Lot 1023. A small brown-glazed jarlet, Liao Dynasty (AD 907-1125); 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm.) diam. Estimate 3,000 - USD 5,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019.

Of a compressed globular form, the jarlet is incised with wavy cord markings below five impressed 'fish roe' rings evenly spaced below two grooved bands, all covered with a rich chestnut glaze pooling to a darker color in the recesses and continuing over the foot ring onto the base.

Property from the Collection of Dr. Maurice Berger. 

Provenance: Fritz Low-Beer & Company, New York, March 1949.
Myron and Pauline Falk Collection, New York, no. 39.
Christie's New York, 29 March 2006, lot 385.

Literature: M. Yutaka, Ceramics in the Liao Dynasty: North and South of the Great Wall, New York, 1973, no. 60, p. 86.

Exhibited: New York, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, Ceramics in the Liao Dynasty: North and South of the Great Wall, 15 March-28 May,1973.

Lot 839. A gilt copper alloy funerary mask, Liao dynasty (907-1125); 7 1/4in (18.4cm) high; 8 1/8in (20.7cm) wide. Estimate US$ 5,000 - 7,000 (€ 4,500 - 6,300). © Bonhams.

Hammered from a thin copper, tin and silver alloy sheet and realistically modeled with thin, sunken eyes, wide brows setting off a long triangular nose and small mouth accenting the broad cheeks and long crescent ears, the surface covered with earthen encrustation. 

Provenance: Sloan's, September 1998, lot 620.

On loan and exhibited: The Denver Art Museum, 1998 - 2016, (Loan 1999.2).

Note: Funerary masks such as this lot began to appear in the West in the early 20th century. It was Japanese archaeologists during the occupation of Manchuria who identified the group as belonging to the Khitan tribes that formed the Liao dynasty (907-1125). For a review of the archaeological history of these masks, Liao burial customs, and a silver-coated bronze mask at the University Museum, Philadelphia, see Jan Fontein & Tung Wu, Unearthing China's Past, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1973, cat. no. 101, pp. 192-194. See also Asia Society exhibition, Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China's Liao Empire (907-1125),, New York, 2006, pp. 100 - 101.

Lot 851. A gilt-bronze figure of Maitreya Bodhisattva, Liao dynasty (907-1125); 7 5/8in (19.5cm) high. Estimate US$ 50,000 - 70,000 (€ 45,000 - 63,000). © Bonhams.

Finely cast with a tall tiara decorated with jeweled florets and scrolling clouds flanking a central stupa and curling backwards over the tall topknot, the sides of the tiara tied with knotted streamers hanging from the sides, framing a full round face set with heavily-lidded downcast eyes and pouty lips, dressed in loose flowing robes with clearly defined folds, ending in a pleated hem above the right leg, the robe open at the chest to revel a necklace of three florets suspending pendants, the right hand held at chest level, the right cradling a water pot, seated in dhayanasana on a lotus throne with two rows of petals with the stamens filling the gaps in the upper row, all supported on a circular stepped pedestal.. 

Provenance: Acquired in Japan, 2011.

Note: The stupa in the headdress identifies the figure as Maitreya, a bodhisattve who will appear on Earth in the future to achieve complete enlightenment. The stupa on Maitreya's headdress represents the stupa enshrined with relics of Gautama Buddha, as such, Maitreya is regarded as the successor of Gautama Buddha. 

The present figure bears many characteristics typical of Liao dynasty gilt-bronze Buddhist figures, such as the tall headdress with cloud motifs, the knotted streamers hanging from the headdress, the full, round face, the elongated body and narrow leg width, the pronounced folds in the clothing, and the distinctive lotus throne with stamens showing between the gaps in the upper row of lotus petals.

These features can all be seen in a Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figure of Vairocana in the Metropolitan Museum of Art illustrated by Christian Boehm, 'Buddhist Bronzes of the Liao Dynasty', Arts of Asia, January-February 2019, p. 87, figs. 1 and 2; and in a Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figure of Maitreya in the British Museum, illustrated, ibid, p. 90, fig. 6.

The pleated hem above the right leg of the present example is also visible on a Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figure of Amitabha Buddha in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art illustrated ibid, p. 88, fig. 3.

For examples of other Liao dynasty gilt-bronze figures without lotus thrones and a discussion of the characteristic features of Liao dynasty bronzes, see ibid, pp. 87-96. A similar but smaller figure was sold at Christie's New York, 18-19 September 2014, lot 1021.

Lot 836. A rare gilt silver head ornament in the form of a phoenix, 9th-11th century; 3in (7.6cm) high. Estimate US$ 5,000 - 7,000 (€ 4,500 - 6,300). © Bonhams.

The finely modeled crested bird with chased hollow body set off by a high crested tail and separately fashioned openwork wings attached through the body and pierced with two small holes at each tip suspending pendant chains, a further cluster of ornaments and chains falling from the slender beak, the small legs inserted through a bed of delicately fashioned layers of lotus petals. 

Provenance: J. J. Lally, 20 December 1993.

On loan and exhibited: The Denver Art Museum, 1993-2016 (Loan 795.1993).

Note: See a similar model exhibited in the Reitberg Museum, Zurich, 1991, from the Dali Kingdom, Yunnan, and illustrated in the catalog Der Goldschatz der Drei Pagoden, no. 22.

See also a similar model found at the Famen Temple in Precious Cultural Relics in the Crypt of Famen Temple, no. 58. The Famen temple can be dated, through a discovered stone inscription, to the Tang dynasty, and had been sealed from the fifteenth year of Wentong, during the reign of the Tang Emperor Xizong (AD 873). There are pair of similarly executed phoenix birds over the lintel of the Famen crypt entrance, illustrated as cat. no. 14. Tang pottery female figures are often shown with a phoenix-bird ornament as a centerpiece in their official court headdresses. 

See a closely related silver-gilded hair ornament found in the Chifeng district and published in Asia Society exhibition, Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China's Liao Empire (907-1125),, New York, 2006, pp 156-157. Both a Chinese and a Khitan feminine symbol, it is likely that these ornaments were hair ornaments for an elite woman. The hooked beak may also be related to the Khitan passion for falconry, part of the ritual hunting calendar and conducted in the early spring. See Emma C. Bunker, Julia M. White and Jenny F. So, Adornment for the Body and Soul: Ancient Chinese ornaments from the Mengdiexuan Collection, pp. 19-22, 274 and 278.

Lot 837. A chased and cast silver cup with gilt highlights, 10th-12th century; 2 3/8in (6cm) diameter, 1 7/16in (3.6cm) high, 48 grams. Estimate US$ 5,000 - 7,000 (€ 4,500 - 6,300). © Bonhams.

Of inverted bell form raised on a low foot and flat base, the interior rim chased with a narrow band of overlapping petals or waves and the exterior walls engraved with a wider band of two garden rocks that separate peony branches in bloom against a minutely ring-punched ground, the surfaces showing traces of gilt. 

Provenance: Jim Freeman, 3 November 1981.

On loan and exhibited: The Denver Art Museum, 1982-2016 (Loan 119.1982).

Published: Sui-To no bijutsu, Osaka, 1996, no. 2-32, as Five Dynasties.

