Lot 8062. A large blue and white jar, Wanli period (1573-1620); 14 1/4in (36.2cm) high. Estimate US$ 4,000 - 6,000 (€ 3,200 - 4,800). © Bonhams 2001-2018

Of ovoid shape, supported on an unglazed recessed foot, the rounded shoulders rising to a wide metal-mounted neck, painted around the exterior with four ogival panels enclosing flowering plants, below four panels enclosing a peach branch and floral sprigs, all separated from each other by straps and floral buckles reserved against a wan-fret ground, the base encircled with a lappet band.

Note: A similar example sold at Sotheby's, London, 9 November 2016, lot 239.

A large blue and white jar, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620); 40 cm, 15 3/4  in. Sold for 6,250 GBP at Sotheby's, London, 9 November 2016, lot 239. Photo Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: A large blue and white jar, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1619)

Lot 3010. Circle of Ambrosius Benson (Lombardy circa 1495 - 1550 Bruges), Portrait of a nobleman with falcon. Oil on panel, 27 x 19.5 cm. Estimate CHF 80 000 / 100 000 (€ 66 670 / 83 330). © Koller Auctions Zurich

Provenance: - Art dealers Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd., London (according to label verso on frame).
- European private collection.

Koller Auctions Zurich. Old Master Paintings - Friday 23 March 2018, 03.00 PM

Lot 3045. Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - 1641 London), Portrait of Anna Sophia Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon (circa 1610-1695). Oil on canvas, 102 cm diameter. Estimate CHF 80 000 / 140 000 (€ 66 670 / 116 670). © Koller Auctions Zurich

Expertise: Dr. Susan J. Barnes, 30.6.2015 (copy available).

Provenance: - probably via inheritance from the sitter to her granddaughter Elizabeth, wife of Philip Stanhope, 2 Count of Chesterfield (1634-1714).
- Collection of Sanderstead Court, Surrey.
- Henry Doestch (1839-1894), London.
- Christie's, London, 24.6.1895, Lot 205.
- John Wanamaker (1838-1922), Lindenhurst, Philadelphia, 1904.
- Gutzeit collection, Ontario, 1931.
- Loan to Art Gallery of Ontario, 1969.
- Christie's, New York, 15.4.2008, Lot 60.
- Private collection, Madrid.
- Private collection, Liechtenstein.
- Swiss private collection.

Literature: - Catalogue of the highly important collection of pictures by old masters of Henry Doetsch, Esq., 1895, No. 205, p. 59 ("Elizabeth, Duchess of Lennox and Richmond, by Sir Anthony van Dyck").
- Siter, E. C.: Catalogue of the collection of pictures belonging to John Wanamaker at Lindenhurst, 1904, pp. 6-7, No. 2, fig. 94 ("Portrait of Elizabeth, Duchess of Richmond, as by Nicolas de Largillière and illustrated as by Anthony van Dyck").
- Barnes, Susan J. / De Poorter, Nora u.a.: Van Dyck. A Complete catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven / London 2004, S. 457 (as version of Cat No. IV.41, known through an engraving by Lambert Lombart).
- Diaz Padron, Matias / Sanzsalazar, Jahel / Dieguez, Ana: Van Dyck en Espana, Barcelona 2012, vol. 2, Cat No. 104, pp. 665-666.

Dr. Susan J. Barnes will include the painting in the addendum to the catalogue raisonne of the artist.

Koller Auctions Zurich. Old Master Paintings - Friday 23 March 2018, 03.00 PM

Lot 3045. Anthony Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - 1641 London), Portrait of an Italian noblewoman. Oil on canvas, 48 x 37.7 cm. Estimate CHF 20 000 / 30 000 (€ 16 670 / 25 000). © Koller Auctions Zurich

Expertise: Dr. Susan J. Barnes, 30.6.2015 (copy available).

Provenance: - Collection of Leopold Koppel (1843-1933), Berlin, 1909.
- via inheritance to the collection of Albert Leopold Koppel, Toronto, probably from 1933.
- Julius Böhler, Munich, 1967.
- Collection of Mrs Elizabeth Drey, New York.
- Sotheby's, New York, 3.10.1996, Lot 17.
- Sotheby's, London, 28.5.1999, Lot 86.
- Private collection, Madrid.
- Private collection, Liechtenstein. 
- Swiss private collection.

