Lot 312. A superbly carved huanghuali folding horseshoe-back chair, Jiaoyi, Late Ming dynasty, 16th-17th Century; 38 1/2 by 27 1/2 by 21 in., 97.8 by 69.8 by 53.3 cm. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD. Lot sold 408,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

with very generously proportioned long three-member looping crestrail with rounded flattened hand-grips, the backsplat finely carved with a ruyi-shaped cloud medallion enclosing vegetal scrolls, above a panel of two birds amidst the 'Three Friends of Winter', pine, prunus, and bamboo, above a shallow cusped apron enclosing vegetal scrolls and beading, with integral spandrels at the joint to the crestrail, the seat frame carved with two qilong separated by three further vegetal scrolls, secured on the folding rounded legs, with squared-surfaces at the intersection and at the strong whiplash curve securing the metal bamboo-form strut supporting the crestrail, with further metal strapwork on the structural joins and at the foot-rest set on the shoe feet.

Note: Folding horseshoe-back armchairs (jiaoyi) are extremely rare and are considered by many to be one of the most elegant forms made by the Chinese cabinetmaker.  In the last decade very few examples of this extraordinary form have appeared at auction and there are probably fewer than thirty examples known to exist in both public and private collections, with the main distinguishing factors between them being the decoration of the backsplats and the types of metal mounts. 

The present lot belongs to a group of folding horseshoe-back chairs with paneled splats enclosing auspicious motifs.  An armchair carved with a central shou character on the splat, formerly in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture in Renaissance, California, also reputed to have been used by the Dowager Empress Cixi, and sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 50, is illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, California, 2001, p. 61, fig. 5.1 and can be counted among this group; as can be one in the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, illustrated in R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, no.13.  The folding chair from a private Scandinavian collection that was sold at Christie's New York, 21st March 2002, lot 24, depicting a qilin amidst cloud scrolls, can also be found on a folding armchair formerly in the collection of Wang Shixiang, now in the Shanghai Museum, but on a pierced ground, and is illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999.  Two further chairs in this group also have pierced panels.  One from the Collections of Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh and John W. Gruber, sold in these rooms on 19th October 1990, lot 618 and again at Christie’s New York, 16th September 1998, lot 32; and the other formerly in the Frederic Mueller Collection and The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, sold at Christies New York, 29th November 1990, lot 395 and illustrated in R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1970, p. 88, col.pl. 26.

There is another group of huanghuali folding horseshoe-back chairs carved with figural designs - or in one case, none at all - on a single splat, rather than one divided into panels as with the present lot.  See, for example, one in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, adorned on the splat with meandering vines above a mountain, illustrated in Sarah Handler, op.cit., p. 62, fig. 5.2; and another two chairs in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, carved with a landscape scene to each of the splats.  The decoration on the Boston chairs closely relates to that of another folding chair in the Pacific Asia Museum Collection, illustrated by Lark E. Mason, Jr., in 'Examples of Ming Furniture in American Collections Formed Prior to 1980', Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, op.cit., fig. 15, p. 137.  A chair from the collection of Chen Mengjia featuring a single ruyi-head medallion is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. A90, the mate to which was sold in these rooms, 18th September 1996, lot 311, and is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  See also a chair in the Palace Museum  similarly carved with a ruyi medallion on a plain ground,  illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, no. 14.  A final folding chair belonging to this latter group includes one from the collection of Dr. Elizabeth Sackler, where the splat is left entirely uncarved, which was sold at Christies New York, 20th September 2001, lot 254.

The basic structure of folding chairs was established in the Song dynasty, and by the Ming had become a designated seat of honor in the households of the upper echelons of society.  For a further discussion of folding chairs of this type, see Gustav Ecke, Monumenta Serica, vol. IX, 1944; and Wu Tong, 'From Imported Nomadic Seat to Chinese Folding Armchair', Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Spring 1993, p. 38.

The 'Three Friends of Winter' motif found on the present chair is extremely rare.  'The Three Friends of Winter' (suihan sanyou) are the pine (song), bamboo (zhu) and prunus (mei).  By the seventeenth century the motif had become a conventionalized auspicious design and frequently appears on ceramics, wood carvings and paintings of the period.

Lot 315. A magnificent and very rare pair of huanghuali cabinets, with display shelf and exposed tenons, Lianggegui, Late Ming dynasty, 17th- 18th Century; 75 5/8 by 38 1/2 by 19 in., 192 by 97.8 by 48.2 cm. Estimate 300,000 — 400,000 USD. Lot sold 384,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each accented by superbly grained single-board floating panels forming the sides and doors, secured within thick raised frames edged with recessive rounded lobing and beading, set on baitong rectangular hinges with matching lockplate and pulls and a central post equally finely lobed, all below a spectacular display shelf framed by cusped and lobed upper aprons on three sides, each finely carved with archaistic bands, foliate scrolls and T-form hooks in thick beading, both on the interior and exterior of the aprons, all above reticulated rails with 'lotus bud' finials to the vertical posts and pierced panels of single-horned qilong or tianlu frolicking amidst zoomorphic qilong scrolls, above a lobed and cusped beaded apron, with further matching aprons between the feet accented by fierce zoomorphic feline dragon-heads within the thick beading, the interior divided into two shelves by a pair of drawers, with a distinctive feature of exposed tenons projecting from the sides at all the complex joins at the top, center, and bottom of the internal space.