Note: The tiny ring-punched background on the decorative band surrounding this cup is often encountered in Tang metalwork. However cups of similar inverted bell form are normally raised on a tall pedestal foot: see the China Institute of America exhibition, Early Chinese Gold & Silver, New York, 1971, cat. no 47, p. 41 and cat. no. 64, p. 50 (both from the collection of the Hon. Hugh Scott). Typical of their decoration is a dense filigree across the exterior surface. A similar dense background of tiny circular punches behind geese in flight amid flowering branches covers the concave sides of a cup raised on an everted foot rim, excavated in 1988 from the tomb of Wei Xun, as discussed by Carol Michaelson in Gilded Dragons: Buried Treasures from China's Golden Ages, The British Museum, 1999, cat. no 61, p. 100-101. For bell-form bowls of larger size, ascribed to the late Tang period, excavated in the Xi'an area but undecorated and with a spreading ring foot, see Sun Fuxi (ed.), Xi'an wen wu jing hua: jin yin qi, Guangdong, 2012, cat. no. 42 (13.35 cm diameter, 465 grams) and cat. no. 43 (13.7cm diameter, 538 grams).

This lot was attributed to the tenth century when the cup was exhibited in Japan, possibly owing to its unusual shape with a stepped foot and a sparser band of decoration. Metalwork with similar ring-punched backgrounds continued to be made after the Tang period, as indicated by examples excavated from tenth and eleventh century tombs included in the Asia Society exhibition Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China's Liao Empire (907-1125),, New York, 2006. See, for example, the gilt silver jug with scenes of filial piety excavated in 1992 from the tomb of Yelu Yuzhi and his wife Chonggun (before 942), cat. no. 95. pp. 320-321; or the saddle ornaments from the tomb of the Princess of Chen and Xiao Shaoju (1018 or earlier) excavated in 1986, cat. no. 12a-d, pp. 122-123. Given the Japanese provenance of the tiny silver cup, and the excavation of Liao sites undertaken by the Japanese during their occupation of northern China, it is possible that the cup was made during the Liao dynasty.

Lot 838. A rare gold overlay silvered bronze mirror, 9th-13th century; 8 1/8in (20.8cm) diameter, 1.190 kilograms. Estimate US$ 12,000 - 15,000. © Bonhams.

Cast in high relief against a ring-punched ground with a domed knob rising from an open lotus flower head surrounded by two phoenixes flying head to tail, a flowering branch held in each beak and other blossoms issuing out of their curling tail feathers, the relief finished in gilt to contrast with the silver finish on the wide rim and reverse reflective surface. 

Provenance:Jim Freeman, 3 November 1981.
On Loan, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1981.

On loan and exhibited: The Denver Art Museum, 1982-2016 (Loan 95.1982).

Published: Sui-To no bijutsu, Osaka, 1996, no. 2-32, as Five Dynasties.

Note: A line drawing of a bronze mirror with similar double phoenix decoration was ascribed to the Tang dynasty in Xu Huacheng (ed.), Zhongguo feng huang, Beijing, 1988, p.14. No information on size or provenance was included; but the line drawing shows a variation in the arrangement of the flowers issuing from the beaks and tails of the birds, their relative position to the central medallion and the presence of incised lines to the petals of the open lotus flower central medallion in contrast to the decoration on this lot.

A second mirror with incised lines to the petals of the open lotus flower central medallion, but with a dissimilar pair of phoenixes, was ascribed to the Yuan dynasty by Xiao Fuhan in Xi’an wen wu jing hua: tong jing, Xi’an, 2008, no. 165, pp. 170 and 208 (20.5cm diameter, 1.13 kg in weight). The Yuan mirror appears to be quite worn; but it is easy to see that the shape of the phoenixes and the flowering branches closely resembles those on this lot. There are also differences however: using a horizontal line drawn through the transverse hole in the center knob of each mirror as a point of orientation, the phoenix head at the top of the Yuan mirror is at approximately 12 o’clock, but the phoenix head at the top of this lot is at 10 o’clock. The Yuan mirror shows more striations in the wings of each phoenix and shows incised lines to the petals of the lotus central medallion. The lotus petals on the center medallion of this lot have no striations.

Owing to its obvious wear, it is impossible to tell if the background on the Yuan mirror is smooth or covered with the ring-punched ground of this lot. Certainly the preservation of the surface decoration on this lot is remarkable, comparable to examples of Liao metalwork published in recent years. The tomb of the Princess of Chen and her husband Xiao Shaoju (1018 or earlier) yielded similar fine ring punched grounds on saddle ornaments and bold phoenix decorations on a gilt silver crown, boots and headrest: see the Asia Society exhibition, Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China’s Liao Empire (907-1125), New York, 2006, cat. nos. 3, 4, and 5, pp. 102-107 and cat. no. 12a-d, pp. 122-123. Also included in the exhibition was a gilt bronze mirror of substantial size with intricatedragon decoration, from the tomb of Yelu Yuzhi and his wife Chonggun (before 942) (ibid., cat. no. 55, pp. 224-225, 28cm diameter, 1cm thick). It is therefore possible that this lot could also have been produced under Liao patronage rather than during the Tang or Yuan period.

Lot 524. A rare and large 'Yue' chicken-head ewer, Southern Dynasties (420-589). Height 17 3/8  in., 44.2 cm. Estimate USD 30,000 — 50,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the tall ovoid body rising from a flat foot and surmounted by a tall tapering neck rising to an everted galleried mouth, the body encircled by double ribs and applied with two small double lug handles centering a mock spout modeled as a chicken's head, set with a slender arched strap handle with a dragon head terminal biting the rim, applied with a thick olive-green glazed pooling at the rings and stopping irregularly above the foot to reveal the stoneware body, two Japanese wood boxes (5).

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 15th December 1981, lot 121.

Note: Ewers of this type, with a mock spout, are known as ‘heavenly chicken ewers’, emblematic of their function as tomb wares. These ewers began to be produced in the Jin dynasty (265-420) by the Yue kilns in Zhejiang province, but they were soon copied by other southern manufactories and later adopted by northern celadon kilns. Ewers with chicken-head spouts are known in various sizes and proportions, their popularity attributed to the auspicious connotations of chickens, which were believed to be able to exorcise evil and cure diseases.

A similar ewer was unearthed at Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, and is illustrated in Historical Relics Unearthed in New China, Beijing, 1872, pl. 141; and another with elaborate sprig-molded reliefs and attributed to the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577), is illustrated in Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics 1. Early Wares: Prehistoric to Tenth Century, Taipei, 1991, p. 152 (top right).

Sotheby's. A Noble Pursuit: Important Chinese and Korean Art from a Japanese Private Collection, New York, 11 Sep 2019

Lot 526. A rare and large straw-glazed pottery amphora, Early Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 19 1/2  in., 49.6 cm. Estimate USD 40,000 — 60,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

elegantly potted, the slightly splayed foot swelling to high, rounded shoulders surmounted by a tall waisted neck molded with four raised rings and an everted galleried rim applied on each side with a molded florette, further florettes applied to the shoulder, surmounted by two curved double-strap handles applied with three studded bosses, terminating in dragon-head terminals biting the rim, covered overall with a finely crackled translucent glaze of pale yellowish tint stopping unevenly above the base to reveal the fine buff body, Japanese wood box (3).

