Lot 485. A turquoise-ground famille-rose bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Jiaqing period (1796-1820). Height 13 in., 33 cm. Estimate 15,000 — 20,000 USD. Lot sold 37,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2014.

the globular body enameled with four large Indian lotus blooms, alternating between two enclosing stylized shou characters in the center flanked by blue dragons, and two blooms enclosing a bud flanked by pink enameled phoenix, all against a network of floral scrolls between a band of archaistic scroll at the neck and upright lappets around the base, the neck similarly decorated with two lotus blooms between a band of ruyi around the rim and above upright petals, flanked by two bat handles enameled in blue, all reserved on a turquoise ground with the details outlined in gilt, the base ground presumably to remove the seal mark.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 18 MARS 2014 - 19 MARS 2014. NEW YORK

Lot 486.  A lime-green-ground famille-rose tripod censer, Jiaqing seal mark and period (1796-1820).  Height 12 7/8  in., 32.6 cm. Estimate 15,000 - 20,000 USD. Lot sold 37,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2014.

the globular body enameled with the bajixiang (Eight Buddhist Emblems) amidst meandering lotus scrolls that extend onto the cabriole legs, the shoulder with a band of ruyi-heads, flanked by a pair of pierced, upright curved handles, the lotus scrolls repeated on the waisted neck, all below a galleried rim with a pink and blue key-fret border interrupted by the horizontal six-character mark in iron-red, the interior enameled in turquoise, wood stand and cover (3).

Provenance: China during the early 20th century, and thence by descent.

Note: A pair of altar vases with a similar pattern and color was sold in these rooms 20th March 2012, lot 92. A similar censer, but of smaller size with a ruby-red ground, with a Jiaqing mark and of the period, also sold in these rooms, 19th March 2013, lot 220.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 18 MARS 2014 - 19 MARS 2014. NEW YORK

Jörg Breu the Younger (German, c. 1510-1547), Artybios on Horseback Attacking Onesilus, 1543. Pen and black ink and gray wash with white gouache on gray paper, 8 3/4 × 6 11/16 in. (22.2 × 17 cm). Gift in Honor of Charles Ryskamp on his 10th Anniversary as Director. Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1978.38.

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.- Over the past fifty years, New York art dealer and philanthropist Eugene V. Thaw assembled one of the world’s finest private collections of drawings. The collection, known for its breadth and exceptional quality, charts the high points of drawing from the Renaissance through the twentieth century and features works made by pivotal artists at key moments in the history of the art form. Mr. Thaw donated his collection of more than 400 drawings to the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, which celebrated the gift with the September 2017 opening of Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection, an exhibition that has drawn critical acclaim for the diversity and quality of the works presented. In recognition of Mr. Thaw’s longstanding interest in the Clark Art Institute, Drawn to Greatness traveled to Williamstown for an exclusive presentation at the Clark from February 3 through April 22, 2018. Featuring 150 drawings that tell the story of a visionary collector, the exhibition examines five centuries of western drawing. Sketchbooks belonging to Jackson Pollock, Francisco de Goya, Edgar Degas, and Paul Cézanne and illustrated letters from Vincent van Gogh are among the works exhibited. 

“It is an honor for the Clark to have the opportunity to show this exquisite collection in our galleries,” said Olivier Meslay, the Felda and Dena Hardymon Director of the Clark. “The works in this exhibition provide an incredibly rich and remarkable opportunity to consider the art form as practiced by generations of masters. It is one of the most important and impressive drawing exhibitions that has been assembled in decades.” 

The exhibition is organized in a series of chronological sections that illustrate key moments in the history of draftsmanship while also highlighting the work of artists whom the Thaws collected in depth, among them Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco de Goya, Odilon Redon, and Edgar Degas. 

“These exceptional drawings, watercolors, and collages exemplify both the eternal power of the drawn line and the innovative genius of the artists who have explored the medium over five centuries,” said Jay A Clarke, Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. “It is a truly spectacular collection of works and I am thrilled to be able to work in collaboration with the Morgan’s curatorial team to bring this show to the Clark.” 

The Rise of Drawing in the Renaissance 
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, drawing came to be understood not merely as a mechanic practice but as an intellectual one. With the growing availability of paper and bound sketchbooks, artists produced more personal and exploratory works on individual sheets of paper. This dramatic change was a central element in the development of Renaissance art. Andrea Mantegna (Italian, c. 1431–1506) most likely created Three Standing Saints (c. 1450–50) in preparation for a painting. This rare surviving drawing by one of the most important artists of the period depicts three versions of a single figure, most likely St. Andrew or St. Philip. 

Andrea Mantegna (Italian, c. 1431–1506), Three Standing Saints, c. 1450–50. Pen and brown ink on paper, 7 × 7 1/2 in. (17.8 × 19.1 cm); frame: 17 1/2 × 17 1/2 × 1 9/16 in. (44.5 × 44.5 × 4 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1985.100.

During the Renaissance, there was an increase in drawings made as independent, finished works. Jan Bruegel (Flemish, 1568–1625) created A View of the Tiber in Rome with Ponte Sisto and St. Peter’s in the Distance (c. 1594) not in preparation for a final work, but to record his travels. Two Lovers by a Fountain in a Landscape (c. 1509–10) by Albrecht Altdorfer (German, c. 1480–1538) is an example of a finished work created in response to the emerging class of collectors and connoisseurs. 

Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish, 1568–1625), A View of the Tiber in Rome with Ponte Sisto and St. Peter’s in the Distance, c. 1594. Pen and brown ink and wash and blue watercolor over black chalk on paper, 6 5/16 × 10 1/16 in. (16 × 25.6 cm); frame: 15 1/4 × 18 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (38.7 × 47 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.20.

Albrecht Altdorfer (German, c. 1480–1538), Two Lovers by a Fountain in a Landscape, c. 1509–10. Pen and black ink and white gouache on brown prepared paper, 6 3/8 × 4 5/8 in. (16.2 × 11.7 cm); frame: 18 3/8 × 15 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (46.7 × 38.7 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2006.51.