Exhibited: Exhibition of portraits from the 15th to the 18th centuries, Kaiser-Friedrich-Museumsverein, Berlin, 31.3.-30.4.1909, No. 28.

Literature: - Illustrated catalogue of the exhibition of portraits from the 15th to the 18th centuries from the private collections of members of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museumsverein, Berlin 1909, No. 28.
- Haldeln, D. Freiherrn von: Die Porträtausstellung des Kaiser-Friedrich-Museumsvereins, Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, vol. 20, 1909, p. 297.
- Jaffé, Michael: van Dyck's Portrait in the The Young Museum and elsewhere, The Art Quarterly 28, 1965, p. 44 and 54.
- European Painting of the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Catalogue of Paintings, Cleveland / Ohio 1982, No. 5, p. 12, fig. 5b.
- Barnes, Susan J.: Van Dyck in Italy, PhD diss. University of New York, 1986, vol. 2, Cat No. C19, p. 116.
- Larsen, Erik: L'Opera completa di Van Dyck, Milan 1980, Cat No. 424, p. 116.
- Larsen Erik: The paintings of Anthony van Dyck, Freren 1988, vol. 2, Cat No. 394, p. 161.
- Wheelock, Arthur K. / Barnes, Susan J. / Held, Julius S.: Van Dyck. Paintings, Ausst. Kat. The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, 11.11.1990 - 24.12.1991, Washington 1990, p. 178.
- Barnes, Susan J. / De Poorter, Nora et al. 2004: Van Dyck. A Complete catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven / London 2004, Cat No. II.76, p. 213.
- Diaz Padron, Matias / Sanzsalazar, Jahel / Dieguez, Ana: Van Dyck en Espana, Barcelona 2012, vol 2, Cat No. 106, pp. 667-668.

Koller Auctions Zurich. Old Master Paintings - Friday 23 March 2018, 03.00 PM

Lot 3025. Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger (Middelburg 1609 - 1645 Utrecht), Still life of flowers with a lizard, 1630. Oil on panel. Monogrammed and dated lower right: AB (ligature). 1630. 37 x 27 cm. Estimate CHF 20 000 / 30 000 (€ 16 670 / 25 000). © Koller Auctions Zurich

Provenance: Swiss private collection. 

Our thanks to Dr. Fred G. Meijer who has confirmed the authenticity of this work on the basis of a photograph. 

Lot 3068. Antonio Gianlisi (Rizzolo 1677 - 1727 Cremona), Trompe-l'oeil with rosary, spectacles, book and ink well& Trompe-l'oeil with globe, musical instruments, score and hour glass. Oil on canvas. Pair of works. Each 92.5 x 70.5 cm. Estimate CHF 12 000 / 18 000 (€ 10 000 / 15 000). © Koller Auctions Zurich

Provenance: - Finarte auction, Milan, 14.11.1990, Lots 33 A and B (as Benedetto Sartori).
- Swiss private collection.

Literature: - Battistini, R. / Cleri, B. / Giardini, C., u. a. (ed.): L'anima e le cose. La natura morta nell'Italia pontificia nel XVII e XVIII secolo, 2001, pp. 157-158.
- Zanardi, Ricci M.: Antonio Gianlisi junior (Rizzolo (PC) 1667- Cremona 1727), autore di trompe- l'oeil: nuovi contributi, in: Strenna piacentina, 2006.
- Alberti, Giulia: Inganni dipinti. Trompe-l'oeil nella Fototeca Zeri, Bologna 2015, p. 44, ill. 39-41.

Lot 528. An important Fahua baluster jar and cover, Ming Dynasty, late 15th-early 16th century. Height: 42 cm. Estimate 20 000 € / 30 000 €. © Veritas Art Auctioneers

Relief and polychrome decoration in turquoise, white and ochre. Depicting the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove on a landscape with rocks, Pine trees and cloud scrolls. Shoulder decorated with the eight Taoist symbols on a ruyi frieze and neck with vaporous clouds. Decorated near the base with a large petal lappet band enclosing inverted lotus buds. Domed cover with two peonies sprays and insects (cover restored; losses to the glazing).

