tchouang-tseu are echoed by Zao Wou-Ki’s 5.6.65, a painting both intimate and universal. Intimate, because it is transformed by the emotion of its creator. For some years Zao Wou-Ki avoided the constraint of narration and endeavoured to tame the visual translation of the convulsions of his mind: “I gradually came to understand that what I painted resembled what was happening within myself. I surprised myself by imagining, when looking at finished pictures, that they expressed anger, serenity or violence and then calm once more” (quoted in Zao Wou-Ki & Françoise Marquet, Autoportrait, Paris, 1988, p. 119). 5.6.65 is therefore the expression of an intense, unfathomable emotion from which Zao would be liberated on contact with the brush. At the heart of the canvas an explosion of coloured texture initially suggests a musical dissonance: touches of pearly white escape from broken black lines, from which opalescent blue veins and runs of brown wash also break free, preferring projection into the void rather than confinement. Then, in fts and starts, the murkiness dissolves into the hazy, gradually fading surface, which migrates bottom to top from a thick grey into a creamy white, covered on the right-hand side by a translucent cloud of bistre. Thus from the rhythmic confrontation between the agitation of the centrifugal core and the calm of the ethereal background a harmonious symphony emerges. From this date, Zao’s painting becomes cathartic and the 1960’s, overshadowed by his second wife May’s illness, are frozen in intimacy as characterised by 5.6.65. 

Lot 20. Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013), 10.8.78, signé en Chinois et en Pinyin 'ZAO' (en bas à droite); signé de nouveau, daté, titré et dédicacé'ZAO WOU-KI 10.8.78 pour Manuel Amitié leur amis Françoise et Zao Paris Déc 1993' (au revers), huile sur toile, 54.5 x 65 cm. Peint en 1978. Estimate EUR 200,000 - EUR 300,000. Price realised EUR 427,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

signed in Chinese and in Pinyin 'ZAO' (lower right); signed again, dated, titled and dedicated 'ZAO WOU-KI 10.8.78 pour Manuel Amitiés leurs amis Françoise et Zao Paris Déc 1993' (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 21 ½ x 25 5/8 in. Painted in 1978. 

Provenance: Acquis directement auprès de l'artiste par le propriétaire actuel, en 1993.

L’authenticité de cette oeuvre a été confirmée par la Fondation Zao Wou-Ki.

Zao Wou-ki à Pékin dans les années 1970. Photographe anonyme. © Tous droit réservés.

« J’aime que l’on se promène dans mes toiles comme je m’y promène moi-même en les peignant. »

“I like people to be able to wander among my canvases as I wander among them myself when I am creating them.”

Zao Wou-Ki.

Christie's. Paris Avant-Garde, 19 October 2017, Paris 

Lot 14. An extremely rare 'Jun-imitation' vase, Yongzheng seal mark and period (1723-1735), 21.5 cm, 8 1/2  in. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 GBP. © Sotheby's.

of compressed pear shape, the broad rounded sides rising from a spreading foot to a tall cylindrical neck, covered with a mottled copper-red glaze, thinning to an underlying pale blue glaze towards the foot, the base incised with a four character seal mark.

Provenance: Collection of Ambassador and Mrs Joseph Verner Reed.

Note: Highly elegant in its deceptively simple form and glaze, this rare vase embodies the essence of the Yongzheng Emperor’s aesthetic and the technical developments that were made to materialise his vision. It has been created to simulate the celebrated Jun ware of the Song dynasty, a ware that Yongzheng held in particularly high regard and thus commissioned copies to be produced. Moreover, under his keen eye, he encouraged the development of new glaze variations based on Jun prototypes from the imperial collection.