Looking at the World in the Seventeenth Century 
Seventeenth-century artists continued the tradition of the intellectual approach to drawing that began in the Renaissance. Artists, particularly those in the northern Europe, looked for inspiration in the world around them, studying subjects from life and focusing their work on landscapes, still lifes, genre scenes, and portraits. 

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) was a tireless draftsman and chronicler of the world around him, recording scenes of everyday life from the streets of Amsterdam to the nearby countryside. His powers of observation were so keen that the locations of his landscapes remain identifiable to scholars 300 years after they were drawn. The Bulwark De Rose and the Windmill De Smeerpot, Amsterdam (ca. 1649–52) demonstrates the artist’s ability to render a scene with great accuracy and an economy of line. In Four Musicians with Wind Instruments (c. 1638) Rembrandt adds a note of humor to a scene portraying street musicians by depicting the flutist with his cheeks inflated. 

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), The Bulwark De Rose and the Windmill De Smeerpot, Amsterdam, c. 1649–52. Pen and brown ink and wash on paper, 5 1/4 × 8 9/16 in. (13.3 × 21.7 cm); frame: 15 × 19 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (38.1 × 48.9 × 2.9 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2006.47.

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), Four Musicians with vind instruments, c. 1638. Pen and brown and black ink and brown wash, and red and yellow chalk on paper, 7 1/16 × 5 1/4 in. (17.9 × 13.3 cm); frame: 15 1/8 × 12 5/8 × 1 1/4 in. (38.4 × 32.1 × 3.2 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2004.42.

In this period, artists also looked closely at the natural world. Jacques de Gheyn II’s (Dutch, 1565–1629) Studies of a Fantastic Bird, Toad, Frog, and Dragonfly (c. 1596–1602) combines accurately rendered depictions of a toad, frog, and dragonfly joined by a bird-like creature of pure fantasy. 

Jacques de Gheyn II (Dutch, 1565–1629), Studies of a Fantastic Bird, Toad, Frog, and Dragonfly, c. 1596–1602. Pen and brown ink, watercolor, and gouache on paper, 4 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (11.4 × 14 cm); frame: 10 1/4 × 11 5/8 × 1 in. (26 × 29.5 × 2.5 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2004.40.

Contemporary Life and Fantasy in Eighteenth-century Italy 
Connoisseurship continued to grow in the eighteenth century, increasing the demand for independent drawings. Drawings were executed primarily in pen and ink washes on new varieties of bright white paper in ever-greater numbers. These luminous drawings featured subjects that combined elements of fantasy and reality, often infused with a sense of comedy. 

Artists represented views of their cities with pride along with scenes from the imagination known as “capricci.” Giovanni Antonio Canal’s (Italian, 1697–1768) Capriccio: Pavilion by the Lagoon (c. 1760) is a highly finished drawing typical of the artist’s late work. It is executed in brown ink in combination with gray wash, allowing the white of the paper to convey the sense of sunlight playing off the masonry. 

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto (Italian, 1697–1768), Capriccio: Pavilion by the Lagoon, c. 1760. Pen and brown ink and gray wash on paper, 14 7/8 × 9 7/16 in. (37.8 × 24 cm); frame: 22 3/4 × 17 3/4 × 1 in. (57.8 × 45.1 × 2.5 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2005.235.

Toward the end of his career, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, 1727–1804) created a series of drawings known as Scenes of Contemporary Life, usually executed with a satirical or caricatured twist. The Picture Show (c. 1791) presents an itinerant storyteller enthusiastically describing, with pointer in hand, a picture on the wall before him to a crowd of onlookers.  

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, 1727–1804), Scene of Contemporary Life: The Picture Show, 1791. Pen and brown and black ink and wash over black chalk on paper, 11 5/16 × 16 5/16 in. Thaw Collection, Morgan Library & Museum, 2017.253.

Artists Drawing Everywhere: Rococo and Enlightenment in France 
While drawing was firmly established as part of studio practice in Paris and Rome, it was also an important tool for artists such as Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721) who worked mostly outside of the Academy. Watteau produced a vast array of life studies, such as Study of a Young Man Seen from the Back and a Study of a Right Arm (c. 1717), which he kept in albums for future use. 

Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721), Study of a Young Man Seen from the Back and a Study of a Right Arm, c. 1717. Black, red, and white chalk, on paper, 8 3/16 × 9 in. (20.8 × 22.9 cm); frame: 16 3/4 × 17 5/8 × 1 1/2 in. (42.5 × 44.8 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2000.56.

The growing interest in foreign customs is in Jean-Baptiste Greuze’s (French, 1725–1805) The Game of Morra (1756). In the Italian game, still being played today, raucous competitors display a certain number of fingers from their right hands while loudly guessing the total number of fingers presented by both players. The dilapidated courtyard setting and dismayed faces of the players suggests Greuze did not approve of the activity.  

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805), The Game of Morra, 1756. Pen and brown ink and wash with gray wash over graphite on paper, 9 3/4 × 14 1/4 in. (24.8 × 36.2 cm); frame: 18 7/8 × 23 1/8 × 1 1/4 in. (47.9 × 58.7 × 3.2 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.109.

Revolution and Romanticism 
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, drawing in England and Germany became a forum for social issues and subjective explorations. The formation of drawing societies encouraged the production, exhibition, and collecting of drawings. Artists embraced watercolor as a medium and investigated subjects related to literature, philosophy history and religion. Examinations of spirituality by Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774–1840) and William Blake (English, 1757–1827) match the sublime landscapes of J.M.W. Turner (English, 1775 1851) and Samuel Palmer (English, 1805–1881). 

Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774–1840), Moonlit Landscape. Before 1808. Watercolor and gouache on paper; with, cut- and- pasted insert, 9 1/8 × 14 3/8 in. (23.2 × 36.5 cm); secondary support: 9 1/2 × 14 5/8 in. (24.1 × 37.1 cm); frame: 17 13/16 × 23 3/16 × 2 1/4 in. (45.2 × 58.9 × 5.7 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1996.150.

