Lot 1312. A blue, amber and straw-glazed pottery 'phoenix-head' ewer, Tang dynasty (618-907); 13¾ in. (35 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 18,000. Price realised USD 62,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The pear-shaped body raised on a tall spreading foot with flat base, molded in relief on one side with a foliate-bordered oval panel centered by an equestrian archer, the panel on the reverse with a triumphant phoenix standing on a lotus, all reserved on a dark blue ground, the neck surmounted by a phoenix head clasping a pearl in the beak below the lenticular opening in the top of the head, the C-shaped handle with foliate terminals, wood stand.

Lot 1313. A sancai-glazed pottery figure of an equestrienne, Tang dynasty (618-907); 15¾ in. (40 cm.) high. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 9,000. Price realised USD 13,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The straw and amber-glazed horse standing foursquare on a rectangular base, the rider seated on a black-painted saddle set atop a splashed-glazed blanket, her hands positioned to hold reins, wearing a green-glazed coat with pale amber lapels, her hair pulled up into a topknot, wood stand.

Lot 1314. A sancai-glazed pottery figure of a court lady, Tang dynasty (618-907); 15½ in. (39.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 5,000 - USD 7,000. Price realised USD 11,875. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Shown standing with hands clasped beneath the long green and straw resist-glazed shawl, wearing a short amber-glazed jacket, her long skirt resist-glazed in amber and striped in green, with green-glazed shoes, the delicate features of her face detailed in black and red pigment, and her hair dressed in a wing-like coiffure, wood stand, box.

Lot 1315. A group of nine straw-glazed female musicians and attendants, Sui dynasty (581-618); 8¼ in. (21 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 20,000. Price realised USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The slender figures similarly attired in shawls draped over their shoulders and long dresses falling in folds from a sash tied around the bodice, the hair pulled up and bound in a bun on top of the head, some with traces of red and black pigment.

Evening dress, Autumn/Winter 1991, by Rei Kawakubo (Japanese, b. 1942) for Comme des Garçons Noir. Silk taffeta with hand painting. Collection of The Kyoto Costume Institute. © The Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi Hatakeyama.

Kimono Refashioned is an upcoming special exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco that explores the impact of kimono on global fashion, from the Victorian era to the digital age. Spotlighting more than 40 ensembles, accessories and artworks from close to 30 designers and artists — including innovators like Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel, Issey Miyake and Tom Ford — Kimono Refashioned tells the story of the globally interconnected world of high fashion.

The exhibition premiered at the Newark Museum (October 13, 2018–January 6, 2019) before traveling to the Asian Art Museum (February 8–May 5, 2019) and then to the Cincinnati Art Museum (June 28–September 15, 2019). 

Kikukawa Eizan (1787-1867), Komachi at Sekidera Temple: Koimurasaki of the Tamaya, Japan, ca. 1814–17, Edo Period (1615-1868).

Kimono Refashioned reveals how the two-dimensional structure, cutting-edge textiles and decorative motifs inspired by kimono have shifted the course of contemporary fashion. Featuring apparel from the collection of the renowned Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan, Kimono Refashioned follows the influence of kimono from 19th-century English formal dresses with bustles and trains to 1920s Parisian evening gowns, to haute couture fashion in the late 20th century, to recent pop menswear.

 “This is not a kimono show,” explains Asian Art Museum Director and CEO Jay Xu. “Instead, our exhibition emphasizes the cultural fluidity of kimono and its expression in modern fashion, vividly demonstrating how a simple item of clothing can contribute to meaningful exchanges of ideas.”

Furisode Over-robe with Floral and Water Motifs / Japan, 19th century, late Edo (1615-1868) or early Meiji Period (1868-1912). 

Kimono — which literally means “a thing to wear” in Japanese — is characterized by a relatively simple structure and basic gender-neutral construction that place the focus on material and motifs, rather than on the shape of the body.

“While it is well known that Japanese fashion designers took Paris by storm in the early 1980s, it was not the first time Japan transformed international fashion,” says exhibition co-curator Yuki Morishima, Asian Art Museum associate curator of Japanese art. “Since the late 19th century, the kimono has inspired some of the world's top designers with its distinct silhouette and sophisticated textiles.”

Dressing Gown Kimono for Western Markets with Floral Motifs Japan ca. 1910.

