Lot 1003. An extremely rare pair of Imperial cloisonné enamel pricket candlesticks, Qianlong incised four-character marks within double squares and of the period (1736-1795), 15 ¼ in. (39.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 200,000 - USD 300,000. Price realised USD 250,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

Each candlestick has a slightly domed disk base superbly enameled with lotus scroll on a bright turquoise ground encircling a smaller band of stylized flowerheads around the central baluster-form shaft decorated with bands of detached flowerheads, foliate scrolls and pendant and upright petal lappets supporting two drip-pans, the larger inscribed with an imperial poem followed by a bingwu cyclical date corresponding to 1786, succeeded by two seals, Guxi tianzi and Youri zizi. 

Provenance: The O’Rourke-Palmer Collection, Ireland, acquired in 1968 and thence by descent.

Note: The two seals following the poems may be loosely translated as "the Son of Heaven in his 70s" and "working diligently day after day." 

The drip-pans of these extremely rare candlesticks are inscribed with a poem of five-character verse by the Qianlong Emperor, published in Qing Gaozong Yuzhi Shiwen Quanji (An Anthology of Imperial Poetry and Prose Composed by Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty), wuji, juan 29, p. 27, under the title, Ti hetianyu shuangyu xi (Inscribing the Khotan Jade Double-fish Washer). It expressed Qianlong’s antiquarianism taste as the double-fish motif is based on Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) prototypes. 

A small group of Qianlong-marked porcelain candlesticks of very similar form are also inscribed with imperial poems, including a blue and white example in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty, Taipei, 1986, p. 168, no. 141, and a pair of yangcai examples, illustrated in Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, pp. 96-97, no. 24. According to the palace records, on the ninth day of the second month of Qianlong ninth year, "a blue and white candlestick and an imperial poem were presented", followed by an imperial decree: "Send this candlestick to Tang Ying and ask him to make candlesticks of this form but with imperial poems inside drip-pans; let him work on blue and white version and send them over first and then make some yanghua examples" (see Zijincheng de jiyi: tushuo qinggong ciqi dangan [Memories of the Forbidden City: Illustrated Catalogue of the Qing Palace Records of Porcelains], Beijing, 2016, p. 193, no. 3). It is likely that the Qianlong Emperor also ordered the imperial workshops to add imperial poems to cloisonné candlesticks of the present type.

The current pair of candlesticks appears to be unique, with no other cloisonné enamel candlestick with an imperial poem appearing to have been published. A pair of Yongzheng cloisonné enamel candlesticks of similar form but lacking poetic inscriptions and of smaller size (14 cm. high), was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 1879. Compare, also, a pair of cloisonné enamel candlesticks of closely related form but also of smaller size (13.3 cm. high), in the Pierre Uldry Collection, illustrated by Brinker and Lutz, in Chinese Cloisonné: The Pierre Uldry Collection, New York, 1989, no. 280.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 976. A magnificent twelve-panel Coromandel lacquer screen, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 107 ¾ in. (276.7 cm.) high, 20 7/8 in. (52.5 cm.) wide, 7/8 in. (2.1 cm.) deep, each panel. Estimate USD 150,000 - USD 250,000. Price realised USD 200,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The screen is finely carved and vibrantly decorated on one side with a continuous scene centered by prunus, magnolia and pine trees growing around a large blue rock, to one side of this grouping are two spotted deer shown recumbent below the prunus tree, and a pheasant below a pair of long-tailed parrots in flight, all amidst further blue rocks, flowering peony and roses, while to the other side a qilin is seen galloping on top of froth-tipped waves, its head turned back to glance at a pagoda borne on the vapor emitted from the mouth of a mythical turtle-form beast. The scene is framed by the 'hundred antiques' interspersed with floral arrangements, between decorative borders. The reverse is decorated with two rows of fan paintings alternating with square panels enclosing poems and landscape scenes. The poems are depicted in various calligraphic scripts in the manner of famous Ming-dynasty scholars and artists, all framed by further 'precious objects'.  

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 14 September 2011, lot 145. 

