LONDON.- Precious records of the history of the Islamic world, Orientalist paintings provide a unique window into a realm that has forever changed, capturing in technicolour detail every aspect of life in the region.

This autumn, visitors to Sotheby’s London galleries will experience every facet of daily life in the Arab, Ottoman, and Islamic worlds through the paintings of the renowned Najd Collection. Recorded in a publication that today stands as one of the leading resources for Orientalist art, the Najd Collection enjoys a celebrated status. Though certain paintings from the 155-strong collection have occasionally been exhibited in leading institutions around the world, this superlative assemblage of works has never before been displayed in its entirety.

Beginning on October 11th this year, the Najd Collection will be unveiled to the public for the very first time – coinciding with the British Museum’s ‘Inspired by the East’ exhibition. This unprecedented exhibition will be followed by a dedicated evening sale of forty select paintings from the collection on October 22nd. Carrying an estimate of £25.1 – 38.8 million, the sale will be the highest-value ever staged in this category.

In the early to mid-1980s, one collector, driven by an informed passion to build a panoptic picture of society of the region a century or more ago, assembled the Najd Collection. Eager to look beyond the confines of their own Western experience, the artists represented throughout the Najd Collection travelled to and spent time in North Africa, the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East to portray first-hand what they saw and experienced. The legacy of their work has provided an invaluable documentary narrative of regions that have since been transformed by modernisation and, in some cases, conflict.

Artists in the Muslim world were not working in the same representational, figurative tradition as Western painters. Therefore, beyond the detail captured in Orientalist paintings, very few other visual records from the period capture the mores and manners of this part of the world in the nineteenth century.

Claude Piening, Sotheby’s Head of 19th Century European Paintings, London, said: “This is without doubt one of the greatest collections of Orientalist paintings in existence, and it is a real privilege – and indeed career highlight – to be able to exhibit the collection to the public in its entirety for the first time in its history. What strikes me the most is the visionary thought that underpinned the choice of images, made with a view to building a true social history of the Islamic world a century or more ago. Every single work in the exceptional collection puts the figure at its centre, and so together the group is defined by individuals, or groups of individuals, engaging with one another in everyday settings, travelling, praying, trading, or simply socialising – evoking the richly layered narrative of the cultures these artists encountered.”

EGYPT

Arguably the most famous of all the Orientalist painters, Gérôme travelled frequently to Turkey and Egypt. Though he was not averse to mixing fantasy with reality, paintings like this one would have been unthinkable without relying on a first-hand knowledge of the region.

Lot 14. Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824-1904), Riders Crossing the Desert, signed J. L. GEROME. lower left, oil on panel, 41 by 56cm., 16 by 22in. Estimate £3,000,000-5,000,000 / $3,621,500-6,035,800. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Gérôme first travelled to the Egyptian desert in 1856. It was a journey that left an indelible impression on him; he was overwhelmed by its scale, its beauty and its pitiless harshness, and he harboured the utmost respect for all those who braved it. All his impressions are captured in this painting, which exhibits a narrative and cinematic vision that characterises the very best of Gérôme’s oeuvre. Painted just a year after the opening of the Suez Canal, at a moment when the Orient was quickly becoming more accessible, this brilliant, compelling work captures an aspect of that world that remains forever timeless. 

Lot 6. Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824-1904), Prayers in the Mosque, signed J.L.GEROME. lower left, oil on canvas, 66 by 93cm., 26 by 36½in. Estimate £1,500,000-2,000,000 / $1,810,700-2,414,300. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Prayers in the Mosque, among Gérôme’s most popular works, is part of a series of paintings depicting Muslim men at prayer. The figures are executed with the artist’s usual documentary care: the men face east, towards Mecca, and between them demonstrate each of the ritual postures associated with the prayer. In reality, all of the worshippers would follow the different positions in unison. However, a manipulation such as this would have been a deliberate choice by the artist to illustrate to audiences at home, in the space of one canvas, the prayer’s consecutive stages.

Lot 15. Ludwig Deutsch (Austrian, 1855-1935), The Tribute, signed L. Deutsch lower left, oil on panel, 70 by 100cm., 27½ by 39in. Estimate £1,500,000-2,000,000 / $1,810,700-2,414,300. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Austrian artist Ludwig Deutsch devoted himself almost exclusively to painting the types he witnessed during several trips to Cairo, masterfully capturing every detail of their costumes and physiognomy. Like many of his contemporaries, Deutsch relied on early photographs to ensure his renderings of local architectural features were as accurate as possible. In fact, in his Paris studio he surrounded himself with photographs, Islamic tiles, furniture, textiles and metalwork to ensure that not a single detail escaped his attention. The Tribute is one of Deutsch’s most ambitious works and the highest estimated picture by the artist to appear at auction. Rich in detail, the painting depicts a cortège of four figures approaching an entrance of a palace guarded by a sentinel, as they seek to pay their tributes. Deutsch’s painstakingly detailed style is evident in every object, from the soldier’s peacock-feather helmet and ivory-hilted dagger to the bearded elder’s elaborately patterned turban and babouche slippers.

 Lot 3. Ludwig Deutsch (Austrian, 1855-1935), The Scribe, signed, inscribed and dated L. Deutsch PARIS 1904 lower left, oil on panel, 51 by 37cm., 20 by 14½in. Estimate £800,000-1,200,000 / $965,700-1,448,600. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

The Scribe depicts a public letter-writer, who is shown sitting in the street in a meditative pose outside his house waiting for passing trade. At that time society placed a high value on literacy and the subtleties of elegant calligraphy, and public scribes such as these were highly esteemed individuals.

Lot 35. Ludwig Deutsch (Austrian, 1855-1935), TheGuard, signed and dated L. Deutsch PARIS 1907 lower left, oil on panel, 58 by 42.5cm., 22¾ by 16½in. Estimate £800,000-1,200,000 / $965,700-1,448,600. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Celebrated for his masterfully observed single figures, Deutsch employed a rigorous technique and likely used a magnifying glass to achieve the extremely fine level of detail evident in this work. The painting depicts a proud and richly decorated sentinel, standing alert and brandishing a long Ottoman staff, with a cluster of weapons at his disposal. 

Lot 27. Ludwig Deutsch (Austrian, 1855-1935), The Morning Prayer, signed and dated L. Deutsch PARIS 1906 upper left, oil on panel, 59 by 44.5cm., 23 by 17½in. Estimate£700,000-1,000,000 / $845,000-1,207,200. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

The Morning Prayer is a powerful and noble evocation of the rites and religion of the Muslim world, depicting a man absorbed in prayerful contemplation facing towards the Kaaba in Mecca. Rather than focusing on subjects with a narrative or anecdotal quality, Deutsch took a far more modern approach – often described as documentary realism – by isolating and scrutinising particular moments in time. 

Lot 7. Frederick Arthur Bridgman (American, 1847-1928), The Messenger, signed and dated F A Bridgman 1879 lower left, oil on canvas, 57 by 91cm., 22½ by 36in. Estimate £300,000-500,000 / $362,100-603,600. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Painted in 1879, this work was inspired by Frederick Arthur Bridgman’s only trip to Egypt. The composition focuses on a meeting between the master of the house, surrounded by family and advisers, and an envoy bearing a letter. Bridgman was interested in the depiction of contemporary local customs, and a letter being hand-delivered by a traveller from afar – in contrast to the electric telegraph – would have been a novel event to observe.

Lot 32. Charles Robertson (British, 1844-1891), A Carpet Seller, Cairo, signed Robertson RWS lower right, watercolour and gouache over pencil on paper,79 by 135cm., 31 by 53in. Estimate £150,000-200,000 / $181,000-241,400. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Charles Robertson first travelled to Algeria in 1862 at the age of eighteen and was immediately enraptured by the local culture and customs; he subsequently travelled to Morocco, Egypt, Jerusalem, Damascus and Turkey. Demonstrating the artist’s mastery of watercolour, this exceptionally detailed work captures an animated market, which features an impressive rug draped over a balcony and various merchandise laid out for the day.

TURKEY 

Lot 21. Osman Hamdy Bey (Turkish, 1842-1910), Koranic Instruction, signed and dated Hamdy Bey 1890 lower left, oil on canvas, 80 by 60cm., 31½ by 23½in. Estimate £3,000,0005,000,000 / $3,621,500-6,035,800. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

One of only a handful of works by the artist ever to have appeared on the international market, this superlative work ranks among the finest ever painted by ‘Renaissance man’ Osman Hamdy Bey, one of the most accomplished and revered cultural figures of his day. Hamdy Bey was the first Turkish artist to embrace fully the European style of painting and to use it to depict his own country. More than any other Orientalist painter, he personifies the bridge between cultures. Unlike Western artists who approached their subjects from the outside looking in, Hamdy Bey was in the unique position of painting from the inside looking out.

Figurative painting was virtually unprecedented in Turkey at the time, so Hamdy Bey’s detailed, ‘realistic’ depictions of people pursuing their daily lives represented something completely radical and ground-breaking for his Turkish contemporaries. And Hamdy Bey’s readiness to challenge tradition did not stop there; beyond the figurative nature of the paintings themselves, he was also ready to use his works to challenge the social and religious mores of the time.

In this painting, subtle details such as the seated pupil on the verge of falling asleep challenge the noble occupation of Koranic instruction. This rebellious figure represents none other than the 48-year old artist himself. His inclusion of the word ‘napping’ in the Arabic script – a detail that would not have been lost on contemporary Turkish viewers—reflects Hamdi Bey’s playful spirit and acerbic wit.

Lot29. Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824 - 1904), The Harem in the Kiosk, signed J.L.GEROME lower right on the wall, oil on canvas, 76 by 112cm., 30 by 44in. Estimate £3,000,000-5,000,000 / $3,621,500-6,035,800. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

The Harem in the Kiosk depicts a group of veiled ladies and their daughters guarded by a formidable armed sentry. The artist uses the idyllic yet implausible outing as a device to convey the existence and workings of this social institution.