Samuel Palmer (English, 1805–1881), Pear Tree in a Walled Garden, c. 1829. Watercolor and gouache, over graphite, on paper, 8 3/4 × 11 1/8 in. (22.2 × 28.3 cm); frame: 16 5/8 × 20 1/8 × 1 1/2 in. (42.2 × 51.1 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1980.37.

Francisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828) kept sketchbooks in which he drew his private ideas. The subject matter varies from critiquing social mores and poking fun at personal idiosyncrasies to scenes from the artist’s imagination. Some of these compositions reappeared in later print series and paintings while others remained in albums discovered after Goya’s death. 

Francisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746–1828), Leave It All to Providence, From the Black Border Album, 1816–20. Black ink and gray wash on paper, 10 1/2 × 7 1/4 in. (26.7 × 18.4 cm); frame: 20 3/8 × 17 × 1 1/2 in. (51.8 × 43.2 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1999.22.

Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863) produced scenes he would revisit and revise over the years. His celebrated watercolor Royal Tiger (c. 1830) depicts the animal resting in a rocky landscape. It is a variation of a lithograph produced in 1829–30 following a visit to the Jardin des Plantes.  

Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863), Royal Tiger, c. 1830. Watercolor and graphite on paper, 7 × 10 1/2 in. Thaw Collection, Morgan Library & Museum, 206.54.

From the Everyday to the Sublime: Drawing in France after the Revolution 
By the middle of the nineteenth century, many artists worked closely with dealers to produce a remarkable variety of finished drawings for sale at art markets and galleries in Paris. Artists were politically engaged, and their frank assessment of modern life at a time of increasing urbanization yielded new subject matter—including scenes infused with pathos for the working class such as Jean-François Millet’s (French, 1814–1875) The Potato Harvest (c. 1853) and humor as in Honoré Daumier’s (French, 1808–1879) Two Lawyers Conversing (c. 1862). 

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875), The Potato Harvest, c. 1853.Black and white chalk on paper, 9 × 13 3/4 in. (22.9 × 34.9 cm); frame: 20 1/4 × 25 × 1 3/8 in. (51.4 × 63.5 × 3.5 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2010.114.

Honoré Daumier (French, 1808–1879), Two Lawyers Conversing, c. 1862. Black chalk, lithographic crayon, watercolor and gouache with graphite on paper. Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1997.87.

Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916) experimented with materials and developed an unconventional visual language that rejected realism and embraced dark imagery and emotions. In the late 1870s Redon began an extremely productive creative period in which he worked almost exclusively in black chalks. Large sheets such as The Sphinx (1883) and The Spider (1902), referred to as noirs, drew on a broad range of symbolic sources and references. 

Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916), The Spider, 1902. Charcoal and black pastel with smudging and erasing on paper, 19 11/16 × 13 3/4 in. (50 × 34.9 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.208.

Charting New Territory: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Drawings 
Despite the belief that painting directly on canvas rendered drawing unnecessary, drawing continued to play a vital role in the artistic process among avant-garde artists in France during the late nineteenth century. Artists continued to work from life and nature, recording observations and studying figures and the landscape. They also used drawing to replicate compositions, rework ideas, and produce finished works for exhibition and sale. 

Artists utilized diverse media including manufactured materials such as the Conté crayon used by Georges Seurat (French, 1859–1891) in The Black Horse (1882) and Approach to the Bridge at Courbevoie (1886). Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906) pushed the boundaries of watercolor in his prismatic Trees (c. 1900–1906), while Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) expanded the definition of drawing by applying thinned oil paint and pastel over prints, such as Landscape with Path Leading to a Copse of Trees (ca. 1890–92). 

Georges Seurat (French, 1859–1891), The Black Horse, 1882. Black Conté crayon on paper. Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2011.29.

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906), Trees, c. 1900–6. Watercolor over graphite on paper, 18 × 11 3/4 in. (45.7 × 29.8 cm); frame: 28 3/8 × 21 3/8 × 2 1/8 in. (72.1 × 54.3 × 5.4 cm). Given in honor of S. Parker Gilbert. Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2015.93.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) used drawings in his letters sent from Arles to friends in Paris. The letters contained sketches of paintings in progress and descriptions of work and French countryside. Drawn to Greatness features two illustrated letters from the artist to his friend Émile Bernard: one with sketches of a sower and wheat field, the other depicting the Langlois Bridge at Arles.  

Modern Forms 
Twentieth-century artists continued to depict traditional subjects in conventional materials, as is evident in Pablo Picasso’s (Spanish, 1881–1973) portraits, Henri Matisse’s (French, 1869–1954) still lifes, and Piet Mondrian’s (Dutch, 1872–1944) landscapes. These artists also generated new forms as a response to modern life and reflected new ways of seeing and thinking about space, time, and movement. Cubism perhaps best demonstrates this new approach seen in Pipe and Wineglass by Picasso, in Man with Opera Hat (1912) by Juan Gris (Spanish, 1887–1927), and in Composition (1918) by Fernand Léger (French, 1881–1955). 

Juan Gris (Spanish, 1887–1927), Man with Opera Hat, 1912. Black fabricated chalk on paper, 18 3/4 × 12 1/2 in. (47.6 × 31.8 cm); frame: 30 3/8 × 24 1/8 × 1 3/4 in. (77.2 × 61.3 × 4.4 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.111.

The advent of abstraction as well as explorations of the subconscious and the irrational led to highly individual, distinctive works such as Jackson Pollock’s (American, 1912–1956) Untitled (Abstract Ram) (c. 1944). The diversity of his influences—from Native American art and Mexican mural painting to Picasso and Surrealism—indicates how much drawing has evolved throughout the course of Western art. 

Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956), Untitled (Abstract Ram), c. 1944. Opaque paint, pen and black and red ink on paper, 29 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches (75.5 x 50.1 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2010.143.