Provenance: Mayuyama, Tokyo, prior to 1976.

Literature: Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 214.

Note: Vases of this elegant form, with full rounded shoulders, a tall ringed neck and a pair of sweeping handles in the form of sinuous dragons, illustrate the international spirit of the Tang dynasty. Known in Chinese as longbinghu 'dragon-handled jars', their form was inspired by silver and glass vases made in the Roman Empire and brought to China through the Silk Route. The Tang potters cleverly adapted Western forms to suit contemporary taste by modelling the handles in the form of dragons biting the vessel’s rim.

Examples of dragon-handled amphoras, both with white and amber-brown glazes, have been found in Gongyi city, Henan province, not far from the Gongyi kiln site, one of the foremost producers of Tang pottery. A reconstructed example, unearthed from a Tang dynasty tomb at Beiyaowan, near Gongyi, was included in the exhibition Ceramic Finds from Henan, University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1997, cat. no. 12.

A very similar amphora from the collection of Robert W. de Forest, now in the Newark Museum, was included in the exhibition Chinese Art from the Newark Museum, China Institute in America, New York, 1980, cat. no. 9; and another from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Bernat was sold in these rooms, 7th November 1980, lot 54, and again at Christie’s New York, 4th June 1987, lot 156.

Lot 521. A large white glazed jar, Tang dynasty (618-907). Height 11 1/2  in., 29.4 cm. Estimate USD 10,000 — 15,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the broad baluster body rising from a slightly splayed base to gently rounded shoulders surmounted by a waisted neck and everted rim, covered overall with a clear glaze over a white slip, stopping unevenly above the base to reveal the fine buff body, Japanese wood box (3).

Edward Steichen, Henri Matisse travaillant à"La Serpentine", 1913 © ADAGP, Paris. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d'Orsay) / Gérard Blot.

ZURICH.- From 30 August to 8 December 2019 the Kunsthaus Zürich presents Henri Matisse as sculptor, in an exhibition that brings bronzes in various states together with the sources of his inspiration, including nude photographs and African sculptures. The art education programme is designed to appeal equally to newcomers with an interest in art, specialists and families. 

Over 70 works, accompanied by reproductions of historical photographs, films and music, offer a vivid presentation of Matisse’s artistic method. Installed in the large exhibition gallery of the Kunsthaus, the exhibition opens with sculptures by Rodin, Maillol and Bourdelle whom Matisse – known for his colourful paintings – strove to emulate before breaking free and striking out on his own. His figures undergo a transformation that is akin to a metamorphosis: while the earliest works still bear the influence of naturalistic ideals, later creations and reworkings of the same motif become increasingly abstract. 

Hans Marsilius Purrmann, Matisse pose dans son atelier, 1900–1903. Archives Henri Matisse, Issy-lesMoulineaux, © 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

FORMAL PROGRESSION IN SCULPTURE, PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS 
A formal progression – as in the bronze reliefs ‘Nu de dos I–IV’ – from a seemingly naturalistic approach to radical stylization can also be seen in reclining nudes (‘Nu couché I–III’), graceful figurines (‘Madeleine I–II’) and voluminous busts (‘Jeannette I–V’). 

There are parallels in the work of Matisse as painter and draughtsman. For the first time this exhibition examines the relationships between the sculptures and his paintings, cut-outs and drawings through the prism of metamorphosis. One striking fact is that Matisse did not simply document the processes of transformation for his own private use, but actually exhibited the documentary photographs together with his paintings (e.g. ‘Nature morte au coquillage sur marbre noir’, 1940). The Kunsthaus Zürich explores the rationale behind this public displaying of the creative process – an aspect that no exhibition has examined in detail before. 

Henri Matisse, Nu couché I (Aurore), 1907, Bronze, 34,4 x 49,9 x 27,9 cm, The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland. Photo: Mitro Hood© Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Nu couché III, 1929, Bronze, 18,7 x 46,5 x 15,1 cm, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966. Photo: Cathy Carver, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden © Succession Henri Matisse/2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Nu couché de dos, 1944, Fusain sur papier marbré«Aquarelle Canson France», 38,2 x 56,6 cm, Musée Matisse, Nice. Photo: François Fernandez © Succession Henri Matisse/2019 ProLitteris, Zurich

Henri Matisse, Madeleine I, 1901, Bronze, 54,6 x 19,4 x 17,2 cm, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Bequest of Harriet Lane Levy. Photo: Ben Blackwell © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Jeannette III, 1910/1911, Bronze, 60,3 x 26 x 28 cm, Musée d‘Orsay, Paris, déposé au Musée Matisse, Nice, don de Mme Jean Matisse, 1978. Photo: François Fernandez © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, JeannetteIV, 1910/1911, Bronze, 61,5 x 21,5 x 26 cm, Musée d‘Orsay, Paris, déposé au Musée Matisse, Nice, don de Mme Jean Matisse, 1978. Photo: François Fernandez © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, JeannetteV, 1916 Bronze, 57,3 x 17,9 x 28 cm, Musée d‘Orsay, Paris, déposé au Musée Matisse, Nice, don de Mme Jean Matisse, 1978. Photo: François Fernandez © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Margot, 1906, Huile sur toile, 81 x 65 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, 1925© Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich

INSPIRED BY AFRICAN SCULPTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY 
In addition to the artistic method of metamorphosis, the exhibition looks at other key aspects of Matisse’s sculptural oeuvre. It shows how he engaged with Rodin and the art of Antiquity and the Renaissance, and reveals how the creative process was preceded by an intensive engagement with photographs and African sculptures. 

Atelier de la région de Ségou, Bamana, Mali, Personnages Jomooni féminin et masculin, début du 20e siècle, Bois et métal, H: 40,5 et 43,3 cm Collection privée, anciennement collection Matisse. Photo: Xavier Martinez.

Auguste Rodin, Jean d‘Aire, 1887, Bronze, 205 x 68 x 67 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, dépôt du Canton de Zurich, 1949.

«Raccourci de jambes (modèle de dos)» dans: Mes Modèles, probablement 20.11.1906, p. 671. Archives Henri Matisse, Issy-les Moulineaux.

BLURRING OF SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS 
The stylistic devices of the arabesque that are much in evidence in ‘La serpentine’ (1909) characterize almost all of Matisse’s sculptures. The blurring of sexual characteristics, as in the four ‘Nus de dos’ and the ‘Petit torse mince’ (1930), is a further distinctive element of his approach. 

Henri Matisse, La serpentine, 1909 Bronze, 56,2 x 28,8 x 19,5 cm, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, photo: SMK Photo/Jakob Skou-Hansen © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Nu de dos I, 1908–1909 Bronze, 190 x 116 x 15 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, 1960, © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Nu de dos II, 1913 Bronze, 190 x 118 x 19 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, 1960, © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Nu de dos III, 1913–1916 Bronze, 190 x 114 x 16 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, 1960, © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Henri Matisse, Nu de dos IV, 1930 Bronze, 190 x 114 x 16 cm, Kunsthaus Zürich, 1960, © Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

MAJOR LOANS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD 
In the case of the bronze ‘Nu de dos’ reliefs, it took Matisse 20 years to work through the metamorphosis of a single motif to its ultimate conclusion. The protracted nature of the process tells us that the creation was never intended as a series – whatever the visitor standing before the four larger than life-size reliefs today may think. 

