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A brown-ground famille-rose medallion vase, mark and period Hongxian (1915-1916)

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A brown-ground famille-rose medallion vase, mark and period Hongxian (1915-1916)

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Lot 1951. A brown-ground famille-rose medallion vase, mark and period Hongxian (1915-1916); 21 cm., 8 1/4 in. Estimate 100,000 — 120,000 HKD. Lot Sold 187,500 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

of ovoid form rising to a waisted neck, the rounded body with three circular medallions vividly enamelled with blooming flowers including prunus, camellia and chrysanthemum on a white ground enclosed within a gilt moulded beaded frame, all reserved on a rich metallic-brown ground covering the soft moulded designs of classic scrolls, upright plantain leaves, three flower blooms, overlapping ruyi-head border, with key-fret bands on the shoulder and the foot, the base also dressed in brown with a gilded four-character seal mark within a square.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 08 Apr 2010


A rare blue and white 'Nine dragon' bottle vase, seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820)

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A rare blue and white 'Nine dragon' bottle vase, seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820)

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Lot 1876. A rare blue and white 'Nine dragon' bottle vase, seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820); 30 1/2 cm., 12 in. Estimate 1,800,000 — 2,200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,180,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

the globular body painted with nine dragons in pursuit of a flaming pearl amidst scattered scrolling clouds, all above crashing waves and a key-fret bordered foot, the tall waisted neck tapering to a flaring mouth further painted with a ruyi-head border, the base inscribed with the six-character seal mark in underglaze-blue.

Note: In its form and decoration the present vase is closely after a large Qianlong 'Nine Dragon' vase, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 118. For Jiaqing vases painted with the same design see a bottle-form vessel included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, vol. II, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 93, of similar size to the present example and with a ruyi band around the neck and key-fret border around the foot; and another sold in these rooms, 2nd May 1995, lot 86. Compare also a vase of related form painted with three dragons amongst clouds published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), op. cit.,pl. 143. 

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 08 Apr 2010

A rare blue and white vase, hu, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

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A rare blue and white vase, hu, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

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Lot 1875. A rare blue and white vase, hu, Mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 25.5 cm., 10 in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,060,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

the pear-shaped body painted with dense stylized lotus scrolls, the central lotus on each side painted with a shou character in the center of the bloom, all above a band of petal lappets around the base and a foliate scroll on the splayed foot, the shoulders set with a pair of moulded ring handles and tassels decorated with a wan emblem, the waisted neck painted with a ruyi-head border below a flared mouth with a wheel and foliate scroll border, the base inscribed with the six-character mark within double-circles.

Note: It is very rare to find a blue and white vase of this shape and decoration; compare a Yongzheng vase of this form and size, but with a lotus scroll band on the body and the neck decorated with stiff leaves rising from a key-fret border, flanked by moulded ringed mask handles, sold twice in these rooms, 6th APril 1976, lot 145, and 25th November 1981, lot 230. The high level of technical and artistic achievement of craftsmen working during the Yongzheng reign is evident in the brilliant hues of cobalt, which have been applied using the 'heaping and piling' technique to create a stippled effect in imitation of early-Ming blue and white ware. The glossy sheen of the pristine white porcelain body further enhances the intensity of tones of the fifteenth-century style lotus scroll, which also derives from early-Ming decorative innovations. 

Vases of this type that combine Ming designs with Chinese bronze shapes 'alien to the fifteenth-century' belong to a group of Qianlong blue and white wares discussed by Julian Thompson in 'Decorative Motifs on Blue and White in the S.C. Ko Collection', Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, pt. II, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 31.

For a Yongzheng vase of related form and handles imitating rings with trailing ribbons, but covered in a flambé glaze, see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 140; and another sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 805. Compare also a similarly shaped vase with loop handles, decorated with bands of famille-rose floral designs on blue and yellow sgraffiato grounds, the body with a circular landscape medallion, with Qianlong reign mark and of the period, in the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 160.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 08 Apr 2010

An oval blue and white 'Phoenix' bowl, seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850)

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An oval blue and white 'Phoenix' bowl, seal mark and period of Daoguang

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Lot 1877. An oval blue and white 'Phoenix' bowl, seal mark and period of Daoguang (1821-1850); 26.6 cm., 10 1/2 in. Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 HKD. Lot Sold 350,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's 2010

of oblong form, resting on a straight footrim encircled by a key-fret band, the rounded sides flaring to an everted rim, the exterior finely painted in varying tones of cobalt-blue with a pair of phoenixes in flight amid peony scrolls, the countersunk base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze-blue.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART, Hong Kong, 08 Apr 2010

Sotheby's Masters Week achieves $82.5 million in NY - Nearly doubling 2017 results

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Balthasar van der Ast, Still Life With Basket Of Shells, A Plate With Fruits And Insects. Estimate $800/1.2 million. Sold for $ 1,815,000. Courtesy Sotheby’s.

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s annual Masters Week auctions concluded today in New York, with 650+ paintings, drawings and sculptures selling for an overall total of $82.5 million – approaching the series’s high estimate of $85.9 million. This total is nearly double the results of the same sale series in 2017 ($41.9 million). 

Sotheby’s exhibition of 15 outstanding Spanish Old Master paintings from The Auckland Project in Bishop Auckland, North East England will remain on public view in New York through 11 February – a pendant to The Frick Collection’s exhibition Zurbarán's Jacob and His Twelve Sons: Paintings from Auckland Castle. Belonging to Auckland Castle’s permanent collection, the works at Sotheby’s will form its newly created Spanish Gallery – opening in 2019 – and are on public view for the first time in America. Seeking to revitalize the former industrial town of Bishop Auckland through the creation of a world-class cultural and heritage destination, the new Spanish Gallery will be the first museum in the UK dedicated to Spanish art and culture. 

Below is a look at some of the highlights that drove the results of the Masters Week series: 

Master Paintings & Sculpture Day Sale 
Auction Total: $8.2 million
 
Masters Week auctions concluded on Friday morning with the Master Paintings & Sculpture Day Sale. The auction was led by Jacopo Zucchi’s 16th-century Portrait Of A Young Lady In An Embroidered Dress And Pearls, which sold for $567,000 – more than four times its pre-sale high estimate (estimate $80/120,000). Though the identity of the woman remains unknown, it is clear from her lavish costume and elegant pose that she is a member of the Florentine Medici court. The painting once belonged to the celebrated New York connoisseur Thomas Jefferson Bryan (1802-1870), and later formed part of the collection of the New York Historical Society upon his death in 1870. 

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Lot 151. Jacopo Zucchi (Florence circa 1540 - 1596 Rome), Portrait Of A Young Lady In An Embroidered Dress And Pearls, oil on canvas, 52 1/4  by 41 5/8  in.; 132.7 by 105.9 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. Lot sold 567,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's

Master Paintings Evening Sale 
Auction Total: $48.4 million
 
Thursday’s evening sale was led by an impressive pair of Venetian views by Canaletto, which sold for $4.2 million (left, estimate $3/4 million). Most likely completed in England in the 1740s, the pair offers waterfront views of two of the most recognizable façades in La Serenissima: the Church of the Redentore and the Prisons of San Marco. While there are other known views of the Church of the Redentore by Canaletto, the present view of the Prisons of San Marco is a unique composition for the artist of which no other version is known. 