Note: The present screen is related to a Kangxi period, twelve-panel screen in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, illustrated by W. de Kesel and G. Dhont in Coromandel Lacquer Screens, Gent, 2002, p. 62, which features a pair of deer seated beneath a large flowering tree and exotic birds on the banks of a lotus pond. The outer borders are similarly decorated with the ‘One Hundred Antiques’. The ‘One Hundred Antiques’ interspersed with floral arrangements is the most common decorative motif found on lacquer screens of this type. 

The reverse of this twelve-panel screen is decorated with paintings and calligraphy in fan-leaf and album-leaf formats. This theme is rarely seen on carved lacquer screens which are more often decorated only with highly sumptuous and auspicious motifs. In this regard, the present screen not only conveys auspicious meanings as seen on the front but also demonstrate the owner’s fine scholarly taste.

Among the various paintings and calligraphies represented on this screen, the most notable ones include a running script calligraphy by Tang Yin (1470-1524), a fan-leaf painting of lotus by Shen Zhou (1427-1509) and a fan-leaf painting of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering by Wen Zhengming (1470-1559). Three of the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin, like the remaining master Qiu Ying (1494-1552), were all natives of Suzhou. Suzhou was known as Wu in ancient times, and they are therefore also regarded as the Four Masters of the Wu School. 

In the late Ming period, as the literati taste and ideas began to dominate artistic practices, the Wu School started flourishing and became the mainstream for Chinese paintings. It is interesting to note that the composition of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering on the present screen is very similar to Wen Zhengming’s hand scroll painting of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Ming sijia huaji (The Paintings of the Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty), Tianjin, 1993, no. 118. It is possible that the patron of this screen was in the cultural elites’ circle and had the opportunity to see Wen Zhengming’s original painting. 

The long tradition of the literati gathering started in the Lanting (Orchid Pavilion) with the meeting that took place in the ninth year of the Yonghe reign (AD 353) of the Eastern Jin dynasty (AD 317-420). Forty-two scholars were invited to the Orchid Pavilion near Shanyin, Zhejiang province, for the Spring Purification Festival. The participants were seated beside a stream with floating wine cups. Each was given one initial character and was tasked to compose poems. Those who produced two poems had to drink one cup of wine, while those who only composed one poem drank two cups, and those who failed to compose any poetry at all, paid a forfeit of consuming three cups. 

Above the Orchid Pavilion Gathering fan-leaf is a calligraphy album by the prominent Ming scholar-official Wang Shouren (1472-1529). Wang Shouren, who was a native of Yuyao, Zhejiang province, was a successful statesman, philosopher and calligrapher. After passing the jinshiexamination in 1499, he intermittently led military campaigns against rebels and criminals in the south, served as provincial governor and wrote and lectured. His primary philosophic principles focused on the importance and development of the individual intuitive mind. His suggestion that knowledge and action are inextricably linked was very influential in Ming, Qing and 20th century Chinese thought. 

Another prominent scholar-official represented on this screen is Wang Shizhen (1526-1590). Wang Shizhen (1526-1590), who is also known by his hall name bianzhou shanren, was a successful statesman, scholar and art connoisseur during the Jiajing (1522-1566) and Wanli (1573-1620) periods. Other notable artists and scholars presented on this screen include two other Wu school painters, Xie Shichen (b. 1488) and Lu Zhi (1496-1576); the most prominent flower and bird painter in the Ming dynasty, Xu Wei (1521-1593); two Fujian artists, Huang Daozhou (1585-1646), and Wu Bin (1573-1620); one Songjiang school artist, Chen Jiru (1558-1639); and Ni Yuanlu (1593-1644).