Note: Display cabinets similar to the present pair, with arching inner frames and railings surrounded the open shelves, are extremely rare, with examples surviving in pairs, even rarer. Only one other pair of this particular form and design appears to be published, namely the pair from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture sold at Christie's New York, 19th September 1996, lot 76, illustrated in Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicao and San Francicso, 1995, no. 59 and in Sarah Handler, ‘Classical Chinese Furniture in the Rennaissance Collection’, Orientations, January 1991, p. 51, fig. 15.  Both pairs feature similar decorative moldings and low ornamental railings around the galleried shelf, with further crisp beading to the apron below.  They also display six exposed tenons on each side which, according to Sarah Handler in Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, p. 265, appear to indicate that the cabinet is easy to dismantle into pieces no bigger than the side panels. 

The stage-like shelf found on the present cabinets closely relates to a pair of Wanli period cabinets with similar ‘cut-out’ gallery railings, but also with a removable base stand, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, no. D19; and to a similar rosewood cabinet with slightly different carved decoration on the apron and around the display shelf, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, no. 179.  Related examples, although with substantially fewer carved details than the present pair, also include a pair of huanghualicabinets in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, illustrated in Stephen Little and James Jenson, ‘Chinese Furniture in the Honolulu Academu of Arts, The Frederic Mueller Bequest’, Orientations, January 1988, p. 77; a pair with lotus bud finials on the galleries, sold in these rooms, 3rd June 1992, lot 339; and a pair of huanghuali square corner display cabinets from the Dr. S.Y. Yip Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 20th September 2002, lot 12. 

Cabinets such as these were appropriate for the scholar’s studio, where one could display both antiques and books

Lot 390. A Magnificent early 'Yaozhou' ('Tongyao') carved double-gourd ewer, Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127); 8 in., 20.2 cm. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 USD. Lot sold 312,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

well-potted with perfectly balanced proportions, the spherical body supported on a low flared foot, deftly carved in relief with a wide band containing a single peony bloom set beneath the spout, borne on a foliate vine wrapping around the vessel and resting on a skirt of lotus petals, all below a bud-shaped lobe with a small circular opening carved with overlapping lotus petals with tiny raised tips, the shoulders set with a curved spout opposite the double-strap arching handle extending from the upper lobe to the shoulder, covered overall in a sublime glossy pale bluish-green glaze pooling in the recesses.

Note: 'Yaozhou' ewers of this elegant form seem to be among the earliest green-glazed wares made at the 'Yaozhou' type site in Huangbaozhen, Tongchuan county, Shaanxi province, where related pieces can be attributed to the Five Dynasties or early Northern Song period. The 'Yaozhou' kiln complex came into prominence for its striking green-glazed stoneware that appealed to the aristocratic taste and was highly sought after at the time. 'Yaozhou' ware was supplied to the court and the famous Song poet Lu Yu (1125-1210) in his Laoxue biji (Collections of Notes and Essays) mentions that Yaozhou produced greenware that is the same mise ('mysterious colour') as the ware from Yuyao xian.

The present ewer is highly unusual in shape and only one similar ewer with the same bud-shaped neck but missing its handle appears to be recorded and was formerly in the Lord Cunliffe Collection and is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, pl. 400; and is also illustrated in G. St. G.M. Gompertz, Chinese Celadon Wares, London, 1958, pl. 35 and Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, Stockholm, 1970, pl. 1, fig. 2 and discussed pp. 20-23.  The ewer was also exhibited in The Arts of the Sung Dynasty, OCS, 1960, cat. no. 145 as well as at Bluett & Sons, London, 1988. Very few pieces of this type, characterized by large-scale relief designs, smooth surface texture and glossy light-green glaze are recorded. Although the floral motif is bold, it is harmoniously arranged, thereby showing off the elegant shape of the vessel and the perfect glaze.  Mary Tregear in Song Ceramics, London, 1982, p. 102, notes that craftsmen at Yaozhou came close to the potters of 'Ding' ware in the elegant use of decorative techniques, but they had the added advantage in the contrast and clarity given to the decoration by the darker body and green glaze that took on a deeper colour when it formed pools in the relief carving on the vessels. See a 'Ding' ewer illustrated in Liu Tao, Dated Ceramics of the Song, Liao and Jin Periods, Beijing, 2004, p. 22, pl. 2-6.    

For examples of ewers with related carved decoration but with a short cylindrical neck and a cover see one included in the exhibition The Masterpieces of Yaozhou Ware, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1997, cat. no. 23n; and another fragmentary ewer of this type, also from the kiln site, illustrated in Yaozhou Kiln Site, Xi'an, 1992, p. 56. See also an ewer in the Idemitsu collection published in The Beauty of Celadon - Searching for the Forbidden Color, Tokyo, 2006, pl. 21; and an ewer from the Muwen Tang collection and included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat.no. 92, sold in our London rooms, 12th November 2003, lot 44.

Ewers of this shape and related floral decoration in relief, but with a spout in the form of a seated lion, can also be found; compare one in the Cultural Museum of Cheng County, Gansu province, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 7, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 101; and two others, one illustrated in Regina Krahl, 'The T.T. Tsui Collection of Chinese Ceramics,' Orientations, December, 1989, p. 36, fig. 10, the other included in the exhibition Ice and Green Clouds, Traditions of Chinese Celadon, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1987, cat.no. 52.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the results of a thermoluminescence test, Oxford Authentication, Ltd., P106z99.

