Lot 1477. A carved Yaozhou celadon 'Wave and Fish' bowl, Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127); 11.5 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 30,000 - 50,000 (USD 3,800 - 6,400). Lot sold HKD 88,500. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

China Guardian. 2019 Spring Auctions. Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Tang to the Song Dynasty   

Lot 1480. A pair of carved Yaozhou celadon 'Peony' foliate bowls, Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127); 13.6 & 13.2 cm. wide. Estimate HKD 5,000 - 10,000 (USD 600 - 1,300). Lot sold HKD 7,080. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

China Guardian. 2019 Spring Auctions. Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Tang to the Song Dynasty 

Lot 1482. A Henan celadon shallow dish, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 12.2 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 70,000 - 80,000 (USD 9,000 - 10,300). Lot sold HKD 82,600. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Lot 1483. A Henan celadon dish with kintsugi repairs, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127); 21 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 100,000 - 120,000 (USD 12,800 - 15,400). Lot sold HKD 118,000. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Bonhams is pleased to bring to sale from an important European private collection a selection of works from two of the last vanguards of modern Vietnamese art, Bùi Xuân Phái and Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm. Both artists belong to the last batch of graduates from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine (1941-1946), and were pivotal in the transmission of a modern sensibility. 

This took place against a backdrop of development in Vietnamese art in the immediate post-war years, as artists situated in independence-seeking Vietnam sought new visual languages beyond the apogee of its first generation painters – particularly the diasporic artists in Paris like Lê Phô– who created the aesthetic foundations in silk and lacquer painting. The colour palette of the latter was tropical and true to life but restrained to sorghum browns and greens. Vietnam stood fossilised, in memoriam.

The oeuvres of Bùi Xuân Phái and Nguyen Tu Nghiem centred on the subject matter of daily and ritual life in Vietnam, from the Hanoi old streets beloved by Bùi Xuân Phái to the traditional dances Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm was captivated by. Collectively, they injected realism – and a corresponding sense of romance – into Vietnamese art, steering its identity from the colonial-era preoccupation with deriving vernacular mediums and techniques to a modern, undisguised and more direct engagement with daily life. Dynamism and vivacity mark the fleeting glimpses of life captured by Bui and Nguyen.

Between 1960 to 1990, the address of 60 Nguyễn Hữu Huân was a cafe established by Mr. Lâm called Lâm Cafe. Some of the leading Vietnamese modern artists found Lâm Cafe hospitable and warm. Mr. Lam would extend the artists credit for meals and drinks in exchange for their paintings. In the present lot, Bùi Xuân Phái has painted a colourful and upbeat scene of Nguyễn Hữu Huân.

Lot 1. Bùi Xuân Phái (Vietnamese, 1920-1988), Ruelle de Hanoï, signed 'Phai', lower right; inscribed in Vietnamese 'Nguyen Van Lam / 60 Nguyen Huu Huan / Hanoi', on the reverse, oil on board,15 x 21.5 cm. (5 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.). Estimate HK$20,000 - 30,000 (US$2,500 - 3,800). Sold for HK$ 35,625 (€ 4,028) inc. premium. © Bonhams 2001-2019

Property of an important European private collection.

Provenance: Acquired directly from the estate of the artist by the present owner.

Lot 3503. An exceptional hardstone-inlaid birchwood box and cover, Late Ming dynasty; 9.4 by 21 by 12 cm, 3 3/4  by 8 1/4  by 4 3/4  in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,500,000 HKD ( USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

of rectangular form, exuberantly and skilfully decorated with inlays in lapis lazuli, red goldstone, mother-of-pearl, soapstone, turquoise, malachite, rose quartz, amber and wood, the cover depicting a long-tailed bird perching on a pierced rock with its head turned backwards looking at another bird sheltered amongst lush flowering peonies and magnolia, below two flying butterflies on the top left corner, the sides of the cover and box similarly decorated with fruiting leafy branches of succulent loquat, bordered by silver-wire inlaid keyfret bands encircling the rims, the attractively grained and smoothly polished wood patinated to a golden-brown tone with swirling burls and knots, the interior with a black-lacquered wooden tray.