The exhibition extends the Institute’s relationship to Mr. Thaw who, in 2016, made a generous gift to create the Eugene V. Thaw Gallery for Works on Paper in the Clark’s Manton Research Center. 

Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection is organized by the Morgan Library & Museum, New York. The curator of the exhibition at the Morgan is Jennifer Tonkovich, Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator of Drawings and Prints; the curator at the Clark is Jay A. Clarke, Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. 

Vittore Carpaccio (Italian, 1460/66–1525/26), Virgin and Child with Saints in a Landscape, c. 1500–10. Pen and brown ink and wash over red and black chalk on paper, 7 1/2 × 9 5/16 in. (19 × 23.7 cm); frame: 17 1/8 × 19 1/8 × 1 7/8 in. (43.5 × 48.6 × 4.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2006.46.

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), Descent from the Cross, c. 1617–18. Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk on paper, 13 9/16 × 9 1/16 in. (34.4 × 23 cm); frame: 25 3/4 × 20 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (65.4 × 52.7 × 6.4 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 1998.26

Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721), A Member of the Persian Embassy, 1715. Red and black chalk on paper, 12 3/16 × 6 5/8 in. (30.9 × 16.8 cm); frame: 21 7/8 × 16 1/8 × 2 in. (55.6 × 41 × 5.1 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2000.54

Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721), Young Woman Wearing a Chemise, c. 1718. Black, red, and white chalk on paper, 6 7/8 × 8 1/8 in. (17.5 × 20.6 cm); frame: 16 1/4 × 17 1/2 × 2 in. (41.3 × 44.5 × 5.1 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2000.53.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806), Portrait of a Neapolitan Woman, 1774. Brown wash over black chalk on paper, 14 7/16 × 11 1/8 in. (36.7 × 28.3 cm); frame: 26 1/2 × 23 1/8 × 2 1/4 in. (67.3 × 58.7 × 5.7 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2001.60.

Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793), Ascent of a Balloon in Venice, 1782–84. Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk on paper, 9 7/16 × 9 13/16 in. (24 × 24.9 cm); frame: 24 × 21 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (61 × 54.6 × 3.5 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.117.

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italian, 1727–1804), The Last Illness of Punchinello, c. 1797–1804. Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk on paper, 13 13/16 × 18 5/16 in. (35.1 × 46.5 cm); frame: 21 1/4 × 25 × 2 in. (54 × 63.5 × 5.1 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.258

Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863), Moroccans Outside the Walls of Tangier, c. 1834. Watercolor and white gouache over graphite on paper, 7 3/8 × 10 5/16 in. (18.7 × 26.2 cm); frame: 13 3/8 × 18 1/2 × 2 5/8 in. (34 × 47 × 6.7 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.65.

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Seated Dancer, 1871–72. Oil over graphite on pink paper, 10 15/16 × 8 11/16 in. (27.8 × 22.1 cm); frame: 19 × 16 3/4 × 2 1/4 in. (48.3 × 42.5 × 5.7 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.54

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Three Studies of a Dancer, c. 1880. Black, pink, and white pastel on light brown paper, 18 3/4 × 24 3/4 in. (47.6 × 62.9 cm); frame: 29 7/8 × 35 1/2 × 1 7/8 in. (75.9 × 90.2 × 4.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2001.12.

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906), The Bathers, c. 1900. Watercolor over graphite on paper, 7 15/16 × 10 13/16 in. (20.1 × 27.4 cm); frame: 14 × 17 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (35.6 × 43.8 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.29.

Paul Gauguin (French, 1848–1903), Crouching Tahitian Woman Seen from the Back, c. 1902. Monotype in watercolor with white gouache on paper, 21 5/8 × 12 1/8 in. (54.9 × 30.8 cm); frame: 28 3/4 × 20 1/4 × 3 1/4 in. (73 × 51.4 × 8.3 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2017.90.

Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956), Untitled (Drawing for P. G.), c. 1943. Pen and black ink and wash, green ink wash, red colored pencil, and orange watercolor pencil on paper, 18 7/8 × 24 3/4 in. (47.9 × 62.9 cm); frame: 24 3/8 × 30 3/8 × 1 1/2 in. (61.9 × 77.2 × 3.8 cm). Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2006.59.

Lot 108. The Lu Hou Gui. An important pair of bronze ritual food vessels, Middle Western Zhou dynasty, 10th-9th century BC. Height 10 3/4 in., 27 cm; 10 1/4 in., 26 cm. Estimate 180,000 — 280,000 USD. Lot sold 1,025,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2017.

each standing on four paw feet issuing from animal masks cast in relief underneath the short foot ring, the contracted neck with a band of eight phoenixes with protruding eyes, beaks, curled crests and elongated tails between two bowstring bands, centered on two sides by animal masks in relief and flanked by two loop handles with hooked pendent extensions springing from animal masks, the cover decorated with a band of four pairs of confronting phoenix, each centered by a stylized bovine mask below the flared knop, the foot encircled by a wide bow string band, the brown patina with malachite encrustation, both vessels with a seven-character inscription reading lu hou zuo xiang bao zun yi, one cover with a six-character inscription, reading lu hou zuo bao zun yi (4).

Provenance: Acquired from an old Asian collection, by repute.

Exhibited: Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 2010-2012.

Note: Gui vessels with four legs are a rare and special type of ritual food vessel and were produced only for a short period of time.  Early experiments in raising gui vessels on four cylindrical legs can be observed on the Chen Chen gui, now in the Harvard Fogg Museum and illustrated in Chen Mengjia, In Shu seidoki bunrui zuroku (A Corpus of Chinese Bronzes in American Collection), no. A230. The Chen Chen gui belongs to the famous Chen Chen group of bronze vessels unearthed from Luoyang in 1920s and dates from the reign of King Zhao.  Another famous example is the Ban gui, whose four legs were cast in the form of elephant trunks, dating from the reign of the King Mu and illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1990, vol. IIB, p. 470. The legs on both the Chen Chen gui and Ban gui are all placed underneath the four loop handles. However, the majority of gui only have two handles and a four-leg version of those vessels entails at least two legs being placed on the ring foot. See Yi Gong gui with two legs underneath the handles and two legs on the ring foot, excavated near Beijing and illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1990, vol. IIB, pp. 469. On the Zi gui, now in the National Museum of China and illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1990, vol. IIB, pp. 470, all four legs have been moved to the ring foot. The present pair not only has their elaborate legs cast on the ring foot but also positioned four legs in parallel to the handles. This feature and the elongated phoenix motif indicate that the dating of the present pair is later than the aforementioned examples, probably in the late 10th century BC.