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Lot 54. Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (Venice 1697 - 1768), Venice, the Churches of the Redentore and San Giacomo; Venice, the Prisons and the Bridge of Sighs, Looking Northwest from the Balcony; a pair, both oil on canvas; each: 18 3/8 by 30 1/4 in.; 46.7 by 76.8 cm. Estimate 3,000,000 — 4,000,000 USD. Lot sold 4,179,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Christopher Apostle, Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department in New York, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled with the sale’s results, which saw varied and spirited bidding from international institutions, private collectors and the trade. All major schools are represented at the highest end of the auction, demonstrating strength across the diversity of our market – Italian, Spanish, German French, Flemish and Dutch pictures all commanded standout prices. We saw competition for both traditional scenes, such as the Canaletto views and Lancret interior, as well as for arresting images like the two works by Cranach the Elder. "

The Line of Beauty: Drawings from the Collection of Howard and Saretta Barnet 
Auction Total: $11.6 Million
 
Assembled over some 40 years by the New York couple Howard and Saretta Barnet, this superb collection told the story of five centuries of the art of drawing in Western Europe. The auction’s total of $11.6 million far outstripped its high estimate of $7.2 million, demonstrating the exceptional quality, beauty and market appeal for the Barnets’ collection. The dedicated sale was led by Samuel Palmer’s A Church With A Boat And Sheep from circa 1831, which achieved $2.4 million – nearly seven times its high estimate of $350,000, and a new world auction record for the artist. Created during his fabled ‘Shoreham period’, the present work is an extremely fine example of Palmer’s monochrome drawings, with other such works housed in the collections of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the Tate Britain and the British Museum in London. 

 

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Lot 13. Samuel Palmer, R.W.S (Newington 1805 - 1881 Redhill), A Church With A Boat And Sheep. Pen and brown ink and wash heightened with scratching out, 183 by 137 mm; 7¼ by 5 3/8  in. Estimate 250,000 — 350,000 USD. Lot sold 2,415,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Gregory Rubinstein, Head of Sotheby’s Old Master Drawings Department, commented: “We are thrilled with the results achieved by the Barnet Collection, which presented collectors with the opportunity to acquire drawings of the highest quality and beauty. These results demonstrate the market’s understandable enthusiasm for museum-quality, fresh-to-market material, as was the case with the record-breaking Samuel Palmer drawing that led the auction. It’s incredibly rare for such a collection to appear at auction, and it’s been a joy to have worked on it from start to finish. Rarely, if ever, have I seen a more perfectly chosen collection, in any category.” 

The Otto Naumann Sale 
Auction Total: $6.2 Million
 
Wednesday’s auctions concluded with a dedicated evening sale of property from the gallery and private collection of Otto Naumann, the preeminent dealer of Old Master and 19th Century paintings who is regarded as one of the most respected figures in the international art scene. Offering a supreme assortment of Dutch, Flemish, Italian, Spanish and British paintings spanning the 16th through the 19th centuries, the auction totaled $6.2 million – surpassing its high estimate of $5.2 million. The sale established new auction records for eight artists, including benchmark prices for James Drummond, Denys Calvaert and Giovanni Bilivert. Bilivert’s small-scale painting on copper Venus, Cupid and Pan led the sale, achieving $879,000 (estimate $300/500,000). With its highly-polished surface, the artist displays his superb sense of refinement in colors and skill in conveying different textures.

 

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Lot 18. Giovanni Bilivert (Florence 1585 - 1644), Venus, Cupid and Pan,inscribed on the reverse in an old hand, possibly by the artist himself: originale di Giovanni Biliverti/ Fiorentino, oil on copper, 18 by 13 in.; 45.7 by 33 cm. Estimate 300,000–500,000 USD. Lot sold 879,000 USDPhoto: Sotheby's.

George Wachter, Chairman of Sotheby’s America and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Worldwide, commented: “We were honored to work with Otto Naumann once again in presenting his distinguished selection of paintings. The tremendous success of the sale is a testament to Otto’s taste, sophistication and collaborative spirit, with top prices driven by private collectors from around the world who competed to own a piece of his vision.” 

Old Master Drawings including the Collection of Professor Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann 
Auction Total: $5.2 Million
 
The various-owner sale of Old Master Drawings was anchored by the collection of the late Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, the long-standing and much revered professor of the History of Art at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. Haverkamp-Begemann was a highly important figure in the teaching and study of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art, and drawings were always an integral part of his approach to teaching. The collection totaled $1.5 million – nearly double its high estimate – and was led by Karel van Mander the Elder’s record-breaking The Repentance of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector, a beautifully-preserved example of late 16th-century Dutch Mannerist draughtsmanship that sold for $387,000 (estimate $60/80,000). The sale achieved six new artist records plus a further 13 medium records (for works on paper). 

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Property from The Collection of Professor Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann. Lot 258. Karel van Mander the Elder (Meulebeuke near Courtrai 1548–1606 Amsterdam), The Repentance Of Zacchaeus The Tax Collector. Pen and brown ink and wash, over traces of black chalk, within brown ink framing lines, indented for transfer, 186 by 142 mm; 7¼ by 5 5/8  in. Estimate 60,000–80,000 USD. Lot sold 387,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Fine Old Master and 19th Century European Art 
Auction Total: $2.9 million
 
The annual sale of Fine Old Master and 19th Century European Art saw strong prices achieved for quintessential 19th-century pictures – from Rudolf Ernst’s Orientalist panel The Musician that tripled its high estimate of $25,000 to achieve a price of $93,750, to British Victorian pictures including Richard Dadd’s allegorical Sketch To Illustrate The Passions - Avarice and Herbert Gustave Schmalz’s Faithful Unto Death (Christianes Ad Leones!), both of which fetched $68,750 (estimates $8/12,000 each). 

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Lot 1856. Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932 Austrian), The Musician, signed R. Ernst (lower left), oil on panel, 31 3/4 by 25 in. Estimate 15,000 — 25,000 USD. Lot sold 93,750 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

A rare molded and reticulated fahua jar and cover, Ming dynasty

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A rare molded and reticulated fahua jar and cover, Ming dynasty

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Lot 229. A rare molded and reticulated fahua jar and cover, Ming dynasty. Height 16 1/2  in., 41.9 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot sold 30,000  USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2014

of baluster form, the open work outer layer depicting two sages seated in a forest setting, one playing the qinas the other observes, behind them a censer issues curling wisps of smoke, long branches of bristling pine hangs off to one side while large scrolling clouds dominate the reverse, all between a band of upright lappets and an openwork row of peony blooms with a narrow band of petals and detached clouds on the short neck, all in blue, turquoise, yellow, white and aubergine, the interior glazed green, the fitted cover with two floral sprigs and a pointed knop (2).

ProvenanceIdemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo.

LiteratureIdemitsu Bijutsukan zhin zuroku. Chugoku toji / Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Vol. 3, Tokyo, 1987, no. 683.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014

A bronze 'Dragon' octalobed mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907)

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A bronze 'Dragon' octalobed mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907)

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Lot 199. A bronze 'Dragon' octalobed mirror, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Width 5 7/8  in., 15 cmEstimate 8,000 — 12,000 USD. Lot sold 10,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's 2014

crisply cast in relief, the pierced central knob encircled by a writhing scaly three-clawed dragon amidst cloud scrolls within a raised octalobed rim, the silvery-gray patina with patches of green and russet encrustation

Provenance: Old Japanese collection, circa 1980, by repute.