It is interesting to note that Huang Daozhou, Ni Yuanlu, and another official-scholar presented here, Wang Siren (1575-1646), are three famous Ming loyalists. Ni Yuanlu committed suicide after Li Zicheng’s (1606-1645) peasant rebels captured Beijing. Wang Siren served in the Southern Ming court after the collapse of the Ming in 1644, and fasted to death after he was captured by the Qing army. Huang Daozhou also died in resistance against the Qing. Promoting these Ming loyalists was sensitive and to some extent dangerous in the Qing dynasty, particularly during the intensive literary inquisition of the early 18th century. The representation of works by three prominent Ming loyalists on this screen may suggest the owner’s political orientation and a relatively early date for the work. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 906. A bronze ritual water vessel, pan, Middle Western Zhou dynasty, 10th-9th century BC; 14 ¼ in. (39.5 cm.) wide across handles. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 175,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The shallow body is flanked by a pair of upright U-shaped handles and decorated on the exterior with a band of scrolls, above a band of reversed Z-shapes with cusped ends on the pedestal foot. The interior has a later-added graph in the center and inscription to one side. 

Provenance: Frank Caro, New York, 3 June 1965.
Elizabeth A. Sackler, 1994.
The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation. 

Literature: R. Poor, Bronze Ritual Vessels of Ancient China (slide lectures), Intercultural Arts Press, New York, 1968.
Noel Barnard and Cheung Kwong-Yue, Rubbings and Hand Copies of Bronze Inscriptions in Chinese, Japanese, European, American, and Australasian Collections, Taipei, 1978, no. 1065. 
Minao Hayashi, In Shu jidai seidoki no kenkyu (A Conspectus of Yin and Zhou Bronze Vessels), vol. 2, Tokyo, 1984, pl. 362, no. 42.
J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1990, pp. 720-24, no. 122.

Exhibited: Athens, Greece, Museum of Cycladic Art, Grasslands: Ancient Bronzes of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes From the Arthur Sackler Foundation, 25 April-14 September 2002; Poznan, Poland, Poznan Archaeological Museum, 29 January-18 April 2004; Florence, Italy, National Archaeological Museum, 15 May-4 September 2004; Traverse City, Michigan, Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, 18 January-30 March 2009, and others.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1223. A famille verte'Prunus''Month' cup, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722); 2 in. (4.9 cm.) high. Estimate USD 70,000 - USD 90,000. Price realised USD 162,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The cup is delicately enameled on one side of the exterior with a flowering prunus tree, narcissus and bamboo growing from a rocky outcrop, and the reverse with a ten-character poetic inscription referring to the scene, followed by a seal mark, shang ('appreciation').

Property from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, New York 

Note: This small, exceptionally thinly potted cup is from one of the imperial sets of wine cups depicting the Flowers of the Twelve Months. A complete set of twelve month cups in the collection of the Percival David Foundation is illustrated by R. Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration - Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, Percival David Foundation, London/Singapore, 1992, p. 113, no. 122.

Each of these cups was decorated in a particularly finely painted version of the wucai palette, with rocks and clumps of grass painted in a soft underglaze blue, while the majority of the decoration is rendered in overglaze famille verte enamels. 

The status of these cups can perhaps be judged by the fact that at the end of the inscription, which accompanies the decoration on each cup, there is an underglaze blue seal character which reads: shang. This character may be translated as 'enjoy', for example to enjoy or appreciate the flowers depicted. However, in this context it is more probable that it should be translated as 'reward', with the implication of being bestowed by a superior (in this case the emperor) as a reward for meritorious service.

The current cup is representative of the 11th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, usually identified by the flowering prunus (meihua) tree growing from rocks amidst bamboo and narcissus.
The inscription reads:  

Su yen xue ning shu, qing xiang feng man zhi ('The prunus blossom is pure like snow on the tree, its subtle fragrance moves like breeze through the branches.') 

Cups from these 'Twelve Months' sets have always been greatly prized for their delicacy, the artistry of their decoration, and for the pleasing relationship between the designs and the poems chosen to complement them. If, in addition, they were received from the emperor as gifts in honor of services rendered to the throne, they would have been even more greatly treasured.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Federico Fellini during the shooting of La dolce vita, 1960. Digital copy, 2018, 18 24 cm. Collection Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé. La Dolce vita, coll. Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé© 1960. Société Nouvelle Pathé-Cinéma- Gray Film-Riama Film.