‘Blessings of Wealth and Honour’: A Hundred Treasure Inlaid Birchwood Box
Dr Hajni Elias

Made of the Chinese red birch and inlaid with colourful precious and semi-precious stones and materials which include lapis lazuli, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, rose quartz, malachite and amber, this box is a testament to a late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) artisan’s expertise in creating luxurious wooden objects of the highest craftsmanship. Fashioned in the technique known as the ‘Hundred Treasure Inlay (Baibao qian)’, also referred to as ‘Made by Zhou (Zhou zhi)’, a credit to the inlay method used by the master artist Zhou Zhu (fl. 16th century), it employs a special decorative technique associated with Ming imperial furnishing and one that continued to enjoy high popularity in the Qing period (1644-1911). The imperial provenance of this exquisite box is indisputable, being one half of a pair of which the other is now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 223 (fig. 1).

fig. 1. Hardstone-inlaid birchwood box and cover, late Ming dynasty Qing court collection. © Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

The artist’s refined level of skill and expertise in working with the various materials is displayed in the inlay method, a bolection-like technique in which the inlay projects beyond its frame and thus creates a surface of different levels with a strong three-dimensional quality. The two Ribbon-Tailed birds (Shoudainiao), also known as the Red Billed Blue Magpie (Urocissa erythrorhyncha), mother and chick, are expertly positioned in the composition to appear in different planes, with the mother standing on the rock where she can oversee and guard her chick perched on a lower rock below her. The blossoming peony, chrysanthemum and white magnolia and the flowering crabapple tree all appear luscious and textually sumptuous, while the pair of butterflies expertly included in the top left corner of the composition, at a smaller scale to convey distance, display a sense of air and lightness to the composition. The four sides of the box are also richly inlaid with fruiting loquat branches and provide the perfect frame for the central composition on the cover.

The decoration is rich in symbolism. The Chinese name for the Ribbon-Tailed bird is the ‘Longevity-Tailed bird (Shoudainiao) because the ‘ribbon (shou)’ is a pun for ‘longevity (shou)’ and dai is a pun for the word ‘generation (dai)’, together symbolising happiness for many generations. High officials in China historically wore a belt embellished with jade ornaments called yudai, making the Ribbon-tailed bird also a symbol of high official rank. For a further explanation of this bird see Teresa Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 2006, pp. 215-218. Depictions of the magnolia (yulan) and the crab apple (haitang) together represent the wish for ‘riches and honour (yutang)’ and the combination of butterflies, peony, crab apple and white magnolia is a reminder of accumulated blessings of wealth, high official success and honour for one’s household.

As mentioned earlier, the inlay technique seen on the present box was first developed and made popular by Zhou Zhu who was active during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521-1567) of the Ming dynasty. Zhou’s workshop was located in the city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu province. By the Ming period Yangzhou, lying north of the Yangtze river and at the southern terminus of the Grand Canal, was a thriving centre for the arts and culture. It was of national importance for the salt trade and commerce, serving as the base for wealthy salt merchant families who became patrons of the arts and letters. The city made its name for artists such as the ‘Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou (Yangzhou baguai)’ who became a notable group of painters in the 18th century, as well as for the many artisans, such as Zhou Zhu, who set up workshops producing artefacts and whose products were much coveted by the elite and the wealthy throughout the empire. The scholar artist and calligrapher Qian Yong (1759-1844) in his Lüyuan congzhi [Collection of talks from walking in the garden] mentions Zhou Zhu as one who devised an inlay method which is known as the Zhou zhi. Qian explains how this method used precious metals such as gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, raw copper ore, turquoise, mother-of-pearl, ivory, amber, and aloes wood to represent landscapes, human figures, trees, elaborate buildings, flowers and plants, birds and animals, inlaid into sandalwood, huanghuali wood and lacquerware. Zhou’s works include large furniture pieces such as screens, tables and chairs, window frames and bookcases; for smaller objects he is known for his brushpots, tea services, ink stone cases and items for the scholar’s studio. Qian Yong describes these multi-coloured and multifarious objects as all of them spectacular articles that had never existed before.1

The Palace Museum in Beijing has one of the most comprehensive collection of inlaid artefacts – boxes, screens and brush holders – from the late Ming to the Qing periods, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, op.cit., nos 219-228, 230-234, including the pair to the present box, no. 223. See another related box, luxuriously embellished on all sides with gems forming flowers, fruits and birds, included in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Beijing, 2002, pl. 98 (fig. 2). A further example of an inlaid box decorated with a hunting scene, from the collection of Mr and Mrs Gerard Hawthorn, recently sold in these rooms, 31st May 2018, lot 31, together with a tray attributed to the workshop of Zhou, lot 7, from the same collection. Another outstanding work attributed to Zhou is the inlaid zitan box and cover sold in these rooms, 16th/17th November 1988, lot 256, and again, 4th April 2012, lot 179, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection.