Lot 22. Rudolf Ernst (Austrian, 1854-1932), The Mosque of Rüstem Pasha, Constantinople, signed R. Ernst. lower right, oil on panel, 92 by 71cm, 36 by 28in. Estimate £400,000-600,000 / $482,900-724,300. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

The son of an architect, Rudolf Ernst made several trips to Morocco, Egypt and Turkey and devoted his life to painting Islamic scenes and vignettes of everyday life. On his return to France, he decorated his home in the Ottoman style. In this work, Ernst takes delight in recording the precise patterns of the Iznik tiles in a lavish mosque in Constantinople.

LEVANT

Lot 9. Gustav Bauernfeind (German, 1848-1904), Market in Jaffa, oil on canvas, 82 by 109cm., 32 by 43in. Estimate £2,500,0003,500,000 / $3,017,900-4,225,000. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's.

Architect and explorer Gustav Bauernfeind first visited the Levant in the early 1880s. He was immediately captivated and in 1898 persuaded his wife and son to leave Germany to settle with him in Jerusalem. Throughout his time there, he travelled extensively across the region, frequently visiting Syria and Lebanon. Despite the suspicion he aroused from locals as well as the risk of plague, Bauernfeind intrepidly painted in cities including Jaffa and Damascus. Rather than glamorize reality, he preferred to concentrate on genuine, unvarnished vignettes of everyday life as he witnessed them. From his first-hand observations of Middle Eastern culture, he created images that are historically and archeologically accurate.

Market in Jaffa is one of the finest works by the artist ever to have appeared on the international market. It is a true tour de force that showcases Bauernfiend’s great skill at rendering the local architecture and the hustle and bustle of a busy street.

NORTH AFRICA

Lot 10. Eugène Fromentin (French, 1820-1876), Windstorm on the Esparto Plains of the Sahara, signed Eug. Fromentin lower right and dated 1864 lower left, oil on canvas, 117 by 163cm., 46 by 64in. Estimate £400,000-600,000 / $482,900-724,300. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's. 

Eugène Fromentin secured his reputation as one of the leading figures of the Orientalist genre through extended stays in Algeria, publishing two illustrated travel books based on his first-hand experiences. This evocative painting is one of the most iconic images in nineteenth-century Orientalist art.

Unlike the approach of many of his fellow artists, Fromentin sought classical, idealised beauty in unfamiliar territories. Silhouetted against an ominous sky, a group of men brace themselves against the windstorms of the desert. In the extraordinary union between the horse and horseman, Fromentin saw a Greek centaur, the supreme example of the fusion between man and beast.

MOROCCO

Lot 28. Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (French, 1845-1902), The King of Morocco Leaving to Receive a European Ambassador, signed Benj. Constant lower left, oil on canvas, 136 by 106cm., 53½ by 41½in. Estimate £400,000-600,000 / $482,900-724,300. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's

In 1872, Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant joined a diplomatic mission from Tangier to Marrakech. Here, the artist immerses the viewer in the scenes of high pageantry and ceremony that he witnessed. The luminous composition is imbued with a cinematic quality, as the Sultan, mounted on a stallion, emerges to flags flying, smoke rising from gunshots and subject bowing on the ground.

The origins of Delftware lie in the early sixteenth-century richly colored Majolica wares, the first consumer pottery in the Netherlands.

AMSTERDAM.- Since the early 1900’s modern ceramics produced in various Dutch and even German cities were popularly called ‘Delft Blue.’ These objects continued the successful tradition of seventeenth and eighteenth-century products from the city of Delft. While the antiques gained attention from both national and international collectors and researchers, the modern factories grew their assortment and also produced similar objects with other color schemes and named them accordingly, i.e. Delft Red or Delft Green. The blue and white objects were however much more sought after and the name ‘Delft Blue’ stuck. The name soon became interchangeable between the modern and antique ceramics, however we refer to the antique objects as ‘Delftware.’ In turn, the popular term ‘Delft Blue’ means that nowadays many people are surprised that factories in Delft also made multi-colored, or polychrome objects in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The expanded range of colors, mainly after 1700, was rapidly supplemented by a range of forms, decorations and firing techniques. This is how Delft remained the market leader throughout most of the eighteenth century. Now you may discover the entire color palette of Delftware in an online exhibition presented by Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

The origins of Delftware lie in the early sixteenth-century richly colored Majolica wares, the first consumer pottery in the Netherlands. These objects were inspired by Southern European pottery, which is the reason why the use of color and the designs look very Spanish or Italian. The city of Haarlem emerged as the leading majolica centre. Multiple inventories show that forty-five potters had settled there and the production of majolica increased proportionally. Although it is impossible to identify and attribute the work of the forty-five potters in Haarlem, there is one exception: the wares of Willem Jansz. Verstraeten, who is considered the most important potter in Haarlem during the second quarter of the seventeenth century.

Majolica Polychrome Large Dish, Haarlem, circa 1630. Diameter 33 cm. (13 in.). €6.800,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

The arrival of Chinese porcelain, that came to the Republic with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the seventeenth century, however reduced the demand for Majolica. The blue and white porcelain wares were highly in vogue and therefore the Dutch potters decided to imitate the much-loved blue and white porcelain wares. In order to do so, they had to overcome both stylistic and technical challenges to imitate porcelain. These developments took place around 1620, with the cities of Haarlem and Delft playing leading roles in this process of innovation. These technical innovations were not all made simultaneously and many objects have qualities of both majolica and faience. In the second half of the seventeenth century the city of Delft took over from Haarlem in creating Delftware in which pottery painters adapted the sceneries on both Chinese Kraak and transitional wares for their own decorations. A unique type of decoration evolved from these different Chinese styles, which shows the Delft interpretation. Chinese figures, landscapes, architecture and attributes are rendered and composed in a way that is not Chinese, but semi-Chinese: Chinoiserie. This style originated in the seventeenth century and quickly became a dominant fashion throughout Europe, enduring through the first half of the eighteenth century. The faience painter choose especially the elements which were in his eyes the most characteristic for the exotic Far East and he combined it as he wished. Delftware is one of the first Dutch examples of Chinoiserie, which through its export contributed to the development of the style in Europe.

Blue and White Large Biblical Dish, Haarlem, circa 1650. Diameter 38.5 cm. (15.2in.). € 16.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Blue and White Baluster-form Jar and Cover, Delft, circa 1685. Height 38.5 cm. (15.2 in.). € 9.500,00© 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Blue and White Compartmented Sweetmeat Dish, Delft, circa 1690. Diameter 25.4 cm. (10 in.) €5.800,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

The range of colors seen on eighteenth-century Delftware was achieved through various techniques, using skills honed throughout many years. Not every paint color could be realized in a single firing process, and there were often several rounds in the kiln. Ceramics painted with grand feu colors of blue, green, and yellow were fired at a high temperature of about 1000 degrees Celsius (1800 degrees Fahrenheit). Ceramics were painted with grand feu colors but the Delft potters also developed new colors using the enamel technique. First used in the early eighteenth century, the so-called petit feu firing was one technique that allowed Delft potters to expand their color palette. The technique requires three firings, allowing the potter to use colors that could not withstand high temperatures in the kiln during the second firing (grand feu). The gold and enamel paints were applied after the biscuit firing, the tin glazing and the transparent glaze that added extra gloss (with or without grand feu decorations). With the petit feu colors on top of the glaze, the objects were fired again at a lower temperature (about 600 degrees Celsius / 1100 degrees Fahrenheit) in a smaller kiln known as the moffeloven (muffle kiln). The painted objects were very colorful and delicate, however the additional firing made them expensive to produce and sell. Another technique to apply colors to the white glazed wares was with a so-called cold painted decoration. Unlike the lengthy and expensive process of the grand feu and petit feu colors, the cold painted wares were not fired after they were painted and therefore more economical. It is extremely rare to find objects that are still completely decorated in the cold paint technique. Their rarity can partly be explained because of the popularity of white Delftware at the beginning of the twentieth century, whose scarce fragments of cold painted decorated were removed. 

Cashmere Palette Garniture, Delft, circa 1710. Heights 22.9 to 29 cm. (9 to 11.4 in.). €42.000,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Polychrome and Gilded Flower Vase, Delft, circa 1710. Height 21.3 cm. (8.4 in.). €19.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Petit Feu Polychrome and Gilded Puzzle Jug, Delft, circa 1730. Height 19.6 cm. (7.7 in.). €16.000,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Polychrome and Gilded Large Dish, Delft, circa 1710. Diameter 35.1 cm. (13.8 in.). €9.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Despite all these techniques to add color to the Delftware objects, white undecorated Delftware was also very fashionable during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Although these objects were less expensive to produce than the blue and polychrome Delftware, the objects were initially only affordable to the upper class. By the end of the seventeenth century, white Delftware was more commonplace and affordable as factories produced greater numbers of white kitchenwares for everyday use. The factories also manufactured decorative white objects of figures and animals that were displayed on a mantelpiece. Further, the Delftware painters also still created blue and white objects as they started in the seventeenth century. However, the style of decoration of the seventeenth-century objects often exudes an Asian atmosphere, but from the mid-eighteenth century onwards the potters turned the focus on a more European formal language. Not only the type of decoration shifted to a more Western pattern, but also the shapes of the objects.

Red Stoneware Teapot and Cover, Delft, circa 1715. Marked with the impressed oval of JACOBUS DE CALUWE enclosing a running deer. Height 10.4 cm. (4.1 in.). €5.800,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Persian Blue Ewer, Delft, circa 1700. Height 19 cm. (7.5 in.). €14.000,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

In the first half of the 15th century, mercantile cities such as Brugge (Bruges) and Antwerp in the southern Netherlands (now Belgium) became familiar with earthenware from southern Europe through both trade and political contacts with Italy, Spain and Portugal. This earthenware was exported by Spain and Italy to the northwestern European commercial centers often by sea.