The inscriptions on both vessels can be translated as 'the Marquis of Lu made this precious vessel.' Founded by the eldest son of the Duke of Zhou, Lu was one of the most important vassal states in the Zhou dynasty. Moreover, the Duke of Zhou was the founding father of the Zhou culture and rites, most of which were preserved in Lu after the fall of the Western Zhou dynasty. This enabled Lu to exert influence over other states. In the following Eastern Zhou dynasty, it produced the first chronicle in Chinese history: Annals of Spring and Autumn and bred China’s greatest philosopher Confucius.  Although Lu played a prominent role in Chinese history, bronze vessels cast by Lu ruling elites are very rare. Only five other Western Zhou bronzes bearing the name of the Marquis of Lu are recorded, including the cover of a he from the Lushun Museum, published in Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng, (Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties), Shanghai, 2012, vol. 26, p. 134, no. 14724; one jue vessel in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Bronzes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1999, p. 143, no. 125; one gui vessel in the Shanghai Museum, discussed and illustrated in Chen Peifen, Xiashangzhou qingtongqi yanjiu (Research on Bronzes from the Xia Shang and Zhou Dynasties), Shanghai, 2004, vol. 4, pp. 136-137; one li vessel in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston illustrated in Chen Mengjia, In Shu seidoki bunrui zuroku (A Corpus of Chinese Bronzes in American Collections), no. A123; and another li vessel in the Sackler collection discussed and illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Washington D.C., 1990, vol. IIB, pp. 328-329. Among these known examples, four are from the early Western Zhou dynasty and one is from the late Western Zhou. The present pair seems to be the only example of the middle Western Zhou Lu bronzes. According to the famous scholar in bronzes, Zhu Fenghan, “other than a few handed-down pieces, most of excavated Lu bronzes are from the Eastern Zhou. If we want to understand the bronze culture of Lu and explore the history of Lu in the Western Zhou dynasty, there is still a lot of work to be done.” The appearance of this pair of gui therefore contributes substantially to the study of Lu bronzes.

Lot 102. The Tian Shi Bi Xin Gui. An important bronze ritual food vessel, Early Western Zhou dynasty, 11th-10th century BC. Height 6 1/2  in., 16.5 cm. Estimate 150,000 — 200,000 USD. Lot sold 581,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2017.

the rounded body rising to an everted rim, finely cast on each side with a taotie motif with prominent eyes, C-shaped horns and detached body, flanked by descending kui dragons beneath a band of confronted kui dragons, centered by a pair of animal masks and divided by bovine masks surmounting loop handles in the form of birds with clawed legs and long tails forming pendent extensions, the high splayed foot decorated with a band of dragons with long noses centered and divided by small flanges, the smooth patina of green and dark gray color with malachite encrustation, the interior with a four-character inscription, reading tian shi bi xin.

Provenance: Collection of Liu Xihai (1793-1852).
Collection of Wang Yirong (1845-1900).
Collection of Oriental Fine Arts, Inc., acquired from the late Nai Chi-Chang.
Parke-Bernet, New York, 1st December 1949, lot 135.
Property from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Norman C. Armitage, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Sotheby's New York, 22nd March 2001, lot 5.

Literature: Liu Xihai, Chang'an huogu bian, (The Records of Acquired Antiquities from Changan), 1905, vol. 1, p. 15. 
Wu Shifen, Meigulu jinwen, (The Records of Pursuing Antiquity: Archaic Bronze Inscriptions), 1850, vol. 1.2, p. 51.
Zhu Shanqi, Jingwuxinshi yiqi kuanzhi, (Archaic Bronze Inscriptions in the Jingwuxinshi Studio), 1854, vol. 2, p. 33.
Wu Dacheng, Hengxuan suojian suocang jijin lu, (Record of Bronzes seen by and belonging to Hengxuan [Wu Dacheng]), 1885, no. 41.
Wu Dacheng, Kezhai jigulu, (Kezhai's [Wu Dacheng] Records of Collecting Antiquities), 1896, vol. 7, p. 22.
Fang Junyi, Zhuiyizhai yiqikuanzhi kaoshi, (Interpretations of Archaic Bronze Inscriptions in the Zhuiyizhai Studio), 1899, vol. 6, p. 12.
Liu Xinyuan, Qigushi jijin wenshu, (Bronze Inscriptions in the Hall of Qigu), 1902, vol. 5, p. 17.
Sheng Yu, Yuhuage jinwen, (Archaic Bronze Inscriptions in the Yuhuage Studio), manuscript in the Beijing University Library, p. 164.
Luo Zhenyu, Yinwencun, (Writings Surviving from the Yin Dynasty), 1917, vol. 1, p. 16.
Luo Zhenyu, Sandai jijin wencun, (Writings Surviving from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties), 1936, vol. 2, p. 33.
Yan Yiping, Jinwen Zongji, (Corpus of Bronze Inscriptions), Taipei, 1983, no. 2011.
The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Compendium of Yin and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions, Beijing, 1984, vol. 6, p. 96, no. 3223.
Wu Zhenfeng, Shaanxi jinwen huibian (Corpus of Bronze Inscriptions from Shaanxi Province), Xi'an, 1989, vol. 2, p. 138.
Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng, (Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties), Shanghai, 2012, vol. 8, p. 281, no. 3999.

