Lot 319. A fine blue-ground and yellow-enameled 'dragon' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 9 7/8  in., 25.1 cm. Estimate 100,000 — 150,000 USD. © Sotheby's

the rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to an everted rim, the interior with a bright yellow-enameled dragon writhing in lively pursuit of a ‘Flaming Pearl’ amidst flame scrolls and clouds, all within a yellow circle, the motif repeated with two dragons at the cavetto, and again around the exterior, the decoration all reserved against a richly mottled underglaze cobalt blue ground, the rim and foot white, the base with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue within a double circle, coll. no. 1580. 

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Marchant, London, 1992.  
Sir Joseph Hotung Family Trust. 
Marchant, London, 2002. 
Christie’s New York, 22nd March 2007, lot 330.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 20.

Note: The present dish is a superlative example of type. The compelling contrast achieved between the luminous, evenly applied marigold-yellow enamel against the deftly applied layers of vivid sapphire-blue tones attests to the ability of the imperial kilns to satisfy the exacting expectations of the Imperial Household which extended to the present yellow on blue ground pattern ware assigned to concubines of the 4th rank. A related example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is included in Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1, pt. I, Beijing, 2005, pl. 36; a pair of dishes is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, pl. 579; and another is illustrated in Mayuyama. Seventy Years, vol. I, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 1047. See also a dish  sold in our London rooms, 6th December 1994, lot 222; another in these rooms, 15th September 2010, lot 244 and two sold in our Hong Kong rooms, the first, 11th April, 2008, lot 2917;and the second, 8th April 2011, lot 3138.

A yellow-enamelled and blue ground 'Dragon' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722); diameter 9 3/4 in., 24.9 cm. Sold for 110,500 USD at Sotheby's New York, 15th September 2010, lot 244. Photo courtesy Sotheby's 2010

Cf. my post: A yellow-enamelled and blue ground 'Dragon' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722)

A yellow-enamelled and blue ground 'Dragon' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722); 25.2 cm., 9 7/8 in. Sold for 511,500 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 11th April, 2008, lot 2917. Photo courtesy Sotheby's 2008

A blue ground and yellow-enamelled 'Dragon' dish, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722); 25.3 cm., 9 7/8 in. Sold for 2,900,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 3138. Photo courtesy Sotheby's 2011.

 Sotheby's. KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection, New York, 20 March 2018, 11:00 AM

Lot 329. An extremely rare relief-decorated famille-verte vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 15 1/8  in., 38.3 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. © Sotheby's

the pear-shaped body rising from a high splayed foot to a galleried rim, finely molded and brightly enameled in relief with four lively Daoist figures, amidst a simple landscape and floating auspicious emblems, the deities similarly attired in long, flowing monk's robes, with tonsured heads and mirthful faces, the immortal Liu Hai, balancing a three-legged toad issuing its magical vapor atop one extended arm, a fellow immortal amused by the toad leaping joyfully nearby and the Hehe Erxian hunkered down observing the action, a basket of gold ingots and a long string of coins to each side, two raised gilt fillets at the shoulder above and a band of pendent ruyi heads below, the neck painted with an immortal shepherding a deer and another standing by a cluster of rocks, coll. no. 203. 

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Christie's London, 10th November 1983, lot 770.
D & M Freedman, London, 2000.

Exhibited: Embracing Classic Chinese Culture: Kangxi Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 2014, cat. no. 24.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 80.

Note: This resplendent vase celebrates the beneficent Daoist mythology dedicated to prosperity. Every aspect of the vessel, the opulent curving form, the meticulous relief work, the fastidiously-applied jewel-like enameling, the composition and iconography combine to create a rousing invocation for good luck, success and wealth. The precise identity of the figures remains elusive but the depiction of four similar figures bearing the attributes associated with Liu Hai and the HeHe Erxian is known. A pair of famille-verte rouleau vases with similar subject matter was sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 415, and another in these rooms, 12th October 1984, lot 314.

The present vase, produced late in the Kangxi period, is distinguished by the superlative quality of its molded and carved decoration. The shallow figural forms were applied and then deftly finished with precise incisions defining strands of hair, arched eyebrows, crisp drapery and even finger joints.The use of black outlines and varying tones of iron red serve to define musculature and rhythmic folds of billowing robes while pale washes of iron-red and green give life to smiling cheeks and soft earth respectively. The literal sculptural quality of the main composition is retained in the bold rendering of the rustic figures above with energetic, confident lines complimenting the meaning and method of immortals below. 

Lot 356. A rare and large sancai-glazed bowl, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 12 3/8  in., 31.4 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. © Sotheby's

finely potted, the deep rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to an everted rim, freely splashed allover with emerald-green, marigold-yellow, and bright aubergine famille-verte enamels, the exterior of the foot enameled vibrant green, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle, coll. no. 1560. 

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: A. & J. Speelman, London, 2002.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 21.

Note: The lively abstracted splashes that decorate the present bowl are inspired by earlier lead glazes first created by northern potters in the 6th century. Sancai, or three-color glaze, reached a zenith in the Tang dynasty. Creative solutions emerged to control the runny nature of the glaze and allow the bright colors to be applied in patterns often inspired by exotic batik and other resist-pattern textiles. The archaistic stippling and dripping that enlivens the bold decoration of the present bowl was a means to pay tribute and establish continuity with one of the most illustrious dynasties of Chinese history. The dense, overlapping spots are also known as 'tiger-skin pattern' (hu pi ban).

The present bowl is exceptionally rare for its large size. There appears to be only one other known example of this scale which is from the Qing Court Collection and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 226 (fig. 1). Similarly decorated forms of this period frequently bear the Kangxi reign mark as an indication of their status (ibid., pl. 225). The pattern was very popular and numerous lesser quality examples bearing different marks or unmarked were produced, many of which found their way West where the glaze is referred to as 'egg and spinach'. Examples of this type are also included in the Palace Museum, Beijing (ibid., pls 223 and 224).

A large sancai bowl, Kangxi mark and period, Palace Museum, Beijing© The Palace Museum, Beijing

Lot 330. A quadrangular famille-verte'Three Star Gods' vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 24 3/4  in., 62.8 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. © Sotheby's

of square section, the tapered rectangular sides supported on a spreading foot and rising to a canted shoulder and flaring neck with a galleried rim, each side with a molded deity and boy holding various attributes under high relief rockwork issuing pine, prunus, and peach branches, the scenes painted with further foliage, wisps of clouds, and poetic couplets, all between borders of scrolling peony and lotus against a speckled ground, the neck applied each side with a pair of 'antique' vessels molded in high relief, set between green ground bands of keyfret, the recessed base and foot unglazed, wire-inlaid weighted wood stand (2), coll. no. 343.  

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Probably from the Collection of William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), 1st Viscount Leverhulme.
Collection of William Hulme Lever (1888-1949), 2nd Viscount Leverhulme, and recorded in the 1949 inventory as T034.
Collection of Philip William Bryce Lever (1915-2000), Honourable 3rd Viscount Leverhulme, KG TD, Thornton Manor, Wirral, Merseyside. 
Sotheby's London, 26th-28th June 2001, lot 106.
Marchant, London, 2001.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 81.

Note: This vase is richly decorated with applied and painted details. The principal subject is the 'Three Star Gods' (sanxing), Fu, Lu, and Shou, and the legendary archer Houyi, who each receive their own side of the vase, a youthful companion, and a propitious poetic inscription. The figures each bear auspicious meaning, with the Star Gods respectively connoting happiness, wealth, and longevity. Houyi signifies immortality as this was his reward for shooting down nine of the ten suns thereby regulating the climate and allowing the earth to thrive. The 'Precious Objects' around the vase's neck and floral scrolls further contribute to the positive messaging.