One of the maritime trade routes passed through the Spanish island of Mallorca, from which the name ‘maiolica’ developed for a certain type of glazed pottery. Dutch Maiolica is an earthenware product coated with a tin glaze on the front or exterior and a highly translucent lead glaze on the back or base. Maiolica dishes were fired face down on three spurs that often left marks which remained visible in the central design. In Italy the city of Faenza was a well known center for the production of earthenware that came to be called ‘faience’ by the French. It was slightly more refined than maiolica and distinguished from it in that the earthenware body was completely covered on the front and back with a whiter tin glaze. Also, faïence dishes were fired with the image upward so the spur marks appeared on the back or underside.

Black Oval Plaque, Delft, circa 1710. Height 19.2 cm. (7.6 in.). €22.000,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

By the middle of the 15th century, largely through the gradual migration of potters from southern Europe through France to the Netherlands, the earthenware industry had become well established in Antwerp. At this time the Guild of Saint Luke was founded – an artisans’ guild which eventually would extend throughout the Netherlands and would exist for many centuries. The books of the guild reveal that by the end of the 15th century several Italian maiolica- and faience-makers in Antwerp had become extremely successful.

Polychrome figure of a stag, Delft, circa. Marked JvDuijn in manganese for Johannes van Duijn, the owner of De Porceleyne Schotel (The Porcelain Dish) factory from 1764 to 1772, or his widow Van Duijn-van Kampen, the owner from 1772 to 1773. Height 26.5 cm. (10.4 in.). €38.000,000 © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Pair of Polychrome Models of Recumbent Cows, Delft, circa 1775. Heights 10.8 cm. (4.2 in.), Lengths 14.4 cm. (5.7 in.). €28.000,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Pair of Polychrome Figures of Horses, Delft, circa 1765. Heights 16.3 cm. (6.4 in.). €29.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

In the second half of the 16th century, under religious pressure, many of the reformists and Protestants were forced to leave Antwerp. Most moved to London, Hamburg or the northern Netherlands and specifically to the city of Haarlem (the city after which New York’s ‘Harlem’ was named) near Amsterdam. One of the families in Haarlem who operated a successful potting business were the Verstraetens, who produced wares in the maiolica (or majolica) tradition. A quarrel in 1642 between Willem Jansz. Verstraeten and his son Gerrit split the market. The elder Verstraeten continued making the old-fashioned majolica and the son ventured into the more modern faience, which was more thinly potted and bore a closer resemblance to the imported Chinese porcelain wares that were becoming so sought-after. 

Pair of Petit Feu Butter Tubs, Covers and Stands, Delft, circa 1740. Unidentified VA mark in blue. Heights 9.4 cm. (3.7 in.), Lengths 18.2 cm. (7.2 in.). €26.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Set of Six Polychrome and Gilded Petit Feu Heart-Shaped Sweetmeat Dishes, Delft, circa 1740. Diameter 23.5 cm. (9.2 in.) (whole set). €19.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

The rise of the potting industry in Haarlem occurred simultaneously with the decline of the beer brewing industry in the town of Delft. As the Delft brewers ceased production at the beginning of the 17th century because the town’s canal water had become too polluted to be used to make a potable brew, their large abandoned buildings on the canals were quickly occupied by the pottery-makers, who could utilize both the space and the convenient water source for the working of their clays and for the transportation of their raw materials and finished wares.

At precisely the same time and throughout the 17th century, the Dutch developed a dominance in the European trade with China through which they imported large cargoes of luxury goods, including the much-coveted blue and white porcelain. By the middle of the century, however, a war in China interrupted the production and exportation to the Netherlands of Chinese porcelain, which declined from a quarter million pieces per year to a mere trickle. The potters in Delft seized the opportunity to fill the void, and they began producing earthenwares in emulation of Chinese porcelain, which they successfully marketed as “porcelain.” 

Polychrome plate, Delft, circa 1700. Marked / D PAUW 2 in blue for De Paauw (The Peacock) Factory. Diameter: 26 cm. (10 1/4 in.). €4.800,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Within the next century and a half, the Delft pottery-makers became so successful, that their products were imitated by many pottery and porcelain factories across Europe and even in the Far East. At the height of production the Guild of Saint Luke counted almost 40 factories in the small city of Delft. Because they were innovative and adaptive to the needs and whims of their varied clientèle, and because of the perseverance of the Delft potters, the elegant term ‘faience’ has become synonymous with ‘delftware’.

Pair of White Delft Milking Groups, Delft, circa 1770. Heights 17.8 cm. (7 in.). €11.500,00. © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Set of Four Blue and White Armorial Tobacco Jars and Brass Covers, Delft, circa 1820. Each painted with the crowned coat of arms of the city of Rotterdam above a banderole inscribed ‘T WAPE VAN ROTTERDAM. Heights 25.4 to 26 cm. (10 to 10.2 in.). © 2019 Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam.

Photo: Bonhams.

HONG KONG– Bonhams has secured one of America's premier private collections of Modern Chinese paintings for sale. Comprising over 280 works in total, The Reverend Richard Fabian Collection of Chinese Paintings spans from the Kangxi and Qianlong period to the 1980's, encompassing every major school with examples by such masters as Ren Yi, Xugu, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong, Xu Beihong, Zhang Daqian, Fu Baoshi, and Li Keran, among others. A select group of 38 works will debut at Bonhams Hong Kong on 9 October.

The Collector, Reverend Richard Fabian – Founder and rector of San Francisco's ecumenical St. Gregory Nyssen Episcopal Church – first discovered the compelling beauty of Chinese paintings while majoring in Chinese art at Yale University in the 1960s. From then he started building 'The Fabian Collection', pursuing works by the eminent painters of the 19th and 20th century. Over three decades, Fabian formed a panoramic collection that spans the 200-year development of Chinese paintings across different schools, including Orthodox (正統派), Jingjiang (京江畫派), Wu(吳門), Lingnan (嶺南), Shanghai (海派) and Jing-jin (京津).

While these two centuries represent a period of great political turbulence and social upheaval in Chinese history, this collection reflects the dynamic creative response of artists to the turmoil imposed by the world around them. Whereas some artists, such as Wu Changshuo, Wu Dacheng and Qi Baishi, sought inspiration to transform classical paintings by examining early traces of calligraphy before 3rd century BC, other artists, such as Gao Jianfu, Xu Beihong, Liu Haisu and Fu Baoshi, travelled to Europe and Japan for the study of non-Chinese art, acquiring new methods and techniques, while retaining the essence of traditional Chinese ink and brushwork in their art.

'The Fabian Collection' offers an in-depth exploration of numerous regional schools of the period, as well as an overview of the nationwide aesthetic movements of the last two centuries.

Iris Miao, Bonhams' Consulting Head of Chinese Paintings, commented: "We are proud to be entrusted with this significant single-owner collection, which represents not only quality and artistic merits for each individual work, but also academic importance when appreciated as a whole. It is a rare occasion that a collection this well-exhibited and well-documented comes fresh to the market, and we are excited to introduce a choice selection of it to our local and overseas collectors in October."

The Reverend Richard Fabian Collection of Chinese Paintings has been featured across important museums and institutions in the America, including the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (2000), the Honolulu Academy of Art (2007) and the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts (2010), with catalogues for both the San Francisco and Honolulu exhibitions. 

Proceedings of the three-day 2007 Honolulu scholarly symposium in English and Chinese will be published by Bonhams, and available with the single-owner sale catalogue. These proceedings feature papers by distinguished speakers from the Palace Museum Beijing, the Shanghai Museum, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, The Palace Museum, Taipei, as well as renowned scholars from universities in Japan and the United States. 

The regular Fine Chinese Paintings Sale, also being held on 9 October, will offer over 200 lots of classical and modern works alongside a number of important private collections, including: 'Fine Modern and Contemporary Paintings Previously in Dr. Stephen Yih's Collection', 'Classical and Modern Paintings Previously in the Collection of Mr. Au Yiu Cheuk (1908-2002)', 'Modern Paintings Previously in the Collection of an European Diplomat', and 'Modern Paintings Previously in the Collection of Tsi Ku Chai Hong Kong'. Building upon the success from the previous season, Bonhams will once again present an online sale with a focus on Southeast Asian private collections, featuring works collected during 1980s and 1990s.

The Reverend Richard Fabian Collection Of Chinese Paintings – Highlights

Lot 2.Dai Xi(1801-1860), Little Resting Cloud Hut (Frontispiece & Colophons), 1849. Horizontal handscroll, ink on paper; Frontispiece: 31.1 x 97.2cm (12 1/4 x 38 1/4in) Painting: 31.1 x 97.8cm (12 1/4 x 38 1/2in) Colophons: 31.1 x 405.1cm (12 1/4 x 159 1/2in) Estimate: HK$300,000-500,000. Photo: Bonhams.

titled by the artist in seal script, dedicated to Zhang Mu (1805-1849), and signed Qiantang Dai Xi, with three artist's seals reading Dai Xi, Chunshi and Chushi Jiafeng, and with two collector's seals of Ye Hefu (1863-1937) on the painting; titleslip by Ye Hefu, dated bingshen (1896); a frontispiece in clerical script by He Shaoji (1799-1873), with one seal of his; three inscriptions written by the recipient Zhang Mu, the first dated the 28th year of the Daoguang reign (1848) and the last dated jiyou (1849), and with a total of nine collector's seals of his; two further inscriptions by the artist, dated the 28th year of the Daoguang reign (1848), and with four seals of his; followed by a further seven colophons: one by Ye Hefu, with another five collector's seals of his; four by Qi Junzao (1793-1866), the first two dated the 29th year of the Daoguang reign (1849) and xinyou and the 11th year of Xianfeng reign (1861), and with a total of five seals of his; one by Feng Zhiyi (1814-1867), dated jiyou (1849), and with one seal of his; and one by Duanmu Cai (19th century), dated renxu (1862), and with one seal of his.