Lot 508. A rare copper-inlaid archaic bronze wine vessel with gilt bosses, fanghu, Warring States period, 4th century BC. Height 19 in., 48.2 cm. Estimate 300,000 — 500,000 USD. Lot sold 288,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of square section, with a tall slightly flaring neck leading down to a swelling belly, cast overall with gilt-raised bosses reserved on a finely cast lozenge ground with a hooks-and-volutes pattern and inlaid with copper niello, each diamond separated by diagonal bands of further fine hooks-and-volutes, the recesses possibly originally inlaid with turquoise or malachite, on two sides the shoulders cast with an animal mask securing a loose ring handle, all supported on a square foot skirted by a band of large triangle geometric patterns, the truncated pyramidal cover similarly decorated and further set with four upright rings with hooked tabs, the dark green patina covered with green malachite encrustation (2).

Provenance: Collection of Arthur B. Michael, Newton Center, MA (bequest of 1942).
Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, no. 1942:16.402.

Note: This magnificent vessel, whose history - like that of most pieces in this collection - can be traced back to the Arthur B. Michael's bequest of 1942, was originally one of a pair. Its companion piece was included in An Exhibition of Chinese Bronzes, C.T. Loo & Co., New York, 1939, cat.no. 29, illustrated pl. XV; and again in An Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes Loaned by C.T. Loo & Co., The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, 1940, cat.no. 73, illustrated pl. XXXII; later in the collection of Eric Lidow, and now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, it is illustrated and discussed in Jenny So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 1995, p. 62, fig. 110.

Max Loehr, who discusses "this superb vessel" in detail in the Asia Society exhibition catalogue (op.cit., p. 154), placed it in the second of eight phases of stylistic development and attributed it to a period between 500 and 300 BC. Jenny So, who also writes about this stylistic evolution (op.cit., pp. 62f), suggests a fourth-century BC date for the Los Angeles County Museum example and its pair (the present vessel), based on a comparison with a more recently excavated pair of fang hu from the tomb of King Cuo of Zhongshan in Pingshan, Hebei province, which is datable to the late fourth century BC. She further illustrates a fang hu in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (op.cit., fig. 112), which combines stylistic features of both these pairs of vessels.  

Another inlaid fang hu with a similar geometric diaper design, but without the prominent bosses was included in the exhibition Sculpture and Ornament in Early Chinese Art, Eskenazi, London, 1996, cat.no. 3. Other fang hu with related designs of more complicated layout, also lacking the bosses, include one excavated in Shanxian, Henan province and now preserved in the National Museum of China, Beijing, included in the exhibition The Great Bronze Age of China, New York, 1980, pl. 73, where the present piece is quoted for comparison; and one in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., published in John Alexander Pope et al., The Freer Chinese Bronzes, Washington D.C., 1967, vol. I, pl. 94. A final comparison in the Hebei Provincial Museum, is illustrated in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 9, Beijing, 1997, pl. 155.

Lot 610. An outstanding large white jade finger citron, Qing dynasty, 18th Century; 9 in., 22.8 cm. Estimate 12,000 — 18,000 USD. Lot sold 288,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the very white stone accented by intense deep russet stains, very finely and naturalistically carved as a cluster of two finger citron or 'Buddha's-hand' fruit, one much larger than the other with finely elongated thick 'fingers' with curling tips, all issuing from an openwork stalk bearing further large lobed leaves with detailed incised veins and furling edges, the natural lumpy texture of the fruit fully captured by the subtle surface bumps and glossy polish of the stone.

Note: Compare a similar large white jade finger citron illustrated in The Minor Arts of China IV, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1989, cat.no. 174; and another illustrated in Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, London, 1975, fig. 406. See also a slightly smaller example from the Personal Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th November 2006, lot 1396; and another formerly in the Jingguantang and the Dr. Philip Hatfield Collections, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 501 and again in New York, 20th September 2005, lot 24.

The finger citron, or 'Buddha's hand', is inedible, but because of its strong citrus fragrance, is often used for scenting rooms and for offering at the Buddhist altar.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

Lot 614. A finely carved white jade 'marriage bowl', mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 9 in., 23 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Lot sold 288,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the white stone with a few opaque whiter inclusions and scattered russet accents, carved as a wide basin with deep rounded sides, the exterior carved in low relief with scrolling Indian lotus with projecting central stamens, the interior with two swallows elegantly turning by a large spray of prunus, the sides flanked by D-form ear-handles finely reticulated with a coiling qilong dragon grasping sprays of nandina berries and asters, the base with four short splayed bracket feet and finely incised with a four-character mark.

Provenance: Spink & Son Ltd., London, circa 1960s.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007.

Lot 804. A rare famille-verte'landscape' square vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi Period (1662-1722); 21 1/8 in., 53. 6 cm. Estimate 120,000 — 150,000 USD. Lot sold 288,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

of squared section, the slightly tapering upright sides finely painted in soft pastel tones of green, pale blue, yellow, gray and iron-red enamels with scholar-literati scenes, one side with a scholar crossing a over a bridge beneath towering mountains, another side with a scholar seated inside a gazebo upon a lotus pond gazing out at a fisherman, the third side with a scholar contemplating along the banks of a river, while his attendant waits next to his wheelchair, the fourth side with a fisherman seated in a skiff with his rod cast, the tall waisted neck set upon the squared shoulders painted with 'Precious Objects', including an archaic gu vessel, ding, chimes and a white rabbit, the shoulders with four butterflies enclosed within panels, all below a band of upright and pendant lotus flowers at the rim .