Curator Sandra Gianfreda has put together this enlightening presentation with the help of loans from famous collections in Copenhagen, Washington, Baltimore, San Francisco, Paris, Moscow and Nice. As cooperation partner, the Musée Matisse in Nice has contributed the bulk of the loans and will take over the exhibition after it leaves Zurich (7.2.–6.5.2020; co-curator Claudine Grammont). As this exhibition demonstrates, Matisse was an artist who was capable of much more than simply painting. His sculptures are a milestone in modern art.

Atelier de Matisse dans l‘ancien hôtel Regina de Cimiez (Nice), 1953, Archives Henri Matisse, Issy-les-Moulineaux© Succession Henri Matisse/ 2019 ProLitteris, Zurich.

Lot 505. A brown-splashed black-glazed vase (meiping), Northern Song dynasty(960-1127). Height 19 1/2  in., 49.6 cm. Estimate USD 60,000 — 80,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the ovoid baluster body rising from a countersunk base to a broad sloping shoulder surmounted by a tall flaring neck and everted mouth rim, applied overall with a glossy brownish-black glaze liberally flecked with small irregular russet 'partridge-feather' mottles concentrated at the shoulder and extending down the body, the glaze thinning to a pale mushroom color along the rim, stopping irregularly above the foot to reveal the pale buff-colored body, Japanese wood box (3).

Provenance: Collection of Dr. Winifred Gray Whitman (1901-1993).
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 30th May 1973, lot 318.
Rare Art, New York.  

Note: This vase is remarkable for the captivating pattern of small irregular splashes covering its shoulders, creating a dramatic contrast against the lustrous black glaze. While black-glazed wares were made in large quantities in most kilns in northern China, the elegant form and delicate russet splashes on this piece are comparable to some of the finest examples of this type.

The spontaneous splashes applied on this piece are often referred to as ‘partridge-feather mottles’, or zhegu ban, a term mentioned in various texts from the mid-10th century onwards. In the catalogue for the exhibition Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1995, p. 139, Robert Mowry notes that these irregular splashes were probably inspired by black-glazed wares with fine splashes made at Ding and Cizhou-type kilns. Compare for example a Ding conical bowl, from the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, included in ibid., cat. no. 16.

A closely related vase in the British Museum, London, is published in R.L. Hobson, A Guide to the Pottery & Porcelain of the Far East, London, 1924, pl. 32; another in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession no. 1940.51; and one of more elongated form, in the Art Institute of Chicago, included in Hare’s Fur, Tortoise Shell, and Partridge Feathers, op cit., cat. no. 35. See also a jar of this form but with a pattern of russet florets, from the Yang De Tang Collection, sold in these rooms, 17th March 2015, pl. 77.

Lot 506. A 'Henan' russet-painted black-glazed meiping, Northern Song-Jin Dynasty (960-1234). Height 8 3/4  in., 21.9 cm. Estimate USD 20,000 — 30,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the ovoid tapering body rising to broad rounded shoulders surmounted by a short double-ringed mouth, freely painted in iron-oxide with an abstract design of two birds in flight reserved on a brownish-black glaze, the glaze stopping neatly above the foot ring to reveal the buff body, the countersunk base unglazed, Japanese wood box (3).

Note: Jars of this type are characterized by their freely painted designs, at times so succinctly executed that they tend towards abstraction. With a brush dipped in an iron-rich slip, the present vase was painted with three birds in flight, their wings and plumage rendered with short calligraphic strokes fired to a vibrant russet tone.

A jar of similar proportions and painted with birds, in the collection of Robert M. Ferris, was included in the exhibition Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell, and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown-and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1995, cat. no. 52; a slightly smaller one in the Meiyintang Collection, is published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, pl. 465; and a third was sold in these rooms, 7th February 1974, lot 154.

Lot 507. A rare 'Cizhou' white-glazed sgraffiato deep bowl, Northern Song-Jin Dynasty (960-1234). Diameter 7 1/8  in., 18.2 cm. Estimate USD 20,000 — 30,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

raised on a splayed foot, the steeply rounded sides incurving towards the wide mouth, covered overall in an ivory-colored glaze cut away leaving a broad chevron register enclosing demi-florettes alternating with foliate petals, with a narrow band of overlapping petals above, between single line borders, the footrim unglazed and burnt reddish-brown in the firing, lacquered wood cover, two Japanese wood boxes (6).

Provenance: Hirano Koto-ken, Tokyo, circa 1960. 
Sotheby's London, 14th July 1981, lot 78.

Exhibited: Chūgoku Kotōji Tō-Sō Meitoten [Chinese ceramics. The exhibition of Tang-Song masterworks], Japan Ceramic Society, Tokyo, 1964, cat. no. 192.
Chūgoku Kohijutsu-ten [Exhibition of Classical Chinese Works], Fukuoka-Tamaya Department Store, 1975, cat. no. 5.

Literature: Fujio Kayoma et al (eds.), Sekai Toji Zenshu So Ryo [Collection of world's ceramics. Song and Liao], vol. 10, Tokyo, 1961, pl. 118. 

Note: Deep rounded bowls, such as the present example, are one of the most iconic forms produced at the Cizhou kilns during the Northern Song and Jin periods. Several bowls of this form were excavated from the Guantai kilns, Cixian, Hebei province, and the form is found applied with a plain white glaze and with a variety of sgraffiato techniques, including incised designs on a wave ground, designs painted and incised through a dark slip and designs both incised and cut away, as with the current example. Four Cizhou bowls of this form decorated in different techniques are illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, pls 548-551.

The designs found on deep bowls of this type decorated with in sgraffiato techniques largely incorporate geometric, cloud and foliate bands. Compare one incised with a cloud scroll against a wave ground from the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, illustrated in Freedom of Clay and Brush through Seven Centuries in Northern China: Tz’u-chou Type Wares, 960-1600 A.D., Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, 1980, cat. no. 35, where a selection of related bowls is illustrated, ibid, p. 95, figs 81, 83-85.

The present design of triangular lappets below a scroll ground can also be compared with a brown-slip decorated sgraffiatojar, included in the exhibition Sekai Toji Zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World Song-Liao, vol. 10, Tokyo, 1955, cat. no. 101 and sold as part of the Linyushanren Collection at Christie’s New York, 13th September 2018, lot 827. 

Lot 512. A carved 'Ding''fish' bowl, Northern Song dynasty(960-1127). Diameter 6 1/2  in., 16.6 cm. Estimate USD 20,000 — 30,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

well potted, with deep gently rounded sides rising from a straight narrow foot ring, carved around the exterior with two rows of overlapping stiff lotus lappets, the interior finely incised with a central medallion enclosing a pair of fish swimming amidst combed waves, the tactile ivory-white glaze pooling in characteristic 'teardrops' and stopping neatly at the foot ring, the rim bound in metal, Japanese wood box (3).