The vase demonstrates the technical achievements of Kangxi potters. The shape and weight of the vase presented considerable challenges to the potter, who inventively applied hidden struts to the rim and interior to uphold the ambitious vessel. The figures and branches, too, are well-formed in unprecedentedly high relief with some features modeled fully in the round for naturalistic effect. Each scene is enlivened with masterfully applied overglaze enamels and gilt accents.

Lot 313. A large blue and white 'Seven sages' brushpot, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Diameter 7 1/2  in., 19 cm. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 USD. © Sotheby's

of cylindrical form supported on three bracket feet, finely painted with scholars in a bamboo grove amid resplendent pines and ribbons of clouds, one sage calligraphing a rock in the company of another, nearby a third sage playing the qin and three more listening while considering a group of antiques arranged before them, an elderly sage strolling with the aid of a gnarled staff and an attendant, the base with an unglazed ring and centered with a recessed medallion with an apocryphal six-character Chenghua mark in underglaze blue, coll. no. 214. 

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Solveig & Anita Gray, London, 2001.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 36.

Note: The ‘Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove’ were a group of poets, musicians, and scholar-officials active in the third century who retreated from public service as an act of political protest. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, they were favorite subjects of painters, carvers, and ceramicists, who depicted them composing poetry, playing the qin, appreciating antiquities, and engaging in various lofty pursuits. Bamboo carvers and potters of the Kangxi era often applied this theme to brushpots and other objects for the scholar’s studio.

The present brushpot is further distinguished by the inclusion of the bracket feet that elevate the cylindrical form. The presence of feet on 17th century porcelain brushpots is rare. Normally, the base of a porcelain brushpot rested directly on the table's surface; feet were reserved for jardinières which required the elevation for drainage or censers which were raised to keep heat away from wood or lacquer surfaces. However, late Ming dynasty brushpots with similar tab or bracket feet carved from hardwoods, bamboo, ivory and lacquer imply that that elevation of the form was an established aesthetic choice and one that perhaps prevented the ring stains that often resulted from flat-based brushpots.  

A large blue and white brushpot with a strikingly similar composition and apocryphal Chenghua four-character mark from the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, cat. no. 50. A related brushpot illustrating literati examining a handscroll beneath an upper border of rippling clouds in the collection of the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji: Qing (1) [The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics: Qing I], vol. 14, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 48. Another blue and white brushpot illustrating the ‘Seven Sages’ from the collection of Peter and Nancy Thompson sold in our London rooms, 7th November 2012, lot 33.

From the Collection of Peter and Nancy Thompson. A Blue and White 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove' Brushpot, Bitong, Qing Dynasty, Early Kangxi Period; 15.7cm., 6 1/4 in. Sold for 103,250 GBP at Sotheby's London, 7th November 2012, lot 33. © Photo Sotheby's

Cf. my post: A Blue and White 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove' Brushpot, Bitong, Qing Dynasty, Early Kangxi Period

 Sotheby's. KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection, New York, 20 March 2018, 11:00 AM 

Lot 631. A large and fine blue and white 'Western Chamber' bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Diameter 14 1/2  in., 36.8 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000. © Sotheby's

the deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a flaring rim, the interior painted with carp leaping from crested waves within the central medallion, a border of flowering prunus branches and birds around the interior rim, the exterior with two registers illustrating twelve courtship scenes from Romance of the Western Chamber (Xixiang ji) all beneath a band of phoenix and peony blossoms at the rim, coll. no. 233.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art, London, 2000.

Exhibited: Embracing Classic Chinese Culture: Kangxi Porcelains from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Sotheby’s, New York, 2014, cat. no. 17..

Note: Widely acknowledged as one of the most popular love stories in Chinese literature, Romance of the Western Chamber first appeared in the Tang dynasty in a short story by Yuan Zhen ‘The Story of Yingying’. It continued to be retold and elaborated upon reaching a more definitive form in the 13th century in the version written by Wang Shifu. The play, set in the Tang dynasty, relates the travails of love that beset a young aristocratic beauty, Yingying, and an aspiring scholar, Zhang Sheng. Contemporary chronicles and imagery produced in different media attest the play's enduring popularity. Romance of the Western Chamber was so famous that series of woodblock prints were created in the late Ming dynasty reproducing key dramatic moments from the play. These prints proved to be a very useful resource to the artisans at Jingdezhen providing a template that allowed them to more readily satisfy the demand for the subject matter whether destined for the imperial household or for mass consumption.

The present bowl is among the best examples of a graphic style of storytelling, a technique which reached unprecedented heights in the Kangxi period. Finely painted in varying tones of underglaze cobalt blue, the bowl illustrates twelve identifiable episodes from the famous play. Among the scenes depicted are, ‘The Repudiation of the Billet-Doux’ in which the overly eager Zhang, summoned by Yingying, leaps over a wall into a garden only to be spurned for his inappropriate haste; ‘Hongniang in the Dock’ showing Yingying’s loyal maid kneeling apologetically before Yingying’s furious mother who has learned about the affair between her daughter and Zhang; and ‘Zhang Departs for the Capital’ when the lovers sorrowfully part as the young scholar sets out to take the imperial examinations.

In style of composition and painting the present bowl relates quite closely to a large cylindrical vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London illustrated in Stacey Pierson, Chinese Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2009, pl. 95 (fig. 1). The vase depicts twenty-four scenes from the drama which are clearly defined within linear borders. In an article on the subject (cited below), Hsu Wen-Chin notes that the vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum, similar to the present bowl, does not include the marriage scene and suggests that the Kangxi era ushered in changes of taste. The play had taken on a more tragic aspect, ending not in a happy union but rather enigmatically with a dream sequence.

 A large blue and white rouleau vase with scenes from Xi Xiang Ji, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, 1690-1700. Height: 75.0 cm, Diameter: 22.4 cm. Salting Bequest, C.859-1910 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

COPENHAGEN.- The unique Roman silver treasure from Berthouville in France has previously only been exhibited in the USA and France. Now, exceptionally, it is on view in Denmark. 

It is the 3rd century AD and the Roman Empire extends across vast areas of Europe. In these occupied regions, for better or for worse, the Romans spread their culture. This also includes a decadent proclivity for celebration and excess. 

From 14th March 2018 visitors to the Glyptotek can give their imagination free rein as regards celebration and excess at the exhibition ”High on Luxury. Lost Treasures from the Roman Empire”. Here the Glyptotek is presenting the Berthouville Treasure along with a number of other luxury artifacts from the Roman Empire. To create the perfect Imperial Roman atmosphere in the exhibition, one can, while moving around between the ancient goblets, jugs and dishes, listen to podcast magazine Third Ear’s soundtrack, which takes the visitors back 2000 years to a feast at the home of the nouveau riche Trimalchio, which offers all one could desire of Roman decadence and ferocity. The Danish version of the soundtrack has been recorded by Danish actor Thure Lindhardt.

The Berthouville Treasure. Roman Silver and gold. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris.