Provenance: Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
Christie's Hong Kong, Fine Classical Paintings and Calligraphy, 29 April 2001, lot 403

Exhibited: New Songs on Ancient Tunes, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, August 30-October 28, 2007.

Published: Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa comp., Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings, Third Series, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections, University of Tokyo Press, 2013, A50-024, pp.188-189
Little, Stephen, and J. May Lee Barrett, New Songs on Ancient Tunes: 19th-20th Century Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Richard Fabian Collection, Honolulu: Honolulu Museum of Art, 2007, pp.100-103
Wu Qingchi, Jiaolang cuo lu: Volume 7, Zhonghua Shu Ju, Beijing, 2008, p.215

 Lot 7.Wang Yun (1816- after 1882), Scenes of Yangzhou (8 leaves out of 24), 1876. Album of twenty-four leaves of painting and twenty-one leaves of calligraphy, ink and color on paper, or ink on paper. 35 x 40cm (13 3/4 x 15 3/4in) each (24). Estimate: HK$400,000-600,000. Photo: Bonhams.

each leaf inscribed by the artist with his seals, with colophons by thirty calligraphers, the final two leaves of the album each dated by the artist to the second year of Guangxu reign (1876), with a collector's seal reading Zhuo'an suode

Provenance: China Guardian Beijing, Classical Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, 8 May 2000, lot 800.

Exhibited: New Songs on Ancient Tunes, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, August 30-October 28, 2007.

Published: Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa comp. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings, Third Series, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections, University of Tokyo Press, 2013, A50-18, pp.185-187
Little, Stephen, and J. May Lee Barrett. New Songs on Ancient Tunes: 19th-20th Century Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Richard Fabian Collection, Honolulu: Honolulu Museum of Art, 2007, pp.148-153 

Lot 8. Zhang Xiong (1803-1886), Xu gu (1823-1896), Wu Dacheng (1835-1902), Yang Borun (1837-1911), Wu Guxiang (1848-1903) et al., Studying Books by the City Wall(3 leaves out of 10), 1875-1878. Album of eight leaves of painting and twelve leaves of calligraph, ink and colour on paper, or ink on paper, 22.5 x 32.5cm (8 1/2 x 12 3/4in) each (20). Estimate: HK$350,000-500,000 (€ 41,000 - 58,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Leaf 1: title leaf, signed Hongfang, followed by one seal reading Songnan ransou and one collector's seal Juanhu Shen Shanjun shi zhencang shuhua zhi yin
Leaf 2: title and inscription by Xu Jiali, dated wuyin (1878), followed by one calligrapher's seal reading Xu, one collector's seal reading Hanlu xinshang
Leaf 3: Yang Borun (1837-1911), ink on paper, calligraphy in running script dated wuyin (1878), signed Yang Borun with two artist's seals Nanhu and Borun siyin, and a collector's seal Xiaan zhengcang zhi zhang
Leaf 4: Yang Borun, ink on paper, dated yihai(1875), and signed Yang Borun, with an artist's seal Nanhu, and one collector's seal Junhu Shen Shanjun shi zhengcang shuhua zhi yin
Leaf 5: Chen Chan, ink on paper, calligraphy in clerical script, signed Chen Chan with an artist's seal reading Tang'an
Leaf 6: Zhang Xiong (1803-1886), ink and color on paper, dated yihai (1875) signed Zixiang Zhang Xiong, with two artist's seals reading Zixiang and Yuanhu laoren, and one collector's seal Junhu Shen Shanjun shi zhengcang shuhua zhi yin
Leaf 7: Shi Lunzao, ink on paper, calligraphy in regular script, signed Quge Shi Lunzao, with two artist's seals reading Quge and Lunzao yinxin
Leaf 8: Wu Dacheng (1835-1902), ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and dated bingzi (1876) signed Wu Dacheng with an artist's seal reading Wu Dacheng and a collector's seal Xiaan zhencang zhi zhang
Leaf 9: Pu Hua (1832-1911) ink on paper, calligraphy in running script and dated wuyin (1878), signed Pu Hua with an artist's seal zuoying and one collector's seal Xiaan zhengcang zhi zhang
Leaf 10: Wu Guxiang (1848-1903) ink and color on paper, dated bingzi (1876) and signed Qiunong Wu Guxiang with an artist's seal and two collector's seals
Leaf 11: Zhan Luqi, ink on paper, calligraphy in running script dated bingzi (1876) and signed Zhan Luqi with an artist's seal
Leaf 12: Xugu (1823-1896) ink and color on paper, dated bingzi (1876) and signed Xugu, with two artist's seals and a collector's seal.
Leaf 13: Ge Qilong, ink on paper, calligraphy in standard script, signed Ge Qilong with an artist's seal.
Leaf 14: Jin Dejian (1810-1887), ink and color on paper, dated yihai (1875), and signed Jin Dejian with an artist's seal and a collector's seal
Leaf 15: Qin Wenchu, ink on paper, calligraphy in running script, signed by the artist with an artist's seal
Leaf 16: Gu Yun (1835-1896), ink and color on paper, dated yihai (1875) and signed Ruobo Gu yun with an artist's seal and a collector's seal
Leaf 17: He Shu, ink on paper, calligraphy in running script, dated bingzi (1876), signed by the artist with an artist's seal
Leaf 18: Chao Xun (1852-1917), ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and signed Chao Xun with an artist's seal and two collector's seals
Leaf 19:Yang Zhaoyun (1854-?), ink on paper, calligraphy in regular script, dated first year of Guangxu (1875) and signed Yang Zhaoyun, with an artist's seal and a collector's seal
Leaf 20: Du Qiukui, ink on paper, calligraphy in regular script, dated yihai (1875), with two artist's seals and two collector's seals
the outer titleslip in seal script by Wang Fu'an (1880-1960) dated 1941, with two calligrapher's seals.   

Provenance: Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
Sotheby's, Fine Modern and Contemporary Chinese Paintings, 27th and 28th October 1993, lot 818.

 Exhibited: Wondrous Ink, Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, Kalamazoo, MI, August 28- December 5, 2010
Between the Thunder and the Rain, Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, CA, October 25, 2000-January 14, 2001.

Published: Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa comp., Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings, Third Series, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections, University of Tokyo Press, 2013, A50-53, p.205
Andrews, Julia Frances, Michael Knight, and Pauline Yao, Between the Thunder and the Rain: Chinese Paintings from the Opium War Through the Cultural Revolution, 1840-1979, San Francisco: Echo Rock Ventures, in association with the Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, 2000, pp.69-71
Tsao Jung-Ying, The Paintings of Xugu and Qi Baishi, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1993, p.140 (Leaf 12)

Lot 33. Qi Gong (1912-2005), Landscape (Frontispiece and Painting), 1941. Horizontal handscroll, ink on paper; Frontispiece: 30.5 x 97.8cm (12 x 38 1/2in) Painting: 30.5 x 135.9cm (12 x 53 1/2in) Colophons: 30.5 x 356.9cm (12 x 140 1/2in). Estimate: HK$800,000-1,200,000 (€ 93,000 - 140,000). Photo: Bonhams.

the landscape inscribed and signed by the artist, dated xinsi (1941), with four artist's seals reading Qi Gong (2), Yuanbai (2); the frontpiece and colophons written and signed by the artist, with twelve artist's seals reading Qi Gong zhi yin (3), Yuanbai (3), Sheng yu renzi (3), Yuanbai jushi, Qi Gong, Zhushen.

Provenance: Acquired in Beijing in the summer of 2001. Rev. Fabian brought it to Qi Gong a week later, who sealed and inscribed the scroll in his presence.

Exhibited: New Songs on Ancient Tunes, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, August 30-October 28, 2007.

Published: Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa comp., Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings, Third Series, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections, University of Tokyo Press, 2013, A50-274, pp.226-227
Little, Stephen, and J. May Lee Barrett, New Songs on Ancient Tunes: 19th-20th Century Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Richard Fabian Collection, Honolulu: Honolulu Museum of Art, 2007, pp.390-391 

GUAN SHANYUE (1912-2000)
Windswept Pines in a Mountain Gorge, 1977
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper 135 x 67cm (53 1/8 x 26 3/8in) Estimate: HK$700,000–900,000
Provenance: Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California

JIN CHENG (1878-1926)
Landscapes after Old Masters (Preface and 5 leaves out of 12), 1905
Album of twelve leaves, ink and colour on paper
26.4 x 36.5cm (10 3/8 x 14 3/8in) each (12)
Estimate: HK$300,000–500,000
Provenance: Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California

Lot 25. Fu Baoshi (1904-1965), Viewing a Waterfall. Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper,110 x 31cm (43 1/4 x 12 1/4in). Estimate: HK$3,000,000–5,000,000 (€ 350,000 - 580,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Provenance: Far East Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
Sotheby's Hong Kong, Fine Modern Chinese Paintings, 18 May 1989, lot 127
Previously in the collection of Zhou Lin (1915-1970), president of the Association of Chinese Artists in France.

Exhibited: New Songs on Ancient Tunes, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, August 30 to October 28, 2007.