Exhibited: Uragami Sokyu-do, Co., Ltd., Bronze Mirrors from Sui to Tang Dynasty, Tokyo, 10th November 2010, cat. no. 65.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014

Lucas Cranach the Elder (Kronach 1472 - 1553 Weimar), Portrait of Martin Luther (1483-1546), 1517

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Lot 9. Lucas Cranach the Elder (Kronach 1472 - 1553 Weimar), Portrait of Martin Luther (1483-1546), signed with the winged serpent device and with traces of date centre left, and bears date upper left: 1517, oil on beechwood panel, 15 7/8  by 10 1/2  in.; 40.3 by 26.5 cm. Estimate 800,000 — 1,200,000 USD. Lot sold 2,295,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: Possibly Fürst Ludwig Kraft zu Oettingen-Wallerstein (1791-1870);
In the collections of the Fürsten zu Oettingen-Wallerstein, Kloster Maihingen, near Wallerstein, until at least 1948;
Charles Frederic, Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein, Haburg Castle, Bavaria;
Private collection, Switzerland, by the mid-twentieth century;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

ExhibitedBasel, Kunstmuseum, Lukas Cranach. Gemälde. ZeichnungenDruckgraphik, 15 June – 8 September 1974, no. 43;
Hamburg, Buscerius Kunst Forums, Lucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, 6 April – 13 July 2003, no. 43;
Frankfurt, Städel Museum, Cranach, 23 November 2007 – 17 February 2008, no. 38.

LiteratureD. Koepplin and T. Falk, Lukas Cranach. Gemälde. ZeichnungenDruckgraphik, exhibition catalogue, vol. I, Basel and Stuttgart 1974, p. 100, no. 43, reproduced p. 99;
M.J. Friedlander and J. Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach, London 1978, p. 99, cat. no. 147, reproduced;
W. Schade, Lucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, exh. cat., Hamburg 2003, p. 175, no. 43, reproduced;
B. Brinkmann (ed.), Cranach, exh. cat., Frankfurt and London 2007, p. 188, cat. no. 38, reproduced.
Schneider, in Luther! 95 Schätze - 95 Menschen, exh. cat., Wittenberg 2017, pp 156-157, reproduced in colour.

NoteJust over five hundred years ago in 1517 Martin Luther pinned his Ninety-Five Theses challenging the Catholic Church’s practice of the sale of indulgences to the doors of the church in Wittenberg in Germany. By so doing he precipitated a chain of events that would lead directly to the Protestant Reformation, and thus change the political and religious landscape of Europe forever. This is the first known painted portrait of the great reformer and shows him during the most important (and dangerous) eighteen months of his life. It was painted in Wittenberg around 1520, shortly before his excommunication by the Pope and his summons by the Emperor Charles V to defend his actions at the Diet of Worms in 1521. This panel is of very considerable importance in its own right, for it is also the first painted portrait of Luther by his lifelong friend Lucas Cranach, one of the greatest artists of the German Renaissance. No doubt because of this, it has an immediacy and sympathy for character which distinguishes it from the many portraits of his friend that Cranach would later paint. Unshaven but steadfast, we can readily sense here the fixity of purpose and resolute belief in his own principles that Luther would display in the months ahead.

Luther is shown by Cranach in three-quarter profile, the black of his robes and hat set against a deep olive green background. The costume in which he is depicted combines the habit of a monk of the closed Order of Augustinian Friars, which he had joined in Erfurt in July 1505, with the doctoral hat which marked his being made Doctor of Theology at Wittenberg University in 1512. Cranach had very recently showed Luther separately in both guises, the former in front of a recess in an engraving of 1520 (fig. 1),1 and the latter in an engraved profile portrait of 1521 (fig. 2).2 Another engraved portrait, closely related to the first of these and showing the thirty-seven year old Luther in head and shoulders format, again dressed as an Augustinian monk but without the niche, also dates from 1520 (fig. 3).3 The date of 1517 which appears in the upper left corner of the present painted panel is a later addition and thus unreliable, and in any case would not fit with what we know of Cranach’s style at that date. Unfortunately the traces of the original date which accompanied Cranach’s serpent device beside the sitter’s shoulder are now too indistinct to shed any further light, but even without a clear date, the close relationship between the three engravings and the painted portrait, together with Luther’s relatively youthful features, all clearly suggest that they were executed within a very short time of each other.

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Valentin de Boulogne, A fortune teller, bravo, lute player, drinking figure, and a pick-pocket

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Lot 21. Valentin de Boulogne (Coulommiers-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne Bapt 1591 (?) - 1632 Rome), A fortune teller, bravo, lute player, drinking figure, and a pick-pocket, oil on canvas, 53 3/8  by 73 3/8  in.; 145.7 by 187.6 cmEstimate 1,000,000 — 1,500,000 USD. Lot sold 1,935,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

ProvenanceMarchese Raffaele Soprani (1612-1672), Sestri Levante, and thence by descent;
Anonymous sale, Genoa, Casa di Riposo/Chiostro del Santuario di San Francesco di Paola, 3 March 1985 (as anonymous);
Giorgio Balboni and Ettore Viancini, Geneva, 1985;
With Patrick Matthiesen, London, 1989;
Private collection, Geneva, since 2002.

ExhibitedRome, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini, and Siena, Santa Maria della Scala, Colori della Musica: Dipinti, strumenti e concerti tra Cinquecento e Seicento, 2000-2001, no. 43;
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and His World, 29 November 2003 - 30 May 2004, no. 62;
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Valentin de Boulogne, Beyond Caravaggio, 7 October 2016  - 16 January 2017, no. 11.

Literature: B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, 1979, edited by L. Vertova, Turin 1990, vol. I, p. 205, reproduced vol. II, fig. 675;
M. Mojana, Valentin de Boulogne, Milan 1989, pp. 192-93, and p. 239, cat. no. 70, reproduced in color p. 193 (as unsure whether it is autograph or a period copy, her confusion based in part on the background that at the time was overpainted as a cloudy sky);
S. Macioce in Colori della Musica: Dipinti, strumenti e concerti tra Cinquecento e Seicento, exhibition catalogue, Siena 2000, p. 202, cat. no. 43, reproduced in color;
2001: An Art Odyssey, London, Matthiesen Gallery, 2001, pp. 222-231, reproduced in color;
R. Beresford in Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and His World, exhibition catalogue, 2003, pp. 202-03, cat. no. 62, reproduced in color; 
P. Bell and D. Suckow in Repräsentation - Inklusion - Exklusion. Zur Semantisierung der 'Zigeuner' ed. I. Patrut and H. Uerlings, Trier, Universität Trier, 2008;
'Valentin de Boulogne, réinventer Caravage,' in Dossiers de l’Art, 246, March 2017, p. 2, reproduced;
K. Christiansen in Valentin de Boulogne, beyond Caravaggio, exhibition catalogue, New York 2016, pp 108-110, cat. no. 11, reproduced in color. 