As Japan emerged from a long period of self-imposed isolation in 1854, the country exported large quantities of textiles and kimono — as well as woodblock prints, lacquerware, metal works and ceramics — to enthusiastic international collectors. Examples of such exports, including traditional kimono, from the Asian Art Museum’s collection will be on view in the museum’s second-floor Japan galleries during the exhibition.

 Japan’s dramatic entrance onto the world stage in the late 1800s ignited a craze for things Japanese — “Japonism.” European and American painters were active participants in both consuming and promoting Japonism. They depicted kimono, a hallmark of the craze, in countless paintings, like the James Tissot and William Merritt Chase examples on view in the exhibition. By the turn of the century, a French magazine could declare “the need to mention Japonism in fashion… as one of the novelties of the moment.”*

Kimono decorated with Mickey Mouse circa 1930s.

By the first quarter of the 20th century, designers were eager to explore the many aesthetic opportunities presented by the kimono. Parisian designer Madeleine Vionnet freed her clients from traditional Western tailoring by piecing fabric in straight lines to create flowing shapes, a technique drawn in part from the kimono’s flat, layered construction.  Textile production techniques used in kimono also fueled designers in both Japan and the West during the second half of the 20th century. While many designers were fascinated with richly embroidered obi fabric, some others embraced more humble sources for creativity: indigo dyed cotton, patchwork and the appreciation of imperfection.

“Following the glitz of the 1970s, the imperfect, austere approaches to dress offered by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto in the 1980s were a breath of fresh air,” says exhibition co-curator and Asian Art Museum assistant curator of contemporary art Karin G. Oen. “Bringing together cocoon shapes, seemingly damaged or worn-out textiles and a more organic color scheme, these groundbreaking designers permanently changed the world of high-fashion. This deconstructed Japanese aesthetic presented a vision totally of the moment that remains surprisingly current more than 30 years later.” 

This infusion of an appealing, distinctly Japanese sensibility into contemporary clothing continues today with Iris van Herpen’s 2016 space-age take on shibori tie-dye and Christian Louboutin’s 2017 boots embroidered with cranes and plum blossoms. Issey Miyake gets at the conceptual heart of kimono in his “A Piece of Cloth” designs, which reinterpret its essential flatness. Japanese manga and anime have likewise inspired fashion trendsetters around the world, such as Jonathan Anderson, who employed a Gundam robot motif in his recent playful “pop” men’s suits for Loewe.   “Kimono Refashioned encompasses a broad set of interpretations of the kimono that represent an ongoing, international engagement with the art of Japan,” says Xu. “It builds on the success of the Asian Art Museum’s fall 2017 fashion exhibition, Couture Korea. Both exhibitions elegantly connect clothing traditions with contemporary designs to illuminate the ways fashion aficionados have expressed — and continue to express — themselves through dress.”

In keeping with the excitement around the exhibition, the Asian Art Museum’s Gala on March 7, 2019, will be themed Art + Fashion. This exhibition was initiated by Akiko Fukai of the Kyoto Costume Institute, and was jointly curated by Rie Nii of the Kyoto Costume Institute, Yuki Morishina and Karin Oen of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Katherine Anne Paul of the Newark Museum, and Cynthia Amnéus of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

 The exhibition is divided into four sections:

1. Kimono in Paintings  Kimono Refashioned opens with European and American paintings depicting kimono (James Tissot, William Merritt Chase).

2. Japonism in Fashion  The exhibition continues with an overview of Japonism in fashion and includes sumptuous examples from Misses Turner Court Dress Makers and the House of Amy Linker, among others, from the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Alongside these are important pieces from Paul Poiret, the first prominent Western designer to create clothing that did not require corsets, as well as dresses from Madeline Vionnet and other leading voices in fashion from the 1920s and 1930s. Key themes include: Japanese motifs, kimono as dress, kimono form and “straight-cutting” in design.

3. Kimono in Contemporary Fashion The largest section of the exhibition juxtaposes important designers from Japan and Europe who made headlines in every decade of the past century — from Alessandro dell’Acqua for Rochas’ gorgeous outerwear, to the startlingly elegant lines of Hanae Mori’s calligraphy dress, to the pleated minimalism of Issey Miyake. Key themes include: flatness, obi fabric, kimono silhouettes, shibori dyeing, Japanese motifs and everyday kimono.