The technical ingenuity and high level of experimentation of the potters working at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen is evident in the official list from 1735 as recorded on the Taocheng jishi bei ji [Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production] inscribed by Tang Ying (1682-1756), the greatest Superintendent of the imperial kilns. This important work records no less than nine varieties of Jun glazes inspired by ancient specimens, of which five were based on Song originals that had been sent from the palace in Beijing to the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen. Tang Ying is known to have gone to considerable lengths to emulate Jun wares of the Song, even sending his secretary, Wu Yaopu, and selected craftsmen to Junzhou in 1729 to work with local potters and thus obtain the recipe for producing Jun glazes.

The exaggerated compressed pear-shape of this vase which hovers slightly above the short foot is also an exceptional display of technical achievement. Absolute precision was required to prevent the body from sagging during the potting and firing stages, and as such only two other closely related examples are known, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published on the Museum’s website, accession nos 005410-N000000000 and 005411-N000000000 (Fig. 1).

Jun-type vase, Yongzheng mark and period. The Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, accession nos 005410-N000000000 and 005411-N000000000.

The glaze on these vases, with the attractive speckled, copper pigment that has been sprayed on the surface, appears to have been limited to vases inspired by archaic bronze forms; see a hu-shaped vase from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing porcelains from the imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol I, pt. II, pl. 128, together with an ovoid example, pl. 166; a zhaodou published in Lu Minghua, Qingdai Yongzheng-Xuantong guanyao ciqi [Qing dynasty official wares from the Yongzheng to the Xuantong reigns], Shanghai, 2014, pl. 3-30; two hu-inspired pear-shaped vases sold in our Hong Kong rooms, the first, 30th October 2002, lot 230, and the second, 7th October 2015, lot 3615; and a third, but with an apocryphal Xuande mark, in the Baur collection, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 263, together with a similarly glazed Jun-style flower pot and narcissus bowl, pls 261 and 262. 

Joseph Verner Reed (1937-2016) was an American banker and diplomat. Born in New York City, he graduated from Deerfield Academy and Yale University in 1961, before going on to work for the World Bank. In 1981 he was appointed by Ronald Reagen as Ambassador of the United States to Morocco. He later served a number of appointments at the United Nations, as well as the position of Chief Protocol of the White House under George H. W. Bush (1989-1991).

Sotheby's. Arts of the Islamic World, London, 25 oct. 2017, 10:30 AM

Lot 15. A rare incised celadon-glazed 'Lotus' basin, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795), 25.8 cm, 10 3/16  in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. © Sotheby's.

the shallow rounded sides slightly flaring out from a recessed base, encircled by a single raised fillet, finely incised on the interior with a lotus medallion surrounded by four overlapping chilong, two with incurved horns and two with bifurcated tails, detailed on the walls with five lotus flowers separated by interlocking archaistic kui dragons, the exterior walls similarly incised below a band of angular archaistic scrolls encircling the rim, covered overall with an even pale sea-green glaze pooling to a darker tone within the incised decorations, the footring and base glazed save for a round circle left in the biscuit applied with an orange wash encircling a seal mark in underglaze blue.

Note: Notable for its finely incised design which emerges under a rich celadon glaze, this basin draws from celebrated porcelain traditions and reinterprets them to result in a rare and engaging piece. The attractive olive-green glaze displays the Qing Emperors’ admiration of Longquan celadon wares of the Song period, and their efforts to replicate it. The carved motif, on the other hand, appears to be an 18th century innovation that combines an archaistic dragon design with floral blooms.

Basins of this form and decorated with an archaistic scroll both on the interior and exterior are rare, although a closely related example was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th May 1980, lot 77, and again, 24th November 1987, lot 117. Compare also a basin of this form and size but carved to the interior with bats, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 26th October 1993, lot 121, and 8th October 2008, lot 2506.

A rare celadon-glazed 'Bat'washer,seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795). Sold for 500,000 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong 8th October 2008, lot 2506. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: A rare celadon glazed 'bat' washer. Seal mark and period of Qianlong

Lot 16. A fine lemon-yellow glazed cup, Qianlong seal mark and period (1736-1795), 10.5 cm, 4 1/4  in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. © Sotheby's.

the rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to an everted rim, the exterior covered with an even bright yellow glaze stopping neatly at the foot, inscribed to the base with an underglaze-blue seal mark.