Off to a Party with the Romans 
Assuming one were fortunate enough to gain admission to a celebration with the Roman upper class the menu might stretch to such specialties as flamingo tongues, peahen eggs and dormice sprinkled with honey. And everything accompanied by an endless supply of wine. Everything was served from jugs and goblets decorated with dramatic scenes from Greek mythology. The exquisite silverware, and, not least, the motifs with which it was decorated, played a key role in conversation at such gatherings. By displaying one’s knowledge of the myths behind the scenes depicted it was possible to demonstrate one’s cultural sophistication and intellectual prowess – or appear a complete fool through one’s lack of such knowledge. 

The Dedications of Quintus Domitius Tutus. Roman Silver and gold. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris.

The Berthouville Treasure 
Because of its scale, beauty and the fact that it is preserved in its totality the Berthouville Treasure has attained legendary status. It was discovered in 1830 near the River Seine in northwestern France – a region which, as a Roman colony, has been given an extensive description by Caesar in his account of the Gallic Wars. 

Subsequent excavations have demonstrated that the treasure came from a temple to the Roman god Mercury and can be dated to the 1st to 2nd centuries AD. During times of unrest, possibly in the 3rd century, it was concealed under the tiled pavement in the temple precinct but was apparently never retrieved when the temple was, at some point, burned down, probably during the repeated barbarian attacks on the Roman Empire. 

The treasure consists of some 90 prestige objects including everything from goblets to dishes and silver statues up to an impressive 50 cm in height. Fortunately for posterity the 25 kg of silver came to the notice of, and was purchased by the French state before anyone had the chance to melt it down or divide it up. 

For four years the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, working jointly with The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, have been cleaning and restoring the objects so they can now be exhibited in all their glory.

Mercury, 175–225. Roman Silver and gold. Object: H: 56.3 x Diam.: 16 cm, Weight: 2772 g (22 3/16 x 6 5/16 in., 6.11 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.1.

Cup with Centaurs (one of a pair), 1–100 AD, Roman silver and gold, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris, Paris VEX.2014.1.6.

Cup with Centaurs (one of a pair), 1–100 AD, Roman silver and gold, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris, Paris VEX.2014.1.7.

Pitcher with Scenes from the Trojan War. Dedicated by Quintus Domitius Tutus. Inscribed: “MERCVRIO AVGVSTO Q DOMITIVS TVTVS EX VOTO”, Roman, A.D. 1-100. Silver and gold; H: 29.9 cm; Wt: 1,044 grams. (Achilles dragging the body of Hector around the walls of Troy). Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris. VEX.2014.1.4

Pitcher with Scenes from the Trojan War, “The Ransom of Hector,” 1–100 Roman Sliver and gold Object: H: 29.9 x W: 14.5 x Circumference: 42 cm, Weight: 1044 g (11 3/4 x 5 11/16 x 16 9/16 in., 2.3 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.4

Pitcher with Scenes from the Trojan War, “Achilles Dragging Hector before the Walls of Troy,” 1–100 Roman Silver and gold Object: H: 31.5 x Circumference: 44 cm, Weight: 1159 g (12 3/8 x 17 5/16 in., 2.56 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.5

Pitcher with Scenes from the Trojan War (detail), “The Death of Achilles,” 1–100 Roman Silver and gold Object: H: 31.5 x Circumference: 44 cm, Weight: 1159 g (12 3/8 x 17 5/16 in., 2.56 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.5

Beaker with Imagery Related to Isthmia and Corinth. Dedicated by Quintus Domitius Tutus. Inscribed: “MERCVRIO Q DOMITIVS TVTVS VSLM”, Roman, A.D. 1-100. Silver and gold; H: 12.5 cm; Diam: 10.3 cm; Wt: 463 grams. Modiolus. Poseidon (Neptune) and Demeter (Ceres). Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris. VEX.2014.1.10

Beaker with Imagery Related to Isthmia and Corinth (rollout detail), Roman, A.D. 1-100; silver and gold. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris. VEX.2014.1.10. © The J. Paul Getty Museum

Cup with Masks, 1–100. Roman Silver. Object: H: 15.8 x W: 19 x Diameter: 13.3 cm, Weight: 852 g (6 1/4 x 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 in., 1.88 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.9. © The J. Paul Getty Museum

Bowl with a Medallion of Omphale, 1st century Roman Silver Object: H: 8.2 x Diam.: 28.9 cm, Weight: 892 g (3 1/4 x 11 3/8 in., 1.97 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.11. 

Offering Bowl with a Medallion of Mercury in a Rural Shrine(detail). Dedicated by Julia Sibylla. Inscribed: “DEO MERC IVL SIBYLLA DSDD”. Roman, A.D. 175-225. Silver and gold; Diam: (bowl) 21 cm; Wt: 572 grams. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris. VEX.2014.1.18. 

Plate with the Embassy to Achilles (The Shield of Scipio), 375–400. Roman Silver and gold Object: H: 71 cm, Weight: 10.26 kg (27 15/16 in., 22.62 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.94. 

Offering Bowl with a Medallion of Mercury and Maia or Rosmerta (during conservation, left side cleaned), 150–225. Roman Silver and gold. Object: H: 5.4 x Diam.: 22.2 cm, Weight: 694 g (2 1/8 x 8 3/4 in., 1.53 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.17. 

Plate with Hercules Wrestling the Nemean Lion, 500–600, Roman. Silver. Object: H: 49 cm, Weight: 3.151 kg (19 5/16 in., 6.9467 lb.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.96. 

Offering Bowl with Bacchus, Hercules, and Coins (The Patera of Rennes), Roman, about A.D. 210; gold. H: 4 cm; Diam.: 25 cm; Wt: 1315 grams. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris. VEX.2014.1.125. 

Signed by Pamphilos, Gem with Achilles Playing the Cithara, 75–50 BC, amethyst intaglio, Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris, VEX.2014.1.131. 

Cameo of Jupiter (The Cameo of Chartres), about 50, Roman. Sardonyx set in fourteenth-century gold and enamel mount. Object: H: 15.2 x L: 6.5 cm (6 x 2 9/16 in.), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris, VEX.2014.1.104 . 

Cameo of Emperor Trajan, Roman, about A.D. 100. Sardonyx set in a seventeenth-century gold, enamel, and ruby mount H: 8.8 cm; L: 6.3 cm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris. VEX.2014.1.103.

Perfume Flask with the Seasons, 25 B.C.–A.D. 50, Roman. Cameo glass with modern resin neck and enameled metal foot. Object: H: 15.5 x Diam. (foot): 3.2 cm (6 1/8 x 1 1/4 in.). Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.172. 

The Treasure of Naix, eight necklaces, Roman, A.D. 175–225. Gold, glass, amethyst, pearl, emerald, and sardonyx, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX 2014.1.134, .138-143, .145. 

Aureus of Hadrian, 134–138, Roman. Gold. Object: Diam.: 1.8 cm, Weight: 7.2 g (11/16 in., 0.02 lb.). Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.112.

Gem with Emperor Commodus, about 192, Roman. Gold and amethyst. Object: H: 3 x L: 2.3 cm (1 3/16 x 7/8 in.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.130.

Ring, about 1–200, Roman. Gold, pearls and emerald. Object: H: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.152.

Ring with a Double Portrait, 200–300, Roman. Cornelian intaglio and gold. Object (ring): H: 1.8 x L: 2.1 cm (11/16 x 13/16 in.) Object (intaglio): H: 1.4 x L: 1.9 cm (9/16 x 3/4 in.) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des monnaies, médailles et antiques, Paris VEX.2014.1.157.