Lot 531. Blue underglaze decoration vase with fantastic animals and floral motifs, Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period (1573-1620). Height: 30 cm. Estimate 6 500 € / 8 500 €. © Veritas Art Auctioneers

(restoration at the rim and firing defects)  

Lot 545. A rare Kraak porcelain Frog-shaped body Kendi, Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period (1573-1620). Height: 18 cm. Estimate 4 000 € / 6 000 €. © Veritas Art Auctioneers

(restored spout) 

Lot 529. Blue underglaze dish depicting riverscape with ducks and flowers, Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period (1573-1619). Diam.: 32 cm. Estimate 700 € / 1 000 €. © Veritas Art Auctioneers

Tab decorated with precious objects (small restoration at the tab) 

Lot 689. A finely painted blue and white circular box and cover, Ming dynasty, Chongzhen period (1627-1644). Diameter 4 1/2  in., 11.4 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the domed cover finely painted to the center with a quadrilobed medallion composed of four ruyi-shaped panels and lotus flowers linked by foliate scrolls within a ruyi lappet collar enclosing further lotus scrolls, the box with similar decoration, the base with an apocryphal six-character Jiajing mark (2).

Note: This skillfully painted box embodies the signature qualities of Ming dynasty blue and white porcelains through its sophisticated ornamentation and dynamic use of materials. The intricate, symmetrical design perfectly complements the shape of the surface, requiring careful planning and precise execution. Yet, even within these constraints, the painter executed each line with vivacity and vigor that enliven the overall composition. The artisan also made full use of the tonal range of the cobalt to vivify individual lines and prevent monotony in the repeating pattern. The 'heaping and piling' technique further added an element of chance in the firing process. As a result, the box coherently synthesizes order and expressiveness, conformity and gesture, deliberateness and surprise. Compared to contemporaneous seal paste boxes discovered in the 'Hatcher Cargo', for instance the groups sold at Christie's Amsterdam, 12th-13th June 1984, lots 601 and 649, the present example demonstrates the high caliber of craftsmanship that continued through the end of the Ming dynasty.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art New York, 21 march 2018, 10:00 AM

Lot 680. A 'Longquan' celadon tripod censer, Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Diameter 12 1/4  in., 31.1 cm. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the heavily potted body raised on three mask-and-paw feet, the broad rounded sides rising to an incurved rim and molded to the exterior with the 'Eight Trigrams' in relief beneath a band of raised bosses, the interior stamped with a trellis-pattern medallion, covered overall in a yellowish sea-green glaze save for the central medallion and the beveled disc on the base both burnt orange during firing, Japanese wood box (3).

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art New York, 21 march 2018, 10:00 AM

Lot 681. A 'Longquan' celadon tripod censer, Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Diameter 9 1/2  in., 24.1 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the compressed globular body supported on three mask-and-paw feet and rising to a waisted shoulder and galleried rim set with two rope-twist handles, the exterior carved with a trellis band around the body between applied rosettes above and below, the interior centered with a stamped floral spray medallion, covered overall in a brilliant seafoam-green glaze save for the central medallion and the raised disc on the base, Japanese openwork silver cover and two Japanese wood boxes (7) 

Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511-1592), The Medici Genius, Florence, ca.1556, red wax, height 31 cm.

Bai Guanghua, Suzhou Wang Shi Garden (Series: DREAM), 2005, photography, Inkjet print on Fine Art Paper, 800x800mm.

Bai Guanghua, Suzhou Liu Garden (Series: DREAM), 2005, photography, Inkjet print on Fine Art Paper, 800x800mm.

Bai Guanghua, Suzhou Liu Garden (Series: DREAM), 2005, photography, Inkjet print on Fine Art Paper, 800x800mm.

Bai Guanghua, Suzhou Liu Garden (Series: DREAM), 2005, photography, Inkjet print on Fine Art Paper, 800x800mm.

Paolo Veronese, Count Iseppo da Porto / Countess Livia da Porto Thiene, c. 1552. Baltimore, Walters Art Museum and Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Contini Bonacossi Collection

Portret van Marten Soolmans / Portret van Oopjen Coppit, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, 1634.