Note: First developed at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor, lemon yellow glaze was produced through the combination of antimoniate of iron and tin oxide, and was favoured throughout the Qing dynasty, particularly by the Qianlong Emperor. Vessels covered in this attractive glaze required the utmost attention in potting, glazing and firing as the smallest imperfection resulted in the destruction of the piece. Amongst the different monochrome glazes, yellow is the only colour that has direct imperial association. Although imperial yellow-glazed wares had been produced from the early Ming dynasty they were used exclusively for ritual ceremonies; thus lemon-yellow vessels provided the court with an alternative for daily use.

Compare a lemon-yellow bowl of slightly broader proportions, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th October 2002, lot 712, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 10th April 2006, lot 1627; another sold at Christie’s London, 15th June 1999, lot 91; and a pair sold twice at Christie’s New York, 10th December 1987, lot 306, and 20th September 2005, lot 283, from the Rodriguez collection.

A very fine lemon-yellow enamelled bowl, mark and period of Qianlong, 11.1cm., 4 3/8 in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 384,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 10th April 2006, lot 1627. Photo: Sotheby's.

 Qianlong seal marks in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795), , from the Rodriguez collection, 4 3/8 in. (11.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 31,200 at Christie's Hong Kong 20th September 2005, lot 283. © Christie's Images Ltd 2005.

For the prototype of this glaze, compare a pair of Yongzheng mark and period cups, from the collection of W.F. van Heukelom, sold in these rooms, 5th November 2014, lot 51.

A pair of Imperial lemon-yellow glazed bowls, Yongzheng marks and period, 9.9cm., 3 7/8 in. Sold for 110,500 GBP at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th November 2014, lot 51. Photo Sotheby’s

Cf. My post: A pair of Imperial lemon-yellow glazed bowls, Yongzheng marks and period (1723-1735)

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 08 nov. 2017, 11:00 AM 

REZA. AYLI Ring. Ring featuring an unheated Burmese oval-shaped sapphire, set on white gold. Weight of oval: 11.13 carats. Weight of tapered diamonds: 4.10 carats © REZA

REZA. TOI&MOI Ring. Ring featuring an unheated Burmese pear-shaped red spinel and an unheated D. Internally Flawless Type IIA pear-shaped diamond; set on white gold. Weight of red spinel: 4.26 carats. Weight of diamond: 4.19 carats © REZA

REZA. TITAN Bracelet. Bracelet featuring 6 natural pearls, cabochon sugarloaf emeralds and brilliant-cut diamonds; set on rough blackened white gold. Weight of pearls: 9.72 carats. Weight of emeralds: 0.39 carats © REZA

REZA. Y'DOL Earrings. Earrings featuring 6 sugarloaf cabochon red spinels weighing and brilliant-cut diamonds; set on white and sand blasted pink gold. Weight of spinels: 5.86 carats. Weight of diamonds: 5.24 carats © REZA

REZA. CASCADE Earrings. Earrings featuring unheated Mozambique pigeon-blood rubies and marquise-shaped diamonds; set on white gold. Weight of rubies: 36.31 carats. Weight of diamonds: 33.19 carats © REZA

REZA. RUBAN Necklace. Necklace featuring sapphires and brilliant-cut diamonds; set on blackened white gold. Weight of sapphires: 11.24 carats. Weight of diamonds: 9.06 carats © REZA

REZA at TEFAF New York Fall 2017, Stand 11. Primary Address: 21 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France. T  0033142615121 - contact@alexandrereza.com - www.alexandrereza.com

Ritz Gallery Boutique, 15 Place Vendôme, 75001 Paris, France. T  0145089524 - www.alexandrereza.com

Lot 51 A. A rare pair of green-ground famille-rose bottle vases, Qianlong seal marks and period. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 GBP. Lot sold 782,500 GBP. Photo: Sotheby’s

each compressed globular body rising from a short spreading foot to a tall cylindrical neck, brightly enamelled around the body with leafy lotus strapwork and Buddhist emblems reserved on a green ground, all between lotus lappet, ruyi and stiff leaf bands at the foot and shoulder, the gilt rim encircled by a spearhead band, the interior and base glazed turquoise and inscribed with an iron-red six-character seal mark within a square cartouche reserved in white. Quantité: 2 – 31cm.,  12¼in.