Note: Valentin’s Fortune-teller, from circa 1615, is one of the artist’s earliest works and was included in the important recent exhibition in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated to the artist. Depictions of card players and tavern drinkers were popularized by Bartolomeo Manfredi soon after Caravaggio’s stay in Rome at the turn of the seventeenth century, and this new form was rapidly taken up by the plethora of Northern artists working in the city at the time. Few of them though absorbed the innovations of Caravaggio and Manfredi as quickly and as successfully as Valentin, who must surely be considered one of the finest of all of Caravaggio’s followers.  

In the present work Valentin provides a development to the standard depiction of bohemians and crooks by portraying the victim of the intrigue, that is the soldier being duped, with his back to us, creating a greater spatial complexity, while the figures facing us are presented in a harmonious and fluid dynamic which underscores their complicity. By almost entirely concealing the soldier’s face, however, the artist further allows us as viewers to identify as this very figure. Not one but two of the thieves look out directly at us, drawing us into the action, particularly by the knowing gesture of the man on the far right who taps his nose with his finger. This figure reappears in several other works executed roughly at the same time as the present work: as the servant in the Return of the Prodigal Son, in the Museo della Venerabile Arciconfraternità della Misericordia, in Florence;1 as the bystander at the far right in the Denial of Saint Peter, in the Fondazione di Studi dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, in Florence;2 as the figure pouring wine  in the Fortune-Teller with Soldiers, in the Toledo Museum of Art.3The youth playing a lute recurs as the soldier at the far left of the Christ and the Adulteress, in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles.4 The inclusion of the chicken, or pollo in Italian, introduces a note of humor and word play, for in Italian pollo also means a dupe. 

While the work itself was only rediscovered in 1985, the composition was already known through two copies, one in the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, and a more modest copy in a private collection formerly on the London art market. Since the Copenhagen copy has a pendant, which in turn is a copy after Valentin’s Musicians and Soldiers from 1625-27, in the Musées des Beaux-Arts in Strasbourg, scholars including Benedict Nicolson assumed that the present work and the Strasbourg painting must have also been pendants.5 As the recent exhibition in New York made quite explicit, however, the two works date from different decades in the artist’s career, and so cannot be considered true pendants. As the exhibition catalogue reasonably suggests, they were likely at one point owned by the same collector who commissioned the copies. The aforementioned other copy in a private collection is also paired with a copy after the Strasbourg Musicians and Soldiers, lending further credence to the idea that the two prototypes must have once hung in the same collection. 

1. Valentin de Boulogne, beyond Caravaggio, pp. 114-15, cat. no. 13, reproduced.
2. Ibid., pp. 117-19, cat. no. 14, reproduced.
3. Ibid., pp. 120-22, cat. no. 15, reproduced.
4. Ibid., pp. 122-25, cat. no. 16, reproduced.
5. Ibid., pp. 166-68, cat. no. 32, reproduced.

Balthasar van der Ast (Middelburg 1593/94 - 1657 Delft), Still life with basket of shells, a plate with fruits and insects

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Lot 14. Balthasar van der Ast (Middelburg 1593/94 - 1657 Delft), Still life with basket of shells, a plate with fruits and insects, signed lower left: B.van der.Ast, oil on panel, 15 1/2  by 23 5/8  in.; 39.5 by 60 cm. Estimate 800,000 — 1,200,000 USD. Lot sold 1,815,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

ProvenanceIn the collection of the family of the present owners since at least circa 1900.

NoteThis recently rediscovered panel is a particularly refined example of Balthasar van der Ast’s mature period and highly distinctive still life compositions. Although renowned as a painter of shells and frequently devoted paintings to their representation, here they are particularly featured elements of the composition. Here he has placed a variety of examples along the stone ledge, so as to display his dexterity in representing a multitude of surfaces and materials. From left to right along the stone ledge: a Cypraea tigris, a Banded marble cone, a Haustellum haustellum and three other cone shell varieties. In the straw basket just above is a Lambis lambis with other conical shells. They are placed alongside a variety of fruits which sit in a blue and white Chinese Wanli porcelain bowl. Van der Ast has taken the greatest care to depict the surface and texture of all the fruits, delighting particularly in the rendition of the bruises and other blemishes of the less ripe fruit. At opposite ends of the composition are a lizard and dragonfly. These classic additions seem to balance the composition, serving as appropriate counterbalances in this carefully orchestrated, yet seemingly casual arrangement.

Although commonplace today, such shells were great rarities in the 17th century and were extremely expensive. Like tulips, they became the subject of intense commercial speculation, and victims of this indulgence were mocked as 'shelpenzotten' or 'shell fools'. Consequently shells, like flowers, came to be seen as emblems of vanitas.  Segal has argued that the shells in Van der Ast's paintings were indeed intended as vanitas symbols.1  This understanding would have been reinforced to the viewer by the juxtaposition of such elements of transience and worldliness, such as the decaying fruit. While it is not clear that such a meaning was intended by this picture, its intimate character certainly meets the contemplative requirements of the vanitas subject. Too few of Van der Ast's paintings are dated to enable us to construct a chronology for small-scale works such as this. Securely dated examples range only from 1617 to 1628.

Fred Meijer, to whom we are grateful for endorsing the attribution, has suggested a dating to the late 1630's.

1. S. Segal, A Prosperous Past,  the Sumptuous Still-Life in the Netherlands 1600-1700, The Hague 1988, pp. 88-89. 

Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 - 1743), Winter, 1719–21

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Lot 69. Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 - 1743), Winter, oil on canvas, 45 1/4  by 37 in.; 115 by 94 cm. Estimate 1,500,000–2,000,000 USD. Lot sold 2,655,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: Commissioned from the artist by Jean-François Lériget de la Faye (1674-1731), Paris, and mentioned in his estate inventory of 26 September 1731, no. 87 (as part of a set of four, see catalogue note);
By descent to his nephew, Jean-François Lériget de la Faye II, Paris;
Pierre Vigné de Vigny (1690-1772), Paris, by 1753;
His sale, Paris, P. Remy, 1 April 1773, lot 100 (as part of a set of four);
Where acquired by Louis-François Mettra (1738-1804) for 1785 livres (for the set of four);
Pierre-Eugène Secrétan (1836-1899);
His sale, Paris, Galerie Charles Sedelmeyer, Chevalier and Aulard, 1 July 1889, lot 133;
Acquired after the above sale by a member of the Schneider family, probably Henri Schneider (1840 – 1898);
By descent to his daughter Madeleine Schneider (1879-1969), wife of Henri, Marquess of Juigné (1874-1951);
By descent to Colette de Juigné (1902-1989), wife of Armand, 9th duke of Lorge (1902-1996);
By descent to Jacques-Henri, 10th duke of Lorge (1928-2014);
Thence by descent to the present collectors.

ExhibitedParis, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition de Peinture: Cent Chefs-d'Oeuvre des Collections Parisiennes, June 1883, no. 115 (titled La Partie de Cartes).