fig. 2. Hardstone-inlaid zitan tiered box and cover, late Ming dynasty Qing Court collection. © Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

1 Qian Yong, Lüyuan congzhi [Collection of talks from walking in the garden], Beijing, 1979.

Sotheby's. Scholarly and Imperial Works of Art from a Distinguished Collection, Hong Kong, 03 Apr 2019

Lot 3508. A very rare inlaid lacquered wood figure of Guanyin, by Lu Kuisheng, Qing dynasty, Jiaqing – Daoguang period (1796-1850); 21.3 cm, 8 3/8  in. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,187,500 HKD (152,962 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

the deity depicted seated in the regal posture of rajalilasana, with the extended right arm supported on the raised knee, cloaked in long robes opening at the bare chest to reveal an inlaid beaded necklace above a ribbon-tied dhoti, the garment elegantly falling into neat voluminous folds around his bare feet, the serene face with downcast eyes, a pronounced nose and a gentle smile, the hair gathered into a tall piled chignon draped over with a hood, the wood smoothly dressed in lacquer patinated to a lustrous maroon-brown tone, inscribed to the reverse in red lacquer with a Kuisheng seal mark, traces of gilt at the recesses and on the base.

Literature: Wang Shixiang, Ancient Chinese Lacquerware, Beijing, 1987, pl. 101.
Wang Shixiang and Yuan Quanyou, 'Yangzhou ming qigong Lu Kuisheng he ta de yixie zuopin [On the famous lacquer craftsman Lu Kuisheng from Yangzhou and some of his works]', Wenwu / Cultural Relics, 1957, no. 7, p. 11. 
Wang Shixiang, Wang Shixiang ji: Zhongguo gudai qiqi [Collected works of Wang Shixiang: Ancient Chinese lacquerware], Beijing, 2013, pl. 101.   

Compassion in Lacquer: An Artistic and Technical Marvel by Lu Kuisheng
Dr Hajni Elias

The present lacquer figure of the bodhisattva Guanyin is an artistic and technical marvel of the late Qing period (1644-1911). It bears the signature of master carver Lu Kuisheng (1779-1850), one of China’s most distinguished and prominent craftsmen, whose name is well documented. The figure’s religious, artistic and technical importance in China’s artistic tradition is significant and warrants our attention.

Popularly known as Guanyin or Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, we are looking at one of the most favoured deities in the Buddhist world. Recorded as the bodhisattva protagonist in the chapter titled ‘Perceiver of the World’s Sounds (Guanshiyin Pusa)’ in the Lotus Sutra (Miao Fa Lianhua Jing), Guanyin is described by Buddha as the one who perceives the sounds and voices of all those suffering and is the one who compassionately provides release and deliverance from their trials. In the sutra Buddha says, ‘Suppose there are immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings who are undergoing various trials and suffering. If they hear of this bodhisattva, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, and single-mindedly call his name, then at once he will perceive the sound of their voices and they will all gain deliverance from their trials.’1


Lu Kuisheng’s Guanyin sits in a pose of tranquil ease, known as the rājalīlāsana or the ‘royal relaxed pose’. In this asana or seat, the right hand rests on the raised right knee while the left leg is in the usual position of Buddha and the left hand gently placed on the base. Although the pose appears relaxed, the figure’s upright torso belies this and reveals a strength and ease of posture which expresses the complete tranquility of spiritual peace and perfection. The facial expression is one of calm serenity and compassion, with eyes that are slightly lowered as if perceiving an inner reality that is beyond ordinary vision. Guanyin, who came to be represented as an androgynous or female being, is shown here with a graceful feminine body and long, slender fingers and toes. Wearing a headdress over her hair, she is covered in a silk-like garment that drapes down in a fluid cascade around her seat. She is adorned with a single necklace and arm bracelets. Except for the hair which was painted with azurite, the entire figure was originally pasted with gold foil, traces of which remain visible in the folds of her clothes. Lu’s visual representation of Guanyin is notable for its feminine beauty and etherial appeal. He represents her as the embodiment of compassion and as such the sculpture is a votive masterpiece.