Toshiko Yamawaki (Japanese, 1887–1960), Dress, 1956. Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute. © The Kyoto Costume Institute, photoby Takashi Hatakeyama

John Galliano, Ensemble, Autumn/Winter 1994. Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute. © The Kyoto Costume Institute, photoby Takashi Hatakeyama.

Dress, Spring/Summer 2011, by Issey Miyake (Japanese, b. 1938) & Reality Lab Team for 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE. Recycled polyester plain weave with printing. Collection of The Kyoto Costume Institute. © The Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Takashi Hatakeyama.

Raf Simons, Jacket, T-shirt, Trousers, Autumn/Winter HC 2016, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute. © The Kyoto Costume Institute, photoby Takashi Hatakeyama.

4. Japan Pop An epilogue demonstrates how Japanese pop and casual fashion deploy elements of manga and anime in contemporary designs, especially in menswear.

Lot 1316. A molded Dingyao dish, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 8¾ in. (22.3 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 35,000. Price realised USD 62,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

With shallow rounded sides rising to the everted rim, the interior finely molded with two spotted stags leaping amidst pomegranate scroll, one with head turned to look backwards at the other holding the stem of a leaf in its mouth, below a band of lotus meander reserved on a stippled ground in the canted well, with a slightly countersunk base, covered overall with an ivory-tinted glaze pooling in tears on the exterior, the rim with copper mount, stand.

Lot 1317. A small Junyao purple-splashed 'bubble' bowl, Song-Jin dynasty, 11th-12th century; 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 104,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The rounded sides rising from the tapered foot to the slightly incurved mouth rim, covered inside and out with an opaque glaze of pale milky blue tone thinning to mushroom color at the rim and enhanced with dark purple splashes on the interior and exterior, with a small splash of pale blue glaze on the interior of the small unglazed foot, wood stand.

Lot 1318. A Junyao bud-form water pot, Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century; 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 80,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The well-potted body of lotus-bud form covered inside and out with an opaque glaze of pale milky blue color draining to a mushroom tone on the mouth rim and ending in an irregular line on the slightly flared foot burnt brown in the firing, the base similarly glazed, wood stand.

Lot 1321. A molded Yaozhou celadon bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty, 11th-12th century; 8 1/8 in. (20.5 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 5,000 - USD 7,000. Price realised USD 6,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

With deep flared sides rising to the rounded rim, molded in the interior with a central leafy spray beneath a border of peony scroll in the cavetto, with a grooved band above the short foot on the exterior, covered overall with an olive-green glaze, the unglazed foot burnt brown in the firing.

Lot 1322. A Yaozhou celadon carved bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century; 7 7/16 in. (18.8 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 18,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The interior well carved with a gracefully swaying stem, enclosed within a quatrelobe cartouche and surrounded by scrolling foliage below a narrow incised line, with a grooved band below the rim on the exterior, covered overall with an attractive olive-green glaze which continues onto the base.

Provenance: Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 1990s.

Lot 1326. A rare small Guanyao shallow dish, Southern Song dynasty, 12th-13th century; 3 13/16 in. (9.7 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price realised USD 35,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Of shallow form with flared sides, covered all over in a thick glaze of greyish-blue tone suffused with a network of black crackle continuing onto the base, the foot left unglazed to expose the buff grey ware, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Private English collection.
Bluett & Sons, London.
Private Japanese collection.

 Lot 1647. A rare Longquan celadon carved meiping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 9¾ in. (24.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 92,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Of sharply tapered form with broad shoulder, carved with phoenixes and peacocks amidst blossoming tree peony within four quadrilobed reserves, above a band of narrow petals and below a band of lotus a scroll on the shoulder, the cylindrical neck carved with a cross-hatched band below the lipped rim, Japanese wood box.

Exhibited: Ehime Museum, Japan, 1961.

VERSAILLES - En consacrant au peintre Antonio de La Gandara sa première rétrospective depuis sa disparition en 1917, le Musée Lambinet rend hommage à un artiste de talent, injustement délaissé, et dont la notoriété refait surface avec le retour en grâce de la " Belle Époque " sur le plan artistique. Grand ami de Versailles, il y fit sa première visite à l'invitation de Robert de Montesquiou qui résidait alors au 53 avenue de Paris (aujourd'hui n°93). Le peintre ne cessa plus d'y revenir, notamment pour peindre les jardins du parc du château, allant même jusqu'à louer une résidence d'étéà Versailles, à partir de 1911.