Published: Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa comp., Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings, Third Series, Volume 1: American and Canadian Collections, University of Tokyo Press, 2013, A50-260, p.225
The Complete Works of Fu Baoshi, Vol. I, Nanning: Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, March 2008, pp.128-129
Stephen Little and J. May Lee Barrett, New Songs on Ancient Tunes: 19th-20th Century Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Richard Fabian Collection, Honolulu: Honolulu Museum of Art, 2007, p.50 (detail), p. 64, pp.578-579
Ye Zonggao ed., The World of Fu Baoshi, Taipei: Shi Jh Tang Press Co. Ltd., December 2004, p.300
Mingjia Hanmo 10, Monograph on Fu Baoshi's Waterfalls, Springs and Rain Scenes, Hong Kong: Hanmoxuan, November 1990, p.76.

Chinese Paintings Sale (9 October 2019) – Highlights

Lot 274. Xu Beihong (1895-1953), Two Galloping Horses, Inscribed and signed Beihong, with a dedication and three seals of the artist. Dated xinsi year (1941). Ink on paper, framed, 89 x 105cm (35 x 413⁄8in). Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000 (€ 460,000 - 700,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Provenance: Dr. Stephen Yih's Collection
Sotheby's Hong Kong, Fine Modern Chinese Paintings Including Property From the Estate of Mme. Fan Tchun-pi (Fang Junbi), 17 November 1988, lot 149

Lo 136. Dong Qichang (1555-1636), Album of Landscapes and Calligraphy. Titled, inscribed and signed Dong Qichang and Xuanzai, with a total of eight seals of the artist and six collectors' seals. Dated jiayin year (1614). Ink and colour on silk, album of eight leaves. Painting: 26 x 23.5cm (101⁄4 x 91⁄4in) each (4). Calligraphy: 30.5 x 24cm (12 x 91⁄2in) each (4). Estimate: HK$600,000 - 800,000 (€ 70,000 - 93,000).Photo: Bonhams.

Provenance: Classical and Modern Paintings Previously in the Collection of Mr. Au Yiu Cheuk (1908-2002).

Lot 26. The Helena Rubinstein Baule mask. Masque-Portrait Baoulé, Ndoma, Côte d'Ivoire. Hauteur : 24.5 cm. (9 5/8 in.). Estimate EUR 300,000 - EUR 500,000 (USD 329,679 - USD 549,465). © Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019. 

PARIS.- Christie’s announced their fall sale season with two important sales in Paris. The Avant-Garde sale will feature several major African masterworks offered alongside works of Modern and Post-War Art on October 17, coinciding with the opening of Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) week. On October 30 in Paris we will proudly offer: Splendors – Masterpieces from Africa, North America and Oceania – featuring works from a Princely Collection and a Distinguished American Private Collection. This exceptional sale of 50 masterworks features important African and Northwest Coast works of art from two private collections in one of the highest concentration of top quality offerings to come to market in several seasons. A celebration of transformative beauty, the North American offering focuses on a unique group of 18 Northwest Coast works from a distinguished private collection. The rare mastery of the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and Kwakwaka’wakw people is truly remarkable, and the diversity of the offering illustrates the importance of beauty in every aspect of their creative endeavours. Works of art from a Princely Collection are an odysse.y of classical forms of beauty from West and Central Africa’s major artistic centers, as well as art of Oceania, selected with superb taste and an eye for exquisite refinement.

Highlights from The Avant-Garde sale to include:

Last seen on the market in the early 1990s this beautiful Baule mask rested quietly for almost three decades until its recent rediscovery in a private collection. With a perfectly balanced combination of abstraction and naturalism, this mask represents the distinguished skills of an accomplished Baule mastercarver. It serves as a palpable reminder that African beauty of this kind once set the aesthetic foundation for the birth and evolution of Western modern art. It comes as no surprise that this African jewel once belonged to Helena Rubinstein, the celebrated pioneer collector and patron of Modernism and the Avant-Garde.

Lot 26. The Helena Rubinstein Baule mask. Masque-Portrait Baoulé, Ndoma, Côte d'Ivoire. Hauteur : 24.5 cm. (9 5/8 in.). Estimate EUR 300,000 - EUR 500,000 (USD 329,679 - USD 549,465). © Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019. 

Provenance: Collection privée, avant 1930
Léon Flagel et André Portier, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Arts primitifs, 31 mai 1930, lot 289
Collection Helena Rubinstein (1872-1965), Paris / New York
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, The Helena Rubinstein Collection - African and Oceanic Art - Part One, 21 avril 1966, lot 45
Harry A. Franklin (1903-1983), Beverly Hills, Californie, 1966-1983
Transmis par descendance familiale
Valerie Franklin-Nordin, Beverly Hills, Californie, 1983-1990
Sotheby's, New York, The Harry A. Franklin Family Collection of African Art, 21 avril 1990, lot 107
Collection privée, acquis lors de cette vente.

Literature: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Portraits of Madame, Los Angeles, 1976.

Exhibited: New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Portrais of Madame, 29 janvier - 4 mars 1976
Palm Springs, Californie, Palm Springs Art Museum, Portrais of Madame, 26 mars - 27 avril 1976
Los Angeles, Californie, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Portrais of Madame, 18 mai - 20 juin 1976.

Note: Le raffinement du masque Baoulé, présenté ici, est transcendé par ses proportions harmonieuses et la délicatesse de ses traits. L’artiste a divisé horizontalement le visage en deux plans, souligné par des yeux en amande fendus et des scarifications, suivant ainsi la proportion dorée. Les paupières en croissant de lune s’encastrent sous des sourcils en arcs de voûte hachurés révélant un large front surmonté d’une coiffure en diadème. La longue arête médiane du nez forme un axe vertical qui confère un aspect symétrique au masque. Ces masques Baouléétaient déjà présents sur le marché de l'art, à Paris, au début du XXe siècle. Ils ont sans doute inspiré Modigliani qui sculptait des visages en pierre, étirés, offrant la même stylisation, entre 1911 et 1913.

Lot 40. Masque de l'Esprit du Ciel Tsimshian, Kincolith, Rivière Nass, Colombie-Britannique, Canada. Hauteur : 24.4 cm. (9 5/8 in.). Estimate EUR 600,000 - EUR 900,000 (USD 659,464 - USD 989,196). © Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019. 

Provenance: Acquis in situ par le Lieutenant George Thornton Emmons (1852-1945), Kincolith, Colombie-Britannique, en 1907
Collection George Gustav Heye (1874-1957), New York, acquis en 1907 auprès de ce dernier
National Museum of the American Indian, The Heye Foundation, New York, inv. n° 1/4218, acquis en 1916
Robert L. Stolper, Stolper Galleries of Primitive Arts, New York, acquis auprès de cette dernière
Collection Leonard Lasser, Windsor, Connecticut, acquis avant 1972
Collection Wellman
Sotheby's, New York, 4 juin 1997, lot 228
Acquis par l'actuel propriétaire en 1997.

Lot 15. Masque Ligbi, Yangaleya, Côte d'Ivoire. Hauteur : 29 cm. (11 ½ in.). Estimate EUR 600,000 - EUR 800,000 (USD 659,464 - USD 879,285). © Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019. 

Provenance: Samir Borro, Bruxelles
Emile Deletaille, Bruxelles
Collection Musée Barbier-Mueller, Genève, inv. n° 1006-56
Collection princière privée, acquis auprès de ce dernier.

Literature: Bravmann, R.A., Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa¸ Cambridge, 1974, p. 163, n° 76
Lehuard, R., Arts d'Afrique Noire, n° 13, Arnouville, printemps 1975, publicité Deletaille
Lehuard, R., Arts d'Afrique Noire, n° 36, Arnouville, hiver 1980, publicité Deletaille
Berjonneau, G. et al., Rediscovered Masterpieces of African Art, Boulogne, 1987, p. 133, n° 82
Berjonneau, G. et al., Chefs-d'œuvre inédits de l'Afrique Noire, Boulogne, 1987, p. 133, n° 82
Berjonneau, G. et al., Onbekende meesterwerken uit Zwart Afrika, Tielt, 1987, p. 133, n° 82
Schmalenbach, W.A., Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, Genf, Munich, 1988, p. 93, n° 33
Meyer, L., Afrique noire. Masques, Sculptures, Bijoux, Paris, 1991, p. 72
Barbier, J.P. et al., Arts de la Côte d'Ivoire dans les collections du Musée Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 1993, vol. I, pp. 126-127 n° 132-133 et vol. II, p. 55, n° 78
Hahner-Herzog, I. et al., L'autre visage. Masques africains de la collection Barbier-Mueller, Genève, Paris, 1997, pp. 248-249, n° 57.

Exhibited: Bruxelles, Palais des Beaux-Arts, XXe Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique, 30 avril - 15 mai 1975
Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, Genf, 27 février - 10 avril 1988
Francfort-sur-le-Main, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, Genf, 4 juin - 14 août 1988
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, Genf, 17 décembre 1988 - 19 février 1989
Genève, Musée Rath, Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, Genf, 15 mars - 15 mai 1989
Munich, Haus der Kunst, L'autre visage. Masques africains de la collection Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 14 février - 27 avril 1997
Allemagne, Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, L'autre visage. Masques africains de la collection Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 15 mai - 3 août 1997
Luxembourg, Banque Générale du Luxembourg (BGL), L'autre visage. Masques africains de la collection Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 1er septembre - 30 octobre 1997
Tervuren, Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, L'autre visage. Masques africains de la collection Barbier-Mueller, Genève, 29 mai - 13 septembre 1998
Paris, Mona Bismarck American Center, L'autre visage. Masques africains de la collection Barbier-Mueller, 21 septembre - 28 octobre 1999.

Note: Inoubliable et unique en son genre, ce masque Ligbi se distingue comme étant l’un des masques les plus raffinés de la région de Bondoukou en Côte d’Ivoire. Un visage humain dépourvu de nez est surmonté d’un grand bec d’oiseau, créant une juxtaposition spectaculaire presque surréaliste d’éléments anthropomorphes et zoomorphes qui s’épousent harmonieusement. D’un point de vue anthropologique, ce masque exceptionnel se distingue par le fait qu’il ait été utilisé exclusivement par des groupes musulmans mandéens dans la région de Bondoukou, réfutant l’hypothèse largement répandue selon laquelle l’aniconisme de l’Islam, notamment l’interdiction de représentations figuratives, excluait l’existence des traditions du masque.