PROVENANCE: Acquired by the mother of the present owner in the UK, prior to 1965.

Thence by descent.

Notes: Finely potted and decorated with an intricate design of the bajixiang interspersed amongst foliate lotus blooms, these vases exemplify the Qianlong Emperor’s pursuit of innovative designs. Qianlong took an active interest in the work of various imperial manufactories in his empire, particularly the Jingdezhen imperial kilns, bringing his personal influence to steer the workshop’s artistic direction according to his taste for ornamentation. By working closely with Tang Ying, his virtuoso kiln supervisor, he encouraged potters at the imperial kilns to explore a wide range of shapes, colours and designs in their repertoire. As a result, a range of innovative wares were produced, such as these vases.

The familiar design of lotus scrolls have been injected with a hint of novelty through the inclusion of the bajixiang on a green ground, a colour that was developed in the Qianlong period and embodied contemporaneity. The leafy scrolls have been adapted to incorporate the rococo style of Western acanthus leaves, thus exuding a sense of elegant exoticism in the overall design while remaining firmly rooted in Chinese tradition.

Lot 118. A large blue and white fish bowl, Qing dynasty, 18th century, 66.5 cm, 26 1/4  in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. © Sotheby's.

the steep sloping sides rising to a slightly everted rim, painted in bright cobalt-blue tones and moulded in shallow relief with egrets wading in a lotus pond, below monumental lotus pods, flowers and leaves.

Provenance: Collection of Baronne de Kerchove, Château de Bellem, Belgium. 
Acquired by the father of the present owner on 26th October 1964.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 08 nov. 2017, 11:00 AM 

Alonso Sánchez Coello (Benifairó de les Valls 1531-1588 Madrid), Portrait of Don Juan de Austria, circa 1565-70. Oil on silvered copper, 7 x 5 cm (2.8 x 2 in.) © Caylus

Our gallery, founded in 1988, is a landmark in the international market for Spanish Old Masters and Latinamerican Colonial Art. We deal mainly in Spanish and Latinamerican paintings and sculpture from the Gothic to the Romantic period and we also include in our portfolio some very interesting examples of Italian and Flemish Baroque old masters paintings. Amongst our institutional sales, the Retrato de la Condesa de Chinchón by Francisco de Goya, one of his most important female portraits, now at the Prado Museum, the set of the San Feliz Apostolate by El Greco, now in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Oviedo and the beautiful Goya of the Infante D. Luis to the Zaragoza Museum. Internationallly we have sold two Grecos, two Murillos, a Tiziano and a Zurbarán to the Soumaya Museum in Mexico. Works by Maino and Vicente López to the Meadows Museum (Dallas), a Pedro de Mena scuplture (Saint Acisclo) and several colonial artworks such as enconchados, castas, lacquer cabinets, works by Rodrígue.

Caylus at TEFAF New York Fall 2017, Stand 87. Primary Address: Conde de Aranda, 24. Principal, 28001 Madrid, Spain. T  0034915783098 - info@galeriacaylus.com - www.galeriacaylus.com

Lot 21. An unusual 'Yingqing' Guanyin seated on an Elephant, Southern Song-Yuan Dynasty (1127-1366). Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Lot sold 4,200 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the deity wearing an elaborately molded robe covered in a pale blue glaze, seated in lalitasana while riding side-saddle upon the back of an elephant, her right arm resting upon her right knee, her face finely modeled and framed by her long hair tied in a chignon, the biscuit-fired striding elephant with his head turned sharply to the left, fitted with a bridle, breast strap and crupper strap all studded with floral medallions and a floral-impressed saddle blanket; 8 1/4 in., 21 cm.