Antonio de La Gandara, Autoportrait, 1888. Crayon, Collection particulière© Antonio de La Gandara

Homme de son temps, La Gandara fréquenta les salons mondains, l'Opéra et le monde du théâtre pour y trouver son inspiration et ses modèles. Il fut alors un familier de la comtesse de Noailles, d'Anatole France, d'Henri de Régnier, de Gabriele D'Annunzio, de Maurice Barrès, mais aussi de Debussy, Saint-Saëns et Satie.

Antonio de La Gandara, Portrait de Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1855-1921), vers 1892. Huile sur toile, Musée des Beaux-arts de Tours. Dépôt au château d’Azay-le-Ferron? Inv. AF. 76.© Antonio de La Gandara

L'exposition du Musée Lambinet, avec 120 œuvres et une centaine d'objets et documents, présente toute la richesse du parcours et les différentes facettes du talent de La Gandara. Elle a été rendue possible grâce aux nombreuses œuvres conservées chez les descendants du peintre, aux prêts de collectionneurs privés, ainsi qu'à ceux de plusieurs musées et institutions, en particulier le MUDO - Musée de l'Oise à Beauvais. L'exposition dialogue également avec le fonds de portraits " Belle Époque " conservé au musée Lambinet, qui sera mis en valeur pour cette occasion.

Antonio de La Gandara, Le Bassin du Luxembourg, 1899. Huile sur toile dans son cadre d’origine en feuilles de tulipes. Collection particulière. © Antonio de La Gandara

Antonio de La Gandara (1861-1917) 
Né d'un père mexicain et d'une mère anglaise, Antonio de La Gandara a suivi les cours de l'Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts et rejoint les classes de Gérôme et de Cabanel à l'âge de 16 ans. En 1882, il expose au Salon des Artistes Français où il reçoit sa première médaille. C'est en 1885 qu'il fait la connaissance du comte Robert de Montesquiou-Fézansac et de son ami Gabriel Yturri. Séduit par les œuvres de l'artiste, inspirées de celles de Goya, Ribot et Vélasquez, le comte s'emploie à faire connaître le jeune peintre auprès de l'aristocratie pour l'élever au rang de peintre mondain, ce que l'histoire retiendra. 

Antonio de La Gandara, Portrait de Madame Johannès Gravie, 1907. Huile sur toile dans son cadre d’origine en papier mâché, Collection particulière. © Antonio de La Gandara

Commissariat de l'exposition : Xavier Mathieu, biographe, descendant de l'artiste et président de l'association des Amis d'Antonio de La Gandara (http://lagandara.fr/).
Scénographie : Jérôme Dumoux, Myartdesign
Catalogue : Antonio de La Gandara, gentilhomme-peintre de la Belle Époque, 144 pages, 190 ill.- Prix de vente : 24€, publié aux Editions Gourcuff Gradenigo

Antonio de La Gandara, Don Quichotte au clair de lune, 1912. Huile sur toile, Collection particulière. © Antonio de La Gandara

'Snake' Pendant Necklace, 19th century. Colombian emerald, diamonds and rubies set in gold, 26 x 1.27 x 1.27 cm (10.2 x 0.5 x 0.5 in.). © FD Gallery at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, Stand 270. 

G (London, 1962), 'Fan' Ear Clips, London, 2018. Titanium, sapphires, diamonds and spinels, 6 x 4 x 0.5 cm (2.4 x 1.6 x 0.2 in.). Signed 'G'.© G at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, Stand 142. 

G (London, 1962), Rose Petal Ear Clips, London, 2018. Titanium, diamonds and spinels, 6 x 6 x 1 cm (2.4 x 2.4 x 0.4 in.). Signed 'G'. © G at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, Stand 142. 

TEFAF March 16-24, 2019 Maastricht, Stand 142.

Renowned as the jeweller’s jeweller, for over thirty years Glenn Spiro has discreetly acquired some of the world’s finest gems and created jewellery masterpieces for many of the leading international jewellery Houses.