Note: Famille-verte vases of this square form painted in the Ming style with scholars in a landscape setting are extremely rare. Kangxi vases of this type are typically painted with scenes taken from plays or popular literature. The present vase is reminiscent of Kangxi blue and white vases of the same shape decorated in the style of scholars paintings; see one illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 18; and another in the Shanghai Museum published in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 32.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

"Fables d’Orient – Miniaturistes, artistes et aventuriers à la Cour de Lahore" au Musée Guimet

PARIS - Un ensemble d’illustrations qui révèle un aspect surprenant de la production picturale indienne due à un peintre de Lahore, Imam Bakhsh, au XIX^e siècle. Parmi elles, 60 miniatures des Fables de la Fontaine, grâce au prêt exceptionnel du musée de Château-Thierry, constituent un premier florilège. Des peintures de l’école du Punjâb s’ajoutent aux fables : portraits de maharajahs, dignitaires royaux, paysages, destinées à illustrer les Mémoires du général Claude-Auguste Court dont le manuscrit est conservé au MNAAG. Des photographies anciennes de la ville de Lahore et des sites alentours complètent la présentation.

Les illustrations des Fables sont le fruit d’un ambitieux projet mené par le Baron Félix Feuillet de Conches (1798-1887), chef du protocole au ministère des affaires étrangères en France. Cet admirateur passionné de Jean de La Fontaine avait entrepris de faire illustrer les Fables par des artistes du monde entier et avait passé commande, auprès de Jean-François Allard et Jean-Baptiste Ventura, pour faire réaliser, par un artiste du Pendjab, des illustrations de qualité destinées à orner les espaces laissés vierges des pages de l’édition Didot de 1827 des Fables de La Fontaine. Revisitée par Imam Bakhsh, cette série réalisée de 1837 à 1839 dans la région de Peshawar, offre une vision totalement singulière voire insolite des Fables. Doué d’une sensibilité vive pour le paysage, le peintre y cultive un attrait pour l’actualité et les atmosphères poétiques.

Lot 504. A large archaic bronze tripod wine vessel, jia, Shang Dynasty, 13th-12th century BC. Overall height 14 3/8 in., 36.5 cm. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 USD. Lot sold 276,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

supported on three tall blade legs, the cylindrical vessel rising to a flared mouth set with two upright posts capped with mushroom finials decorated with sun-whorls, the body crisply cast with two horizontal registers, each finely cast with pairs of low-relief taotie animal masks formed by raised bosses for eyes, reserved on a leiwen ground, the bands interrupted on one side by a single loop handle issuing from the mouth of a bovine, the green patina covered with light malachite encrustation.

Note: The present jia is an outstanding example of vessels rendered in Loehr Style III taotie design. This style is characterized by decoration of low and dense relief with slightly protruding bosses all symmetrically arranged to emphasize the zoomorphic nature of the design. Robert W. Bagley in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Cambridge, Mass., 1987, p. 165, notes that jia of this form and decoration appeared during the Anyang period and a jia with similar decoration was found in Fu Hao’s tomb which is illustrated in Kaogu xuebao, 1981, no. 4, pl. 14:2. Fu Hao was a consort of King Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty. See also a jia of closely related shape and decoration, except lacking the bovine mask on the handle, in the Saint Louis Art Museum, illustrated in Steven D. Owyoung, Ancient Chinese Bronzes in the Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, 1997, pl. 2; and another sold in our London rooms, 28th May 1968, lot 39, and now in the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, published in Bagley, op. cit., pl. 7.      

Compare also a related jia with plain handles in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Shang Ritual Bronzes in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 1998, pl. 9; and one in the Shanxi Provincial Museum published in Zhongguo qingtongqi quanji, vol. 4, Beijing, 1998, pl. 57. Another jia of this type, from the estate of William H. Wolff, was sold in these rooms, 29th November 1993, lot 176; and one was included in the exhibition Treasures of Ancient China, Gisele Croes, Paris, 2002, p. 18.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

Lot 350. A fine pair of huanghuali yokeback armchairs, shichutouguanmaoyi, Late Ming-Early Qing Dynasty, 17th Century; each 42 by 22 by 17 1/4 in., 106.7 by 56 by 44 cm. Estimate 180,000 — 220,000 USD. Lot sold 264,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each composed of thick and generously proportioned members with a shaped headrest set on the curved crestrail, with truncated terminals supported on slightly S-shaped backsplat and backposts continuing through the seatframe to form the straight back legs, the broad armrails also with truncated terminals supported on S-shaped side and front posts, the outer edge of the seat-frame with a deep groove above a recessed square shoulder and the underside of the seat framed on three sides by simple shaped aprons continuing down the circular-section legs through the foot-stretchers set in ascending heights towards the back of the chair, the joints between the post and rails later secured by metal strap-work.

Note: The yokeback chair is the most vertical of the Chinese chairs.  As it forces the body to sit upright, it readily imparts honor, dignity and power.  Due to its popularity, the chair was adopted not only by the ruling class, but crossed over into the ordinary homes and became one of the most recognizable types of furniture in a Chinese home. Sarah Handler in Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, pp. 43- 59, discusses at length the history of the yokeback chair. 