L’explorateur français Louis Tauxier fut l’un des premiers à décrire les cérémonies Do dans son livre Le Noir de Bondoukou publié en 1921. Selon Tauxier, des Diula de Bondoukou célébraient la fin du Ramadan par des danses masquées publiques tous les soirs durant sept jours après la rupture du jeûne. René A. Bravmann a observé des performances similaires parmi les groupes Ligbi voisins en 1966-1967, partageant la même atmosphère festive et le même caractère public où les femmes et les enfants étaient présents pendant les danses (Bravmann, R., Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa, Cambridge, 1974, pp. 147-172). La fin du jeûne, long et difficile, était attendue avec impatience. L’apparition des masques Do, tenus à l’écart par les dirigeants musulmans le reste de l’année, symbolisait de façon dramatique la rupture du jeûne et marquait une période de gaieté et de soulagement au sein de la communauté.

Cet élégant masque combine harmonieusement un visage humain et le bec pointu et puissant du calao (Yangaleya). Parmi les masques les plus populaires, les calaos comme celui-ci se manifestaient à la toute fin des célébrations, seuls ou en couple. Les spectateurs appréciaient l’élégance des mouvements du danseur et étaient rassurés par le caractère bienveillant et positif symbolisé par ces beaux oiseaux. Yangaleya a été honoréà travers des formes délicates car c’était un oiseau que les Diula et les Ligbi admiraient. L’oiseau, par son comportement et sa vie familiale, était considéré comme exemplaire et comme un paradigme de l’existence humaine. Les Ligbi attachaient une grande importance à cet oiseau, le considérant comme l’un des premiers animaux mythiques à avoir été créés au temps primordial. Ce sont de grands oiseaux qui avaient tendance à se promener, comme les hommes, lorsqu’ils sont apparus à la périphérie du village. Le sens de la famille manifesté par les calaos s’affirmait à chaque fois que le Yangaleya jouait en binôme car ils dansaient si près l’un de l’autre, dans une harmonie absolue, qu’on était constamment conscient du lien intime qui existait entre eux.

Soigneusement peint, à la patine superbe, ce masque particulier de calao faisait autrefois partie de l’ensemble des masques de la ville de Bondo-Dioula au Nord-Ouest de Bondoukou. René A. Bravmann a photographié ce masque dans le village Ligbi en 1967. Il a été repeint peu de temps après, comme c’était généralement le cas. Les masques devaient être constamment rafraîchis car la peinture protégeait la surface tout en participant à son embellissement. René A. Bravmann (op. cit., p. 163, fig. 75) a photographié un second masque de calao Bondo-Dioula, durant l’année 1967. Ce masque, qui a disparu de la circulation, a été de toute évidence sculpté par le même artiste ; la seule différence étant que les oreilles et les décorations latérales sont bouchées. Les décorations gravées sur le visage de ces masques Do sont constituées de trois scarifications autour de la bouche. Les représentations de scarifications se retrouvaient couramment sur les hommes adultes Mandé de la région. Une combinaison frappante de teintes rouges, bleues et blanches remplissent les incisions présentes sur le masque. Des pigments identiques décorent également le bec, les oreilles, les yeux et les joues. Le plan du visage a une patine noire lustrée et lisse. Ce masque mythique fut longtemps une des icônes du musée Barbier-Mueller en Suisse. La forme inattendue de ce masque ivoirien, faisant référence à un oiseau, et ses couleurs (prédominance du noir rehaussé de couleurs vives) lui confèrent un aspect mystique qui participe à sa beauté.

One-of-a-kind and unforgettable, this Ligbi mask stands out as one of the most exquisite masks to come out of Ivory Coast’s Bondoukou region. A noseless human face is surmounted by an enormous bird’s beak, creating a spectacular, almost surrealist juxtaposition of human and zoomorphic elements harmoniously blending together. As well from an anthropological point of view this exceptional mask stands out, as it was used exclusively by Muslim Mande groups in the Bondoukou region, refuting the wideheld assumption that the aniconic attitudes of Islam, especially the prohibition of representational imagery, excluded the existence of mask traditions.

The French explorer Louis Tauxier was one of the first to describe the do masquerade in his 1921 book Le Noir de Bondoukou. According to Tauxier, the Diula of Bondoukou celebrated the conclusion of Ramadan with public and festive masked dances every evening for seven days after the breaking of the fast. René A. Bravman would observe similar performances among the neighboring Ligbi groups in 1966-67, sharing the same festive atmosphere and public character, women and children being present during the dances (Bravmann, R., Islam and tribal art in West Africa¸ Cambridge, 1974, pp. 147-172). The end of the month-long vast, a most difficult time, would be anxiously awaited. The appearance of the do masks, which were kept away by Muslim leaders the rest of the year, dramatically symbolized the breaking of the fast and signaled a period of gaiety and relief within the community.

This elegant do mask effortlessly blends a human face with the sharp and powerful beak of the hornbill (yangaleya). Among the most popular of do masks, hornbills such as this one were often called upon to perform at the very end of the celebrations, either alone or in a pair. Spectators appreciated the elegance of the dancer’s movements and were reassured by the affirmative benevolent essence symbolized by these beautiful birds. Yangaleya was honored in exquisitely shaped masks for it was a bird that the Diula and Ligbi admired, a bird whose behavior and familial life were regarded as exemplary and a paradigm for human existence. The Ligbi attached great importance to this bird, considering it one of the mythical animals, as they were one of the first beings created in primordial times. These are large birds tended to stroll side by side, like people, when they appeared on the outskirts of town. The sense of family exhibited by hornbills was affirmed whenever yangaleya performed in pairs, for they danced so close to one another, and in such absolute harmony, that one was constantly aware of the intimate bond that existed between them.

Carefully painted, richly patinated, this particular hornbill mask once formed part of the suite of do masks at the town of Bondo-Dioula northwest of Bondoukou. René A. Bravmann photographed the mask in this Ligbi village in 1967. It was repainted not long after as was generally the case, for do masks had to be constantly renewed as the painting protected the surface but also beautified it. Bravmann (op. cit., p. 163, fig. 75) in 1967 photographed a second hornbill mask in Bondo-Dioula. This mask, whose present whereabouts are unknown, was clearly sculpted by the same artist, the only difference being the ears and side decorations being closed. Incised decorations on the face of these do mask consist of triple scarification patterns at the corners of the lips – a representation of the scarification marks commonly found on adult Mande males in the region. A striking combination of earth reds, blues, and whites fill in these incisions on the mask. Identical pigments also decorate the beak, ears, eyes and cheek decorations. The facial plane has a lush and smooth black finish.

Widely published and exhibited, this Songye statue is one of the icons of African art. This Songye male power figure is encrusted with copper nails, each of which represents a ritual act. The deep eye sockets and open mouth give the figure a sense of sublime power and magic. The striking artwork was featured on the cover of Wild Spirits – Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, in 1989 and was included in the widely acclaimed exhibition Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1984. It previously was in the collection of Robert Rubin, founding trustee of the Museum for African Art in New York and a major collector in the field. Rubin was known to seek out only the finest examples from each culture and the dispersal of his private collection in 2011 was a market-changing sale.

Lot 25. Statue Songye, République démocratique du Congo. Hauteur : 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.). Estimate EUR 700,000 - EUR 1,000,000 (USD 769,375 - USD 1,099,107). © Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019. 

Provenance: Acquise in situ par Joseph Christiaens Junior, avant 1970
Transmise par descendance à la famille
Jacques Blanckaert, Bruxelles, acquise auprès de cette dernière
Hélène et Philippe Leloup, Paris/New York, acquise auprès de ce dernier
Robert Rubin (1924-2009), New York, acquise auprès de ces derniers le 27 janvier 1987
Sotheby's, New York, The Robert Rubin Collection of African Art, 13 mai 2011, lot 49
Collection princière privée, acquise lors de cette vente.

Literature: Marijnissen, R.H., Cent Chefs-d'œuvre du Musée Ethnographique d'Anvers et de Collections Particulières. Sculptures Africaines : Nouveau Regard sur un Héritage, Anvers, 1975, p. 66, n° 96
Guimiot, P. et Van de Velde, L., Oerkunsten van Zwart Afrika/Arts Premiers d'Afrique Noire, Bruxelles, 1977, p. 149, n° 106
Neyt, F., Arts traditionnels et histoire au Zaïre/Traditional arts and history of Zaïre, Bruxelles, 1981, pp. 264-265, n° XIV.6
Rubin, W., "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, 1984, vol. I, p. 159
Anderson, M.G. et Kreamer, C.M., Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, Seattle, 1989, p. 121, première de couverture et n° 80
Shelton, A., Fetishism: Visualising Power and Desire, Londres, 1995, p. 45, pl. 13
LaGamma, A., Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination, New York, 2000, p. 67, n° 43
Neyt, F., Songye. La redoutable statuaire Songye d'Afrique centrale, Anvers, 2004, p. 145, n° 109
Petridis, C., Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa, Cleveland, 2008, p. 83, n° 56.