AMSTERDAM - From 8 March to 3 June 2018, the Dutch national museum, the Rijksmuseum, is presenting High Society. Over thirty-five life-size portraits of powerful princes, eccentric aristocrats and fabulously wealthy citizens by the great masters of art history, including Cranach, Veronese, Velázquez, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Sargent, Munch and Manet. The centrepiece will be Rembrandt’s spectacular wedding portraits, Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit which will be shown for the first time following their restoration. Never before has there been an exhibition dedicated to this most glamorous type of portrait: life-size, standing and full length. Loans have come from museums and private collections from all over the world including Paris, London, Florence, Vienna and Los Angeles.

High Society also gives a glimpse into the informal life of the well-to-do. More than eighty prints and drawings from the Rijksmuseum's own collection show what went on behind closed doors: parties, drinks, gambling and amorous encounters.

International masterpieces

The works vary from the early sixteenth to the start of the twentieth century. Masterpieces include the impressive portraits of Henry the Pious, Duke of Saxony, and Catharina, Countess of Mecklenburg by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1514), the married couple Iseppo da Porto and Livia da Porto Thiene with their children by Veronese (1555), Don Pedro de Barberana y Aparregui by Velázquez (ca. 1631-33), Portrait Jane Fleming by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1778/79), The Artist by Edouard Manet (1875) and of course Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by Rembrandt (1634).

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Henry the Pious, Duke of Saxony, 1514. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Catherine, Countess of Mecklenburg, 1515. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Paolo Veronese, Iseppo do Porto with his son Adrian, c. 1555. Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Contini Bonacossi Collection.

Paolo Veronese, Livia Thiene with her daughter Porzia, c. 1555. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Jane Fleming, later Countess of Harrington, c. 1778–79. San Marino, The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

John Singer Sargent, Dr Pozzi at home, 1881. The Armand Hammer Collection, Gift of the Armand Hammer Foundation. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

Giovanni Boldini, Marchesa Luisa Casati with a Greyhound, 1908. Private collection.

Four centuries of fashion

Most of the people portrayed are very lavishly dressed, giving the exhibition an overview of four centuries of fashion: from the tightly cut trousers and doublet from 1514 to the haute couture of the late nineteenth century. Some of the subjects portrayed, however, are wearing fancy garments in an antique style. Another is wearing a kilt, yet another is not wearing trousers and one is almost completely naked. Remarkably, those portrayed often have dogs with them. One man is accompanied by a lion. One couple have their children with them. The backgrounds can be richly decorated interiors, often with columns and/or curtains, or a summer or winter landscape. One man is standing in front of an imaginary landscape with palm trees, while another is adopting a flamboyant pose in front of the Colosseum in Rome.

Vices

Whereas the life-size portraits show the well-to-do in their Sunday best, three rooms in the exhibition are devoted to activities that take place for the most part behind closed doors: parties, drinks, gambling, amorous encounters and brothel visits. Based on the vices of Gluttony, Greed and Lust, more than eighty prints and drawings from the collection of the Rijksmuseum have been assembled, many showing humorous and satirical scenes, often with a strong moralizing message in the inscriptions.

Willem Basse, A Woman Seated on a Man’s Lap, c. 1640 - voor 1672. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Cornelis Troost, Prince Eugene of Savoy Vetting a Line-up of Prostitutes, c. 1720. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Rembrandt’s Marten and Oopjen

High Society celebrates the acquisition of Rembrandt’s spectacular wedding portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by the Netherlands (Rijksmuseum) and France (Musée du Louvre) in 2016 from a private collection. The wedding couple is the only couple that Rembrandt ever painted life-size, standing and full length (1634). The paintings are on display in the exhibition for the first time since their restoration – completed at the beginning of 2018. The High Society exhibition is the overture to the Year of Rembrandt in 2019, during which the 350th anniversary of the death of the artist will be extensively celebrated.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of Marten Soolmans, 1634. Acquired by the Dutch State for the Rijksmuseum.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of Oopjen Coppit, 1634. Acquired by the French Republic for the Musée du Louvre.

The exhibition High Society is made possible by the Blockbusterfonds, ING, FedEx and the Patrons of the Rijksmuseum.

The conservation treatment of Rembrandt’s portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit is made possible by the Irma Theodora Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds, Philips and the Cevat Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds.

The Portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by Rembrandt are jointly purchased by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of France in 2016. Rijksmuseum Collection and Musée du Louvre Collection.

Installation views. Photos: Rijksmuseum/David van Dam

The Buddhist deity Guhyasamaja (detail), approx. 1400–1500. China; Beijing, Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Bronze with gilding. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B64B23. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The human form in art has always helped shape how we answer life’s biggest questions: Where do we come from? Why are we here? Who are we? What happens when we die? In response, from March 9 through July 29, 2018, the Asian Art Museum presents Divine Bodies, bringing together nearly 70 large-scale historical sculptures and paintings from Hindu and Buddhist traditions, along with contemporary photo-based work. This original exhibition invites us to dwell on these mysteries as we ponder the power of transformation, the possibility of transcendence, and the relationship of our bodies to the cosmos. 

“Divine Bodies presents masterpieces from 1500 years ago to today, from what is now India, Pakistan, and the wider Buddhist world, to engage visitors in a real conversation,” explains Qamar Adamjee, the museum’s Malavalli Family Foundation Associate Curator of Art of the Indian Subcontinent. “These artworks demand that we contemplate our role in a larger cosmology by asking, ‘How we can see the human in the divine and the divine in the human?’  

Artists from across Asia have long depicted deities — Hindu gods and goddesses, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, from the gentle to the fierce— in carnal human form. Their familiar facial features and unexpectedly corporeal figures allow mortals to relate to immortals, establishing an ongoing interaction between human and divine bodies: between material and ethereal, physical and metaphysical, finite and infinite. 

“The idea is that by contemplating physical beauty, devotees experience the metaphysical beauty behind such images,” says exhibition co-organizer Jeff Durham, Assistant Curator of Himalayan Art, and a practicing yoga instructor. “A statue is not just a statue: the exhibition encourages us to look at these artworks as devotional images imbued with real divine potency and reminds us of our own spiritual agency on the path to enlightenment.”  

In addition to traditional depictions of sacred forces, Divine Bodies also presents four series from contemporary Indian photographers — Gauri Gill, Dayanita Singh, Pamela Singh, and Vivan Sundaram — as well as video work from American-Korean duo David and Hi-Jin Hodge. An extensive presentation of photography for the Asian Art Museum, these works together address an issue central to the exhibition: How can we discover meaning in an ever-changing, impermanent world? 

These award-winning photographers are widely celebrated in their home country. From deeply personal stills of 20th-century graves, to images of temples and worshippers wittily reworked with pen and ink, the mostly black and white selection of photographs provides a familiar foothold to explore the rich theology underlying Divine Bodies.  

In the most well-known series, Myself Mona Ahmed (1999–2017), photographer Dayanita Singh documents the life of a “eunuch” and member of Delhi’s hijra community. Born male and self-identified as female, hijra are considered a third sex in India and are simultaneously shunned and revered as close to the divine, capable of containing — like several important Hindu deities on view in Divine Bodies — both male and female cosmic forces. 

“Artists like Dayanita Singh document the centrality of the human body to our understanding of ourselves and our place in the universe,” says Karin G. Oen, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and an exhibition co-organizer. “At the same time, like a religious experience, Mona’s difficult life offers us a glimpse of transcendence within selftransformation, a parable for what happens when we embrace what lies beyond the material world as it is given to us.” 

By putting the human at the center of the exhibition as much as the artwork on view, Divine Bodies invites visitors to draw connections to their own lives and inspires personal interpretations. 

“Viewing divine bodies from China, India, Thailand, Tibet, Indonesia, Pakistan and other regions side by side reveals truly universal themes as well as culturally specific ideals of beauty and godliness,” says Asian Art Museum director and CEO, Jay Xu. “You don’t have to be an adherent of these faith traditions to grasp the power and meaning of these incredible devotional artworks.” 

The Asian Art Museum is the only venue for Divine Bodies.