Note: Ding bowls carved with this auspicious motif of fish swimming in water were popular in the Northern Song dynasty. Examples of this elegant deep shape are however unusual, and only one related example appears to have been published: a slightly larger bowl sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 24th November 1981, lot 31. See also a bowl carved with fish on the interior and with petals on the exterior, but of conical form, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s Special Exhibition of Ting Ware White Porcelain, Taipei, 1987, cat. no. 47.  

A bowl of this type but with a dragon on the interior, from the Kempe Collection, in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great Collections, Tokyo, 1982, vol. 8, pl. 107; and another with lotus, from the collection of J.H. Oppenheim, now in the British Museum, London, is published ibid., 1981, vol. 5, pl. 57. 

Lot 513. A large and superbly carved Qingbai 'Lotus'meiping, Southern Song dynasty(1127-1279). Height 15 1/8  in., 38.4 cm. Estimate USD 30,000 — 50,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

well potted, the ovoid body rising from a narrow tapered foot to a broad rounded shoulder surmounted by a short ribbed neck narrowing to a lipped rim, the body freely carved with a luxuriant floral scroll of long undulating foliate stems bearing large lotus heads, all on a finely combed ground, enclosed within incised concentric double-line borders at the foot and shoulder, covered overall with a pale bluish glaze, pooling in the carved recesses and stopping neatly at the foot ring to reveal the pale white body, Japanese wood box (3).

Provenance: Mayuyama, Tokyo, prior to 1976.

Exhibited: Chūgoku Meito Hyaku-sen [One Hundred Masterworks of Chinese Ceramics exhibition], The Nikkei, Takashimaya, Osaka, 1961, cat. no. 44.

Literature: Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 449.

Sotheby's. A Noble Pursuit: Important Chinese and Korean Art from a Japanese Private Collection, New York, 11 September 2019

Lot 850. A painted wood figure of a seated monk, Song dynasty (960-1279); 9 ¾ in. (24.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019.

Possibly representing the Tang dynasty monk, Sizhou Dasheng (the Grand Saint of Sizhou), the figure is shown seated in contemplation wearing a monastic, hooded robe that drapes gracefully over the edges of the pedestal seat, with traces of original pigment remaining.

Property from the Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Provenance: J. J. Lally & Co., New York, February 1996.

Note: For a discussion of the Tang dynasty monk Sizhou Dasheng, see Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied. Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, pp. 126-29, no. 28.

Glass strawberries, or Fragaria, gone white with imitation Penicillium, Model 791, Rudolf Blaschka, 1929. The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Harvard University Herbaria/Harvard Museum of Natural History. Photography by Jennifer Berglund © 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.- Imagine an orchard, lush and bursting with ripe fruit in the sweltering summer sun. Not all of the fruit weighing down the branches and vines will be fit to consume. Some strawberries will dampen and shrivel with mold, some peaches will be blighted in the shade, and some pears will become pockmarked with age. 

However, there is a beauty in this natural decaying process that repeats with each season. Perhaps the rot will be cut away and the fruit will be preserved as jam, jellies, pie, or compote. Maybe a hungry child or traveler will wander through the orchard rows and choose a less-than- perfect specimen for their late afternoon snack. Right now, in orchards in New England and beyond, microscopic agents are at work consuming the fruit to its core in a world beyond our sight. 

The Harvard Museum of Natural History presents Fruits in Decay, a special new exhibit in the Glass Flowers Gallery that explores blight, rot, and other diseases on summer fruits. It features exquisitely detailed glass botanical models of strawberries, peaches, apricots, plums, and pears made by famed glass artist Rudolf Blaschka between the years 1924-1932. On display for the first time in nearly two decades, these models capture—with astonishing realism—the intricacies and strange beauty of fruits in various stages of decay.

A glass branch of a peach tree, Prunus persica, having a rough go of it. Rudolf Blaschka, 1929. The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Harvard University Herbaria/Harvard Museum of Natural History. Photography by Jennifer Berglund © 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Donald H. Pfister, Curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany and Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany, praises the work of Blaschka, “Rudolf Blaschka’s last work centered on the creation of these models of diseased fruits. They are the culmination of his lifelong attention to accuracy and innovation. They illustrate the effects of fungi as agents of disease in plants and point to their importance in agricultural systems.” 

Fruits in Decay includes more than twenty glass specimens depicting common agricultural diseases and the effects of fungus such as peach leaf curl, gray mold, brown rot, soft rot, blue mold, shot-hole disease, stony pear, pear scab, fire blight, and leaf spot. 

Visitors will be able to see the delicate artistry of these celebrated Blaschka specimens August 31, 2019 through March 1, 2020. Fruits in Decay will replace the collection’s Rotten Apples exhibit, which will remain open until August 25, 2019.  

One of Harvard's most famous treasures is the internationally acclaimed Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, popularly called the “Glass Flowers.” This unique collection of more than 4,300 models, representing 780 plant species, was created by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son team of Czech glass artists, over five decades from 1886-1936. The Blaschkas were the last in a line of jewelers and glassmakers going back to fifteenth-century Venice. 

Professor George Lincoln Goodale, the first director of Harvard’s Botanical Museum, commissioned the collection as a teaching tool and public exhibition. Plant specimens are typically pressed and dried, then mounted on paper herbarium sheets, or they are preserved in liquid. At the time, scientific models were made from papier-mâché or wax, but Goodale wanted a better material to illustrate the plant kingdom.  

Branch with peach leaf curl. Prunus persica. Model 798, Rudolf Blaschka, 1929. The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Harvard University Herbaria/Harvard Museum of Natural History. Photography by Jennifer Berglund © 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College

Goodale saw the Blaschkas’ exceptionally realistic glass models of marine invertebrates in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and became convinced that this was the ideal medium for representing plants. Goodale traveled to Dresden in 1886 to visit the Blaschkas’ studio and he persuaded them to create glass models of plants for Harvard. The exceptional artistry and workmanship of these pieces proved readily apparent to all who saw them. Mary Lee Ware, a former student of Goodale’s, and her mother, Elizabeth C. Ware, financed the collection and presented it to Harvard University as a memorial to Dr. Charles Eliot Ware, Class of 1834. 

The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants officially opened to the public on April 17, 1893 and is one of seventeen galleries at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, which displays some 12,000 specimens of the University’s vast collections of more than 21 million. Since the Glass Flowers are always in bloom, hundreds of plant species may be studied year-round.

Lot 78. A large blue and white 'Dragon' garlic-headed vase, suantouping, Wanli six-character mark and of the period (1573-1620); 19 in. (49.5 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 30,000 - GBP 45,000. Price realised GBP 36,700. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

The pear-shaped body painted in inky-blue tones with two pairs of sinuous five-clawed dragons contesting a flaming pearl reserved on a ground of leafy flower-sprays, above a band of overlapping plantain leaves around the base and a key-pattern band on the foot ring, the slightly waisted neck with a saw-tooth border enclosing curled leaves beneath birds in flight and perched on flowering and fruiting trees, the globular mouth section with lotus scroll below the nianhao written in a line within a rectangular cartouche below the rim, glaze lines and minute rim chips.