There are two major classifications of Chinese armchairs, those with crestrails which extend over the stiles, called sichutouguanmaoyi, and those which do not extend over the stiles, called nanguanmaoyi.  They are so called because they resemble the wings of the hats worn by Ming officials.  Examples of both types are well-represented in many public and private collections. 

In the late Ming, the apparent plainess of these chairs, and its lack of adornment, were as much an aesthetic statement as fine carving or gold dragons would have been.  Many of the late-Ming elite strove for simplicity.  Apart from the baitong mounts securing the major joints which draw attention to the joinery, the chairs are otherwise very plain.  See a pair of similar proportions sold in these rooms 19th March 1997, lot 401, with baitong mounts as well as interesting protruding tenons. Also compare chairs without the mounts, including an example illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 43, fig. A70; and one of a pair illustrated in Nancy Berliner, Beyond the Screen, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, p. 104, no. 8..

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

Lot 370. A spectacular 'ying xiong' rhinoceros horn libation cup, late Ming-early Qing dynasty, 17th Century; 6 3/4 in., 17.2 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Lot sold 240,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

possibly derived from Han and Tang period gilt-bronze 'parrot' or 'hawk' cups, the truncated tapering horn carved with a gigantic powerful eagle perched on the back of a mythical leonine bear to form the rebus yingxiong (representing heroic virtue), the oval hollowed interior cavity of the cup set in the back of the bird in which the tail-feathers flute upwards from an overhanging curved lip emerging behind the feathery nape of the head as it turns in profile towards its left, the exterior strikingly depicted with the strong downward curve of the furled wings on either side, their leading edge incised with elegantly tapering scrolls and framing the 'S'-shaped curve of the neck accented with registers of overlapping short feathers below the fully rounded cheeks, bulging eyes and powerful beak of the eagle, as it captures a feather in its beak to groom its luxuriant crest, the rest of the exterior similarly swathed in lush tail feathers with curling tips, the vicious claws poised with latent power over the back of a recumbent mythical bear to form the foot of the cup, its claws similarly pulled up beneath the body and bifurcated tail, set with scales at the haunches, the dragon-like head turned to the right in a snarl and framed by curling brows and long crest.

Note: The eagle, ying, and the bear, xiong, are frequently combined as an iconographic motif in Chinese art, as homonyms for the character of a hero, yingxiong; as frequently recalled in the phrase yingxiong duli, 'solitary hero, alone in glory and nobility'. During the 18th century, the archaised representations of these animals are frequently found in combination with conjoined tubular vases to form so-called 'champion' vases in jade, gilt-bronze and boxwood. However 'champion' vases are extremely rare in rhinoceros horn, and the present cup is almost unique in having the motif on a libation cup-form, where the emphasis is solely on the beasts in non-archaising style.

Compare two small rhinoceros horn 'champion' vases, illustrated Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, Hong Kong, 1999, nos. 43 and 44, the first in the Dora Wong collection, and the second in the Shanghai Museum. Compare also a series of four small cups depicting almost complete but stylised perching birds, most likely a typical 17th century conceit, ibid., nos. 173, 174, 177 and 179, but none of these bears the large-scale conception and power of the present cup. It is also particularly interesting to compare the head of the eagle, in the superb sculptural modeling of the cheeks and eyes, with the famous Wanli period 'deer' cup in the Shuisongshi Shanfang collection, no. 175, signed by Bao Tiancheng, the great master.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

Lot 519. A rare painted pottery figure of a horse nuzzling its leg, Tang dynasty (618-907); 15 1/4 in., 39 cm. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Lot sold 228,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the elegant beast standing on a shaped base with the head bent low to nuzzle the slightly raised left foreleg, covered with a long mane finely combed over both sides of the arched neck, before a small saddle set upon a saddleblanket incised with lozenge motifs, with significant traces of pigment overall.

Provenance: Collection of Arthur B. Michael, Newton Center, MA (bequest of 1942).
Collection of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, no. 1942:16.20.

Literature: Andrew C. Ritchie, Catalogue of the Paintings and Sculpture in the Permanent Collection, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, 1949, p. 212, no. 214.
Steven A. Nash, with Katy Kline, Charlotta Kotik and Emese Wood, Albright-Knox Art Gallery: Painting and Sculpture from Antiquity to 1942, Buffalo, 1979, p. 105

Note: Tang pottery horses are rarely depicted in this lively pose, with the head lowered as if about to grab the front leg. A painted pottery horse sculpted in a similar pose was discovered in the tomb of Dugu Sijing and his family, who died in 709 AD, and is illustrated in Tang Chang'an chengjiao Sui Tang mu / Excavation of the Sui and Tang Tombs at Xi'an, Beijing, 1980, pl. 69. Another somewhat larger but closely related painted pottery horse standing in this rare position, from the Eumorfopoulos collection and now in the British Museum, London, was included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935, cat.no. 2466, where it was described at the time as being of Wei date.

Compare also a horse sold in our Los Angeles rooms, 13th March 1974, lot 30; and another example but with hogged mane and a furry cloth over the saddle, sold in these rooms, 20th March 2002, lot 51.