MALAGA.- In 1962, the great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920-1993), got up one morning and described an encounter with Picasso in The Book of Dreams, a set of notebooks like an oneiric anthology, in which he drew and wrote about what he had dreamed, at the request of his psychoanalyst Ernst Bernhardt, a disciple of Carl Gustav Jung. Between November 1960 and August 1990, Federico Fellini filled two thick books with an extensive imagery composed of characters and pictures that were the source of some of the unforgettable scenes in his films. 

Pablo Picasso was first depicted in a dream dated 22nd January, 1962, in which Fellini and his wife, Giuletta Masina, were visiting Picasso at his home, gathered in the kitchen in a cosy, friendly scene. In his memoirs, the director wrote that “we were in a kitchen - clearly the kitchen of his own home. It was an enormous kitchen, full of food, paintings, colours… We talked all night”. Five years later, on 18th January, 1967, he again dreamed of Picasso, writing in his notebook: “All night with Picasso, who talked and talked… We were great friends, he was very kind to me, like an elder brother, an artistic father, a colleague who saw me on his own level, someone from the same family, the same stock…”. There was another dream in 1968 that Fellini did not draw but did write about, to do with fake news about Picasso’s death. Finally, in July 1980, Fellini described his fourth and final dream, in which he states that Picasso once again spoke to him as both a friend and a master: “I dreamed of Picasso (looking a little older and more shrunken, but still very lively), who talked to me non-stop”.  

Federico Fellini (1920-1993), Book of Dreams (volume I), 1960-1968, (Dream of January 22, 1962) © Commune di Rimini y Francesca Fabri Fellini © Federico Fellini, VEGAP, Malaga, 2017.

Freedom and creation 
Federico Fellini’s world comes to Museo Picasso Málaga in a selection of drawings, films, photographs and other documents belonging to the Italian director which, along with paintings, sculptures and drawings by Pablo Picasso, highlight the sensibilities and obsessions that were shared by these two 20th-century icons. They deal with dilemmas such as sexuality, the exaltation of life, exuberance and metamorphosis, at times presented in a highly unique manner. For art historian and exhibition curator Dr. Audrey Norcia, both Fellini and Picasso left us a colossal and visionary body of work. The encounter presented here should therefore be considered not so much a comparison as a dialogue: “These are the elements that undoubtedly connected him to Picasso, even though they are buried within dreams – that, and his love of life.” 

The exhibition’s journey begins with the Book of Dreams, then continues along the Via Margutta, in Rome, where both men lived at different times in their life and where they were brought closer to classical antiquity, and gains shape with images of Greek and Roman remains, inhabited by mythological characters. Then, as a reference to the powerful presence of women in the work of both artists, a dreamlike journey begins in which women are represented as divine figures, who are both terrible and sublime, delicately sensual and profoundly carnal, temperamental and serene. For Fellini and Picasso, the circus was another realm that served as inspiration and for interaction with popular culture; an irreverent universe in which surprise, humour, deception and transformation are personified by acrobats, harlequins and pulcinellas.  

Federico Fellini, Casanova hombre con traje de época [1974 75] Cineteca del Comune di Rimini, Fondo Norma Giacchero © Federico Fellini, VEGAP, Málaga, 2017

Light and creation 
For Fellini, cinema was allied to painting, as neither can exist without light: “For me, cinema is about images, and light is the fundamental factor. I have said this many times: in cinema, light is ideology, feeling, colour, tone, depth, atmosphere and narration”. The exhibition therefore also looks at both artists’ creative processes. 
Throughout his life, Fellini made notes of the world around him, with grotesque drawings to which he would sometimes add comments. Although as a young man he had earned his living as an illustrator and caricaturist, it was film that was finally to become his technique for artistic expression. Fellini directed films from 1950 to 1990, although his greatest successes as a filmmaker were in the 60s and early 70s. His films won a wide range of international awards, such as the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for La Dolce Vita (1960), which was highly successful and the start of his collaboration with Marcello Mastroianni. The film 8½ (1963), marked the beginning of the second period of Fellini’s films, with their exuberant fantasy and surrealist humour. Juliet of the Spirits (1965) gave rise to some controversy, as also occurred with other Fellini films, due to its unashamed eroticism and his ironic take on himself and Italian society. In the 1970s and 80s, films such as Roma, City of Women and And the Ship Sails On featured in the later work of the director, who was now the master of a very personal universe and an extremely free style. In 1993, shortly before he died, he received his fifth Oscar, for lifetime achievement. On several occasions, Fellini confessed his desire for cinema to be a kind of painting, in its own way - and indeed his films are composed of episodes than can certainly be described as pictorial. 