Note: This seated figure of a Guanyin is finely modelled, the facial features contemplative with an expression of serenity and compassion. Early figures of Guanyin are extremely rare although one dated to 1251, in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Dated Qingbai Wares of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 88. For later examples of Guanyin figures see three Yuan pieces illustrated in Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, London, 2002, pls. 119-121.

Lot 32. A magnificent and very rare carved 'Ding' Basin, Northern Song-Jin Dynasty, 11th-12th Century. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 USD. Lot sold 464,000 USD. © Sotheby's.

finely potted of generous proportions with high rounded sides supported on a narrow upright footring, the interior boldly carved with deft strokes of the knife with a single scene of a carp in a lotus pond, the detailing of the scales cross-hatched and the large tail flexed vigorously upwards, a stand of water grass behind it and a stem of waterweed floating in front and further encircled by swirling combed waves, the exterior carved with three rows of overlapping upright leaves below a plain band at the rim, applied overall with an even ivory-colored glaze, the rim of the bowl and the footrim left unglazed showing the fine compact body beneath; 13 in., 33 cm.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong 31st October 1995, lot 343.

Bibliography: Sotheby's: Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl.103. 

Note: This monumental basin is among the largest pieces of Ding ware recorded and it is rare to find a piece with such bold large-scale carving.  A small number of similarly decorated basins have been published, but all other basins decorated with fish are apparently smaller, except for one of similar size in Beijing, where the large carp is replaced by a pair of small fish. The decoration on the present bowl is particularly successful, since the carp is so confidently drawn and prominently placed.

The Beijing piece, from the Qing court collection and still in the Palace Museum today, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, col.pl.56 (outside view only, inside view not belonging) and again in Chûgoku no tôji, vol.9, Kyoto, 1981, pl.73. Smaller basins carved with a single fish are in the Percival David Foundation, London, published in Mary Tregear, Song Ceramics, London, 1982, col.pl.29; in the British Museum, London, from the Eumorfopoulos collection, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World’s Great Collections, Tokyo, 1980-82, vol.5, no.56; and one in a private collection, included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch’ien Lung, Los Angeles County Museum, 1952, cat.no.143, is discussed in Henry Trubner, ‘A Ting-yao Bowl of the Sung Dynasty, Far Eastern Ceramic Bulletin, vol.III, no.4, 1951, pp.21-3 and pls.I and II.

Large Ding basins are more often decorated on the inside with lotus scrolls only, like three pieces in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum: Ting Ware and Ting-type Ware, Taipei, 1973, cat.no.34; in the exhibition catalogue Song ci tezhan, Taipei, 1978, cat.no.27; and the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, cat.no.32, the latter together with a fish-decorated basin of smaller size and with plain outer sides, cat.no.31.

Lot 35. A fine and rare molded 'Ding' dish, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1134). Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 USD. Lot sold 150,000 USD. © Sotheby's.

Exhibition: Anthology of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society Silver Jubilee Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1985-86, cat.no.127.

Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990-91, cat.no.89. 

Note: Molded 'Ding' ware comes in a wide range of qualities, and the present dish, with its complex, distinctly impressed design composed of extremely delicate elements, is an example of the finest type, which evokes the appearance of exquisite silk brocade. The smooth ivory-coloured glaze is also characteristic of the best production of the Ding kilns at Quyang in Hebei province.