Glazed Tang horses are also known in this posture, but they are equally rare; a light straw-coloured horse in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was included in the Museum's exhibition Unearthing China's Past, Boston, 1973, cat.no. 88, and another sold in these rooms, 13th March 1975, lot 208, is now in the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Tokyo, both with different harness and trappings in sancai glazes.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

Lot 716. A pair of ivory inlaid panels, Qing Dynasty, 18th century; 31 1/2 in., 21 cm. Estimate 35,000 — 45,000 USD. Lot sold 228,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each panel finely inlaid with Zhong Gui, the demon queller, seated among furniture and books in the company of five animated demons, one panel with a demon cleaning Zhong Gui's ear, mounted on a gilt ground, within zitan frames.

Provenance: Moy Ying Ming Gallery, Chicago.

Note: According to folklore, Zhong Gui travelled with Du Ping, a friend from his hometown, to take part in the imperial examinations at the capital. Though Zhong achieved top honors in the exams, his title of "zhuangyuan" was stripped by the emperor because of his disfigured appearance. In anger, Zhong Gui committed suicide upon the palace steps by hurling himself against the palace gate until his head was broken, and was buried by Du Ping.  After Zhong became king of ghosts in Hell he returned to his hometown on the Chinese New Year's Eve. To repay Du Ping's kindness, Zhong Gui gave his younger sister in marriage to Du. He is often depicted being escorted by demons. See lot 711 in this sale for a Zhong Gui bamboo figure riding a donkey. 

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, including Property from the Collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 19-20 march 2007

Lot 727. An exceptional sandstone head of Buddha, Northern Wei dynasty, Yungang Caves, late 5th Century; 12 in., 30.5 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Lot sold 228,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the fine white granular sandstone well carved in subtle volumes to form an elongated head with crisp bow-shaped lips tenderly lifted at the corners in a beatific smile above the channeled dimple on the chin, the long nose rising to the slightly downcast eyes defined by crescent-shape lines below gracefully arched brows, with the hair swept up behind the pendulous ears into a simple domed ushnisha, Japanese box.

Provenance: Old Japanese Private Collection before WWII.

Note: The carving of this head is characteristic of the style of Yungang caves near Datong in Shanxi province, which were largely constructed between 398 AD and 494 AD, when Pingcheng, modern Datong, was capital of the Northern Wei period.  Several Buddha figures with similar features can be seen in the niches of Cave 5 and in a frieze above the main figures of Cave 7 at Yungang, and are illustrated in Zhongguo shiku: Yungang shiku, Beijing, 1998, pls. 41 and 45, 144 and 145.  The delicate incised lines defining the eyes can also be seen, for example, on figures of Cave 6 and 8, ibid., pls. 125, 177 and 178. 

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 - 1553), Venus and Cupid, 1529. Oil on wood, 38.1 × 23.5 cm. Signed. A gift from the Drue Heinz Charitable Trust, 2018, IV: NG6680. The National Gallery © 2019

LONDON.- Visitors to the National Gallery are now able to view a new acquisition by one of the Renaissance’s most significant figures. 

Venus and Cupid (1529) by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), one of the leading German painters of the early 16th century, is being displayed in Room 4 and is an important addition to the National Gallery’s impressive collection of paintings by an artist widely regarded as a master of the German Renaissance. 

The painting has been generously gifted to the National Gallery from the Drue Heinz Charitable Trust following the death last year of Mrs Heinz, a committed and renowned patron of the arts in the United States and Britain. 

The painting depicts two mythological figures and is one of a series that Cranach produced during the 1520s and 30s, including the National Gallery’s own Cupid complaining to Venus (about 1525). One of the characteristics that defines Cranach’s career is his practice of producing a range of works based on similar subject matter. With this new acquisition, Gallery visitors will now be able to see the small variations made over time between two of Cranach’s Venus and Cupid works and understand how a much sought-after Renaissance artist organised his workshop to produce pictures on popular subjects. 

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 - 1553), Cupid complaining to Venus, about 1525. Oil on wood, 81.3 x 54.6 cm. Signed; Inscribed. Bought, 1963; IV: NG6344. The National Gallery © 2019.

The painting, in Cranach’s distinctive, mature style, depicts Venus unclothed, except for a transparent veil she holds in her left hand, alongside Cupid in a landscape setting. In a notable change from the National Gallery’s other version – which was most likely created first – the wings of Cupid are now red and match the broad-brimmed red velvet hat worn by Venus. 

As court painter to successive Electors of Saxony, Cranach was working in Wittenberg, considered to be the centre of the Protestant Reformation which he embraced, and even painted several portraits of his friend Martin Luther. With this acquisition, visitors can continue to experience the effect this movement had on art, as the demand for overtly religious painting in parts of Europe decreased and instead gave rise to a focus on Classical mythology. 

A plaque found on the tree in the painting, referencing a Greek poem, explains that Cupid, after stealing a honeycomb, has been stung by a bee. Offering the moral lesson that pleasure is brief but pain can be enduring, this would have been familiar to many at the time as the prominent Lutheran Philip Melanchthon - another friend of Cranach at Wittenberg – was producing Latin variants of the poem. Furthering the religious context, the headdress of Venus carries an inscription in German that reads ‘all is vanity’ – a reference to the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. 

Curator of Early Netherlandish, German and British Paintings Susan Foister said: “This exquisite small painting shows off Cranach’s characteristic combination of moral purpose with painterly delight in the representation of the female nude set in an idyllic landscape.” 