Lot 345. A fine copper-red-glazed bowl, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 6 1/8  in., 15.5 cm. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 USD. © Sotheby's

the deep rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to a gently everted rim, covered overall in a lustrous garnet-colored glaze suffused with minute bubbles, the warm red tones transmuting to shades of dark mushroom around the well and foot, the rim and base white, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double circle, coll. no. 292.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Collection of Brodie (1880-1967) and Enid Lodge, Northamptonshire, England.
Offered at Sotheby's London, 15th June 1982, lot 329.
Marchant, London, 2000.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 16.

Note: Copper-red-glazed bowls of the Kangxi period are rare compared to examples from later Qing reigns. A slightly smaller Kangxi mark and period bowl of this type from the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, cat. no. 128. A pair of similar bowls from the Avery Brundage Collection are now in the San Francisco Asian Art Museum (coll. nos B60P1646 and B60P1643). A bowl of the same size as the present example from the Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, is illustrated in Peter Y. K. Lam, 'Lang Tingji (1663-1715) and the Porcelain of the Late Kangxi Period', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 68 (2003-2004), figs 14a, 14b. A further example from the Goldschmidt Collection sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 53.

Bowl, one of pair, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722), China, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with red glaze. H. 2 3/8 in x Diam. 4 1/2 in, H. 6.0 cm x Diam. 11.4 cm. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P1646 © San Francisco Asian Art Museum

Bowl, one of pair, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722), China, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with red glaze. H. 2 3/8 in x Diam. 4 1/2 in, H. 6.0 cm x Diam. 11.4 cm. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P1643 © San Francisco Asian Art Museum

The present example comes from the collection of Brodie and Enid Lodge. Brodie was the son of Sir Oliver Lodge, inventor of the electric spark ignition for combustion engines. Brodie and his brother, Alec, built upon their father's work by founding Lodge Brothers, a hugely successful company that produced electric engine coils and spark plugs. The 1935-36 Royal Academy Exhibition heightened his and his wife Enid's interest in Chinese art and soon thereafter they joined the Oriental Ceramic Society of London. They amassed one of the finest collections of Chinese art, with particular attention to Longquan celadons, Shang bronzes, Tang and Song ceramics, and Ming and Qing porcelains.

Lot 318. A peachblom-glazed brush washer, Kangxi mark and period (1662-1722). Diameter 4 3/4  in., 12.1 cm. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 USD. © Sotheby's

delicately potted with low rounded sides incurved at the mouth and supported on a low tapered foot, the exterior covered with a characteristically mottled crimson-red glaze transmuting to pale green tones particularly around the widest part of the body, speckled with tiny dots of emerald green, the interior and recessed base left white, the base with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Collection of Diana D. Ashcroft.
Sotheby's London, 14 November 2000, lot 165.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 18.

Note: Peachbloom brush washers are rarely as successfully fired as the present piece, which is covered with a lustrous, vibrant copper-red glaze flecked with pale green. Notoriously difficult to achieve due to the temperamental nature of the copper pigment, the attractive glaze is only found on a small group of vessels for the scholar's table and is one of the most iconic groups of porcelain created under the Kangxi Emperor.

Copper-red glazes had been largely abandoned at Jingdezhen since the early Ming dynasty and were revived and drastically improved only during the Kangxi reign. Recent research by Peter Lam and other leading scholars indicate that the famous 'peachbloom' group was produced during the early years of the Kangxi period under the supervision of the skilled Zang Yingxuan, who was sent to Jingdezhen in 1681 to oversee the rebuilding of the kilns and serve as imperial supervisor. To manage the fugitive copper-lime pigment, it is believed to have been sprayed via a long bamboo tube onto a layer of transparent glaze and then fixed with another layer, so as to be sandwiched between two layers of clear glaze. The spotted green flecking, referred to as pingguo jing 'apple green', is possible through a technique using varied concentrations of copper that, when exposed during firing, oxidize to form green spots and modulation.

Examples of this celebrated type of peachbloom brush washer are represented in many of the world's finest museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Palace Museum, Beijing and the Sir Percival David Collection at the British Museum, London. The washer in the Metropolitan Museum is illustrated with a group of peachbloom-glazed vessels in Suzanne Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, rev. ed., p. 237, no. 236. A very similar washer with celadon-toned accents amidst the rose-pink glaze from Avery Brundage is now in the collection of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum (coll. no. B60P1785). 

Brush washer, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi mark and period (1662–1722). Porcelain with peachbloom glaze (Jingdezhen ware). H. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Diam: 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm), H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, 29.100.352 © 2000–2018 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Water coupe or brush holder, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722), China, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with "peach bloom" glaze. H. 1 1/2 in x Diam. 4 3/4 in, H. 3.8 cm x Diam. 12.1 cm. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P1785 © San Francisco Asian Art Museum

A fine green-flecked Kangxi-marked brush washer of this type sold in these rooms on 16th September 2014, lot 154. Compare also examples sold from the collection of E. T. Chow, sold most recently in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2009, lot 1657; another from the H.M. Knight collection, included in the exhibition 4000 Jaar Aziatische Kunst, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1954, cat. no. 300, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1982, lot 263; and another vessel published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 820. Other examples sold in our Hong Kong rooms on 5th October 2011, lot 1997 and one from the J.M. Hu collection on 9th October 2012, lot 105.

A peachbloom-glazed brush washer (Tangluoxi), Kangxi mark and period. Diameter 4 7/8  in., 12.3 cm. Sold for 87,500 USD at Sotheby's New York, 16th September 2014, lot 154.

From the Collection of Edward Chow. A fine peachbloom washer, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 11.5 cm., 4 1/4 in. Sold for 800,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2009, lot 1657. 

Cf. my post: A fine peachbloom washer, Mark and period of Kangxi

A peachbloom brush washer, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 11.5 cm., 4 1/2 in. Sold for 740,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th October 2011, lot 1997.  

Cf. my post: A peachbloom brush washer, Mark and period of Kangxi

From the J.M. Hu collection. An outstanding peachbloom washer, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 8.2 cm., 3 1/4 in. Sold for 3,380,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th October 2012, lot 105. 

Cf. my post: An outstanding peachbloom washer, Mark and period of Kangxi

 Sotheby's. KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection, New York, 20 March 2018, 11:00 AM 

Le Tintoret : Naissance d'un génie au Musée du Luxembourg

PARIS - A l’occasion du 500ème anniversaire de la naissance de Jacopo Robusti, illustre sous le nom de Tintoret, le Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud et la Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais se sont associés pour célébrer ce peintre, l’un des plus fascinants de la Renaissance vénitienne. L’exposition se concentrera sur les quinze premières années de sa carrière. Elle mettra ainsi à l’honneur ses «œuvres de jeunesse », depuis la plus ancienne que l’on conserve de sa main, L’Adoration des Mages du Prado, réalisée alors qu’il n’avait pas vingt ans, jusqu’aux commandes importantes du début des années 1550 qui contribuèrent à le propulser sur le devant de la scène : Le Péché originel pour une confrérie (une de ces « scuole » si fameuses à Venise) ou La Princesse, saint Georges et saint Louis pour le siège d’une administration vénitienne, près du Rialto. 