Film was also part of Picasso’s life, and it does seem to have had an influence on his painting. It was in Paris that the modern experience of going to the cinema first began, and there is no doubt that film changed the direction of both art and history. From 1909 onwards, Picasso went to the cinema: the deconstruction of movement, the effects of speed and the distortion of images on the screen must have coincided with his artistic concerns during this period. It was in the South of France, and not until 1950, that Picasso experimented with film. With Frédéric Rossif he co-directed La Mort de Charlotte Corday, in which he used ceramics and sculptures, and made drawings on his actors. The film was never shown commercially, although it was screened at the Festival of Antibes. In 1951, Robert Picault shot La Corrida de Picasso, for which the maestro made a small set out of cardboard, with a bullring and typical characters. Picasso also attended the Cannes Film Festival where, in 1955, Luciano Emmer presented Picasso and where, a year later, H.G. Clouzot received the Special Jury Prize for Le Mystère Picasso, a film that gave audiences the chance to see the artist’s technique and how he worked. It was shot in Picasso’s studio, using innovative filming techniques, and showed an artwork being created, brushstroke by brushstroke. Picasso also attended the festival when Fellini presented Nights of Cabiria (1957), for which the director’s wife, Giulietta Masina, was awarded the prize for best actress, and the two men coincided again in 1961. 

The museums and institutions that have loaned works for And Fellini Dreamed of Picasso include Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte; Museu Picasso, Barcelona; Musée Picasso, Antibes; La Cinémathèque Française - Musée du Cinéma, París, and Comune di Rimini, along with several private collections. The other organizations that have collaborated on the exhibition, which was co-produced with La Cinémathèque Française where it will be seen later, are the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, Festival de Málaga, and Comune di Rimini. The exhibition is sponsored by CaixaBank. 

Federico Fellini, Roma 1979, Cinecittà, durante el rodaje de “La ciudad de las mujeres”©Tazio SecchiaroliDavid Secchiarol.

Isaki Lacuesta, Emma Súarez and Curro González, as supporting “actors” 

To coincide with the exhibition, a cinema auditorium has been created for the screening of a 22-minute film made by director Isaki Lacuesta, using excerpts of films by Fellini. The script by Lacuesta, whose work includes both documentaries and fictional films, is narrated offscreen by Spanish actress Emma Suárez. 

At the entrance to the exhibition, visitors will also find an information sheet to take away with them, illustrated by artist Curro González. On the front, in the style of a poster for a Fellini film, is a drawing depicting characters, settings and items that were common to both artists, while on the back there are introductions to the various sections of the exhibition.

13 Feb. 2018  - 13 May. 2018

Pablo Picasso, Mujer de pie con una mano en la cadera París, primavera 1908© Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte © FABA Photo Éric Baudouin © Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2017.

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973), Mythological Scene by the Sea, 1938. Oil and charcoal on canvas. Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, FABA, Bruselas. © Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte © FABA. Photo Marc Domage © Sucesion Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2017.

Lot 999. A finely carved cinnabar lacquer octafoil box and cover, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 12. 5/8 in. (32.4 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 100,000 - USD 150,000. Price realised USD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The top of the cover is deeply carved within an octafoil panel to depict a rocky landscape scene in which Shoulao carries a tray of peaches and walks with another immortal on the riverbank, and a further immortal walks with his attendants holding a double gourd across a bridge. Each of the eight rounded sides is decorated with flowers growing on branches within a cartouche, which is repeated on the conforming box, Japanese wood box, silk pouch.