The public are now able to view Venus and Cupid, which has only been on UK public display once since the 1950s, due to the legacy donation by Mrs Drue Heinz. The painting, which had previously been in the Cook Collection since at least 1915, was first acquired by the Heinz family in 1964, and it subsequently passed to Mrs Heinz who most generously chose to leave the painting to the nation. 

Director of the National Gallery, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, added: "'Venus and Cupid' is a significant addition to the Gallery’s representation of Cranach, one of the most impressive and prolific painters of the Renaissance in Germany. We are grateful to Mrs Heinz and her charitable trust for this generous gift to the nation.” 

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) was one of the leading German painters and printmakers of the early 16th century. As court painter of the Elector of Saxony, the patron of Luther, Cranach is remembered as the chief artist of the Reformation. He painted altarpieces, Lutheran subject pictures and portraits, as well as mythological decorative works and nudes. Cranach was named after his native town of Kronach in Upper Franconia. He was probably trained there by his father, Hans. Around 1500 or earlier he travelled through Bavaria to Vienna, where he was briefly active. Early works exemplify the Danube school (see also Altdorfer) in their poetic use of landscape. In 1505 he entered the service of the Electors of Saxony at Wittenberg, becoming a town councillor there in 1519 and burgomaster in 1537 and 1540. In 1550 he was with the Elector John Frederick who was held prisoner in Augsburg. He retired in 1552 to Weimar, leaving his sons, Hans and Lucas the Younger, to carry on his workshop.

The installation of the newly acquired Venus and Cupid by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1529), The National Gallery, 20 Feb 2019© The National Gallery, London

 The installation of the newly acquired Venus and Cupid by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1529), The National Gallery, 20 Feb 2019 © The National Gallery, London.

Lot 770. A rare and important 'blanc-de-chine' figure of Guanyin, by He Chaozong, Ming dynasty, Wanli period, dated 1619; 17 in., 43.2 cm. Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 USD. Lot sold 228,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

enthroned on a lotus petal base seated in dhyanasana with hands clasped together resting on her lap in the dhyana mudra, dressed in voluminous white robes opened at the chest revealing a jeweled necklace with a lotus flower, her serene face with downcast eyes framed by hair swept up into a chignon secured with a ruyi head diadem and covered with a mantle falling to her shoulders, the back clearly stamped with the seal reading He Chaozong yin and inscribed at the foot of the throne in the front with the characters jiwei nian,equivalent to 1619 AD.

Exhibited: Spring Brochure, The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, 1999, cat.no. 17.
John Ayers, Blanc-de-Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute, New York, 2002, cat.no. 25.

Note: This distinguished and important figure is one of three known similar versions of the model by He Chaozong, all in the US; one being in the Koger Collection, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Koger Collection, London, 1985, cat.no. 147 and the other in the Blumenfield Collection, illustrated in Robert Blumenfield, Blanc-de-Chine: The Great Porcelain of Dehua, Berkeley, 2002, pp. 129-136 and 163-165, pls. A, B.

Lot 751. A large blue and white dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period  (1403-1425); 15 7/8 in., 40.5 cm. Estimate 200,000 — 250,000 USD. Lot sold 216,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

well potted with the flared rounded sides supported on a tapered foot, finely painted to the center in deep shaded tones of cobalt blue enhanced by slight 'heaping and piling' with four mallow blossoms borne on a slender scrolling stem issuing flowering buds and leaves, encircled around the cavetto with a composite floral scroll bearing various blossoms and their buds including lotus, lily, camellia, rose, peony and chrysanthemum, repeated around the exterior, all below a border of froth-capped waves to the rim, the base unglazed.

Provenance: Christie's Hong Kong, 31st October 1994, lot 548. 
Christie's New York, 20th September 2005, lot 254.

Note: A similar dish from the T.Y. Chao Collection was sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 18th November 1986, lot 35; and another on 23rd October 2005, lot 335.  A dish with similar pattern can also be found in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, which was illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and Its Impact on the Western World, University of Chicago, 1985, no. 22, where the author notes that dishes of this type were widely exported to the Near East and that their influence can be seen in Persia, Syria and Egypt.  See, for example, one illustrated in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, pl. 34; and one inscribed in Farsi around the foot rim with name of the Emperor Shah Jehan and the date corresponding to 1632, illustrated in Peter Hardie, 'China's Ceramic Trade with India', T.O.C.S., 1983-4, vol. 48, p. 19, pl. 3.

Compare also a similar dish excavated at Dongmentou, Zhushan, in 1994, and illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, 1996, cat.no. 44.  Other dishes of this type can be found in public and private collections such as one in the National Palace Museum collection, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Dynasty Porcelain, pl. 37; another illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1969, vol. II, no. A140; another in Michael Sullivan, Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades in the Collection of Sir Alan and Lady Barlow, London, 1963, p. 131a; and one in Suzanne Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1992, no. 61.