Head of a buddha, probably 618-800, China, Tang dynasty (618-907). Limestone; Medium gray, fine-grained, oolithic. H. 16 in x W. 10 in x D. 10 1/2 in, H. 40.6 cm x W. 25.4 cm x D. 26.7 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S31. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Cosmic Buddha, China, Tang dynasty (618-907). Stone. H. 41 in x W. 18 in x D. 16 in, H. 101.14 cm x W. 45.7 cm x D. 40.64. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B61S66. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

 The Buddhist great adept Virupa, approx. 1400-1450, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), China, Beijing. Gilded bronze. H. 10 1/2 in x W. 10 in x D. 6 1/2 in, H. 26.7 cm x W. 25.4 cm x D. 16.5 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B62B20. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Buddhist deity Guhyasamaja, approx. 1400-1500, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), China, Beijing. Gilded bronze. H. 26 in x W. 18 in x D. 12 1/2 in, H. 66 cm x W. 45.7 cm x D. 31.7 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B64B23. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Miniature buddhist stupa, approx. 1700-1800, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), China. Bronze with traces of gilding. Bronze with traces of gilding. Bronze with traces of gilding. H. 16 1/8 in x Diam. Base 7 1/4 in x 7 1/4 in. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B61B13. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Immortals, Reign of the Qianlong emperor (1736-1795), Qing dynasty (1644-1911), China, Fujian province. Porcelain, Dehua ware. H. 12 1/2 in x W. 5 in x D. 4 in. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P1788. Photograph © Asian Art Museum. 

Railing pillar with female figure beneath a tree, approx. 100-200, India, Uttar Pradesh state, Mathura region, Kushan style. Sandstone. H. 27 1/4 in x W. 6 1/2 in x D. 6 1/4, H. 69.2 cm x W. 16.5 cm x D. 15.9 cm. Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Atholl McBean Foundation, B69S13. Photograph © Asian Art Museum. 

One-faced linga, approx. 400-450, India, Madhya Pradesh state. Sandstone. H. 58 in x W. 10 in x D. 14 1/2 in, H. 147.3 cm x W. 25.4 cm x D. 36.8 cm. Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, B69S15. Photograph © Asian Art Museum. 

The Hindu god Shiva with the goddess Parvati, approx. 600-700, India, Bihar state, Pala style. Stone. H. 21 in x W. 14 in x D. 6 3/4 in, H. 53.3 cm x W. 35.6 cm x D. 17.1 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B62S9. Photograph © Asian Art Museum. 

The Hindu deity Chamunda, 800-1000, India, Rajasthan state. Sandstone. H. 23 in x W. 15 in x D. 7 in, H. 58.4 cm x W. 38.1 cm x D. 17.8 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B62S39. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Head of a Buddha, approx. 900-1100, India, Bihar state, Pala style. Brass with traces of inlaid copper and gilding. H. 15 3/4 in x W. 11 1/2 in x D. 8 1/2 in, H. 40.0 cm x W. 29.2 cm x D. 21.6 cm. Asian Art Museum, cquisition in memory of Stuart Harvey made possible by Forrest Mortimer with assistance from friends of Mr. Harvey's, 2001.30. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Hindu deities Shiva and Parvati combined as Ardhanarishvara, India, Madhya Pradesh state, 900-1100. Sandstone. H. 26 in x W. 12 1/2 in x D. 5 in, H. 66.0 cm x W. 31.7 cm x D. 12.7 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B73S16. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Hindu deity Vishnu in the form of a boar, approx. 1000. India, probably Northern Rajasthan state. Stone (schist). H. 32 11/16 in x W. 17 1/4 in x D. 6 in, H. 83 cm x W. 43.8 cm x D. 15.2 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B62S15. Photograph © Asian Art Museum

The Hindu deity Parvati, approx. 1050-1100, India, Jaynagar-Hasanpur, Bihar state, Pala style. Basalt. H. 44 in x W. 25 in x D. 10 1/2 in, H. 111.8 cm x W. 63.5 cm x D. 26.7 cm. Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, B67S2. Photograph © Asian Art Museum

The Hindu deity Shiva revealed in the linga, approx. 1050-1150, India, Tamil Nadu state, Chola style. Granite. H. 49 1/2 in x W. 16 in x D. 12 in, H. 125.7 cm x W. 40.6 cm x D. 30.5 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B65S3. Photograph © Asian Art Museum

The Buddhist deity Vajra Tara, 1075-1200, India, perhaps Nalanda, Bihar state, Magadha region, Pala style. Basalt. H. 39 1/2 in x W. 23 1/2 in x D. 9 in, H. 100.3 cm x W. 59.7 cm x D. 22.9 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B65S3. Photograph © Asian Art Museum