Note: The design on this vase differs slightly from its apparently similar relations in being a 'dragon' vase and not a 'dragon and phoenix' vase. Compare the almost identical vase to the present lot in the Idemitsu Collection, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics, vol.II, no.745, and included in the 15th Anniversary Exhibition, Tokyo, 1981, Catalogue no.844; and another is illustrated by She Cheng, Mingdai Qinghua Ciqi Fazhan yu Yishu zhi Yanjiu, no.175. Several enamelled versions of this design are recorded: one is in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, Enamelled Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book III, colour pl.1; another is in the M.H. deYoung Memorial Museum, San Francisco, illustrated by R.-Y. Lefebvre d'Argenc, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, 1967, pl.LXII, fig.C, also illustrated by S. Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, pl.100A.

Examples of the 'dragon and phoenix' version are illustrated by Mary Ann Rogers, Chinese Ceramics in the Matsuoka Museum of Art, Part II, Orientations, January 1996, pp.14-33, fig.13, where three other blue and white and wucai vases are included; another is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol.I, pl.320, fig.956. Other wucai vases of this shape and with various decorations have been published, see Masterworks of Chinese Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, colour pls.14-33; and the Baur Collection example, illustrated by J. Ayers, Catalogue, Geneva, 1969, vol.II, no.A203. 

. MING - THE AGE OF REFINEMENT. London, 16 November 1998

Lot 514. A large and superbly painted blue and white 'Windswept'meiping, Ming dynasty, mid-15th century.Height 14 3/8  in., 36.5 cm. Estimate USD 80,000 — 120,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

finely potted with high swelling shoulders rising to a tapering neck and lipped rim, superbly painted around the sides in the 'windswept' style with a continuous landscape with a lady and her attendant a garden with trees, rockwork and a fence, the lady adorned in beaded jewelry and long flowing robes tied with billowing sashes, holding a feather in the raised right hand, the attendant following and carrying a book, all below boldly stylized clouds with mountain peaks and further cloud wisps in the sky above, the foot encircled by a wide band of upright banana leaves, the shoulder painted with a meandering scroll of camellia below a cloud scroll at the neck, all divided by double line borders, the base unglazed, Japanese wood box (3).

Provenance: Collection of R.H.R. Palmer (1898-1970).
Sotheby's London, 27th November 1962, lot 5.
J.T. Tai, New York.
Sotheby's London, 10th December 1968, lot 59.
Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, New York.

Literature: Ryōichi Fujioka, Tōji Taikei 42 Min no Sometsuke [Outlines of Ceramics: Blue and White Ceramics of the Ming Dynasty], vol. 42, Tokyo, 1975, pl. 59.

In histories of Chinese ceramics, the three short early Ming reigns of Zhengtong, Jingtai, and Tianshun, from 1436 to 1464, had long been omitted. Since the period was politically tumultuous and unstable, and no verifiable pieces with imperial marks from these reigns are known, ceramic specialists in China call it the ‘blank’ or ‘dark period’ (kongbaiqi, heianqi) and in the West, the ‘Interregnum’. Although several literary references attest to the contrary, it has generally been thought that for these nearly three decades in the mid-fifteenth century the imperial kilns were not in use; and even pieces considered as minyao, such as porcelains from dated tombs or pagoda foundations, did not lead to a proper recognition of Jingdezhen’s activity during that period.

Excavations at the imperial kiln site of Zhushan in Jingdezhen have now provided tangible evidence of an imperial production of porcelains during these reigns, which has suddenly focused unprecedented scholarly attention on this period. After a first exhibition devoted to this subject at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012, further exhibitions have more recently been organized in Shenzhen, at the Palace Museum, Beijing, once more in Hong Kong, in Jingdezhen and at the Shanghai Museum (the latter continuing until 1st September 2019). 

Although the stratigraphy of the site at Zhushan in Jingdezhen appears to be less clear than one would wish and does not allow for differentiation of pieces from the three reigns, it seems that the kilns were quite active in the Zhengtong (1436-1449) and Tianshun (1457-1464) periods and perhaps less so in the Jingtai reign (1450-1456), when cloisonné enamels may have been preferred. The excavations have, however, given most welcome insights into the kind of wares produced in the imperial workshops. Although no reign marks have been discovered and the imperial kilns seem to have been far less productive than before, in the Xuande period (1426-1435), and afterwards, in the Chenghua reign (1465-1487), the variety of wares they created is remarkable and many styles are highly original. Pieces from this period, which had entered the Qing Court Collection and are still in the Palace Museum, Beijing, had already been published (The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, Shanghai, 2000, vol. 1, pls 180 and 186); and a symposium held by the Shanghai Museum to coincide with the exhibition there has shown that Interregnum pieces from the imperial collection, so far unpublished, are also held in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Fragments of very similar figure-decorated vases and jars recovered from the Ming imperial kiln site at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, have been included in the exhibition Lustre Revealed. Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares in Mid Fifteenth Century China, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2019, cat. no. 200 (fig. 1). The relationship between such pieces from the imperial kilns, guanyao, and those from civilian kilns, minyao, are, however still somewhat obscure. Two related meiping with figure designs in the same catalogue, one excavated from a princely tomb in Guilin, the other also in the Guilin Museum, nos 202 and 203, are presented as perhaps representing gifts from the court, while others are classified as pieces in literati style from civilian kilns, namely nos 235-8, from the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo, the Shanghai Museum, the Tianjin Museum and the Shaoxing Museum.

Blue and white shards with figures, Ming dynasty, Zhengtong-Tianshun Reign, Collected from the southern slope of Zhushan in 1996, Jingdezhen Ceramic Archaeological Research Institute.

The gardenia flower on dishes of this type, zhizi in Chinese, is not immediately associated with any auspicious meaning, but its distinctive fragrance was popular among ladies who wore branches of gardenia in their hair. It was also used for flavoring tea and for preparing cosmetics, and the small fruits of the plant were coveted for dyeing–producing a fine yellow or orange color–as well as for their medicinal benefits.

A closely related dish in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, pl. 8:24, together with a slightly larger one with a six-character reign mark, pl. 8:23; another of slightly larger size, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Hongzhi and Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2017, pl. 235; a third from the Percival David Foundation, now also in the British Museum, London, is published in Soame Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1988, col. pl. H; and a further example from the collections of Mr and Mrs R.H.R. Palmer and Roger Pilkington, was sold in our London rooms in 1962, and in our Hong Kong rooms, 5th April 2016, lot 4.

Paul Gauguin, Paysage au toit rouge (Landscape with Red Roof). Oil on canvas, 81.5 x 66 cm. Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Photo: Robert Bayer.

BASEL.- After four years, Rudolf Staechelin’s (1881–1946) renowned collection of paintings is returning to Basel. To celebrate the return of the Staechelin paintings to Basel and make them accessible to all, the Fondation Beyeler is offering free admission to the museum all weekend (31.8.–1.9.19). 