Exhibited: Anvers, Marcel Peeters Centrum, Cent Chefs-d'œuvre du Musée Ethnographique d'Anvers et de Collections Particulières. Sculptures Africaines : Nouveau Regard sur un Héritage, 16 novembre - 2 décembre 1975
Bruxelles, Crédit Communal de Belgique, Oerkunsten van Zwart Afrika/Arts Premiers d'Afrique Noire, 5 mars - 17 avril 1977
New York, Museum of Modern Art, "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art, 27 septembre 1984 - 15 janvier 1985
Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art, 27 février - 19 mai 1985
Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art, "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art, 23 juin - 1er septembre 1985
Evanston, Northwestern University, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, 21 septembre - 22 novembre 1989
Coral Gables, University of Miami, Lowe Art Museum, Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, 14 décembre 1989 - 28 janvier 1990
Columbus, Columbus Museum of Art, Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, 18 février - 30 avril 1990
Worcester, Worcester Art Museum, Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness, 15 septembre - 1er décembre 1990
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art and Oracle: Spirit Voices of Africa, 25 avril - 30 juillet 2000
New York, Sean Kelly Gallery, Primitivism Revisited: After the End of an Idea, 16 décembre 2006 - 27 janvier 2007
Texas, Houston, The Menil Collection, Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa, 26 septembre 2008 - 4 janvier 2009
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa, 1er mars - 7 juin 2009
San Francisco, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa, 27 juin - 11 octobre 2009.

The Splendors: Art of Africa, North America, and Oceania sale will also include a group of five works coming from the estate of Pierre Matisse. Pierre Matisse, youngest son of Henri Matisse, was a brilliant and prescient art dealer, who represented established European modernists such as Derain, Rouault, and Chagall and Lam in his New York gallery. Matisse played a crucial role in the promotion of non-Western art in America, including it in numerous of his exhibitions, such as “African sculpture from the collection of Charles Ratton” in the spring of 1935. Our October sale will include a highly important, previously unknown, Ambete statue acquired from this Parisian dealer. This figure belongs to a small group of Ambete reliquary figures collected by Aristide Courtois when he worked as a French colonial administrator in Gabon between 1910 and 1936. Statues of this group can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by (also previously in the collection of Pierre Matisse, #2002.456.7), the Dapper Foundation (#0127), and the Swiss Barbier-Mueller museum (#1019-86).

Lot 9. Statue Mbeté, Gabon. Hauteur : 62.2 cm. (24.1./2 in.). Estimate EUR 250,000 - EUR 400,000 (USD 274,776 - USD 439,642). © Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019. 

Provenance: Acquise in situ, au Gabon, par l'Administrateur des Colonies Aristide Courtois (1883-1962), entre 1910 et 1936
Charles Ratton (1895-1986), Paris, dans les années 1930
Collection Pierre Matisse (1900-1989), New York
Pierre-Noël Matisse, Paris, transmise par descendance familiale
Transmise par descendance familiale jusqu'à l'actuel propriétaire.

Note: Au XIXe siècle, la vénération des reliques d’ancêtres était courante au Gabon. Elles étaient soigneusement conservées par les descendants. Chez les peuples Fang et Kota, ces reliques étaient placées dans le réceptacle fixéà une statue de gardien. Les Mbeté, quant à eux, les ont entièrement intégrées et dissimulées dans le corps d’une statue en bois. Le torse creusé de la statue servait de réceptacle qui pouvait être ferméà l’arrière par un panneau en bois rectangulaire. Le torse était soutenu par des jambes galbées aux genoux fléchis. Cette posture tendue et active suggère le rôle du gardien, toujours vigilant et protecteur des reliques gardées.

La surface plane du visage contraste avec la structure volumétrique de la tête. Une crête sagittale est flanquée de tresses latérales ornées de lignes parallèles incisées. Le visage particulièrement stylisé est agrémenté de deux yeux signifiés par des coquillages et d’une bouche ouverte sertie de fines dents métalliques. Le cou allongé permettait de recevoir des colliers de perles blanches, insignes de richesse et de pouvoir social. Le torse de la statue est recouvert d’épaisses couches de kaolin ; le blanc étant la couleur symbolique de l’au-delà. Le pigment rouge appliqué autour des yeux fait référence au sang ou à la force de vie, tandis que le noir était associéà la mort ou au deuil. L’utilisation des trois couleurs évoque le statut de l’oeuvre en tant que portrait d’ancêtre lointain.

La statue Pierre Matisse fait partie d’un petit groupe de reliquaires Mbeté collectés par Aristide Courtois lorsqu’il travaillait en tant qu’administrateur colonial français au Gabon entre 1910 et 1936. Courtois a rassemblé ce groupe exceptionnel au nord du Congo-Brazzaville vers Ewo, Kelle et Odzala. Trois de ses statues se trouvent aujourd’hui dans des musées français ; huit autres ont été acquises par le célèbre marchand Charles Ratton. En 2007, Alisa LaGamma a réuni cinq de ces oeuvres pour son exposition Eternal Ancestors - The Art of the Central African Reliquary au Metropolitan Museum of Art à New York (n° 90 à 94 au catalogue). De tous les administrateurs coloniaux français, Aristide Courtois est celui qui a rapporté le plus d’objets importants d’Afrique Centrale. On lui doit les masques Kwele, les masques Mahongwe, les plus importants objets Kuyu et des statues Kota et Mbeté. Paul Guillaume fut le premier à acquérir des objets auprès d’A. Courtois, s’en suivit C. Ratton et P. Vérité. Aujourd’hui, les grands musées du monde comptent dans leurs collections un objet d’A. Courtois, et il en est de même pour les grandes collections privées.

Outre ces quatre exemples présents dans les collections publiques, la statue présentée ici, jusqu’alors inconnue, est un ajout majeur au corpus restreint d’un maître-sculpteur Mbeté anonyme. Une deuxième statue de cet artiste fut acquise par Pierre Matisse auprès de Charles Ratton, puis offerte au Metropolitan Museum of Art par ses descendants en 2002 (inv. n° 2002.456.7). Un autre exemplaire se trouve dans la collection de la Fondation Dapper (inv. n° 0127), exposé en 2017 au Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac lors de l’exposition Les Forêts natales, Arts d’Afrique équatoriale atlantique (p. 101, n° 238). Le reliquaire du groupe Courtois publiéà maintes reprises est conservé au Musée Barbier-Mueller (inv. n° 1019–86). Une statue Mbeté, récemment redécouverte, est conservée dans les Collections de la Congrégation du Saint-Esprit, et publiée par Nicolas Rolland en 2017 (Afrique, à l’ombre des dieux, pp. 158-159). Pierre Matisse a conservé ces deux reliquaires Mbeté, au prestigieux pédigrée, jusqu’à la fin de sa vie. Cette statue présentée aujourd’hui, sur le marché, est un événement inédit.

In the 19th century, the veneration of ancestor relics is widespread throughout Gabon. Whereas among the Fang and Kota the relics were housed within a receptacle affixed to a guardian statue, the Mbete fully integrated the two through the concealment of the relics within a full-length wooden statue. The hollowed columnar torso served as an internal receptacle for the relics of important ancestors and could be closed with a long rectangular panel at the back. The torso was framed by the gesture of arms held to either side and supported below by knees bent above broad muscular calves. The tensed posture of the figures suggested their role as active guardian to the reliquary's contents.

The relative flatness of the face contrasts with the volumetric form of the head. A raised sagittal crest is flanked by lateral tresses carved as a series of deeply incised parallel lines. The highly stylized face is enlivened by additions of cowry shell eyes and fine metal teeth inserted within the open mouth. The neck was elongated to accommodate strings of white beads, markers of wealth and social power. The statue’s torso has a thick applications of white kaolin; white being the color symbolically referring to the ancestral realm. The red pigment around the eyes was a clear reference to blood, or the force of life, while black was associated with death and mourning. The use of all three alludes to the work's status as an abstract portrait of a distant ancestor.

The Matisse figure was among a small group of Mbete reliquary figures collected by Aristide Courtois when he worked as a French colonial administrator in Gabon between 1910 and 1936. Courtois collected the most exceptional series of such sculptures north of Congo-Brazzaville toward Ewo, Kelle, and Odzala. Three examples are in the French national museum; eight others were acquired by Charles Ratton. In 2007, Alisa LaGamma reunited five of these works for her exhibition Eternal Ancestors - The Art of the Central African Reliquary at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (catalog numbers 90 through 94). Of all French colonial administrators in Africa, Aristide Courtois was the one who collected the biggest number of important objects originating in Central Africa: Kwele masks, Mahongwe masks, Kuyu statues and heads, Kota and Mbete reliquary statues. He was also the one who was the most active in dealing with these objects, with Paul Guillaume being his first client, followed by Charles Ratton and Pierre Vérité. Today, all important public and private collections own at least on object that has passed through his hands.

Apart from these four examples in public collections, the present, previously unknown, statue is a major addition to the small corpus of an anonymous Mbete master sculptor. A second statue acquired from Charles Ratton by Pierre Matisse, was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by his descendants in 2002 (inv. no. 2002.456.7). The present work is also very similar to an example in the collection of the Dapper Foundation (inv. no. 0127), exhibited in 2017 at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris during Les Forêts natales, Arts d'Afrique équatoriale atlantique (p. 101, no. 238). The most published reliquary figure from the Courtois group is probably held by the Swiss Barbier-Mueller museum (inv. no. 1019-86). Another recently rediscovered Mbete statue, held in the Collections de la Congrégation du Saint-Esprit was published by Nicolas Rolland in 2017 (Afrique, à l’ombre des dieux, pp. 158-159).

Auctions:
Paris Avant-Garde sale – 17 October
Splendors: Art of Africa, North America, and Oceania sale – 30 October
Christie’s : 9 avenue Matignon, 75008 Paris

LONDON.- Hogarth: Place and Progress will unite all of the paintings and engravings in Hogarth’s series for the first time, displayed across the Georgian backdrop of Sir John Soane’s Museum. Through these works the exhibition will explore the artist’s complex stance on morality, society, and the city, and the enduring appeal of his satires.

• The concept of progress has positive connotations in the twenty-first century but was often construed negatively in Hogarth’s time. Hogarth’s complex and often darkly satirical narrative progresses move from moral abandon and social ostracism, to poverty, madness and death.