LiteratureLe Mercure de France, June 1730, p. 1184;
S. Ballot de Sovot, Eloge de Lancret, Peintre du Roi, Paris 1743 (ed. Guiffrey, Paris 1874), pp. 19-20, 70;
A.-J. Dézallier d’Argenville, Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres, Paris 1752, vol. III, p. 290;
Affiches, announces, avis divers, Paris 1753, p. 92;
G. Wildenstein, Lancret, Paris 1924, pp. 49, 70-71, cat. no. 10 (with the engraving by Le Bas reproduced as fig. 7);
M. M. Grasselli, "Eleven New Drawings by Nicolas Lancret," Master Drawings, vol. XXIII/XXIV, no. 3, 1985/6, pp. 380-81 (with the engraving by Le Bas reproduced p. 382, fig. 6)
M.T. Holmes, Nicolas Lancret and Genre Themes of the Eighteenth Century, unpublished PhD dissertation, New York University 1986, pp. 13-15, 17, 18, under cat. no. 2;
M.T. Holmes, Nicolas Lancret 1690-1743, New York 1991, p. 70, under cat. no. 6;
G. Glorieux, Le Château de Condé - une Demeure de Plaisance au Siècle des Lumières, Paris 2004, pp. 30;
M.T. Holmes, Nicolas Lancret: Dance Before A Fountain, Los Angeles 2006, pp. 86, 89-90;
R. Ziskin, Sheltering Art: Collecting and Social Identity in Early Eighteenth-Century Paris, Pennsylvania 2012, pp. 100-102. 

EngravedJean-Philippe Le Bas, 1730. 

Note: This early masterpiece by Nicolas Lancret, datable to 1719-21, was last seen in public in 1889; the reappearance of Winter is one of the most exciting and important discoveries of the artist's oeuvre in recent history. The painting, one of the earliest known depictions of a Régence interior, is part of a cycle of Four Seasons commissioned directly by the French diplomat Jean-François Lériget de la Faye at a momentous point in the young artist's career.  While the paintings still exhibit the influence of his mentor, Antoine Watteau, their magnificent quality undoubtedly helped to establish Lancret’s name as an independent master.  

Lancret's allegory of Winter depicts the everyday pleasures of upper-class society in early 18th-century France, set in a stately Régence interior.  A group of figures are gathered in a refined drawing room; a fire lit in the background and fur-lined overgowns worn by the elegant ladies identify the season as winter.  A card game is taking place at the table; some players are discussing strategy while others seem lost in thought, and the woman sitting at the center looks directly out at the viewer rather than at her hand.  Two women nearby are reading a score while a third stands behind them, seemingly humming along.  The young lady in the foreground entertains a kitten, while an older woman sits by the fire in the background, a small dog in her lap.   

Lancret was best known for his fête galante paintings, which most often featured figures in an outdoor setting, rather than an interior as in the present painting.  He began his career as a student of Claude Gillot, from about 1712 onwards; Gillot, who also taught Antoine Watteau, specialized in genre and theatrical scenes.  Indeed it is commonly thought that Lancret's decision to enter the studio of Gillot was based on his great admiration for Watteau.  While Lancret was never Watteau’s pupil, they developed a friendship and Lancret continually looked to Watteau as a mentor.  In 1719, Lancret was reçu into the Académie Royale as a painter of fêtes galantes, a category created specifically for Watteau a few years prior.  The relationship between the two artists soured, however, at the Exposition de La Jeunesse, when two paintings by Lancret were received so positively that many thought they were by Watteau.  The elder artist did not appreciate it when his friends mistakenly complimented him on the paintings, and thus broke ties with the young Lancret.  Watteau died in 1721, and Lancret quickly established his name as an independent master, eventually developing his own style by shifting his figures further forward in his compositions and animating them with livelier gestures, both in his drawings and his paintings.  

Based on the preparatory drawings that exist for Lancret’s paintings, Grasselli dates the commission to as early as 1719-21,1 right after the artist was reçu into the Académie and began to step out of Watteau’s shadow.  At least four sketches for Winter are known today and all exhibit Lancret's seemingly effortless ability to depict his figures in spontaneous, natural poses.  Voluminous, sweeping fabrics fall softly on their bodies and capture light in a way that exudes movement and gesture from the figures.  His sketches, such as the one in red chalk depicting the central figure of Winter, are done in quick, broad strokes, emphasizing the folds and shadows of the costumes to render a dimensional, living figure beneath (fig. 1, now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Bayonne, inv. no. 1654).  Additionally, a double-sided drawing by Lancret in the Graphische Sammlung im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, includes sketches for the two figures on the far left of the sheetand a sketch for the seated woman reading at center right is in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris.3

 

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fig. 1. Jacques-Philippe Lebas (1707-1783), after Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), Winter, engraving, etching, 43.5 x 34.7 cm. Inv. No. 6527LR. Photo: Michael Urtado. © RMN-Grand Palais/ Art Resource, NY.

In addition to its allegorical subject of Winter, the painting is one of the earliest known depictions of a Régence interiorFollowing the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the Baroque style associated with the King's regime fell out of favor with the aristocracy, who shifted their taste towards more intimate settings after the turbulence of his reign.  Much of society moved from Versailles back to town houses in Paris (and even more so following the court's movement to the Palais Royal).  Interiors were decorated with a more harmonious, feminine style featuring curved lines, damask fabric wall panels, and delicate, airy furniture (which evolved into the playful, Rococo style of interior design that was popular during Louis XV's reign). Lancret's drawing room in Winter shows a home in transition between eras: the stiff backs of the chairs and heavy tapestry that covers the table echo the previous Louis-XIV style, while the wall hangings, sinuous picture frames and curved lighting elements embrace the new Régence look. 

A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE:
Lériget de la Faye was a highly regarded French diplomat with a military background who spent time in London, Genoa and Rome.  He was a member of the court of Louis XIV and served as a special adviser to the King, but was also a connoisseur of the arts and thus transitioned from his previous diplomatic life to the cultural and literary world of Régence Paris quite naturally. Lériget notably had a close friendship with the comtesse de Verrue (1670 - 1736), one of the most esteemed and influential art collectors in Paris at the time (and through whom he was likely introduced to Lancret). Lériget amassed a large and important art and book collection, enjoyed theater and ballet, and wrote poetry. 

In 1717, Lériget purchased a grand house on the rue de Sèvres; two years later he acquired two other homes nearby and connected them to create a substantial hôtel in which to house his growing collection and host fellow art enthusiasts. Upon entering, his esteemed visitors were led through a series of themed rooms, each housing a different area of his collection: Chinese porcelain, antique and modern bronzes, terracotta sculptures, and finally the paintings, the collection for which he was best known.  Ultimately, they found themselves in the grand salon, which opened onto the garden. At his death, Lériget's house was filled with around 250 paintings; according to Rochelle Ziskin, the only works which can be definitely placed in a particular room were Lancret's series of seasons, which were set into the paneling at the end of the celebrated Salon.4

Lériget's support of the young Lancret was immeasurably important to the artist’s early career.  Indeed, in his biographies of members of the Académie, D’Alembert described Lériget as “a man of taste,” preferring “the masterpieces of a virtually unknown painter to a mediocre painting by a celebrated artist.”5 According to Lancret's friend and biographer Ballot de Savot, Lériget was so impressed when Lancret brought him the second painting of the set of seasons that he decided to pay the artist double the price they had originally agreed upon.6

After Lériget's heir sold the pictures, they entered the collection of the architect Pierre Vigné, called Vigné de Vigny, and were sold as one lot in his 1773 sale to the art dealer Louis-François Mettra; at some point thereafter, they were separated.  Spring and Summer were acquired by the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia via the dealer Klostermann in 1782 and remain in the State Hermitage Collection.  The location of Autumn during the 19th century is unknown, but it was recorded in the collection of Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (1845-1934) by 1924 and was sold by his daughter in 1971.