Following much-acclaimed exhibitions at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D. C., both together with the Im Obersteg Collection, 19 impressionist, post-impressionist and classical modern works will be presented at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel from 31 August 2019. These remarkable paintings by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Ferdinand Hodler, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Auguste Renoir will be on focussed display until 29 October 2019. They will then be integrated in the Fondation Beyeler’s regularly evolving collection displays. The works’ return to public display in Basel marks a new chapter in the Rudolf Staechelin Collection’s eventful history. 

The Rudolf Staechelin Family Trust (New York) has entered a long-term loan agreement with the Fondation Beyeler for a period of ten years. During this time, none of the works may be sold. The loan’s associated costs, such as insurance, framing and restoration expenses, will be covered by the Rudolf Staechelin Family Trust. The Fondation Beyeler will regularly exhibit the works entrusted to its care and will in turn loan them to other Swiss and international museums. The Beyeler Collection is greatly enhanced by this renewed public and research access to art historically significant works, as the Staechelin paintings complement existing Beyeler holdings and introduce new points of emphasis. 

Paintings such as Arlequin au loup (1918) by Pablo Picasso, the still life Verre et pommes (1882) by Paul Cézanne and the landscape Temps calme, Fécamp (1881) by Claude Monet reinforce the core of the Beyeler Collection. This also holds true of other works by Cézanne, Degas, Monet and van Gogh, whose Le jardin de Daubigny (1890) offers a counterpart to the Beyeler Collection’s Champ aux meules de blé (1890). Both paintings were executed in Auvers-sur-Oise and belong to a group of 13 wide-format works, featuring the double-square format favoured by the painter in the last months of his life from mid-June 1890 onward. Examinations of the canvas structure carried out by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have revealed that the artist cut all double-square canvases from the same roll of fabric. The canvases for the Rudolf Staechelin Collection’s Le jardin de Daubigny and the Beyeler Collection’s Champ aux meules de blé are thus once more reunited in this exhibition. 

Pablo Picasso, Arlequin au loup (Harlequin with Black Mask), 1918. Oil on canvas, 116 x 89 cm, Rudolf Staechelin Collection. © Succession Picasso / 2019, ProLitteris, Zürich. Photo: Robert Bayer

Vincent Van Gogh, Le jardin de Daubigny (Daubigny’s Garden), 1890. Oil on canvas, 56 x 101.5 cm,  Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Photo: Robert Bayer.

Closely tied to the development of modern art, exhibited in the past at the Fondation Beyeler, yet not represented in its holdings, Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro are now enriching the Beyeler Collection with Tête de femme (1870) by Manet, Gabrielle (1910) by Renoir, and the landscape paintings Paysage au toit rouge (1885) by Gauguin as well as La Carrière, Pontoise (around 1874) and Le Sentier du village (1875) by Cézanne’s friend Pissarro. Late paintings by Ferdinand Hodler, to whom the Fondation Beyeler devoted an exhibition in 2013, form a highlight of the Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Among them are La malade (1914 and 1914/15), poignant portraits of his lover Valentine Godé-Darel, La morte (1915), a work held in high regard by Hodler connoisseurs, as well as three magnificent landscapes, Paysage de Montana (1915), Le Grammont après la pluie (1917) and Le Mont-Blanc aux nuages roses (1918). 

Édouard Manet,  Tête de femme (Head of a Woman), 1870. Oil on canvas, 56.5 x 46.5 cm, Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Photo: Robert Bayer.

Ferdinand Hodler, La morte (The Dead Valentine Godé-Darel), 1915. Oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm, Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Photo: Robert Bayer.

Ferdinand Hodler, Le Grammont après la pluie (The Grammont after the Rain), 1917. Oil on canvas, 60.5 x 80 cm, Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Photo: Robert Bayer.

Ferdinand Hodler, Le Mont-Blanc aux nuages roses (Mont-Blanc with pink Clouds), 1918. Oil on canvas, 60 x 85 cm, Rudolf Staechelin Collection. Photo: Robert Bayer

Until 29 October 2019, all paintings on loan from the Rudolf Staechelin Collection will be presented in a specific two-room exhibition, accompanied by selected related works from the Beyeler Collection. They will then be exhibited in the next Beyeler Collection exhibition in a wider art historical context (from 2 November 2019 to 5 January 2020). The public is invited to (re)discover the Rudolf Staechelin Collection in its new home

Lot 47. A very fine massive Longquan celadon dish, late 14th-early 15th century; 25 in. (63.5 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 40,000 - GBP 50,000. Price realised GBP 68,600. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

Heavily potted with a slightly convex base and gently curved sides, the body incised under the glaze with a large blooming peony spray at the centre, below a continuous fruit-and-flower scroll in the well and a narrow band of lingzhi-scroll at the rim, the exterior similarly incised with a scrolling lotus.

Provenance: John Schlesinger, Geneva.

Literature: Koyama Fujio, Seiji, Toji Taikei, vol.36, 1978, p.122, fig.58.

Note: An almost identical dish in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, Tokyo, is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl.597, together with a slightly larger dish decorated with a peach branch in the centre and flowering plants round the well as colour pl.153, and an undecorated dish of similar size as colour pl.156. Another large dish decorated with peach is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Longquan Qingci, 1966, pl.58; and another is in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, 1986, vol.I, no.242. 

Lot 48. An unusual Longquan celadon bird-shaped ewer and cover, Ming dynasty (1368-1644); 12 in. (30.5 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 7,000 - GBP 9,000. Price realised GBP 8,625. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

The bird of prey heavily modelled perched on a pierced tree-trunk base, the head raised and turned sharply to the left, with wings semi-spread, the circular cover with aperture at the centre, overall freely and deeply incised, the exterior and interior covered with a thick glossy sea-green glaze with large network of crackles, wood box.

Lot 49. A rare Longquan celadon octagonal stem-cup, second half of the 14th century; 5 in. (13 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 5,000 - GBP 7,000. Price realised GBP 6,325. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

The cup with flaring sides supported on a solidly potted stem with slightly spreading foot, the cup incised at the interior with a chrysanthemum flower-head at the centre below a key-pattern band at the rim, the exterior with eight scrolling flower sprays, fitted box.

Note: Very few celadon octagonal stem-cups of this date appear to be recorded. One very similar example is illustrated by B. Gyllensvrd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, no.156, p.65. Another was sold in Hong Kong, 2 May 1995, lot 10. Compare also the smaller Geyao octagonal stem-cup in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated Zhongguo Meishu Quanji (A Complete Anthology of Chinese Art, Ceramics), Shanghai, 1988, vol.3, no.92, where it is dated to the Chenghua period. 

Christie's. MING - THE AGE OF REFINEMENT. London, 16 November 1998

Lot 52. An underglaze-copper-red pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping, late 14th century; 13 in. (33 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 15,000 - GBP 20,000. Price realised GBP 27,600. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

The well-rounded body with a narrow neck and flaring mouth and supported on a short spreading foot ring, painted in underglaze-red with four large peony blooms alternately depicted in profile and full-faced, borne on a generously scrolling stem with characteristically spiky leaves and four smaller blossoms, between a row of stylised lappets at the base above a narrow band of classic- scroll on the foot, and a key-fret band around the neck below rising plantain leaves, the lip interior painted with a further classic-scroll band, the decoration of a violet-red tone fired to a liver-grey in some areas, part of neck restored, fitted box.