Provenance: Japanese private collection, acquired in the late 19th/early 20th century. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1262. A pair of yellow-glazed jars and covers, Daoguang six-character incised seal marks and of the period (1821-1850); 12 ½ in. (31.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

Each jar has a high-shouldered body tapering to a shallow foot, and a domed cover with everted rim and small round finial. Both are covered overall with a glaze of pale yellow tone.

Note: One of a pair of similarly glazed jars and covers with the same unusual large incised Daoguang seal mark is illustrated by J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, Chinese Ceramics, vol. 3, Geneva, 1972, nos. A 457 and 458, and the mark on one of these jars is illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, p. 208, no. 295. See, also, the similar pair of Daoguang-marked jars, but lacking covers, sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2007, lot 377. 

The shape and color of these Daoguang covered jars is most likely based on earlier Ming dynasty prototypes, such as the Jiajing example in the Percival Foundation, London, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, op. cit, p. 196, pl. 257. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 917. A white marble figure of seated Buddha, Northern Qi-Sui dynasty, 6th century or later; 13 ¾ in. (35 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 118,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The figure is shown seated in padmasana with the legs and feet covered by the draped robe except for one toe. The right hand is raised in abhaya mudra while the left hand rests in the lap. The face has a serene expression delineated by finely arched brows below the hair dressed in tight snail curls that also cover the ushnisha. The stone is now a warm pale grey color with creamy-beige encrustations on the back and in the hollow of the right arm, wood stand.

Provenance: Private collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1970. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 978. A very rare huanghuali‘Southern official’s hat’ armchair, nanguanmaoyi, 17th-18th century; 46 ¼ in. (117.5 cm.) high, 21 ½ in. (54.6 cm.) wide, 18 ½ in. (47 cm.) deep. Estimate USD 100,000 - USD 150,000. Price realised USD 112,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The chair has a curved crest rail supported on curved rear posts and an S-shaped splat. The arm rails are supported on slender, tapering standing stiles that terminate in the front posts above the soft mat seat, above a plain apron of square section. The whole is raised on legs of square section joined just above the hoof feet by straight stretchers at the sides and back and a plain foot rest at the front.

Provenance: Fusil Anstalt, 1998, Channel Islands. 

Note: A pair of huanghuali ‘Southern Official’s Hat’ armchairs, also constructed with a box-form base with square members which terminate in powerful hoof feet, is illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 64-5, no. 12. Like the present single chair, the pair retains some of the metal mounts over the joints. A related huanghuali‘Southern Official’s Hat’ armchair of similar form and construction but with a less pronounced crestrail is illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, pp. 112-113, pl. 5.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1270. A famille rose and gilt turquoise-ground bowl, Qianlong six-character seal mark in iron red and of the period (1736-1795); 6 5/8 in. (16.9 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 112,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The exterior is decorated in imitation of cloisonné enamel with four large lotus blossoms alternating with four smaller lotus flowers each above three peaches, all borne on foliate scrolls against a turquoise enamel ground.

Note: Ceramicists from the official workshops were encouraged to experiment, and the technique of porcelain imitating other materials found favor with the emperor Qianlong, who was fascinated with the curious and archaic. The designs outlined in gilt against turquoise on the present bowl produce the effect of porcelain imitating cloisonné enamel. In cloisonné enamel, raised lines are applied to create 'cloisons' on the body of a metal vessel which are then filled in with colored glass paste and fired. On the present bowl, the gilt outlines enclose enameled colors in simulation of the cloisonné effect.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1224. A famille verte'Apricot Blossom''Month' cup, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722); 2 in. (4.9 cm.) high. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 35,000. Price realised USD 106,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The cup is delicately enameled on one side of the exterior with a flowering prunus tree, narcissus and bamboo growing from a rocky outcrop, and the reverse with a ten-character poetic inscription referring to the scene, followed by a seal mark, shang ('appreciation').

Property from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, New York 

Note: The poetic inscription reads: 

Qingxiang he suyu, jiase chu qingyan ('Its clear fragrance harmonizes with the scent of over-night rain, its beautiful color surpasses the brilliance of sunshine reflected off the haze.')  

The couplet is taken from the poem, In Reply to Zhangsun Yi for Sending me Apricot from Lanxi, by the Tang dynasty poet Qian Qi (AD 710-780).