The Hindu deity Vishnu, 1200-1300, India, Karnataka state, Hoysala style. Stone (chlorite schist). H. 41 1/2 in x W. 22 1/2 in x D. 11 3/4, H. 105.4 cm x W. 57.1 cm x D. 29.8 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B70S5. Photograph © Asian Art Museum

 The Hindu deity Shiva, approx. 1300-1500, India, Tamil Nadu state. Bronze. H. 35 in x W. 11 3/4 in x D. 10 in, H. 88.9 cm x W. 29.8 cm x D. 25.4 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B69S14. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Hindu deity Krishna playing the flute, approx. 1400-1500, Southern India, former kingdom of Vijayanagara. Granite. H. 47 in x W. 26 in x D. 10 1/2 in, H. 119.4 cm x W. 66 cm x D. 26.7 cm (figure). Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B64S9. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Hindu god Krishna as an infant, accompanied by attendants, approx. 1860, India, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu state, Tanjore style. Opaque watercolors, gold, and colored glass on cloth, over wood. H. 24 1/4 in x W. 18 1/2 in, H. 61.5 cm x W. 47 cm. Asian Art Museum, Bequest of Marjorie Walter Bissinger, 2011.27. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Dayanita Singh (Indian, b. 1961), Myself Mona Ahmed, 2008. Twenty-one silver gelatin prints. H. 16 in x W. 20 in, H. 40.6 cm x W. 50.8 cm (overall, each, except for one oriented vertically); H. 12 in x W. 18 in, H. 30.5 cm x W. 45.7 cm (image, each, except for one oriented vertically). Asian Art Museum, Museum purchase, 2017.46.a-.u. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, approx. 750-850, Thailand, Plai Bat Hill, Buriram province, Prakhon Chai style. Copper alloy. H. 37 in x W. 13 in x D. 10 in, H. 94 cm x W. 33 cm x D. 25.4 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B66B14. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Head of a Buddha, 1200-1250, Thailand. Sandstone. H. 11 1/8 in x W. 6 in x D. 7 1/4 in, H. 28.3 cm x W.15.2 cm x D. 18.4 cm. Asian Art Museum, Transfer from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1999.8. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Head of a Buddha, approx. 1350-1450, Thailand, former kingdom of Sukhothai, Sukhothai style. Leaded bronze with traces of lacquer and gilding. H. 17 3/4 in x W. 7 in x D. 8 1/4 in, H. 48.3 cm x W. 17.8 cm x D. 21 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S197. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Head of a crowned Buddha, approx. 1500-1600, Thailand, former kingdom of Ayutthaya, Ayutthaya style. Bronze. H. 11 in x W. 6 1/2 in x D. 6 in, H. 27.9 cm x W. 16.5 cm x D. 15.2 cm (overall). Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S13. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Reclining Buddha, 1600-1700, Thailand, former kingdom of Ayutthaya, Ayutthaya style. Brass with traces of lacquer and gilding. H. 14 1/2 in x W. 37 in x D. 11 in, H. 36.8 cm x W. 94 cm x D. 27.9 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S109. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Eleven-headed bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, approx. 1300, Western Tibet, Ladakh region. Gilded bronze inlaid with copper and silver with turquoise and semi-precious stones. H. 13 1/2 in x W. 7 1/2 in x D. 2 1/4 in, H. 34.3 cm x W. 19.1 cm x D. 5.7 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S231. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Mandala of the Buddhist deity Vajrabhairava, 1650-1750, Tibet, Ngor Monastery. Thangka. Colors on cotton. H. 16 1/2 in x W. 15 3/4 in, H. 41.9 cm x W. 40 cm (image); H. 34 in x W. 20 in, H. 86.4 cm x W. 50.8 cm (overall). Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B63D5. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Buddhist deity Vajrabhairava, approx. 1700-1800, Tibet. Gilded bronze. H. 9 1/2 in x W. 7 1/2 in x D. 3 5/8 in, H. 24.1 cm x W. 19.1 cm x D. 9.2 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60B139. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Death of the Buddha Shakyamuni, approx. 1700-1800, Tibet. Thangka. Colors on cotton. H. 17 7/8 in x W. 12 1/2 in, H. 45.4 cm x W. 31.8 cm (image), H. 39 1/2 in x W. 21 in, H. 100.3 cm x W. 59.4 cm (mount). Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60B139. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, 1800-1900, Tibet. Thangka. Colors on cotton. H. 30 3/8 in x W. 23 1/2 in, H. 77.2 cm x W. 59.7 cm (image); H. 60 in x W. 41 1/8 in, H. 152.4 cm x W. 104.5 cm (overall). Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Friends of Richard Davis, 1988.34. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