Note: The first two characters of the four-character inscription cast inside the vessel are a clan sign comprising the character tianand a naturalistic depiction of a wild boar.  The inscription may be interpreted as 'dedicating this vessel to a female ancestor by the name of xinin the heavenly boar clan'. 

The present gui was owned by Liu Xihai (1793-1852) who presumably bought it in modern day Xian. In the second half of the 19th century, it passed to another famous collector, Wang Yirong (1845-1900). Wang is believed to be the first person to have discovered the oracle bone inscriptions.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 18 MARS 2014 - 19 MARS 2014. NEW YORK

Lot 109. The Xu Wang Ding. An important bronze food vessel, Middle Spring and Autumn period, 7th-6th century BC. Height 9 1/2  in., 24.2 cm. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 USD. Lot sold 341,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2017.

the rounded body resting on three cabriole legs, cast around the body with a border of entwined stylized dragon motifs above a single bowstring band, the everted rim set with a pair of loop handles, each decorated with evenly spaced dots and two grooves, the surface of a smooth olive-green patina, the interior wall cast with a long twenty seven-character inscription.

Provenance: Collection of Liu Tizhi (1879-1962).

Literature: Luo Zhenyu, Zhensongtang jigu yiwen, (Gathering of Ancient Writings in the Zhensongtang Studio), 1930, vol. 3, p. 21.
Yu Xingwu, Shuangjianchi jijin wenxuan, (Selected Bronze Inscriptions in the Shuangjianchi studio), 1934, vol. 1.2, p. 18.
Liu Tizhi, Shanzhai jijin lu, (The Records of Archaic Bronzes in the Shanzhai Studio), 1934, vol. 2, p. 74.
Liu Tizhi, Xiaojiaojingge jinwen taben, (Rubbings of Archaic Bronze Inscriptions in the Xiaojiaojingge Studio), 1935, vol. 2, p. 98.
Ke Changji, Weihuage jigulu bawei, (Explanatory Notes of Bronze Inscriptions in the Weihuage Studio), vol. 9, p. 5.
Guo Morou, Liangzhou jinwenci daxi tulu kaoshi (A Study of Bronze Inscriptions from the Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasties), 1935, p. 164.
Luo Zhenyu, Sandai jijin wencun, (Surviving Writings from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties), 1936, vol. 4, p. 9.
Rong Geng, Shanzhai yiqi tulu, (Catalogue of Archaic Bronzes in the Shanzhai Studio), 1936, p. 36.
Rong Geng, Shangzhou yiqi tongkao, (A General Study of Archaic Bronzes in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties), 1941, vol. 2, no. 88.
Yang Shuda, Jiweiju jinwen shuo (Studies of Bronze Inscriptions in the Jiweiju Studio), Beijing, 1959, pp. 145-146. 
Shizuka Shirakawa, Kimbun no sekai (General Interpretations of Bronze Inscriptions), Tokyo, 1973, vol. 4, p. 568.
Yan Yiping, Jinwen Zongji, (Corpus of Bronze Inscriptions), Taipei, 1983, no. 1194.
The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yinzhou jinwen jicheng, (Compendium of Yin and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions), Beijing, 1984, vol. 5, p. 88, no. 2675.
Wu Zhenfeng, Shangzhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng, (Compendium of Inscriptions and Images of Bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties), Shanghai, 2012, vol. 5, pp. 59-60, no. 2309.

Illustration of the present ding vessel in Rong Geng, Shanzhai yiqi tulu, (Catalogue of Archaic Bronzes in the Shanzhai Studio), 1936, p. 36.

Sotheby's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS & WORKS OF ART. 18 MARS 2014 - 19 MARS 2014. NEW YORK

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), "Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill," showing Basilisk watermark, 1639. Etching, with touches of drypoint; retouched in black chalk. Collection of Yale University Art Gallery. Transmitted light photograph courtesy of Theresa Fairbanks-Harris.

OBERLIN, OH.- Etchings by Rembrandt figure prominently in the collections of many American academic museums, in part because they reward close looking and appeal to a wide range of learners and visitors. Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings, an exhibition at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College that runs from February 6 through May 13, 2018, brings together 60 prints by the 17th-century Dutch master. 

The exhibition has been co-organized by the Allen with Cornell University’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Lines of Inquiry is curated jointly by Oberlin’s Curator of European and American Art Andaleeb Badiee Banta and Andrew C. Weislogel, the Seymour R. Askin, Jr. ’47 Curator of Earlier European and American Art at Cornell. In addition to prints from Oberlin and Cornell, the show includes etchings on loan from Harvard, Princeton, Syracuse, Vassar, Yale, the University of Kansas, the Morgan Library & Museum, and private collections. 

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, 1639. Etching, with touches of drypoint, retouched in black chalk. Collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.

Rembrandt’s etchings have long been treasured for their technical innovation and perceptive portrayal of the human psyche. In the unique environment of the campus art museum, Rembrandt’s etchings have remained relevant even as pedagogical priorities have shifted, inspiring multidisciplinary teaching approaches, historical investigations, and technical studies. Lines of Inquiry highlights both the scope and subtlety of Rembrandt as an etcher of diverse subject matter, including portraits, genre scenes, landscapes, nudes, and religious narratives. In addition, this multifaceted exhibition examines the artist’s enduring status as a printmaker who continually experimented with processes and materials. 

The exhibition explores how the technical study of these etchings and the papers on which they were printed reveal Rembrandt to be a savvy businessman. Research on the watermarks found in the papers can provide clues about the timelines of his print production and distribution. The exhibition introduces Cornell’s Watermark in Rembrandt Etchings (WIRE) project: a collaboration among museum staff, faculty members in art history and engineering, and students from many disciplines designed to digitally facilitate access to Rembrandt watermark scholarship. WIRE continues to pursue new watermark discoveries and expands knowledge about the artist through digital means. The exhibition includes a video on the WIRE project, along with a touchscreen interface that allows visitors to interact with the WIRE project database. 