Before turning to the technical details of the making of the present figure, let us say a few words about its maker, Lu Kuisheng. Lu was born into a family of master lacquer craftsmen in Yangzhou, a city situated on the north bank of the Yangtze river in Jiangsu province. Historically, Yangzhou became one of the most affluent commercial towns and a leading, vibrant cultural centre from the time of the Ming dynasty. It was the home of many great merchant families, famous artists and accomplished and eccentric scholars. Its reputation as a place for a leisurely life and refined tastes was well established by the time Lu’s forefathers settled down and opened their lacquer workshop in the city. Lu’s grandfather, Lu Yingzhi (fl. ca. 1717), made his name as a renowned lacquer artisan. He is recorded to have excelled in making utensils of all shapes and his carvings were praised for their fineness. The Hualin xinyong, compiled by the eminent critique Chen Wenshu (1771-1843), mentions the Lu family as one of Yangzhou’s most prominent producers of lacquerware and in particular commends Lu Kuisheng as one whose work was of exceedingly high quality.2 We are told that he not only inherited his grandfather’s technical and artistic skills, but elevated lacquerware production to new heights.3 He perfected the sand-lacquer or qishatechnique, an effect comparable to the Japanese makie, which was revived by his grandfather having been lost since the Song dynasty (960-1279), but become even more remarkable in Lu’s hands. Apart from carving in various media, Lu was also a talented painter, as evident from a landscape scroll painted by him in 1808, now in the collection of the Nanjing Museum.4 His painterly skills are reflected in his compositions, especially on his ink-slab boxes, many of which bear his signature. Carvings made for the scholar’s studio reflect Lu’s own interest in learning and scholarly pursuits. He was also highly esteemed by the Qing poet and scholar Yuan Mei (1716-1797), who mentions him being well versed in antiquity and one who enjoyed moving in scholarly circles.5

An understanding of the process used to make the present figure enhances our appreciation. Firstly, although a number of works have been attributed to Lu Kuisheng (see below), it is important to note that sculptures bearing his signature are extremely rare. Wang Shixiang and Yuan Quanyou in their study of Lu Kuisheng mention that figure carvings by him represent his unique artistry.6 Made of wood covered in multiple thin layers of cinnabar lacquer, it has an air of extreme delicacy while being solid at the same time. Lacquer fluid was derived from the sap of the Rhus verliciflua tree, a relative of the poison oak plant, primarily found in southern China. Working with the lacquer sap is extremely laborious and time consuming. It can also be hazardous to one’s health as the liquid fluid and its vapours can cause dermatitis and respiratory problems. The material’s toxicity was an occupational hazard for lacquer workers throughout history and remains so to this day. A further occupational idiosyncrasy is mentioned by the 18th century French Jesuit missionary Père d’Incarville who observed how Chinese lacquer artisans were required to strip off nearly all their clothes while working with the material to prevent dust and fibres from settling on the wet lacquer and ruining the coating. The chemical process of polymerisation of the lacquer coating required a constant heat of around 30°C with a humidity of 85%, conditions that prevailed in southern China naturally but were re-created in the north by pouring water over hot rocks like in a Western sauna today.7 The lacquering process itself required several days, weeks or even months to complete because each of the micron thin layers of the lacquer would take many days to cure. Its fashioning demanded patience, precision, a high level of technical know-how, as well as creativity and artistry. Historically, lacquer workshops operated under a system of division of labour, with the Master Artisan (zaogong) overlooking the work of the core carver (sugong), the lacquerer (xiugong), the topcoat lacquerer (shanggong), the touch-up artisan (qinggong), the design painter (huagong) and the gilder (tong’er huangtu gong).8 We have no details of how the Lu family workshop operated but it must have been along the above mentioned principles.