Head of a Buddha, 800-850, Indonesia, Borobudur, Central Java. Stone. H. 12 1/2 in x W. 10 in x D. 9 in, H. 31.8 cm x W. 25.4 cm x D. 22.9 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S379. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

 Head of a Buddha, approx. 300-500, Pakistan, Peshawar valley, ancient region of Gandhara. stone (schist). H. 24 in x W. 12 in x D. 11 in, H. 61 cm x W. 30.5 cm x D. 27.9 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S419. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.

The Buddhist deity White Tara, approx. 1400-1500, Nepal. Gilded copper with turquoise, lapis lazuli, other gemstones, and glass. H. 21 1/2 in x W. 17 in x D. 12 1/2 in, H. 54.6 cm x W. 43.2 cm x D. 31.8 cm. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B60S22. Photograph © Asian Art Museum. 

The Jain teacher Parshvanatha, 1000-1100, Bangladesh, perhaps Dhaka District. Stone. H. 24 in x W. 11 in x D. 3 in, H. 61.0 cm x W. 27.9 cm x D. 7.6 cm. 

Green Glazed Amphora, Late Sui – Early Tang Dynasty, 6th-7th c. A.D., China. Height: 23cm© Zetterquist Galleries.

A stoneware amphora with high-shouldered body and flattened foot. The long neck funnels up from the shoulders and is decorated with three deeply incised rings where the neck constricts, just below its flared cup-shaped mouth. Flanking either side of the shoulders are two thickly formed loop handles and a solid chicken head, representing the spout (nonfunctional in this case). A tall handle in the form of a dragon reaches up from the shoulder lute line, and bites down on the side of the cup-shaped mouth, its nose and snout obscured inside. The entire piece is covered in a dark translucent green glaze that pools to drips above the flat foot, revealing a dense stoneware body fired to a light grey color.

A similar piece with different handle treatment is published in Mayayama Seventy Years, Tokyo 1976. Pl. 106. Another is illustrated in “Sekai Touji Zenshu” Shogakukan, 1977. Vol. 11, pl. 170.

TL tested by Oxford Authentication, certificate number: P204d45

Changsha Celadon Ewer, Tang Dynasty, 9th c. AD. Height: 19cm. © Zetterquist Galleries.

A pouring vessel with lobed body, surmounted by a trumpet shaped neck, an indented loop handle and faceted spout. Beneath the spout is an applied floral medallion typical of Changsha wares. The entire piece is covered with an olive colored green crackled glaze which stops short of its foot, revealing a buff stoneware body. Two rim chip repairs.

It is unusual for a Changsha celadon to be this well controlled in color and consistency.

Provenance: Walter Bareiss Collection, Greenwich CT.

Yue-Type Foliate Form Bowl, Northern Song Dynasty, 960-1127 A.D., China. Diameter: 14.5cm© Zetterquist Galleries.

A stoneware bowl with steep walls formed into six petal-shaped segments with foliated rim. The interior of the broad, flattened bottom is decorated with highly stylized incised floral and cloud decorations. The piece is covered in a pale green finely crackled translucent glaze of ideal color. There is a small area of brownish discoloration and another area of glaze crawling near the interior rim. The foot is tall and straight and is glazed over all. There are three spur marks from the firing supports and a small area of glaze crawling under the foot, which fired to a russet brown color. Repaired chips to the foot and mouth rim.

It is commonly believed that six-petaled bowls are from the Song, rather than Five Dynasties, however exceptions to this idea are widely published. Two other six-lobed examples are published in Wenwu’s 2010 publication Tianbo: Wuyue Relics Essence pgs. 44-45 and pl. 93-94.