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594-Haarlem-1680), A still life with a fruit pie, 1644. Oil on panel, 80.6 x 101 cm (31.8 x 39.8 in.). Signed and dated 'HEDA. 1644' © French & Company LLC

French & Company LLC at TEFAF New York Fall 2017, Stand 32. Primary Address: 17 East 65th Street, New York, NY 10065, United States. T  212-535-3330 - M   646-289-0186 - info@frenchandcompanyart.com - www.frenchandcompanyart.com

Lot 31. A fine and rare lavender blue glazed 'jun' tripod censer, Northern Song-Jin Dynasty, 12th-13th century. Estimate 90,000 — 120,000 USD. Lot sold 108,000USD. © Sotheby's.

Note: This ding  tripod censer is a classic Jun type but examples of this size, finely detailed form and well-controlled glaze are very rarely seen, and its highly noteworthy features point to a Northern Song dynasty date. The proportions of the lower bulb of the body are flattened to form a particularly well-shaped flat base, in contrast to a slightly later development in the Jin dynasty, in which a countersunk circular ring is carved into the center of a more rounded base. Indeed, in its particularly successful translucency and 'frosted' craquelure of the glaze, and the paler tint of the exposed body material, the present censer is important in its close correlation to the prized Ru ware. While Jun wares were more typically produced in the Dayu kilns of Linru county, Jun shards were also excavated from the Qingliansi kilns of neighboring Baofeng county, Henan province, which specialised in the production of the famed Ru wares; see Wang Qingzheng, The Discovery of Ru Kiln, Hong Kong, 1991, pls.2, 3 & 5. Compare the glaze behavior displayed on the bottom of the present Jun censer (see detail) with that of the famed Ru cupstand in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated ibid, pl.60, or the series of dishes exhibited at the Tobu Museum of Art, Song Ceramics, Tokyo, 1999, cat.nos.19-22, and in particular no.21.

Lot 33. A rare Guan-type 'Longquan' celadon Zhadou, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 USD. Lot sold 72,000 USD. © Sotheby's.

Note: Longquan celadon zhadou attributed to the Song dynasty are an extremely rare form for this ware, and the present zhadou, or slop bowl, appears to be the largest example published. The coherence of the potting, with the dynamic wide-flaring mouth, is remarkable, and the glaze retains the pale bluish tints in the celadon that are characteristic of Southern Song examples.

Lot 41. A very rare 'Guan' Arrow Vase, Song Dynasty (960-1279). Estimate 30,000 — 40,000 USD. Lot sold 69,600 USD. © Sotheby's.

Note: A very similar vase from the Qing court collection and still in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty, vol.II, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 37, attributed to the Song Dynasty. Another related vase, with raised studs around the shoulder, is illustrated in Shen Zhiyu, The Shanghai Museum of Art, Beijing, 1981, pl. 41, also attributed to the Song dynasty. See also a vase of this form, from the Toguri Museum collection, sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 161.

Relief with the Adoration of the Magi, England, Nottingham, 15th century. Alabaster, with original polychrome and gilding, 39 x 24.8 cm (15.4 x 9.8 in.) © Mullany

Saint Jean de Calvaire, France, Burgundy, circa 1420-1430. Walnut, with original polychrome and gilding, 36.5 x 12 x 8.5 cm (14.4 x 4.7 x 3.3 in.) © Mullany

Frans Pourbus I (Bruges 1545-1581 Antwerp), A Portrait of Lamoraal, Count of Egmont, wearing a Linen Ruff and a White and Green Silk Sleeved Doublet, 1579. Oil on panel, 48 x 34 cm (18.9 x 13.4 in.). Signed and dated 'F. Pourbus fe' © Mullany

Provenance: Private collection, UK.

Tapestry depicting the Ball Game from the story of Gombaut and Macée, Flemish, Bruges, circa 1600-1635. Wool and silk, 4–5 warp threads © Mullany

Provenance: With Bernard Blondell, Antwerp; with Royal Manufacturers of Tapestry De Wit, Mechelen; private collection, Belgium.

Literature: G. Delmarcel, A. Volckaert, Flemish Tapestries – Five Centuries of Tradition, exh. cat., Mechelen, 1995, no. 11, pp. 44-45.