The flower depicted on this particular cup is apricot blossom (xinghua), the flower of the second lunar month. Since this was the month in which the imperial examinations were held, the apricot blossom has also become the 'successful candidate's flower', as well as being a symbol of a beautiful woman.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York 

Lot 957. A huanghuali mirror stand, 17th century; 16 ¼ in. (41.3 cm.) high, 12 ½ in. (31.7 cm.) wide, 8 ¾ in. (22.3 cm.) deep. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 100,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The shaped back is carved with a large openwork circular medallion intricately carved with a flowering tree, with two shaped side panels. The whole is raised on a rectangular base with three drawers and supported on squat, incurved feet.

Provenance: Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, April 2005 

Property from The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection.

Literature: Grace Wu Bruce, Ming Furniture: Selections from Hong Kong & London Gallery, Winter 2000-2001, London, p. 62, no. 29.
V. Bower, S. Handler and J. Burris, Brush Clay Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art, Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, 2008, p. 58, fig. 28.

Exhibited: Cincinnati, Taft Museum of Art, Brush Clay Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art, 7 November 2008 - 11 January 2009.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 903. A bronze ritual food vessel, gui, Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 11th-10th Century BC; 11 ¾ in. (30.5 cm.) wide across handles. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 93,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The vessel is raised on a tall foot encircled by a band comprised of eight dissolved taotie with raised, oblong eyes. The upper body is decorated with a band of birds with crests and long tails centered on two sides by a small animal mask cast in relief, and interrupted on the other two sides by a pair of handles issuing from horned animal masks. The cover is similarly decorated with a band of birds centered on low flanges below the circular, collared handle, which is pierced on two sides. The vessel and cover are cast with two matching six-character inscriptions, which may be translated as 'X Fu made this precious ritual vessel'. The patina is of a mottled dark greyish-green color.

Provenance: J. T. Tai & Company, New York, prior to 1992. 

Note: An early Western Zhou gui and cover of similar form, but decorated with a band of stylized taotie around the upper body, was sold at Christie's Paris, 21-22 June 2016, lot 375.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 905. A bronze ritual wine vessel (zun), Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 11th-10th century BC; 10 in. (25.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 87,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The rounded mid-section is cast with two narrow bands of pairs of backward-looking dragons, each divided by narrow flanges. The bottom of the interior is cast with a six-character inscription reading Bo zuo bao zun yi. The patina of dark silvery color is covered with malachite and cuprite encrustation with touches of azurite blue.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 2 March 1971, lot 58.
J.T. Tai & Co., New York, 24 June 1975.
Arthur M. Sackler Collections. 
Else Sackler, 1997.
The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation. 

Literature: J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1990, pp. 574-79, no. 87. 
Wang Tao and Liu Yu, A Selection of Early Chinese Bronzes with Inscriptions from Sotheby's and Christie's Sales, Shanghai, 2007, no. 162. 

Exhibited: Jerusalem, Israel Museum, 1996. 

Note: The inscription may be translated as 'Bo made this precious sacrificial vessel'. This inscription can also be found on a you vessel with similar decoration sold at Sotheby's London, 2 March 1971, lot 57. This you is very likely to be one of the companion vessels to the present zun, forming a ritual vessel set. A similar early Western Zhou zun and you set in the Hakutsuru Bijutsukan, Kobe, is illustrated by J. Rawson in Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1990, p. 577, figs. 87.4 and 87.5.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 966. A zitan corner-leg table, 17th-18th century; 34 ¾ in. (88.3 cm.) high, 38 ½ in. (97.8 cm.) square. Estimate USD 80,000 - USD 100,000. Price realised USD 93,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The paneled top is set within the square frame above a narrow waist and plain aprons. The whole is raised on legs of round section terminating in hoof feet joined by humpback stretchers.

Provenance: Private collection, North America.
Christie's New York, 16 September 2010, lot 1201. 