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), Christ Healing the Sick (The Hundred Guilder Print), ca. 1648. Etching, engraving, and drypoint on Japanese gampi paper; second of two lifetime states. Collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College; Mrs. F. F. Prentiss Bequest, 1944.64.

Catalogue 
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue coauthored by Andaleeb Badiee Banta and Andrew C. Weislogel, which includes research on the history of Rembrandt prints in academic collections and their technical study through the WIRE project. The directors of the Oberlin and Cornell museums have contributed an essay recounting the extraordinary episode of the Allen’s secret guardianship of the Morgan’s Rembrandt etchings during World War II; it was written by Andria Derstine, John G. W. Cowles Director at the Allen, and Stephanie Wiles, the Richard J. Schwartz Director at Cornell.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), St. Francis Beneath a Tree Praying, 1657. Drypoint and etching on oatmeal paper. Allen Memorial Art Museum, R.T. Miller Jr. Fund, 1952.31.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), Jan Six, 1647. Etching, engraving and drypoint. Collection of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College.

Figure of a dog, China, Eastern Han dynasty, 25–220 A.D. Earthenware with dark green glaze. Gift of Stanley Herzman, in memory of Adele Herzman, 1991 (1991.253.1). Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

NEW YORK, NY.- The Department of Asian Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Asia Week New York will co-host the annual reception in the Asian art galleries of The Museum on Monday, March 19 to celebrate Asia Week. 

This private by-invitation only reception has become a must attend event on the calendars of curators, auction house experts, and collectors who descend upon New York for the ten-day non-stop extravaganza of exhibitions, auctions, and cultural events. 

“We are delighted to join with the Department of Asian Art of the Met as co- hosts of this wonderful evening,” says Christina Prescott-Walker, chairman of Asia Week New York. “There isn’t a more spectacular setting in which to herald the treasures of Asia.” 

Maxwell K. (Mike) Hearn, Douglas Dillon Chairman of the Metropolitan’s Department of Asian Art, commented: “This event, which brings together dealers, collectors, curators and scholars from around the globe, underscores the relevance and importance of Asian art as a vital component of The Met’s encyclopedic holdings.” 

As they have in preceding years, guests can avail themselves of special curatorial tours of The Met’s entire Asian Wing, including the seven special exhibitions currently on view there. They include: 

Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art (through May 20, 2018); The Poetry of Nature: Edo Paintings from the Fishbein- Bender Collection (through January 21, 2019); Crowns of the Vajra Masters: Ritual Art of Nepal (through December 16, 2018); Streams and Mountains without End: Landscape Traditions of China (through January 6, 2019); Spirited Creatures: Animal Representations in Chinese Silk and Lacquer (through July 22, 2018); A Passion for Jade: Heber Bishop and His Collection (through July 22, 2018); and Celebrating the Year of the Dog (through July 4, 2018). 

Pablo Picasso, Le Matador, oil on canvas, 146 by 114cm., 57½ by 44⅞in, painted on 23 October 1970. Est. £14,000,000-18,000,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Monumental in scale, highly charged and painted in vivid colours, Le Matador is the culmination of a life-long obsession of Picasso’s that remained one of the most important themes throughout his career. The painting is a brilliant display of the virtuosity with which Picasso combined the complex elements that had shaped his life and art and stands as a defiant tribute to the heroic figure of the matador – embodying the artist’s own Andalusian machismo as the master of modern art takes centre-stage in the arena. Picasso had begun to feel that his time on this earth was running out, and so engaged in constant conversation with the great masters before him – Goya, Velasquez and Delacroix – following the traditions they had set in order to reinvent them and make a lasting mark. Appearing at auction for the first time, the work will be unveiled first in Taipei then New York before it is exhibited in London and offered in Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 28 February 2018. 

Helena Newman, Global Co-Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department & Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said: ‘This powerful portrait exemplifies Picasso’s creative force in his final years and represents the culmination of a life-long obsession. Through the subject of the bullfight, Picasso explores the theme of life and death, creation and destruction, earth and sun, casting himself at the centre stage of the spectacle. We are thrilled to be presenting two prime examples of works by Picasso at his very best in one sale – Le Matador and Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) – both from key periods of the artist’s career.’ 

The bullfight became a symbol for the most public display of violence, bravery and ability and for Picasso its attraction certainly lay in its powerful contradictions: grace and brutality, entertainment and tragedy, and ultimately, life and death. This work is unique in conveying a human dimension that is lacking in many of the earlier depictions, with the matador’s stylised face and large, wide open eyes revealing a vulnerability and sense of mortality that reflect the artist’s own concerns. 

Unlike his other depictions of the matador from this period where the figure is depicted against a plain, monochrome background, this painting uniquely combines the image of the matador resplendent in an elaborate costume with that of the arena. The lower half of the background represents the sand of the bullfighting ring, with hundreds of spectators in the upper half. 

The experience of being taken to the bullring by his father at the age of eight had a strong impression on Picasso, and his first painting, Le petit picador jaune, was of a matador on a horse in the arena observed by the spectators behind him. It is all the more fitting that at the end of his life, he returned to the celebrated imagery of the bullfights that he had grown up watching. Despite leaving Spain to live in Paris in his youth, Picasso retained a sense of Spanish identity, and the matador was the character that allowed him to draw attention to his heritage. During the last years of the nineteenth century Picasso stayed in Madrid, where he copied the old masters at the Prado, and was no doubt influenced by Goya’s bullfighting scenes. Picasso’s personal memories became intertwined with his artistic heritage, and in this final series of matador portraits the ghost of Goya is strongly present. 

Le Matador was included in the exhibition of Picasso’s last great works, organised by Jacqueline at the Palais des Papes in Avignon shortly after the artist’s death in 1973 – presenting the closing period of his oeuvre on the historical walls of one of the most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe.