By the 1880s, Winter was in the collection of the leading copper industrialist Pierre-Eugène Secrétan (1836-1899), who famously donated 60,000 kilos of copper sheets to make the Statue of Liberty in the 1870s.  After the copper crash in 1889, Secrétan staged an elaborate sale of his extensive art collection with the gallerist Charles Sedelmeyer, producing catalogues in French as well as English in order to attract both local and American bidders. This was the last public appearance of Winter until now; it was purchased by a private collector in the auction and has remained in his family's collection until the present day. 

We are grateful to Mary Tavener Holmes for her assistance with the cataloguing of this painting. 

Sotheby's. Master Paintings Evening Sale, New York, 01 Feb 2018  

A Rare Large Blue-Splashed 'Sancai' Pottery Basin, Tang Dynasty (618-907)

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A rare large blue and sancai-glazed pottery basin, Tang dynasty

Lot 182. A Rare Large Blue-Splashed 'Sancai' Pottery Basin, Tang Dynasty (618-907). Diameter 10 in., 25.4 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 USD. Lot sold 27,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2014.

carved in the center with a large floral medallion in blue, amber and cream glazes on an amber ground, accented in wax-resist arcs and stipples at the cavetto, the exterior glazed amber stopping before the flat base to show the pinkish buff ware.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, early 1980s.

Note: Of all sancai wares produced comparatively few are enhanced with cobalt blue. The major kiln associated with its ability to produce the best quality sancai and blue-glazed wares and figures are the kilns at Huangye, Gongyi, Henan. For a shard of similar form and decoration see Three-Colour Glazed Pottery Kilns of the Tang Dynasty at Huangye, Henan Province, 2000, col. pl. no. 10-3, sample no. 1053. Compare a sancai basin of this shape and size with almost identical blue-splashed decoration on the side of its interior and similar floral design in the center, unearthed from Sanyuan county in 1974 and presently kept in the Sanyuan County Museum, Shaanxi province, illustrated in National Treasure Collection of Rare Cultural Relics of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an, 1998, pl. 10.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014

An extremely rare and magnificent blue-splashed sancai pottery money chest, Tang dynasty (618-907)

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An extremely rare and magnificent blue-splashed sancai pottery money chest, Tang dynasty

Lot 183. An extremely rare and magnificent blue-splashed sancai pottery money chest, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 7 1/8  in., 18.1 cm; Width 9 1/8  in., 23.2 cm; Depth 7 in., 17.8 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 100,000 USD. Lot sold 329,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2014.

the rectangular box raised on bracket feet with cream-glazed studs simulating the metal prototype, the sides reinforced with amber panels with crescent tops secured with further studs, and applied with blue-glazed lion-masks or palmettes, the top with a small hinge-lidded cover applied with a loop for the attachment of a lock, surrounded by four crisply rendered lion-mask appliqués.

Provenance: Christie's Los Angeles, 4th December 1998, lot 71.
Christie's New York, 21st September 2000, lot 267.

Note: Models of money chests, which would have been secured with a padlock, have been found in several Tang tombs, but are otherwise extremely rare.

The various extant chests differ in their applied ornaments and in glaze colors, and come in two different sizes. Whereas the use of cobalt-blue is generally found only on the smaller size, the present piece belongs to the larger type and is particularly richly adorned. 

Two other pieces of this large size are glazed in sancai colors only, without any cobalt-blue: one of them excavated at Jinjiagou, Luoyang, Henan province and now in the Henan Provincial Museum is illustrated in Henan Sheng Bowuguan, Beijing, 1985, col. pl. 156; the other is preserved in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, and illustrated in Yuba Tadanori, Chûgoku no tôji, vol. 3, Tokyo, 1995, col. pl. 55. 

Compare four chests of smaller size but with prominent areas of cobalt-blue, two of them excavated at Wangjiafen village in the eastern suburbs of Xi'an in Shaanxi province: one of these was included in the exhibition Gilded Dragons, The British Museum, London, 1999, cat. no. 48; the other, or an exact same model to the preceding, now in the Chinese Museum of History Beijing is illustrated in Tang Ceramics Made in Henan: The Tri-Color and Blue and White, Beijing, 2005, no. 645, p. 439; the remaining two pieces are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the St. Louis Art Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections, vol. 10, Tokyo, 1980, fig. 72; and in Mizuno Seiichi, Tôji taikei, vol. 35, Tokyo, 1977, p. 112, fig. 39.

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Sancai glazed pottery cabinet, Tang Dynasty, in the National Museum of China, Beijing

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014

A 'Cizhou' brown-slip painted 'Bird' bottle vase (yuhuchunping), Yuan dynasty (1279-1366)

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A 'Cizhou' brown-slip painted 'Bird' bottle vase (yuhuchunping), Yuan dynasty

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Lot 212. A 'Cizhou' brown-slip painted 'Bird' bottle vase (yuhuchunping), Yuan dynasty (1279-1366). Height 11 in., 28 cm.Estimate 80,000 — 100,000 USD. Lot sold 329,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2014.

painted in two registers, each with three stylized fan-tailed birds with spread wings, on white slip under a clear glaze falling short of the pedestal foot.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014

A Junyao Tripod Censer, Song-Jin Dynasty (960-1234)

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A Junyao Tripod Censer, Song-Jin Dynasty

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Lot 223. A Junyao Tripod Censer, Song-Jin Dynasty (960-1234)Height 3 in., 7.5 cm. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Lot sold 6,250 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the compressed body supported on three small curved feet below a tapering neck and  everted rim, covered on the interior and exterior with a grayish-turquoise blue glaze with splashes of purple, wood stand (2).

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, New York, 18 march 2014


Minneapolis Institute of Art and theater artist Robert Wilson collaborate to create immersive experience

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China, Imperial Portrait of a Prince (detail), Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, 1736–95 Ink, color, and gold on silk Gift of funds from Louis W. Hill, Jr., David Bradford, Myron Kunin, and Bruce Dayton 83.30, Minneapolis Institute of Art

MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- The Minneapolis Institute of Art collaborated with celebrated theatre director and visual artist Robert Wilson to organize a first-of-its-kind exhibition highlighting the drama, rituals, and opulence of the Qing Empire, the last imperial dynasty of China. The exhibition presents objects from Mia’s renowned collection of Chinese art, including rare court costumes, jades, lacquers, bronzes, gold ornaments, paintings, and sculpture, displayed in an immersive, experiential environment conceived of by Wilson. "Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty: Concept and Design by Robert Wilson,” presented by Sit Investment Associates, is curated by Liu Yang, Mia’s Curator of Chinese Art, and is on view February 3 through May 27, 2018. 