Si cette phase de la vie de Tintoret qui a suscité de nombreux débats, est moins connue, c’est aussi une période décisive et déterminante pour comprendre comment il se construit. L’exposition propose ainsi de suivre les débuts d’un jeune homme ambitieux, pétri de tradition vénitienne mais ouvert aux multiples idées et formes artistiques venues du reste de l’Italie, décidéà renouveler la peinture dans cette Venise cosmopolite du XVIe siècle qui cherche alors à donner au monde une nouvelle image d’elle-même. Peinture religieuse ou profane, décor de plafond ou petit tableau rapidement exécuté, portrait de personnalité en vue ou d’ami proche, dessin ou esquisse… les œuvres rassemblées rendent compte de la diversité du travail de Tintoret, de la richesse de sa culture visuelle et intellectuelle, et de sa volonté de frapper l’œil et l’esprit par son audace.

 Le Tintoret, Le Péché originel, vers 1551-1552, huile sur toile, 150 x 220 cm, Venise, Gallerie dell’Accademia. © Archivio fotografico Gallerie dell’Accademia, su concessione del Ministero dei beni e delle attivita culturali e del turismo - Museo Nazionale Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, Venise.

L’exposition déroule un parcours thématique qui contribue à mettre en évidence les caractéristiques de ces premières années d’activité  : 1- Prendre son envol, 2- Orner les salons, 3- Capter le regard, 4- Partager l’atelier, 5- Mettre en scène, 6- Observer la sculpture, 7- Peindre la femme. L’exposition souligne ainsi les stratégies que Tintoret met en place pour se faire connaître et s’attirer une clientèle cultivée et influente, capable de lui procurer des commandes importantes à Venise. Elle explore ses méthodes de travail, sa collaboration avec un autre artiste du nom de Giovanni Galizzi qui décline à sa suite nombre de ses modèles. Mais l’exposition décortique également le processus créatif de Tintoret en montrant le rôle central qu’y joue l’émulation avec les autres arts. Plusieurs de ses compositions représentant des bâtiments en perspective agencés comme un décor de théâtre, attestent de ses connaissances à la pointe de son temps en matière d’architecture et témoignent également de ses rapports avec le monde du théâtre. L’artiste collectionne par ailleurs les réductions de sculptures célèbres, antiques aussi bien que modernes, s’exerce inlassablement à les dessiner sous différents points de vue et multiplie les citations dans ses propres peintures.

Le Tintoret, L’Adoration des mages, vers 1537-1538, huile sur toile, 174 x 203 cm. © Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid dist. Rmn-GP / image du Prado

L’exposition met en évidence l’imagination débordante, l’éclectisme mais aussi les tâtonnements d’un jeune artiste à la recherche de son identité. Elle est l’occasion de faire le point sur une période controversée de sa vie, d’affiner les connaissances et de communiquer au public les dernières avancées de la recherche scientifique, pour éclairer sa personnalité et son parcours. Elle retrace en définitive l’ascension sociale d’un homme d’extraction modeste, fils de teinturier, qui, grâce à son talent parvient à s’élever dans la société, à s’imposer et à se faire un nom sans rien oublier de ses propres origines, « Tintoretto » signifiant littéralement « le petit teinturier ».

Cette exposition est organisée par la Réunion des musées nationaux - Grand Palais, Paris et Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne. Présentation à Cologne du 6 octobre 2017 au 28 janvier 2018.

Musée du Luxembourg. 7 mars - 1er juillet 2018

 Le Tintoret, Judith dans la tente d’Holopherne, vers 1554-1555, huile sur toile, 58 x 119 cm. © Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid dist. Rmn-GP / image du Prado

Le Tintoret, La Princesse, saint Georges et saint Louis, 1551 huile sur toile, 226 x 146 cm, Venise, Gallerie dell’Accademia. © Archivio fotografico Gallerie dell’Accademia, su concessione del Ministero dei beni e delle attivita culturali e del turismo - Museo Nazionale Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, Venise.

Tintoret et atelier (Giovanni Galizzi), Le Christ et la femme adultère, vers 1547-1549, huile sur toile, 118,5 x 168 cm. © Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica di Roma, Palazzo Barberini / photo Mauro Coen, Rome.

Le Tintoret, Portrait de Nicolò Doria, 1545, huile sur toile, 193 x 114,9 cm. © collection particulière

Le Tintoret, Cain et Abel, vers 1538-1539. Huile sur bois, 31 cm x 78,5.© Szepmuveszeti Museum / Museum of Fine arts Budapest, 2018

Le Tintoret, Esther devant Ahasuerus, ca 1554-1555.© Museo del Prado Madrid

Tintoret et atelier, Labyrinthe de l'Amour,  1538-1552, Lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 

Le Tintoret, La Conversion de Saint Paul, 1538-1539. huile sur toile, 152,4 cm x 236,2. © National Gallery of Art, Washington

Le Tintoret, Jupiter et Sémélé, 1541-1542. Huile sur bois, 153 cm x 133. Su concessione del Ministero dei beni e delle Attivita Culturali e del Turismo - Archivio fotografico delle Gallerie Estensi. Photo Paolo Terzi

Le Tintoret, L'Enlévement du corps de saint Marc par les chrétiens, 1545. Huile sur toile, 108,8 cm x 125.© Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles / Photo J.Geleyns / Ro scan

Le Tintoret, La Sainte Famille avec le jeune saint Jean-Baptiste, vers 1550, New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery ©Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

Lot 334. A famille-verte'Buddhist Lion' vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 17 3/8  in., 44 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000. © Sotheby's

of archaistic zun form, the bulging mid-section enameled with three lively Buddhist lions each playing with an exuberantly beribboned brocade ball, set between ruyi-head borders, the tapering shoulder with a band of iron-red and gilt peony flowerheads against a green diaper ground surmounted by two sinuous striding chilong amid leafing lotus blossoms, all between upright and pendent plantain leaves respectively encircling the flaring neck and splaying base, raised white fillets dividing each decorative zone, green-enameled continuous keyfret around the galleried rim and foot, the base recessed, coll. no. 217.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Cohen & Cohen, London, 2001.

Lot 333. A famille-verte hu-form vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 15 1/8  in., 38.4 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000. © Sotheby's

the swelling body supported on a tall spreading foot and rising to a wide waisted neck and flared rim, finely enameled with a wide collar band enclosing alternating stylized leafing peony and chrysanthemum meanders on an iron-red ground boldly outlined in black, surmounted by four lion-masks suspending rings and stylized lotus blossoms, the rim with bands of scrolling lotus, keyfret, and ruyi heads, the foot with a band of pendent green lappets bordered below by scalloped polychrome bands, coll. no. 1330.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Collection of Stephen Junkunc III (d. 1978).
Christie's New York, 21st September 1995, lot 194.
Marchant, London, 2002..

Lot 349. A quadrangular famille-verte'Deer' vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 20 in., 50.8 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000. © Sotheby's

the stoutly potted square-section body with tapered rectangular sides supporting a waisted cylindrical neck and everted rim, each side painted in bright enamels with deer frolicking beneath towering pines in vertiginous landscapes, the stags, doe, and fawn variously nibbling lingzhi and leaves, nestling in the grasses, and ambling along banks and footbridges, the shoulder with four large polychrome butterflies amidst prunus blossom against a speckled green ground, the neck with a solitary figure sitting on a riverbank contemplating the surrounding mountainous landscape, the partially unglazed foot centered with a recessed square with a beribboned artemisia leaf in underglaze-blue, coll. no. 363.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Alberto Varela Santos, London, 2002.