Born and educated in London, Glenn Spiro trained as a master jeweller and was later appointed Senior Director of Christie’s and International Specialist of their jewellery department. In 2001 Glenn Spiro set up his workshop on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, and soon after a workshop in Geneva and a London atelier followed. In 2014 he opened a salon in Harrods where he presented works to the public for the first time.

The ‘G’ showroom is housed in the historic Hartnell House in the heart of Mayfair.  It is here that Glenn Spiro welcomes his clients who visit him from around the world to see his latest masterpieces.

Strap Necklace with Beechnut Pendants, Greece, circa 4th century BC. Gold. Length 31.8 cm (12.5 in.). © The Merrin Gallery, Inc. at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, Stand 430.

Provenance: Private collection, New York acquired in the 1980s.

Copan Style Pendant in the form of a Standing Maya Lord, Maya, Honduras, 600-900 AD. Royal apple green jade with traces of cinnabar. Height 10 cm (4 in.). © The Merrin Gallery, Inc. at TEFAF Maastricht 2019, Stand 430.

Provenance: Edward H. Merrin, New York, 1968; The Merrin Gallery, Inc., New York, 1989; Barbier-Mueller Collection, Geneva, Inv. no. 502-26.

Literature: Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller & Carmen Fauria, A Guide to Pre-Columbian Art, Barcelona, 1997, p. 39, ill. 24 
Laurence Mattet & Renato Caprini, Man's Jewelry: Barbier-Mueller Museum Collections. Jewels of the Earth: Alexis Barbier-Mueller collection, Geneva, 2009, cat. 5, p. 35 
Octavio Paz, Michel Butor, Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, et al., Millennium Art of the Americas: From Discovery to Admiration, 1492-1992, Paris, 1992, plate 40, p. 235 
Octavio Paz & Jean Paul Barbier, Ritual Arts of the New World: Pre-Columbian America, Geneva, 2000, cat. 40, p. 273 
Barbier-Mueller Museum, Precolumbian Art: The Barbier-Mueller Collection, Milan, 2013, p. 150, ill. 103.

TEFAF March 16-24, 2019 Maastricht, Stand 430.

Lot 1259. A bronze faceted storage jar and cover, fanghu, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 15 7/8 in. (40.4 cm.) high. Estimate USD 50,000 - USD 70,000. Price realised USD 60,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The faceted pear-shaped body raised on a slightly flared foot, the sides left plain, with small loops suspending rings on two sides below the rim, and relief-cast taotie mask handles suspending loose rings applied on the shoulder of the other two sides, the rings attached to links attached at the other end to a slightly arched handle cast with bands of cowrie pattern between the dragon head terminals, the cover with canted sides and applied with bird-scroll finials at the corners and a ring handle on top, with a four-character inscription cast in relief on the base, with brown and milky green patina and blue-green encrustation, stand.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 14 January 1998.

Lot 1260. A small unusual bronze ritual tripod food vessel and cover, ding, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 6 in. (15.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 17,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

The deep, rounded body raised on three slender legs and applied with a pair of bird-form handles suspending loose rings, the flat cover with three finials cast as seated birds with curled tails, the three birds functioning as feet when the cover is inverted, with grey and milky green patina, stand.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 14 May 1999.

Lot 1261. A rare bronze figural stand, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 6¾ in. (17.2 cm.) long. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 98,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Cast as a foreigner with arms outstretched holding a conical receptacle in his right hand, wearing a loin cloth and seated atop a chimera standing in an aggresive pose with its mouth open in a fierce roar above its long, trailing beard, its curved horns curled back behind the ears and the tufts of hair that sprout from the cheeks, the details of its short wings finely incised and its bony tail curled around its rear left leg, the smooth surface with some milky green malachite encrustation.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in 1991.
The Tsui Museum of Art.

Exhibited: Art Treasures from Shanghai and Hong Kong, 9 November 1996 - 25 January 1997, p. 79, no. 10.

Lot 1297. A rare large carved and painted wood figure of a horse, Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); 34 in. (86.4 cm.) high. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 98,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011

Portrayed in mid-stride, the body carved from a single log with separately attached legs, tail, neck and head, all connected with wood dowels, the narrow head carved with sensitive eyes, pricked ears and open mouth, accented with red and black pigments, the legs with black-highlighted hoofs, metal stand.

Provenance: Jacques Barrère, Paris, 1990.