The fashioning of lacquer figures, such as the present Guanyin, employed the technique known as jiazhu, whereby layers of fine cloth strips wet with lacquer are applied to a wood core in order to help create a detailed three-dimensional form. The sculpture is then painted and gilded. Jiazhu was used for wood-core dry-lacquer sculptures as well as for hollow-core dry-lacquer figures, by which the core was removed just after the sculpture was completed. A famous example of the former is the 6th century seated Buddha figure in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, examined in Donna K. Strahan, ‘The Walters Chinese Wood-and-Lacquer Buddha: a Technical Study’, The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, vol. 51, 1993, p. 106. Strahan notes that the jiazhu method was added to the lacquer carver’s repertoire during the second century when Buddhism was introduced to China. Buddhist images began to be made using this lacquering technique. Early texts record a master sculptor called Dai Kui (d. 395 CE) who was known for his great skill at fashioning lacquer Buddhist sculptures. Thus, the jiazhu technique is recognised to be very difficult, time consuming and expensive, and historically has been associated with the best lacquer artists in China.9

For examples of works by Lu Kuisheng see a large red and black lacquer folding screen decorated with the scene of birthday celebration for General Guo Ziyi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, included in the museum’s recent exhibition Cinnabar: The Chinese Art of Carved Lacquer, 14th to 19th Century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2017. The Palace Museum in Beijing possesses ten pieces by Lu in its collection with two brown-lacquer ink-slab boxes illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong 2006, nos 188 and 189 (fig. 1), the latter made in the qisha technique; and three further examples of boxes are included in the Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji [Complete series on Chinese lacquer], vol. 6: Qing, Fuzhou, 1995, pls 199-201. Seven objects, including the present figure of Guanyin, two sand-lacquer ink-slab boxes, a black lacquer inlay decorated pipa and three lacquered teapots, are discussed in Wang Shixiang and Yuan Quanyou, ‘Yangzhou ming qigong Lu Kuisheng he ta de yixie zuopin [On the famous lacquer craftsman Lu Kuisheng from Yangzhou and some of his works]’, Wenwu / Cultural Relics, 1957, no. 7, pp. 9-13. For further examples see Zhang Yan, ‘Wan Qing Yangzhou qiqi yiren Lu Kuisheng zuopin wenjian lu[Records of Works by the Late Qing Lacquer Artist Lu Kuisheng from Yangzhou], Gugong Bowuyuan yuankan, 1992, no. 1, pp. 44-8; and Zhuang Heng, ‘Jiexiao Qing Lu Kuisheng liangjian you jinian de qigong zuoping [Introducing two recorded lacquer works by the Qing dynasty Lu Kuisheng], Wenwu / Cultural Relics, 1989, no. 12, pp. 88-9.

Inlaid-lacquer inkcake box and cover, by Lu Kuisheng Qing dynasty, Daoguang period. © Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Lot 1484. A very rare Jun purple-red-glazed bowl with kintsugi repairs, Early Ming dynasty; 19.4 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 180,000 - 350,000 (USD 23,100 - 44,900). Lot sold HKD 885,000. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Provenance: An American private collection

 Lot 1485. A Jun blue-glazed bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234). 23 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 200,000 - 250,000 (USD 25,600 - 32,100). Lot sold HKD 236,000. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Lot 1486. A Jun blue-glazed 'Chrysaanthemum' dish, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234). 13.3 cm. wide. Estimate HKD 30,000 - 50,000 (USD 3,800 - 6,400). Lot sold HKD 41,300. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Self-portrait with Two Circles, c.1665. Oil on canvas, 1143 mm x 940 mm. English Heritage, The Iveagh Bequest (Kenwood, London)© Historic England Photo Library.

Lot 1491. A small celadon vase, zhadou, Western Jin dynasty (265-316); 8.2 cm. high. Estimate HKD 35,000 - 50,000 (USD 4,500 - 6,400). Lot sold HKD 41,300. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

NANTES - Éloge de la sensibilité réunit les plus importants tableaux français du 18e siècle conservés dans les institutions de Bretagne, depuis Antoine Watteau, au tout début du siècle, jusqu’à l’aube du 19e siècle. L’exposition suit l’évolution de la peinture française sur un siècle sous l’angle de la naissance du nouveau concept de sensibilité, à travers la peinture de genre : des portraits de Jean-Baptiste Greuze aux sensibles natures mortes de Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, en passant par les paysages sublimes d’Hubert Robert et du chevalier Volaire.

L’exposition rassemble plus de 65 peintures conservées principalement dans les collections des Musées des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, de Quimper, de Brest et du Musée d’arts de Nantes.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Portrait de Charles-Étienne de Bourgevin de Vialart, comte de Saint-Morys, enfant, vers 1782-1784. © Agence photographique de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Photographie : Gérard Blot.

Éloge de la sensibilité, reflet du siècle des Lumières.