“The staging and storytelling involved in this exhibition speak to Mia’s belief in art’s ability to inspire wonder and fuel curiosity,” said Matthew Welch, Mia’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator. “Through the use of the theatrical elements of lighting, sound, and progression, we examine the layers of imperial life—from the external presentation of the court to the internal, private life of the emperor. We want visitors to feel as though they are part of this closed, ritualized, and sometimes even dangerous world.” 

During the Qing (pronounced “ching”) court’s reign (1644–1912), the arts flourished—rivaling that of Europe’s great kingdoms. This backdrop of opulence served to affirm imperial power and prestige, and acted as stagecraft to enhance the emperor’s leading role as the “son of heaven.” 

Costumes worn at court are given particular attention in the exhibition, including the display of exquisite robes heavily embroidered or woven with symbolic designs such as roiling waves and faceted rocks that evoke the earth’s oceans and mountains, or stylized clouds that suggest the heavens. Dragons, a longstanding symbol of imperial authority and might, often cavort in the clouds, suggesting the emperor’s rule of heaven and earth. These symbols are also repeated on other objects throughout the exhibition and help reinforce the sense of the imperial family’s rule as mandated from heaven.

“Mia has one of the world’s great collections of Chinese art outside of China,” said Liu Yang, Mia’s curator of Chinese Art and head of China, South, and Southeast Asian Art. “Our collection of Qing dynasty textiles is one of the most comprehensive in the West, and we have many other important objects associated with the Qing emperors and their courts. It is personally very exciting for me to be able to highlight these objects in an unexpected and fresh manner by working with Robert Wilson.” 

Exhibition Experience 
The exhibition progresses through a series of ten galleries that lead visitors from the performative, external world of the imperial court to the intimate, interior world of the emperor. The sequence of galleries explores different aspects of imperial life, from the almost bureaucratic devotion to hierarchy and the emperor’s omnipotent control of the court to the politically expedient splendor of religious devotional objects.  

Objects highlights include:
 
A ceremonial twelve-symbol jifu court robe worn by the emperor
A formal court robe worn by the empress
A 640-pound jade mountain commissioned by the Qianlong emperor
A multicolor lacquered and carved imperial throne
A meditating Buddha carved from white jade enthroned within a Tibetan-style stupa of green jade
An imperial portrait of prince Duo Lou
A carved lacquer box adorned with nine auspicious dragons and bearing the Qianlong emperor’s seal.

Each gallery also features an original soundscape created by Wilson, in collaboration with sound designer Rodrigo Gava, and dramatic lighting by designer A.J. Weissbard.  

To set the stage, visitors enter a small, darkened gallery with a single illuminated object and a subtle soundscape, encouraging them to settle their minds and leave behind the 21st century as they enter the world of the emperor. In juxtaposition, the second gallery embraces the extreme of opposites. Brightly lit and displaying approximately 200 objects including: carved lacquer boxes, bronze altar pieces, jades, gold ornaments, gilt bronzes, porcelains, and furniture—the gallery emphasizes the range of artistic creation throughout China’s long history and the force of this tradition on the Qing emperors.  

An adjacent gallery seeks to recreate the sense of authority and awe inspired by meeting the emperor in his throne room. In this room with gold-leafed walls that evoke the opulence of the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Taihe dian) in the Forbidden City in Beijing, an imperial throne from the Qianlong period (1736-95) has been raised on a dais with stairs on three sides, four large pillars surrounding it, and a large dragon painted on the wall behind it. The soundscape emphasizes the fearsomeness of the emperor’s power by relying on percussion instruments performing ceremonial music, punctuated by intermittent screams.  

Another gallery focuses on the court life of noblewomen. This room highlights the artistry developing in gold and silver production in the Qing period and the development of sophisticated technology for clothing manufacture, which created a remarkable material culture of garments and adornments. The aluminum-foil wallpaper of the gallery is designed to suggest a lavish and extravagant lifestyle, yet with a poignant soundscape that undercuts the display. A sad, bitter melody is being played on the erhu (a twostringed instrument), but unexpectedly interrupted from time to time by the sound of female giggling—a symbolic reference to the destiny and experience of Chinese women in the imperial court. 

Together, the galleries vividly bring to life an intimate and dramatic sense of the imperial court during China’s last dynasty. 

“Mia could not be more delighted to work with Robert Wilson on the creation of this exhibition,” said Kaywin Feldman, Mia’s Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director and President. “His unique approach to exhibition design and his willingness to push the boundaries make him an ideal collaborator. His style often involves dramatic contrasts—brightness and darkness, fullness and emptiness—which bring a new perspective to these historic objects."

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China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Manchu Emperor’s Ceremonial Twelve-symbol jifu Court Robe, Yongzheng period 1723–1735. Silk tapestry (kesi). The John R. Van Derlip Fund 42.8.11, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Manchu Empress' Semiformal Court Robe, 1662-1722

China, Manchu Empress's Semiformal Court Robe, Kangxi period 1662-1722. Silk tapestry (kesi). The John R. Van Derlip Fund 42.8.9. Courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

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China, Jade Mountain Illustrating the Gathering of Scholars at the Lanting Pavilion, commissioned by the Qianlong emperor, 1790. Light green jade, 22 1/2 × 38 3/8 in., 640 lb. (57.15 × 97.47 × 290.3 cm). The John R. Van Derlip Fund and Gift of the Thomas Barlow Walker Foundation 92.103.13Courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

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China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Imperial Throne, Qianlong period (1736–1795). Polychrome lacquer over a softwood frame, 22 1/2 × 38 3/8 in., 640 lb. (57.15 × 97.47 × 290.3 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 93.32a-dCourtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art.

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China, Amitabha, 19th century. White and mottled green nephrite. The John R. Van Derlip Fund and Gift of the Thomas Barlow Walker Foundation 92.103.14a,b. Courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art

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China, Imperial Portrait of Prince Duo Luo, c. 1775, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); Ink, color, and gold on silk; 117 x 75 in. (297.18 x 190.5 cm). Gift of funds from Louis W. Hill, Jr., David Bradford, Myron Kunin, and Bruce Dayton 83.30. Courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art.

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China, Nine Dragon Box, Qianlong six-character reign mark (1736-1795). Red, green, and brown carved lacquer (tixi), 8 1/4 x 11 1/4 x 11 1/4 in. (21 x 28.6 x 28.6 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 2001.68.14a,b. Courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Récipient en bronze à patine verte de fouille Vietnam, culture Dong Son

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Récipient en bronze à patine verte de fouille

Récipient en bronze à patine verte de fouille Vietnam, culture Dong Son

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Lot 125. Récipient en bronze à patine verte de fouille, Vietnam, culture Dong Son. Estimation : 1 000 € / 1 200 €. Photo: Vermot et Associés

Diam 40 cm. (Accidents).