Lot 9. A fine green-enameled 'Dragon' bowl, Zhengde mark and period (1506-1521). Diameter 7 7/8  in., 20 cm. Estimate 250,000 — 350,000 USD. Lot sold 420,500 USD. Photo: Sotheby's 2017

the deep rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to a flared rim, the exterior with two five-clawed dragons, the attenuated bodies and powerful limbs with scales deftly incised, reserved on the biscuit and covered with green enamel, striding through a finely incised ground of crested waves and rocks, with green-enameled single line borders encircling the rim and foot, the interior centered with a circular medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon writhing among stylized clouds, with a single line border at the rim, the base with the six-character mark within a double ring in underglaze blue.

Provenance: The Meiyintang Collection. 
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th October 2012, lot 20. 

Exhibited: Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection / Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 128. 

Note: Imperial porcelain bowls decorated with green-enameled dragons first appeared in the Chenghua period, with and sometimes without reign marks and either enameled with dragons over the glaze or over the biscuit. More were manufactured in later periods of the Ming dynasty, particularly during the Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns, where they were always inscribed with a reign mark. This motif, which is also found on matching saucer dishes, required each vessel to be fired twice: first the design was incised on the biscuit and covered with a layer of wax, which would melt during the first firing and reveal the pinkish buff body underneath. This was later filled with green enamel and fired a second time at a much lower temperature. The result is striking as the dragon appears as if leaping off the surface of the bowl.

For the Chenghua prototype of this design, see a dish enameled with green dragons on the exterior, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Chenghua ciqi tezhan/ Special Exhibition of Ch’eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465-1487, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. 109, together with two similar bowls, cat. nos 107 and 108, and two bowls with dragons enameled over the biscuit silhouettes, cat. nos 110 and 111. 

Porcelain wares decorated with green dragons continued to be produced in the Qing dynasty, from the Kangxi to the Guangxu reigns, such as a dish with an apocryphal Hongzhi mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum, Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricolour Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl. 75.

Lot 258. A carved ivory 'Phoenix' brushpot, 17th century; 14.2 cm, 5 9/16  in. Estimate 1,000 — 1,500 GBP. Lot sold 5,625 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's 2017.

with a slightly curved cylindrical body, the exterior carved in low relief with a continuous scene depicting two phoenix soaring with folded and outstretched wings respectively above large craggy rockwork and blossoming peonies, the tranquil setting arboured with bamboo shoots, lingzhi and pine trees. 

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Londres, 10 mai 2017, 02:00 PM

Lot 290. A carved Longquan celadon pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 34cm., 13 3/8 in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot sold 10,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

the pear-shaped body rising from a straight foot to a waisted neck with flared rim, carved with an undulating floral scroll above overlapping lappets, the neck decorated with stiff leaves and cloud scrolls, covered overall in a sea-green glaze with faint russet crackle.

Lot 291. A 'Longquan' celadon dish, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 36.5cm., 14 3/8 in. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Lot sold 6,875 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

the gently rounded sides rising from a short footring to an everted rolled rim, carved to the interior with a trellis diaper medallion encircled by scrolling lotus, the exterior similarly decorated with lotus and covered overall with a sea-green celadon glaze.

Lot 183. A large blue and white Zhangzhou tripod incense burner, Late Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 27cm., 10 1/2in. Estimate 4,000 - 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 6,875 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

the slightly flaring cylindrical body rising from three ruyi-shaped feet, painted with a  continuous scene of a scholar in a fenced garden in a landscape.

The Julian Thompson Study Collection.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London, 14 mai 2014

Lot 178. Two blue and white dishes, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620). The largest: 27.7cm., 10 7/8 in. Estimate 1,500 — 2,000 GBP. Lot sold 2,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

one lobed and painted to the interior with a bird perched on rockwork, encirlced by peaches in the well, the other of chrysanthemum shape painted to the interior with antiques encircled by two rows of thin petals; together with a blue and white dish, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period.

Lot 184. A blue and white lobed 'Lotus' jar, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620); 19.5cm., 7 5/8 in. Estimate 800 - 1,200 GBP. Lot sold 1,875 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

the octagonally lobed globular body rising from a recessed base to a short straight rim, painted around the exterior in rich cobalt-blue tones with leafy lotus scroll between lotus lappet and classic scroll bands .

The Julian Thompson Study Collection.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London, 14 mai 2014

Lot 266. A three-colour lacquer box and cover, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 7.3cm., 2 7/8 in. Estimate 4,000 - 6,000 GBP. Lot sold 50,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

of circular form, the top delicately carved through layers of red, green and ochre-yellow with a quatrefoil cartouche enclosing a parrot perched on leafy flowering and fruiting branches of peach, all reserved on a cellular diaper ground, the sides with fruiting sprays, lacquered black to the interior and base. Quantité: 2.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London, 14 mai 2014

Lot 41. An amber 'Lotus' brushwasher, 17th-18th century; 9.5cm., 3 ¾ in. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 30,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014.

naturalistically modelled in the form of a curled leaf, borne on bundled stems issuing large lotus blooms and buds to the sides, the amber of an attractive translucent orange tone, the ivory stand carved with a pair of chilong and further lotus leaves and pods. Quantité: 2.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London, 14 mai 2014

Lot 262. A parcel-gilt bronze bowl, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 14.6cm., 5 ¾ in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot sold 7,500 GBP. Photo Sotheby's

the rounded sides rising from a straight foot, engraved and parcel-gilt to the exterior with figures in a landscape with trees, bridges and pavilions, all between keyfret bands, the base lightly incised with an inscription denoting the weight.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London, 14 mai 2014

Lot 133. A cloisonné enamel 'Xuanwu' water dropper, 17th century; 13cm., 5 1/8 in. Estimate 6,000 — 8,000 GBP. Lot sold 7,500 GBP. Photo Sotheby's 2014

modelled in the form of a turtle standing four square with a gilt-bronze snake curled on its back, the turtle grasping a coup in its mouth, decorated with stylised archaistic scrolls reserved on a turquoise ground.

Note: A water dropper of this type was included in the exhibition Chinesisches Cloisonné Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1985, cat. no. 259

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London, 14 mai 2014

NDB: Xuanwu: Black Tortoise or Turtle, one of the Four Symbols of Chinese astronomy.