Note: 'Hundred deer' vases in famille-verte enamels are unusual and no other example of the present form is known. Successful potting of square forms was a notorious challenge. Square-section porcelain vases first appear in the late Ming dynasty. In order to survive the firing, thicker walls were required to reinforce lute lines. The Kangxi period rendering of this ambitious form attests to the confidence and technical prowess of the potters who not only rose to the challenge of the form but surpassed earlier versions with longer tapering sides joined by clean right angles and surmounted by a gently flaring cylindrical mouth. A related famille-verte enameled vase of the same form, but with bird and flower decoration, bearing an apocryphal Jiajing mark, in the Shanghai Museum Collection is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 103. 

Lot 306. A Famille-verte'Landscape' bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Diameter 7 3/8  in., 18.8 cm. Estimate 25,000 — 35,000. © Sotheby's

the deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot, the center of the interior painted with a small landscape vignette of a riverside hut under the red foliage of an autumn tree surrounded by verdant hills and blue bluffs, the motif repeated and expanded across the band encircling the interior rim, the exterior with a scholar sitting with a qin atop a cliff gazing at a similar seasonal landscape, peaks and crags near and distant in varying colors, the riverbank studded with resplendent trees, huts, and pavilions, a poem inscribed at the break in the landscape, the base with a fu mark in underglaze blue within a double circle, coll. no. 400.

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: New York Private Collection.
Sotheby's New York, 29th November 1994, lot 314 (part lot).
Berwald Oriental Art, London, 1996.

Exhibited: Embracing Classic Chinese Cultures: Kangxi Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Sotheby's New York, March 2014, cat. no. 14.

Literature: Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 49.

Note: The painting and calligraphy on this bowl reference retirement. The poem, 'Climbing a Tower: To Councilor Wang', is by the Tang dynasty poet Wei Yingwu (737-791). In it he laments his separation from his good friend Wang Qing. The poem reads:

I hate climbing mountains and towers without you,
the clouds and sea of Chu and memories never end,
the sound of mallets at the foot of leafless hills,
in a prefecture of brambles and winter rain.
(Translation by Bill Porter, In Such Hard Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu, Port Townsend, WA, 2009, p. 254-255.)

The poem is preceded by a leaf-shaped seal, and followed by a circular and square seal (both with illegible characters). Though the third and fourth characters of the poem have been changed on the bowl, the meaning remains consistent with the original poem, as translated above.

During the early years of the Kangxi period, the entirely respectable theme of retirement from imperial service was colored by issues of loyalty.  Many Ming dynasty scholars opted for exile over service to the new dynastic power whereas others readily accepted change. The device of transforming a two-dimensional painting with its inspirational poetic inscription into a three-dimensional functional object gained new aesthetic heights and favor during the period as a benign means to express the conflicting loyalties of the time.

A related bowl, similarly marked on the base, is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 106. The same catalogue illustrates a second 'landscape and poem' bowl in the Shanghai Museum collection, cat. no. 110, this one with the base unmarked.

Painting an artemisia leaf at the start of a poem and a seal at the end was a convention developed by ceramic artisans in the 17th century. It appears on the present example, as well as on the aforementioned bowl in the Jie Rui Tang Collection, on numerous 'poem and landscape' porcelains in the Shanghai Museum collection (ibid, cat. no. 110), and on vases such as lot 330 in this sale. The leaf and mark may be a device to enhance the 'literati' quality of the porcelain by imitating the distinctive seals used by artists, calligraphers, and collectors to mark their work.

Lot 305. A famille-verte'Landscape' vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 9 7/8  in., 24.6 cm. Estimate 25,000 — 35,000. © Sotheby's

of slender ovoid form surmounted by a trumpet neck with flared rim, painted in vibrant hues with a lakeside landscape, the rocky peninsulas zigzagging into the distance punctuated with waterfront studios and reclusive scholars, birds flying in formation above, a lone fisherman pulling in his catch, the rounded shoulder with concentric bands of chevron, keyfret, and ruyi heads in iron red, and with slender black-enameled bamboo branching up the neck, coll. no. 120 

The Jie Rui Tang Collection.

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 14th May 1996, lot 67.
The Chinese Porcelain Company, Ltd., New York, 1997.

Exhibited: The Art of the Qing Potter, Important Chinese Export Porcelain, The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 1997, cat. no. 13.

Literature: The Chinese Porcelain Company, A Dealer's Record 1985-2000, New York, 2000, p. 117.
Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed, Kangxi-Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, cat. no. 48.

Note: The bold linear style of painting on the present vase is a superb example of late ‘Master of the Rocks’ style. Initially produced in underglaze blue, this later iteration in overglaze enamels retains the angularity but refrains from the pronounced linearity and the dots and stippling used to depict foliage. The style cannot be attributed to any single artist or studio but reflects the profound influence of certain late Ming dynasty painters such as Dong Qichang, Li Shida, Gu Tianchi, Yang Wencong, and Wang Jianzhang. The jagged quality of the rockwork is softened by the rounder, more delicate strokes used for the foliage and the pale washes forming water and sky. The tiny habitations convey the longing for scholarly retreat far from the pressures of dynastic change and bureaucratic demands. For more on the topic see Stephen Little, ‘Seventeenth Century Landscape Painting and the Decoration of Chinese Ceramics’, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century, China Institute Gallery, New York, 1995, pp. 35-41.

A pair of vases of similar form, but with integral porcelain stands, in the collection of Anthony Gustav de Rothschild is illustrated in Regina Krahl, The Anthony de Rothschild Collection of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 2, London, 1996, cat. no. 151.

Lot 343. A famille-verte'Chilong' bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 8 5/8  in., 21.9 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000. © Sotheby's

Lot 357. A famille-verte'Figural' rouleau vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Height 17 1/2  in., 44.4 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000. © Sotheby's

Lot 364. A Famille-verte'Crane' bowl and cover, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Diameter 6 in., 15.3 cm. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000. © Sotheby's

Carlo Maratti (Italian, 1625–1715), Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti, c. 1701. Oil on canvas; 98.5 x 74.5 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art.

CLEVELAND, OH.- Recent acquisitions by the Cleveland Museum of Art include a magnificent portrait in oil on canvas by Carlo Maratti, the leading painter in Rome at the end of the 17th century; two key works by American photographer Edward Weston that indicate his transition from pictorialism to modernism; and two large-scale contemporary African sculptures by South African artist Kendell Geers and Cameroonian artist Hervé Youmbi. 

Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti 
Work is the first Italian Baroque painted portrait to enter museum collection 
Carlo Maratti (1625­–1715) is often regarded as the last major exponent of a classical tradition that began with Raphael nearly two centuries earlier. Maratti was the leading painter in Rome in the mid to late seventeenth century. Favored by wealthy patrons, Maratti’s primary achievement lay in his ability to synthesize the light and movement characteristic of the Roman Baroque with classical ideals of beauty. 

This portrait was painted shortly after Maratti’s marriage to Francesca Gommi in late 1700 as an homage from the artist to his new wife. Gommi had been Maratti’s mistress and artist’s model since at least the 1670s. She is depicted enveloped in lavender-blue drapery and her hair is elaborately dressed with ribbons and jewels. In her left hand she holds up a drawing to which she gestures with her right. Introducing an allegorical element into a portrait by means of a painting-within-a-painting was a device that Maratti had employed in portraits as early as the 1650s, and was probably inspired by portraits of the High Renaissance. The drawing represents Venus in the workshop of Vulcan, forging the love-darts of her adolescent son Cupid. 