Lot377. A magnificent Imperial rhinoceros horn 'nine dragon' libation cup, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 7 3/8 in., 18.6 cm. Estimate 150,000 — 250,000 USD. Lot sold 180,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the very large horn displaying a superb polish and generous proportions, the dark amber-brown material lightening towards the rim to a glossy honey-russet tone, carved in an outstanding fashion with a flared quatrefoil-section libation cup tapering evenly towards a slightly inset base, and incised with a keyfret border on the outer rim, spectacularly accented with nine qilong dragons writhing over the entire surface in pursuit of each other, with a cluster of three of their sinuous bodies and bifurcated tails forming the reticulated foot, the others seemingly clambering up towards the rim in order to escape the frenzy of entanglement, the leonine head of one projecting completely out of the horn at the front of the cup, just as two others emerge over the rim into the interior and dead-lock in a menacing stare, the elongated bodies of a further two, with ridged spines and scrolling manes, forming the handle of the cup on the opposite end as they reach up to bite the smallest beast perched precariously on the very edge of the mouthrim, zitan stand.

Provenance: Collection of Kenyon V. Painter, Cleveland, Ohio & Arusha, Tanzania, circa 1910s.
By descent to the present owners.

Note: The present 'nine dragons' cup was presumably made in the Imperial Palace Workshops (Zaobanchu) as a presentation to the Imperial court since the number nine was reserved specifically for the Emperor himself. Such a high-ranking commission obviously deserved careful selection of the best material and the best craftsmanship, and both are clearly evident on the present Kenyon Painter cup - the horn material is without veins nor color imperfections and the fibers are extremely dense, indeed near the reticulated foot (which would have been nearer the tip of the horn) the polished horn is so dense as to resemble zitan. The workmanship is superlative, and while most other cups bearing clambering qilong have additional embellishments such as archaistic taotie bands, the present cup is left significantly plain, to better show off the material itself, and the virtuoso depiction of writhing energy. Indeed no other closely similar cup appears to be published.

Lot 385. A fine and rare rhinoceros horn stemcup, late Ming-early Qing, 16th-18th Century; 4 in., 10 cm. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Lot sold 180,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the horn progressing from a slightly mottled dark chocolate and honey tone to an outstanding golden russet hue, finely shaped and tapered to walls of superb translucency, the small goblet of flared U-shape, slightly thicker at the rounded bottom of the well but tapering finely to the crisp rim, the horn-hairs forming the stem left unbroken and shaped to a flaring column splayed gently to the circular pad-foot with squared rim, the concave base neatly flaring and probably later incised with an apochryphal Da Ming Tianqi nianzhi mark.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 23rd September 1995, lot 298.

Note: Plain regular vessels, such as vases, cups and bowls, which do not take the natural shape of the horn are extremely rare within the range of extant rhinoceros horn carvings. They required the selection and manipulation of very large unblemished horns, and required huge wastage of the precious raw material since they used only the very tip, and none of these surviving plain vessels are of large size. For example, the present stemcup was carved upside down, and the pad foot would therefore be near the tip of the horn. The wastage required to polish away enough material to create the unblemished foot of that diameter is noteworthy. Compare two stemcups of different form, the first with a raised Xuande mark in the collection of Thomas Fok, and the second a stembowl, of classic Ming porcelain form, in the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, illustrated in Thomas Fok, Connoisseurship of Rhinoceros Horn Carvings in China, Hong Kong, 1999, nos. 53 and 61. The latter stembowl in particular appears to have a very similar treatment of the footrim, and is ascribed a 16th century dating. The coloration of the horn itself is also rather distinctive, and fits well within the range of 16th -17th century plain horns, as opposed to the much darker and redder material used in libation cups from the Kangxi to Qianlong periods.

The incised Tianqi reignmark is written in a distinctive kaishu script more reminiscent of Xuande porcelain than of Wanli or 17th century reignmarks. Needless to say, Tianqi-marked imperial wares are almost unknown and it also appears unlikely that a rhinoceros horn of this quality was executed during that short and turbulent reign (1521-1527); it seems more likely that this reignmark was incised  much later as an ambitious attribution.

Lot 740. A rare gilt-bronze 'Avalokitesvara and qilin' group, Yuan-Early Ming Dynasty, 14th Century; 13 1/4 in., 33.5 cm. Estimate 180,000 — 250,000 USD. Lot sold 180,000 USD. Photo: Sotheby's.

the bearded deity seated upon a horned qilin with legs crossed and hands in dhyanasana mudra, dressed in long robes with finely incised foliate scroll borders, the face with eyes half-closed in meditation below the simple diadem centered by a seated Buddha Amitabha, all atop the recumbent beast, lying with its head turned sharply back to one side while letting out a fierce roar, richly adorned with blankets and studded straps, with finely incised details to the mane and curly tail.

Provenance: Christie's London, 6th June 2000, lot 243.

Exhibited: Chinese Sculpture and Works of Art, A&J Speelman Ltd., London, 2002, no. 8.

Note: The simple band around the head, the slim elongated waist, upright torso, fan shaped pleats of the underskirt at the waist, the cloak draped over the shoulders and the style of ornamentation on both the jewelry as well as the textile borders, are all characteristics of 14th century Buddhist bronzes of this type.  The textile borders, long articulated torso and ovoid drapery folds on the folded legs can be compared to a Yuan figure of Siddhartha in the Cleveland Museum of Art, illustrated in Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 525, pl. 143E.  The overall style of these bronze bodhisattvas are related to 14th century Malla period Nepalese bronzes.  See a figure of Vajradhara illustrated ibid., p. 358, pl. 95A with elongated torso and limbs, but flaring markedly at the chest and hips.  Anige, the legendary Nepalese image maker was active in the Yuan court and his works are well documented in Chinese records, although it is difficult today to identify these with any degree of certainty.