Note: A related zitan square corner-leg waistless table was sold at Christie's New York, 26 March 2010, lot 1209.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1272. A famille rose'Hundred deer'hu-form vase, Guangxu period (1875-1908); 17½ (44.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 25,000. Price realised USD 93,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The vase is decorated with the 'Hundred Deer' motif, depicting deer and their young, grazing, gamboling and resting in a lush landscape, amidst pine and peach trees, lingzhi, and a meandering stream flowing through blue-shaded rock formations from high mountains in the distance. A pair of gilt-highlighted coral-red dragon-scroll handles flank the shoulder. An apocryphal Qianlong seal mark is on the base.

Property fro the Estate of Severin Fayerman. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York 

Lot 941. A rare imperial kesi twelve-symbol dragon robe probably made for the Dowager Empress, mangpao, 19th century; 89 ½ x 55 ½ in. (227.3 x 140.9 cm.). Estimate USD 50,000 - USD 70,000. Price realised USD 87,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The robe is finely woven in shades of blue, red, ochre, pale violet and gold on the front and back, with nine five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls amidst clusters of clouds interspersed with bats holding beribonedwan emblems and peaches, shou characters, the eight Buddhist emblems, auspicious motifs and the twelve symbols of imperial authority, all reserved on an imperial yellow ground above the terrestrial diagram withlishui stripe at the hem, with dark blue-ground cuffs, collar and sleeve bands decorated with further dragons and clouds.

Provenance: Teresa Coleman, Hong Kong, mid-1990s.

Note: The Twelve Ancient Symbols of Imperial Authority first appeared on the Manchu emperor's clothing after 1759. These symbols were superimposed on the general decorative schema of Qing court garments, losing the visual prominence they had enjoyed during the Ming dynasty. Nonetheless, they emphatically demonstrated the Qing intention of embracing the traditional role as rulers of the Chinese empire. Under the Qing, the first four symbols--sun, moon, stars, and mountain--were placed at the shoulders, chest and mid-back. The symbol of distinction (fu), hatchet, paired dragons, and the golden pheasant appeared at waist level. Temple-cups, aquatic grass, grains of millet, and flames were placed at knee level on the skirts of the coat. 

The present robe would likely have been made for Cixi (1835-1908), the Dowager Empress of the Qing dynasty. The empress was permitted to wear the yellow twelve-symbol dragon robe at celebrations, sacrificial rites, and important ceremonies, and it served as a symbol of her power. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 934. Anonymous (Qing dynasty), Rubbing of "Prajnaparamitahridaya" (The Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom). Dated thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign (1735) Inscribed and signed by Prince He (1712-1765), with one seal He qin wang bao. Hanging scroll, ink on paper, tielimu scroll ends. 56 ½ x 30 7/8 in. (143.5 x 78.5 cm.). Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 85,000. © Christie's Images Limited 2017.

Provenance: Baron Alexander von Staël-Holstein (1877-1937) Collection.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1243. A Langyao vase, pipa zun, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 12 in. (30.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 50,000 - USD 70,000. Price realised USD 87,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017 

The vase is covered in a streaked, crackled glaze of rich, crushed-strawberry tone thinning to a pale celadon color at the rim, the base and interior of the neck are also covered with a transparent crackled glaze of pale celadon tone..

Note: The term langyao derives its name from Lang Tingji, director of the official kilns at Jingdezhen between 1705-1712, who is credited with the revival of monochrome glazes and particularly copper-red glazes. Compare, the slightly larger (36.6 cm. high) langyao pear-shaped vase dated to the Kangxi period in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selected Porcelain of the Flourishing Qing Dynasty at the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1994, p. 118, pl. 81. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York

Lot 1263. An underglaze blue and copper-red 'Immortals' bowl, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 8 ¾ in. (22.3 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 12,000 - USD 18,000. Price realised USD 68,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The bowl has gently rounded sides rising from a short, slightly tapered foot. The interior is painted in underglaze blue with Shoulao standing beside a spotted deer against a background of underglaze copper-red waves. The exterior is decorated with the Eight Daoist Immortals in underglaze blue reserved on a ground of similar copper-red waves.

Provenance: Collection of Chin Hai Wang, acquired in Taiwan before 1964, and thence by descent within the family. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York