Although drawings by Maratti are found in major collections throughout Europe and North America, there are relatively few paintings by the artist in public collections outside Italy. Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti, a late work by the artist, is particularly appealing for the identity of its sitter and the charming iconography inspired by the artist’s deep love for his subject. The Cleveland Museum of Art has strong holdings in Italian paintings of the 17th century with religious and historical themes. This work is the first Italian Baroque painted portrait to join the collection. Portrait of Francesca Gommi Maratti will go on view in the museum’s Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery beginning March 17, 2018, as part of the museum’s exhibition Recent Acquisitions 2014–2017.

Edward Weston Photographs 
Two photographs complete museum’s holdings of artist’s oeuvre 
Two photographs by pioneering modernist Edward Weston, Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan and Heaped Black Ollas, provide a critical piece of the narrative of 20th-century photography: the transition made by this key artist from pictorialism to modernism. Weston is well represented in the museum’s collection by a pictorialist portrait from 1915 and 11 modernist images from the 1930s and 1940s. But it was in Mexico between 1923 and 1926, where these two photographs were made, that his stylistic shift occurred, a period previously absent from our holdings. These prints have an impressive provenance. They were originally in the collection of Anita Brenner, a scholar of Mexican culture and history who commissioned Weston in 1925 to provide photographs to illustrate her book, Idols Behind Altars. The project prompted him to delve deeply into the country’s pre-colonial monuments and its contemporary art and crafts. 

Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan depicts the third largest pyramid in the world, but differs from standard travel and tourist views of the site. Weston chose to photograph the structure from an angle that emphasizes its geometry and massiveness. His goal is not to describe a building but to inspire awe, to convey the pyramid’s majesty and monumental scale. In his image, human achievement dwarfs nature, represented here by three lacy trees, some ground vegetation, and a glimpse of the sky. 

The choice of angle, framing, and dark moodiness of the print are intended to evoke an emotional response, a sense of the dramatic that was characteristic of much pictorialist work. Its composition is fully modernist. The triangle of the pyramid traverses the entire height of the frame, and two horizontal stripes of vegetation hide the structure’s base. This powerful geometric division of space emphasizes the flatness of the picture plane. 

Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan is also modernist in its seeming lack of manipulation to print or negative. Many pictorialists used handwork on the print or negative to distance their depictions from the literal recording of reality. The lack of manipulation reflects Weston’s newfound devotion to photography’s ability to record the external world. 

Weston made Heaped Black Ollas in 1926, when he had become a full-fledged modernist and was enamored of the genre of still life, then new to him. While at a market, Weston converted a haphazard heap of pots into a tightly framed, rhythmic composition that alternates brightly lit, volumetric spheres with dark, flat circles. Instead of staging the work, a trait characteristic of pictorialism, he added a new way of working to his repertoire: interpreting life as he found it. 

Edward Weston (American, 1886–1958), Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, 1923. Gelatin silver print; 19.1 x 24 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art.

Edward Weston (American, 1886–1958), Heaped Black Ollas, 1926. Gelatin silver print; 19.1 x 24 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art.

Contemporary African Sculptures 
These large-scale sculptures are the first of their kind to enter the collection 
These two works, Twilight of the Idols (Fetish) 3 and Totem 01/01-18 (Baga-Batcham-Alunga-Kota), will go on view in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s African galleries the week of March 12, 2018. 

Twilight of the Idols (Fetish) 3 
Kendell Geers 
Conceptual artist Kendell Geers confronts colonial prejudices and explores the ways in which African art has become a global commodity. Twilight of the Idols (Fetish) 3 is the largest work in the artist’s series of ten sculptures, Twilight of the Idols (2002–2008). The series was inspired by Frederich Nietzsche’s book of the same title, a radical text written in 1888 in which the author called for war against religious icons and relics that he framed as eternal idols. 

To create the work, Geers appropriated a decommissioned ritual object, a nkisi nkondo power figure of the Kongo people, that he found in a Belgian flea market. When pierced with nails, such nkisi figures were used as protective totems to ward off malevolent spirits or to prevent or cure disease. Such objects were also used to punish those with ill intentions. Geers wrapped the appropriated sculpture with red and white Chevron tape—the South African equivalent to yellow and black caution tape utilized in the United States to secure the scene of a crime. The tape simultaneously signals danger and acts as a shield from danger. 

The layers of meaning in this complex sculpture prompt the viewer to reconsider the contemporary presentation and understanding of historical African art. Geers’s deliberate use of the term fetish in the sculpture’s title recalls how African ritual objects were labeled by early European explorers who thought of them as having mysterious—often negative—power. The word also reflects their fetishization as art by the West since the turn of the 20th century. Geers prompts the viewer to consider how historical African art is rendered mute and forced to take up new value as collectible objects. 

In his appropriation of a ritual object that was no longer in use, Geers invokes the ready-made, referencing Marcel Duchamp, whom he cites as a major influence. In his use of Chevron tape, Geers alludes to the French conceptual artist Daniel Buren who uses white and colored stripes to instigate institutional critique. The way in which Geers wrapped and concealed the original object recalls the way in which some African ritual objects were not intended to be seen in public outside of their original ritual purpose. 

Kendell Geers (South African, b. 1968), Twilight of the Idols (Fetish) 3, 2005. Chevron tape on lost object; 140 x 43 x 39 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art. 

Totem 01/01-18 (Baga-Batcham-Alunga-Kota) 
Hervé Youmbi 
Totem 01/01-18 is the first completed work in Hervé Youmbi’s new and ongoing series, Totems. The towering, hybrid sculpture is carved from a single block of wood and comprises four different canonical African masks. The surface of the sculpture is covered with strung white, yellow, black and red beads adhered to the surface with glue. 

With Totem 01/01-18, Hervé Youmbi undermines established paradigms around which the canon of African art is constructed. By assembling numerous masks into one superstructure and by bringing together five African countries—Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea and Guinea Bissau— Youmbi confronts art historical conventions that organize African objects according to ethnic, cultural or regional styles. Simultaneously, he looks at the way in which Western consumers of African art create easily digestible labels or conflate the art of diverse regions and cultures into a generalization of African art. 

Totem 01/01-18 makes a striking connection between historical and contemporary African art. Youmbi’s work reveals how contemporary African artists continue to draw from indigenous aesthetic traditions and belief systems, while simultaneously questioning the position of African art in the complex ecosystem of the contemporary global art market.

Hervé Youmbi (Cameroonian, born 1973), Totem 01/01-18 (Baga-Batcham-Alunga-Kota), 2018. Wood, beads, glue and silicone mastic; 188 x 53 x 38 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art.

Lors de cette promenade muséale, du 7 mars au 8 juillet 2018, les bijoux de Diane Venet entrent en résonance avec des oeuvres plastiques plus monumentales permettant de varier les échelles, les rythmes et d’annuler les hiérarchies. L’infiniment petit rejoint l’infiniment grand. L’ensemble de la scénographie a été confiée à l’architecte d’intérieur Antoine Plazanet et aux graphistes ÉricandMarie. Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs se réjouit de montrer ainsi ce qu’il est possible de dévoiler comme la plus belle des collections idéales.

Diane Venet, épouse du sculpteur Bernar Venet, se souvient de l’origine de sa collection devenue une référence : « Ma passion pour le bijou d’art est née le jour où Bernar s’est amuséà enrouler autour de mon annulaire gauche une fine baguette d’argent pour en faire une alliance... Ce geste, attendrissant dans sa spontanéité a eu un autre effet sur moi, celui de me faire découvrir l’univers trop peu connu de ces bijoux d’art uniques, précieux pour leur rareté et leur charge symbolique souvent à l’origine de leur création ».