Au 17e siècle, les passions, qui animent tout autant les grandes tragédies de Jean Racine que les toiles de Charles Le Brun, en détournant l’homme du chemin de la raison, et en le soumettant aux caprices du corps et du coeur, suscitent la défiance.

Dans la seconde moitié du siècle des Lumières, la littérature et la peinture se font le reflet d’une nouvelle vision de l’homme et de son environnement, en revalorisant les affects. La sensibilité devient la qualité première de l’âme, qui permet à l’individu de ressentir librement le monde.

Le philosophe Denis Diderot s’interroge sur le sentiment, s’étonne de la puissance des natures mortes de Chardin. Jean-Jacques Rousseau porte aux nues la sensibilité dans La Nouvelle Héloïse et théorise une nouvelle forme d’éducation dans l’Émile. Voltaire s’émerveille de l’impact de la nature sur ses sens et son âme... La peinture dite de genre (portraits, paysages, natures mortes et scènes de genre) offre alors un écho enthousiaste et inspiréà ces préoccupations inédites.

Elle accompagne les mouvements de l’âme, jusqu’à la naissance des tourments pré-romantiques de la fin du siècle.

Pierre Jacques Volaire, Éruption du Vésuve et vue de Portici, 1767 © Agence photographique de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Photographie : Gérard Blot.

Du portrait à la nature morte.

Au cours du siècle, les portraits d’apparat, célébrant le statut social du personnage, font place à une représentation plus intime, grâce à une analyse psychologique plus poussée comme dans le magnifique Portrait de femme d’Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. L’enfant n’est plus un adulte miniature, mais un individu à part entière, qui interagit avec ses proches, à l’heure où une nouvelle notion de famille apparaît. 

Une théâtralité originale imprègne désormais les rapports de séduction et l’ambiguïté trouble des sentiments dans les scènes de genre (Greuze).

Les paysages décrivent une nature sereine dans une harmonie savamment pensée ou, au contraire, des éléments déchaînés et mystérieux, reflets d’une âme dont les tourments annoncent le romantisme.

Paradoxalement, c’est dans le genre le moins reconnu,la nature morte, que la plus grande liberté se révèle. Diderot, bien malgré lui, admire la magie de la peinture de Chardin : « Approchez-vous, tout se brouille, s’aplatit et disparaît ; éloignez-vous, tout se recrée et se reproduit. » (Le Bocal d’olives et La Raie dépouillée de Chardin, Salon de 1763). 

Jean Laurent Mosnier, Portrait de la princesse de Lamballe, 1780, Lamballe, mairie. © Mairie de Lamballe / Serge Andrieux-Cristal d’Argent.

Un partenariat exceptionnel des musées de Bretagne.

Organisées en parallèle, les expositions Éloge de la sensibilitéà Nantes et Éloge du sentimentà Rennes s’inscrivent dans un partenariat exceptionnel entre Nantes (33 oeuvres), Rennes (11 oeuvres), Quimper (18 oeuvres) et Brest (2 oeuvres).

Plusieurs éléments ont naturellement convergé vers ce projet : pour sa réouverture en juin 2017, le Musée d’arts de Nantes a restauré l’ensemble de ses collections, dont quelques joyaux du 18e siècle. Début 2019, le musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes publie l’ouvrage La collection des peintures françaises (16e-18e siècles). Les musées des Beaux-Arts de Quimper et de Brest conservent deux magnifiques ensembles du 18e siècle non publiés, sans oublier l’exposition de Rennes et Quimper en 2013 De Véronèse à Casanova : parcours italien dans les collections de Bretagne.

Toutes ces initiatives se fédèrent aujourd’hui autour des expositions de Nantes et de Rennes. Elles se déploient en deux volets explorant des voies différentes prises par la peinture : à Rennes s’illustre la peinture d’histoire, entre Grand Siècle et néoclassicisme, et à Nantes, la peinture de genre illustre la sensibilitéà la Nature et à l’individu.

Du 15 février au 12 mai 2019 - Musée d'Arts de Nantes.

Marie Geneviève Bouliard, Portrait de Monsieur Olive, trésorier des États de Bretagne et de sa famille, 1791 ou 1792, Nantes, Musée d’arts. © RMN / Photographie : Gérard Blot.

Christian Marie Colin de la Biochaye, La mauvaise nouvelle, 1794, Rennes, musée des Beaux-Arts. © Jean-Manuel Salingue/MBA Rennes.