Exhibition: Luxembourg, Vianden Castle, Flemish Tapestries – Five Centuries of Tradition, 15 September – 29 October 1995.

Adriaen Isenbrant and Workshop (circa 1485-Bruges-1551), Triptych with arched top with scenes Landscape with Madonna and Child, Joseph and Mary Expecting, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, circa 1520. Oil on panel. All panels with engaged frame and painted surface. Central panel 24 x 19 cm (9.3 x 7.5 in.). Side panels 20 x 15.2 cm (8 x 6 in.) © Mullany

We are grateful to Mr Peter van den Brink, Director of the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, for confirming the attribution to Adriaen Isenbrant and workshop based on first hand examination of the work.

Provenance: Private collection, Spain.

Baccio da Montelupo (Florence 1469-circa 1535 Lucca), Saint Anthony, Florence, circa 1510-1515. Terracotta, with traces of original polychrome, 85 x 29.2 x 22.7 cm (33.5 x 11.5 x 8.9 in.) © Mullany

Workshop of Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, called L’Antico (Possibly Mantua circa 1460-1528 Gazzuolo), Bust of the Augustan Julius Caesar, Mantua, circa 1500. Bronze, hollow lost-wax cast, 37.5 x 25.4 x 24 cm (14.8 x 10 x 9.4 in.). Width ear to ear 19 cm (7.5 in.) © Mullany

We are grateful to Dr. Charles Avery, former Deputy Keeper of the Department of Sculpture, Victoria and Albert Museum, London and former Director of the Department of European Sculpture, Christie’s, London, for confirming the attribution to the workshop of Antico based on first hand examination of the work.

Table, France, Loire Valley, circa 1560-1580. Walnut. Height 83 cm. Width 146 cm (closed) and 320 cm (open). Depth 78 cm © Mullany

Provenance: Private collection, France

After Nino Pisano (1315–Pisa–1368), Madonna and Child, Italy, Sicily, circa 1450. Alabaster, with traces of original polychrome and gilding, 59.5 x 19.5 x 15 cm © Mullany

This alabaster statuette is a mid fifteenth copy of the famous and revered fourteenth century life size marble Madonna and Child in the Basilica of Maria Santissima Annunciata in Trapani, Sicily attributed to Nino Pisano, made for the Carmelite Order. Devotion to the Trapani Madonna led to numerous later copies and reduced replicas, of which the present work is one. Nino (1315-1368) was trained by his father, Andrea Pisano, whom he succeeded as Capomaestro of the cathedral at Orvieto in 1349. 

The elegantly draped Virgin supports the lively Christ Child on her left hip, his small right hand grasping his mother’s lapel as he gazes lovingly upwards, her gilded hair swept beneath her veil. The voluminous loops and folds of material, reflective of superior craftsmanship of a senior artisan, convey the sense of grace and refinement of the original model. Of superb quality and original condition with a rich ivory patina, extensive traces of gilding and even the red polychrome of the lips of the Christ Child surviving, this beautiful sculpture, unseen for more than half a century, is one of the very best examples of its type to appear on the international market in recent years.  

We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Gert Kreytenberg, former Professor of Art History, Kunstgeschichtliches Institut, Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, for confirming the attribution of the work. 

Provenance: Private collection, Turin, for more than 50 years

 Bernaert van Orley and Workshop (1488-Brussels-1541), A Lady Holding a Heraldic Shield within a Painted Niche, Circa 1520. Oil on oak panel, 34 x 25 cm © Mullany 