Le Tour du Monde d’un Collectionneur IV chez Vermot et Associés, Paris (France), le 05 Février 2018 à 15h00

Pipe à eau en porcelaine bleu blanc à monture de cuivre, Chine pour le Vietnam, XIXe-XXe siècle

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Pipe à eau en porcelaine bleu blanc à monture de cuivre, Chine pour le Vietnam, XIXe-XXe siècle

Lot 1072. Pipe à eau en porcelaine bleu blanc à monture de cuivre, Chine pour le Vietnam, XIXe-XXe siècle. Estimation : 150 € / 300 €. Photo: Boisgirard Antonini Nice

De forme ovoïde, en porcelaine bleu blanc, à cerclage / monture de cuivre avec poignée mobile retenu par deux charnières. Décor bleu blanc de branches de prunus fleuries et de deux caractères archaïsants stylisés (Tho = Shou = longévité et ce qui semble être un Fu = bonheur). Au dessous, caractère Tho (longévité). Caractères que l’on retrouve au niveau des charnières. Poème en deux colonnes, chaque de sept caractères, en kaishu sur le côté opposé : 信知天下无双品独占人间第 / Xìn zhī tiānxià wúshuāng pǐn dúzhàn rénjiān dì.
H (anse relevée) : 17, cm – H (anse baissée) : 12 cm – D (maximal, avec charnières): 13 cm.

Comparaison : Pour une pipe à eau semblable, bien que non identique, se reporter à la vente Cornette de Saint-Cyr Paris, « Vietnaml – Arts d’Asie », 29/11/2010.

Arts de la Chine & du Japon chez Boisgirard Antonini Nice, 06000 Nice (France), le 09 Février 2018 à 10h00 et 14h00

Réservoir de pipe à eau en porcelaine dite "Bleu de Huê", Chine pour le Vietnam, Dynastie Nguyên, Epoque XIXe siècle

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Réservoir de pipe à eau en porcelaine dite 'Bleu de Huê', Chine pour le Vietnam, Dynastie Nguyên, Epoque XIXe siècle

Lot 1071. Réservoir de pipe à eau en porcelaine dite "Bleu de Huê", Chine pour le Vietnam, Dynastie Nguyên, Epoque XIXe siècle. Estimation : 100 € / 200 €. Photo: Boisgirard Antonini Nice

A pied court annulaire, panse glo¬bulaire compressée et couvercle campaniforme. A monture de métal à la poignée mobile. A décor en bleu cobalt sous couverte d’un phénix et de deux rouleaux, ces derniers constituant l’un des « Huit Trésors du Bouddhisme » (babao). Au dessous, caractère Tho (longévité / monture détachée maintenue par un fil). H (anse relevée): 11,5 cm - H (anse baissée): 8 cm - l: 9 cm.

Arts de la Chine & du Japon chez Boisgirard Antonini Nice, 06000 Nice (France), le 09 Février 2018 à 10h00 et 14h00

Osias Beert the Elder, Still life on a plain wooden table

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Lot 37. Osias Beert the Elder (Antwerp (?) circa 1580 (?) - 1624), Still life on a plain wooden table: a large Wanli porcelain dish of fruit, a pewter dish of fruit, medlars and nuts, a moth, two venetian-style glasses of wine, one white and the other red, a knife with an ornamental handle, white grapes, a roll of bread and half a peach, oil on panel, 21 by 29 3/8  in.; 53.3 by 74.6 cm. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD. Lot sold 225,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Note: Osias Beert was registered as a pupil in the Antwerp painters' guild in 1596 and enrolled as a master in 1602.  Apart from being a painter, he was registered as a cork tradesman.  He trained several pupils, of whom only Frans Ykens appears to have become a still life painter, like his teacher.  Beert was one of the pioneers of still life painting in Antwerp and a highly esteemed artist, of which numerous (more or less) contemporary copies and imitations of his work bear witness.  Today, few more than a dozen signed or monogrammed still-lifes by Beert are known.  Not one of those is dated, but as many as four were painted on copper plates dated by the panel-maker to 1607, 1608, and 1609, providing at least an indication of the year in which they were painted.  Presently the known surviving total of works to be attributed to Beert with certainty does not appear to outnumber fifty.  About half of the known oeuvre of this contemporary of Jan Brueghel the Elder and Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder consists of flower pieces and still lifes including bouquets;  the other half are still lifes displaying fruit, oysters and other foodstuffs, often in rather costly containers.

Usually, as is the case here, Beert's still lifes have a rather high viewpoint, which allowed the artist to arrange his motifs systematically, while one back corner of the table is often clearly visible.  In Beert's palette, earth colors are often predominant, balanced by cool blues and grays and strengthened by red, yellow and bright green accents.  His flower pieces, by the nature of their subject, show more variegation.  Beert accomplished the brightness and subtle detail in his works by the use of glazes on a light ground, while details were often rendered with fine linear accents.  While quite a few of Beert's works have lost their original quality through loss of the topmost layers of glaze, in this still life the original paint layers are generally well preserved, which allows the viewer to study Beert's handling closely.

Osias Beert often repeated motifs in his still lifes and occasionally repeated larger parts of the same composition.  Dishes of Chinese Wanli porcelain with fruit are a recurring feature in Beert's still lifes of this type.  Such porcelain was imported by the East-India trade companies and got its popular name of "Kraak" porcelain – a term still internationally used today – from early examples that were taken from a captured Portuguese merchant ship, of a type that was called a "cararcas."  At this time, early in the 17th century, such dishes were still an expensive rarity.  Judging from the border decoration, in this case Beert did not have an actual dish in front of him, but produced some kind of a fantasy Wanli decoration.1 The locally made pewter dishes were more common.  The Venetian-style wine glasses are most likely the product of one of the glass studios led by Venetian immigrants in Liège or Antwerp, rather than an actual import from Venice.  Beert's choice of fruit here, as usual, is limited to local produce.  Occasionally he would feature the more exotic lemon or orange in his still lifes, but from compositions such as this one they are usually absent.  The same knife, with its curious handle that ends in the shape of a horse shoe, can be found in at least two other still lifes by Beert.2

For the placement of his still lifes, Osias Beert often opted for bare surfaces, such as plain wooden tables, or neutral stone plinths.  Here, as in other examples, the thinness of the wash with which he has painted his table top allows it to interact with the grain pattern of the wood of the panel.  The result is highly convincing and suggestive.

The composition of this still life is typical of Osias Beert:  a rather formal array of containers filled with fruit, supplemented with wine glasses, bread, and a knife, interspersed with some small items.  Due to the lack of dated works in Beert's oeuvre it is not easy to date individual works accurately.  However, the handling of the still life discussed here appears to be quite similar to that of his paintings whose supports bear specific dates.  Consequently, a tentative date between 1608 and 1612 can be suggested for it.

Beert's still lifes do not generally appear to abound with symbolism, although, his contemporaries may well have read some into them.  The bread and wine, for instance, may have been viewed as referring to the Eucharist.  Above all, however, this would appear to be an image of luxury - God-given luxury, to be enjoyed in modesty.  As much as the content of the dishes provides a feast to their owner, Beert's image of it is – no doubt quite intentionally – a feast to the eye.

Catalogue entry written by Fred G. Meijer.

1.  The border decoration is clearly inspired by Wanli motifs, but curiously deviates from the known formal patterns, compare M. Rinaldi, Kraak Porcelain, 1989, p. 71.
2.  The first in the Heinz Family Collection, Washington, D.C., oil on panel 65 x 85 cm.; the other with De Jonckheere, Paris, 1991 (see cat. no. 6), oil on panel, 53.5 by 74.5 cm.

Sotheby's. The Otto Naumann Sale, New York, 31 janv. 2018

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