Jean Huber, Voltaire et les paysans de Ferney, vers 1770, Nantes, Musée d’arts, déposé au château de Voltaire à Ferney. © RMN / Photographie : Gérard Blot.

Pierre Henri de Valenciennes, Biblis changée en fontaine, 1792-1793, Quimper, musée des beaux-arts. © RMN-Grand Palais / Mathieu Rabeau.

Jacques Sablet, Élégie romaine, 1791, Brest, musée des beaux-arts. © Musée des beaux-arts de Brest métropole

Nicolas de Largillière, Nature morte avec instrument de musique, 1695-1700, Quimper, musée des beaux-arts. © mba Quimper / RMN / Photographie : Mathieu Rabeau.

Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, Pêches et raisins, Rennes, musée des Beaux-Arts. © Jean-Manuel Salingue/MBA Rennes.

Lot 159. A Mughal carved jade candlestick, North India, 19th century; 18cm. height, 10cm. max. diam. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 GBP. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the jade carved in typical candlestick form with hollow cylindrical interior, the exterior with vertical ribs, stylised leaves, and ropework borders.

Note: Jade was one of the primary materials for Mughal sculptural expression between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. It was used in a wide variety of Mughal ornamentations such as weapon hilts, wine cups, boxes amongst others. Such objects were mentioned by the sixteenth century European traveler, Francois Bernier, as items of presentation by and for Mughal Emperors and the Emperor Jahangir was himself associated with a collection of engraved jade wine cups (Constable 1891, p. 426). Nephrite jade was sourced from the Kunlun Mountains in China’s Xinjiang province and was symptomatic of a wider Asiatic trade pioneered by the fourteenth century Chinese Ming and Turco-Mongol Timurid dynasty, the latter from whom the Indian Mughals claimed descent. The extensive use of jade, with its exotic origins, may have reflected Mughal genealogical aspirations as well as their outward desire to engage with and subsume foreign cultures.  Despite a lack of surviving textual sources, it has been speculated that the techniques of Mughal jade working would have utilised those found in other craft industries, such as gemstone lapidaries, who would have used hard abrasives and bow-lathes in their production (Markel 2008).

The use of jade in the fabrication of a candlestick is highly rare and unusual. The form takes on that of medieval bell shaped candlesticks found throughout the Islamic world, a direct emulation which indicates that their wasn’t an extensive developing tradition of Mughal jade candlesticks.  The closest parallels to such an object can be found in East Asia. A Ming era jade candlestick was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1935-1936 ( St. George Spendlove & Royal Academy of Arts 1935, pl. 251, no. 2790) and another can be found in the National Palace Museum of Taipei (Shu-Ping 1983, pp. 254-55, pl. 65).  This piece therefore retains some stylistic heritage with the Chinese origins of its material and is a testament to the extensive intra-Asiatic movement of ideas and techniques.

Lot 1493. A fine Longquan celadon cup, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 9 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 80,000 - 100,000 (USD 10,300 - 12,800). Lot sold HKD 94,400. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Lot 1497. A Longquan celadon foliate bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 15.7 cm. wide. Estimate HKD 100,000 - 120,000 (USD 12,800 - 15,400). Lot sold HKD 118,000. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Lot 1500. A Longquan celadon censer, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368); 14 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 60,000 - 70,000 (USD 7,700 - 9,000). Lot sold HKD 70,800. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired prior to 2000.

Lot 1501. A Longquan celadon cup stand, Ming dynasty, 14th-15th century; 14.5 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 25,000 - 35,000 (USD 3,200 - 4,500). Lot sold HKD 35,400. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

China Guardian. 2019 Spring Auctions. Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Tang to the Song Dynasty 

Lot 1503. A rare Guan-type flower-shaped cup, Yuan-Ming dynasty (1271-1644); 7.9 cm. wide. Estimate HKD 20,000 - 50,000 (USD 2,600 - 6,400). Lot sold HKD 82,600. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Provenance: Dr. Carl Kempe (1884-1967) Collection.

China Guardian. 2019 Spring Auctions. Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Tang to the Song Dynasty 

Lot 1507. A Jizhou tortoise shell-glazed conical bowl, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 15 cm. diam. Estimate HKD 50,000 - 80,000 (USD 6,400- 10,300). Lot sold HKD 73,160. © 2019 China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.