This small composition is almost certainly the outer wing of a triptych. The heraldic shield held by the allegorical figure of a woman makes its likely that it is taken from an altarpiece commissioned by the Damme family from west Flanders. The motif of the running dog is rooted in the family history with variations on the theme emerging over the years. Unfortunately, the significance and meaning of the three Tudor roses above the running dog motif remains elusive. On the shield in the upper left hand spandrel of the arch of the niche is painted a Jerusalem Cross, known also as the Crusaders’ Cross. It is the symbol of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre – a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Pope. This may indicate that the owner of the heraldic shield was a knight. Following the capture of Jerusalem at the end of the First Crusade in 1099, the Order was first formally constituted as an Order of Canons, the successor of which is the modern Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. It is considered among the oldest of the military orders of knighthood. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Flemish noblemen were not uncommon during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance with visits to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, first constructed by Constantine the Great in the fourth century AD, one of the most cherished destinations of the pious. By tradition dating from well before the Crusades, knighthoods were bestowed on worthy men who spent the evening in the Church by its custodians. Pilgrim fraternities or brotherhoods were common in medieval Flanders, pilgrimage being regarded as a source of pride and prestige. On the shield in the upper right hand spandrel is painted a monogram. Difficult to decipher, the letters most likely refer to the name of the owner of the heraldic shield or perhaps the family motto. 

We are grateful to Dr. Helene Mund for confirming the attribution to Bernaert van Orley and workshop based on first hand examination of the work. 

Provenance: Spencer Bernard collection, Nether Wynchendon House, Buckinghamshire, England from at least the early 19th century, thence by descent; Private collection, England. 

Mullany specialises in Haute Epoque fine art with an emphasis on continental sculpture, works of art, furniture and complementary old master paintings dating from 1200 – 1700. 

We are driven by the search for objects of the finest quality, rarity and provenance. Inspired by the emotional response a work of art elicits, every piece is selected carefully for its capacity to enrich the lives of those who possess it. We seek to source the extraordinary for discerning clientele. 

In addition to TEFAF New York Fall, Mullany exhibits at TEFAF Maastricht, BRAFA (Brussels Art Fair), La Biennale Paris and the Biennale Internazionale dell'Antiquariato di Firenze. 

We are members of the B.A.D.A. (British Antique Dealers’ Association), the S.L.A.D. (Society of London Art Dealers), the S.N.A. (Syndicat National des Antiquaires Négociants en Objets dArt Tableaux anciens et modernes de France), the C.R.A.B. / K.K.A.B. (Chambre Royale des Antiquaires et des Négociants en Œuvres d’art de Belgique / Koninklijke Kamer van de Antiquairs en Kunsthandelaars van België) and the C.I.N.O.A. (Confédération Internationale des Négociants en Oeuvres dArt).

Mullany at TEFAF New York Fall 2017, Stand 92. Primary Address: 16 Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, London, SW1P 1HX, United Kingdom. T  447796303081 - info@mullanyfineart.com - www.mullanyfineart.com

Lot 43. A white glazed 'cizhou' lotus-petal carved ewer, Northern Song Dynasty, 11th Century. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Lot sold 26,400 USD. © Sotheby's.

the well-potted body of almost hemispherical form, with four rows of overlapping lotus petals boldly carved in high relief, the broad shoulders decorated to match with overlapping petals radiating from a stepped collar at the base of the cylindrical neck, with a high arching strap handle joining the neck to the shoulder on one side, opposite an upward slanting faceted tubular spout, covered all over with a creamy white slip under a clear glaze, the glaze ending unevenly around the cylindrical base resting on a wedge-shaped footrim, the unglazed stoneware body burnt to a pale tan brown color in the firing, the glaze thinning to a lighter tone over the sharp edges of the petal motifs giving crisp definition to the design; 6 1/2 in., 16.5 cm.

Note: Compare the more elaborately carved Cizhou ewer of related type, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu (Ceramic Art of the World), Tokyo, 1975, Vol. 12, no. 224. Compare also the ewer of the same type with more elaborate design, in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum-Chinese Ceramics, Vol. 1, Tokyo, 1988, no. 546, p. 136, and again by Yutaka Mino in Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Nothern China: Tz'u-chou Type Wares, 960-1600 A.D., Bloomington, 1980, pl. 10, p. 45.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication Ltd., no. P102h77.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 31 mars 2005