Note: Underglaze-red vases of this shape with a broad peony scroll below a band of trefoils are known with a variety of neck designs, but with varying degrees of success in the firing of the copper-red. For a discussion of the group, see J. M. Addis, A Group of Underglaze Red, T.O.C.S., vol.31, London, 1957-59, pp.15-37, and in particular p.27 where the author notes that silver vases of this form were included in the hoard of gold and silver vessels found at Hefei, Anhui, which can be dated to 1333 A.D., one of which is illustrated in the Archives of the Art Society of America, XI, 1957, p.82, fig.5c.

See Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol.I, p.241, no. 724 for an identical vase to the present lot, together with the very similar no.721, which is in the Tokyo National Museum, and two other examples with slightly different necks, nos. 722 and 723. Another very similar vase is in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, included in the Cleveland Museum of Art Exhibition, Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yuan Dynasty, 1968, Catalogue no.170. Other similar examples are in the Kokusui Museum, Japan, illustrated in the revised Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol.13, fig.146; and in the Newark Museum, New York, included in the China Institute of America Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1980, Catalogue no.20. For a very similar vase with the unusual variation of a peony scroll replacing the stiff leaves at the neck, see the example sold in these Rooms, 4 December 1995, lot 97. Compare also the vase of very similar design but painted in underglaze blue, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, pl.2.

Underglaze-red yuhuchunping can also be found with scrolling lotus, scrolling chrysanthemum, and even more unusually a design of 'The Three Friends', pine, prunus and bamboo; these less-frequently-found designs are however otherwise very similar to those vases with peony scroll in their decoration around the neck and foot. 

Christie's. MING - THE AGE OF REFINEMENT. London, 16 November 1998

Lot 55. A blue and white saucer-dish, Yongle period (1403-1425); 13 in. (35 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 10,000 - GBP 15,000. Price realised GBP 20,700. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

Lot 89. A rare anhua-decorated monk's cap ewer, sengmao hu, Yongle period (1403-1425); 8 in. (21 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 12,000 - GBP 15,000. Price realised GBP 18,400. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

Of characteristic form, with a strap handle set to the shoulder, barbed 'monk's-cap' outline along the rim, and anhua-decorated ruyi terminals where the tall looping handle meets the body, a small eyelet on the rim interior, overall covered in a soft creamy-white glaze, eyelet restored, fitted box.

Note: Monk's cap ewers were used in ritual ceremonies of the Lamaist sect of Buddhism, and were mostly made in metal. According to historical texts, Halima, a highly influential lama of the Karma-pa sect of Tibet, attended in Nanjing in 1407 at the specific invitation of the Emperor Yongle the religious services to honour his deceased parents; on his arrival, the Emperor presented Halima with lavish gifts. It is highly likely that white-glazed monk's cap ewers with Tibetan inscriptions were made in Jingdezhen by order of the Emperor for this purpose. For a discussion on Yongle ewers of this form and their excavation from an early Yongle stratum (Stratum Five) in Zushan Road, Jingdezhen, see Liu Xinyuan, Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, 1989, colour pl. 8, pp.98 and 99, where an example without Tibetan characters is illustrated, and p.59, fig.4 for a drawing of a ewer incised with a Tibetan inscription from the same site.

White-glazed monk's cap ewers do on rare occasions bear incised Yongle marks: one with cover is in the Tsui Museum of Art, another in the Idemitsu Museum, a third was sold in these Rooms, 1 December 1997, lot 90, and a further example, without cover, is in the Carl Kempe Collection.

Unmarked examples, with and without anhua decoration, are in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, 1982, vol.5, no.151; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, originally in the Herzmann Collection, illustrated by S. Valenstein, The Herzmann Collection of Chinese Ceramics, no.58, p.64; in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated by N. Palmgren, Selected Chinese Antiquities from the Collection of Gustav Adolf, Crown Prince of Sweden, pl.96; in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Shanghai Hakubutsukan, pl.116.

A ewer similar to the present lot, with cover, from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. P. Culloh, was sold in these Rooms, 10 December 1979, lot 322; two others, without covers, were sold in Hong Kong, 20 November 1984, lot 345, and 20 November 1985, lot 45; another, with anhua decoration, was sold in Hong Kong 14 November 1983, lot 111; an ewer with a Tibetan inscription was sold in New York, 19 November 1982, lot 252, and another, from the the Eumorfopoulos Collection, was sold in London, 30 May 1940, lot 314.

Lot 90. A small milk-white-glazed saucer-dish, Xuande six-character mark and of the period (1426-1435); 5 in. (12.9 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 6,000 - GBP 8,000. Price realised GBP 6,900. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

Evenly potted with curved sides and a slightly flaring rim, covered in a colourless glaze, painted inside the foot ring with the six-character mark within a double ring in underglaze blue, fitted box.

Provenance: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Clark, no.829.

Note: Compare the slightly smaller similar dish included in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, Special Exhibition of Hsan-te Wares, 1980, Catalogue no.120. 

Lot 93. A turquoise-glazed anhua-decorated dish, Xuande six-character mark and of the period (1426-1435); 8 in. (22.3 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 5,000 - GBP 7,000. Price realised GBP 8,280. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

The plain white interior incised at the recessed centre with three cloud wisps, the exterior incised with two sinuous dragons chasing the flaming pearl amidst cloud swirls, under a mottled blue glaze ranging from turquoise to deep purple in tone, restored.

Lot 94. A yellow-glazed deep bowl, Encircled jiajing six-character mark and of the period (1522-1566); 6 in. (16 cm.) diam.. Estimate GBP 5,000 - GBP 7,000. Price realised GBP 8,050. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

The evenly rounded sides with a slightly everted rim covered at the interior and the exterior with a warm pale yellow glaze, small foot rim chip, fitted box.

Provenance: The T. Y. Chao Private and Family Trust, Part I, sold in Hong Kong, 18 November 1986, lot 248.

Exhibited: Hong Kong Museum of Art, Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, 1978, no.44.

Note: Compare the Jiajing yellow-glazed bowl of this size and form in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, 1982, vol.11, no.87; and the example from the Frederick Knight Collection, sold in Hong Kong, 18 May 1982, lot 33. 

Lot 97. A rare yellow-ground 'Green dragon' deep bowl, Encircled Zhengde four-character mark and of the period (1506-1521); 5 in. (15 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 15,000 - GBP 20,000. Price realised GBP 26,450. © Christie’s Images Limited 1998

Thickly potted with steep sides and a flaring rim, enamelled with a warm golden-yellow ground with two dragons in mutual pursuit among clouds incised and picked out in pale green, above a lappet-band around the foot rim, rim cracks, fitted box.

Note: The green enamel dragon on a yellow ground was a frequently used design during the Zhengde period, but the present form is very rare. The design was more frequently used on dishes and leys jars, zhadou. Another example of a bowl of this form, from the Palmer Collection, was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society 1957 exhibition, The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, Catalogue no.196.