Bernar Venet, bague Ligne indéterminée, 1998. Or. Pièce unique, Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Greg Favre, Paris © Adagp, Paris, 2018.

Quelle est la particularité d’un bijou d’artiste ? Porter un tel bijou n’est pas un acte anodin. C’est s’approprier en quelque sorte un peu du génie de l’artiste qui l’a créé et le magnifier en une vie nouvelle. Objet de curiosité, sujet de conversation, il révèle chez celle ou celui qui le porte un désir de singularité.

Il n’appartient ni à l’univers de la haute joaillerie, ni à celui du bijou fantaisie, ni même à celui des paruriers, apparu à l’instigation d’Elsa Schiaparelli ou de Gabrielle Chanel.

Le bijou d’artiste n’est pas non plus associé aux créateurs indépendants du bijou contemporain qui conçoivent autant qu’ils réalisent, et considèrent l’objet comme un champ d’expression à part entière.

Geste d’affection, souvent conçu pour un proche, il est l’œuvre de plasticiens, de peintres ou de sculpteurs pour lesquels cette pratique est occasionnelle, souvent inhérente à leur mode de création.

Rares sont les artistes qui réalisent eux-mêmes leurs bijoux. Harry Bertoia, John Chamberlain, Louise Nevelson, Claude Viallat, ou Alexander Calder font figure d’exception, ce dernier transformant le moindre fil de cuivre, d’or ou d’argent en parures destinées à ses proches.

 Claude Viallat, collier, 2016. Acrylique jaune sur fragment de filet. Pièce unique. Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Xinyi Hu © Adagp, Paris, 2018.

Les bijoux d’artistes façonnés dans des matériaux traditionnels : or, argent, bronze, émail ont été réalisés pour la plupart par des orfèvres. L’atelier de François Hugo met en lumière son travail qui consiste à retranscrire en broches et pendentifs les découpages de Jean Arp, les Crétoises de Derain ou encore, la fantaisie de Dorothea Tanning. Sans oublier l’atelier de Giancarlo Montebello à Milan qui a édité les plus célèbres : les frères Pomodoro, Man Ray, Pol Bury, ou la muse des Surréalistes, Meret Oppenheim, puis Niki de Saint Phalle.

Les artistes d’avant-garde ouvrent le parcours avec la représentation du « Portrait ». Picasso, fasciné par le potentiel sculptural des matériaux en deux dimensions, saisit avec une grande économie cette thématique, Derain transpose dans ses têtes en bronze « bijoutées » son admiration pour le Bénin.

Pablo Picasso, Pendentif Le grand faune, 1973, or, édition 3 sur 20 par François Hugo, Collection Diane Venet© Sherry Griffin, Brooklyn

Les idées provocatrices des Surréalistes sont évoquées sous le titre « Rêve et fantaisie » avec le masque perforé de Man Ray, les bijoux de Salvador Dalí, l’univers onirique de Jean Cocteau ou de Léonor Fini. 

Man Ray, masque Optic Topic, 1974. Or. Édition 79/100 par Gem Montebello. Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Didier Ltd, London © MAN RAY TRUST Adagp, Paris 2018

Salvador Dalí. Broche Cuillère avec montre-peigne, 1957. Or, émail. Édition de 6. Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Philippe Servent, Paris © Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí Adagp, Paris, 2018

L’exposition se poursuit avec une vision plus transversale et résolument contemporaine du bijou autour des « Métamorphoses de la nature ». Cette veine naturaliste s’exprime avec Lowell Nesbitt qui traite le sujet de la fleur de façon monumentale pour en dépasser la beauté ou Giuseppe Penone avec l’empreinte de sa main sur une feuille d’or.

Le « Memento mori » est évoqué avec Wim Delvoye, qui questionne le religieux dans ses pendentifs de crucifix en forme d’anneau de Moebius. « La Couleur » est illustrée par Grayson Perry qui transpose dans le bijou et la céramique ses avatars féminins. Niki de Saint Phalle, quant à elle, traduit à l’échelle du bijou l’image forte et ludique de ses célèbres Nanas.

Parler du bijou, c’est aussi évoquer le « Corps contraint » avec le collier en laine surdimensionné de l’artiste japonaise Yayoi Kusama, ou la broche d’Orlan qui transcende les codes de la beauté en se référant à la série des Self hybridation.

ORLAN. Broche Tête de fou, 2010. Or, argent. Édition 1/8 par Arcas. Orfèvre : Patrick de Boisgrollier. Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Sherry Griffin, Brooklyn © Adagp, Paris, 2018

Les grands mouvements modernes et contemporains sont également représentés. L’Art abstrait est illustré par l’univers poétique de Fausto Melotti et les surfaces monochromes lacérées de Lucio Fontana, déclinées sur ses bracelets. Le Pop Art, de Roy Lichtenstein à Robert Rauchenberg, dépeint avec humour et ironie « L’American way of life ». 

Lucio Fontana, bracelet Elisse Concetto Spaziale, 1967. Édition 5/150 par Gem Montebello. Argent, laque. Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Philippe Gontier, Paris © Fondation Lucio Fontana, Milano / by SIAE ADAGP, Paris, 2018.

Les Nouveaux Réalistes, César et Arman, empruntent sous forme de compressions et d’accumulations les symboles de la consommation. 

Arman, broche Inclusion, 1972, Clous en acier, résine polyester, argent, Pièce unique, Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Courtesy Didier Antiques Ltd, London © Adagp, Paris, 2018

Pol Bury évoque l’Art Cinétique avec l’insertion d’éléments mobiles dans ses bijoux. Takis formule des propositions originales sur le magnétisme, tandis que Cruz Diez centre son travail sur la couleur. 

L’Art minimaliste et conceptuel est convoqué avec les bagues uniques de Sol LeWitt réalisées pour ses filles. Enfin, l’art intemporel de Pierrette Bloch duplique ses motifs à l’infini. 

L’exposition s’achève sur une scène contemporaine anglaise très active, la Young British Artists, à l’instar de Damien Hirst ou les frères Chapman, artistes et grands provocateurs apparus dans les années 1990. Elle est aussi internationale avec les bijoux d’Erwin Wurm ou d’Ai Weiwei. La scène française est représentée par Claude Lévêque ou Jean-Luc Moulène qui ont réalisé, à la demande de la Galerie MiniMasterpiece, des bijoux inédits.

Non exhaustive, subjective et poétique, dictée par des coups de cœur, cette exposition est à l’image de l’histoire du Musée des Arts Décoratifs et de la passion de Diane Venet pour la création : multiforme, ludique et exigeante.

Louise Bourgeois, collier, 1948. Barre de métal, argent, cristal. Edition 37/39 pat Chus Bures. Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Gregory Favre © The Easton Foundation Adagp, Paris, 2018

Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé, Bague YES, 2008, Or et argent, Édition 1/8, Orfèvre : Patrick de Boisgrollier, Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Sherry Griffin, Brooklyn © Adagp, Paris, 2018

Franck Stella, Bague, 2010, Or, Édition 1/10 par The Gallery Mourmans, Collection Diane Venet. Photo : Brian Moghadam, New York © Adagp, Paris, 2018

Carlos Cruz-Diez, Collier Chromointerférence, 2013. Or blanc en rhodium noir avec pigment UV, éd. 6/10, édition Elisabetta Cipriani. Collection Diane Venet ©Carlos Cruz-Diez - Adagp, Paris, 2018

Diane Venet © Damian Noszkowicz