• New research pinpoints precise locations in London depicted in Hogarth’s works and examines the key role they play in a moral reading of Hogarth’s paintings

• Hogarth’s ability to see beyond social conventions continues to resonate with 21st century audiences, as he presented with wit and empathy the depictions of immorality and vice that he perceived in all classes of society. 

William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Humours of an Election, 1: An Election Entertainment, 1754-55. Oil on Canvas, 101 x 128. Photo: © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum.

The Soane Museum’s own Rake’s Progress and An Election will be joined by Marriage A-laMode from the National Gallery, the Four Times of Day from the National Trust and The Trustees of the Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle Trust, as well as the three surviving paintings of The Happy Marriage from Tate and the Royal Cornwall Museum. The exhibition will also include engraved series of prints, lent by Andrew Edmunds, such as The Four Stages of Cruelty, Industry and Idleness and Gin Lane and Beer Street. The works span Hogarth’s career as an engraver and painter and the exhibition will explore Hogarth’s increasing skill - or progress - in both fields, culminating in the masterly execution of An Election.

William Hogarth, The Four Times of Day: Morning. Oil on canvas, 1736–37. Photo: © National Trust Collections, Upton House (The Bearsted Collection).

Hogarth’s concept of ‘progress’ was influenced by John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, where the word described a journey towards moral and spiritual redemption through dismal places: from the City of Destruction to the Slough of Despond and Valley of Humiliation. Hogarth: Place and Progress will explore how Hogarth’s series depict this idea. Hogarth’s narratives move from moral abandon and social ostracism, to poverty, madness and death and are often presented as highlighting the follies of the upper classes. 

The exhibition will also examine the idea that Hogarth was not simply ‘the people’s champion,’ but increasingly his narrative series perceived immorality and impropriety at all levels of society. Those most likely to be safe from Hogarth’s satirical wit were those who knew their ‘place’ in the social order and lived up to the positive ideals of their class, high and low alike.

William Hogarth (1697-1764), A Rake’s Progress, 4: The Arrest, 1734. Oil on canvas, 62.5 x 75.2. Photo: © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Hogarth’s self-titled ‘Modern Moral Subjects’ present detailed characters, plots and changes of scene, set in specific and recognisable locations. The idea of spiritual progress is shown through visible representations of London life; The key geographic contrast is between the City of London, with its winding alleys and crumbling houses, livery guilds, the Mansion House and Monument, associated with merchants, and the West End where the landed aristocracy live in spacious and orderly squares, physically nearer to the royal place of St James. Between the two, the area around Covent Garden is repeatedly presented as a hotbed of immorality. In A Rake’s Progress, the Rake moves from the City of London to an extravagant property in the West End, then a brothel in Covent Garden, and ultimately travels outside the City walls, ending up in Bedlam, where his dissolute life has led him to insanity and death.

The exhibition will demonstrate how Hogarth’s ‘Modern Moral Subjects’ married the idea of progress with the moral geography of London, in a dynamic and evolving way throughout his own progress as an artist.

William Hogarth, Industry and Idleness, 11: The Idle Prentice Executed at Tyburn, 1747. Photo: © Andrew Edmunds, London.

Lot 3106. A rare famille-rose vase supported by three boys, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 18 cm, 7 1/8  in. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,000,000 HKD (319,375 - 383,250 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

intricately sculpted in the form of three half-kneeling boys supporting a vase on their shoulders, the vase of baluster form, flanked by a pair of archaistic phoenix handles, the exterior brightly enamelled against a lime-green ground, depicting alternating stylised lotus and hibiscus sprays below a ruyi band, all below a further floral band and upright lappets, the incurved rim bordered by a floral scroll, each boy modelled in the round with arms held upwards, clad in loose fitted robes of patterned textiles gathered at the waist, their faces with cheerful expression below hair tied into twin-knots, all raised on an iron-red trefoil pedestal decorated with floral and foliate scroll bands in gilt, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark in gilt0

Note: The Qianlong Emperor had an insatiable predilection for novelty and innovation and was rigorous in the standards he upheld, prompting his craftsmen to search for and realise ever new designs that enabled them to showcase their technical proficiency. Polychrome ceramics with lifelike qualities, as demonstrated by the current work, were seen in the repertoire of Chinese ceramics from earlier reigns, but it was not until the Qianlong period that the level of craftsmanship reached its pinnacle and saw remarkably dynamic three-dimensionality in the production of works of art. The current piece is an exceptional example of such technical advancement, and this is demonstrated not only in its form but also in the colour scheme and choice of motifs, all thoughtfully incorporated to form an outstanding work undoubtedly held in high esteem by both the Emperor and craftsman alike.

Meticulously conceived and rendered, the well-proportioned lime-ground vase is flanked by a pair of archaistic handles and ornately decorated with impeccable lotus blooms and other floral motifs in the yangcai palette. The vase is supported on three applied figures of boys, each portrayed with a round, cherubic face below hair tied into twin-knots, but clad in different coloured clothing picked out with different motifs. All are raised on a gilt-decorated iron-red trompe l’oeil lacquer-imitation stand with a gilt-inscribed six-character seal mark on the base. There is no doubt that the current work, steeped in extraordinary craftsmanship and innovative artistic ambitions, ranks amongst the finest trompe l’oeil pieces of the Qianlong period.

Vases decorated with boys, such as the current example, were used by the Qianlong Emperor as gifts and tributes for officials and gentry. This is reflected in the Qing court records in the 4th and 7th months of the 20th year of the Qianlong reign (in accordance with 1755). These records reveal that the Emperor decreed that, under the supervision of Tang Ying, 50 vases decorated with three or five boys were to be produced so as to be sent to Jehol and gifted to people (The First Historical Archives of China, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, eds, Qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu dang'an zonghui [General collection of archival records from the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing, 2005, vol. 21, pp. 470-471).   

By virtue of the technical difficulties in their production, ceramic vessels with appliqué designs are very rare. Although the Qing court records suggest that over 50 such vases were commissioned, there are very few extant examples, of which most are applied with boys clambering on top and fired on footrings, unlike the current vase, which was fired on spurs. Compare a Qianlong yangcai floral vase, inscribed with a six-character underglaze-blue seal mark to the base, from the Qing court collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in China. The Three Emperors, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005-2006, cat. no. 301, and illustrated in The All Complete Qianlong: The Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong, Taipei, 2013, cat. no. II-3.30. Modelled with a trefoil rim and foot, the vase is further applied with three boys similar in size to those supporting the current vase. One boy is rendered clambering atop the shoulder of the vessel, another tying a knot to a ribbon around the neck whilst the third holds one end over his shoulder.

Compare also other Qianlong yangcai vases decorated with differing numbers of boys, including a turquoise-ground lantern vase decorated on the exterior with seven boys, from the collection of M.D. Ezekiel, illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The Later Ceramic Wares of China, London, 1925, pl. IX, fig. 2, and later sold at Christie’s London, 18th March 1930, lot 73, Christie’s New York, 12th December 1977, lot 211 and again in these rooms, 28th/29th November 1978, lot 318. Compare also another vase, decorated with five boys, inscribed with an iron-red six-character seal mark, sold at Christie’s London, 10th May 2016, lot 78.

The three half-kneeling boys, upon which the vase rests, are marked with such strength and unity that they evoke the anthropomorphic feet of the Warring States period bronze vessels, as well as the guardian figures of the Tang dynasty. The structure and proportion of the vessel, with applied motifs in between the vessel and the stand, are also notably similar to those of contemporaneous ‘three ram’ zun vases, such as one decorated with a Jun-type glaze, illustrated in Grand View: Special Exhibition of Ju Ware from the Northern Sung Dynasty, Taipei, 2007, cat. no. 15.

It is rare to find an incurved rim as found on the current vase in the Qianlong period. See a pink-ground famille-rose ‘butterfly’ vase from the collection of the Ping Y. Tai Foundation, modelled with a comparable incurved rim, sold at Christie’s London, 18th October 1971 from the Fonthill heirlooms, lot 65, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2388.

Sotheby's.  Qing Imperial Porcelain A Private Collection, Hong Kong, 08 October 2019, 10:00 AM

Lot 3114. An exceptional and rare black-ground famille-verte'chrysanthemum' bowl, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 13 cm, 5 1/8  in.. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD (319,375 - 383,250 USD. Lot sold 1,875,000 HKD (238,744 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's. 

delicately potted with deep rounded sides supported on a short foot, the exterior superbly enamelled with a frieze formed of three detached leafy chrysanthemum scrolls, each rendered undulating and bearing three main chrysanthemum blooms and lush foliage, all below a band of 'horse-shoe' motifs and against a glossy black ground, the base left white and inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Provenance: Collection of Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (b. 1851).
Bluett & Sons, London, 1929.
Collection of Charles Ernest Russell (1866-1960). 

Exhibited: The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain, Bluett & Sons, London, 1929, cat. no. 167 (one of a pair).

Literature: R.L. Hobson, Bernard Rackham and William King, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, London, 1931, fig. 347.
Roy Davids and Dominic Jellinek, Provenance. Collectors, Dealers and Scholars: Chinese Ceramics in Britain and America, Great Haseley, 2011, pl. 138 right.

Note: The current bowl, with its striking iridescent black ground, is an extremely rare example of a small group of black-ground wares produced in the Yongzheng period. Not only do they reflect the Emperor’s tendency of harking back to celebrated wares of the past, they also demonstrate the craftsmen’s high level of experimentation and ability to go above and beyond.

The colour scheme first appeared on a small number of pieces produced in the mid-15th century, whereby a layer of lead-based copper-green enamel was combined under a layer of cobalt, which upon firing, fused them together to create a glossy black glaze. Revived under the Kangxi reign as an extension of the famille-verte palette, vessels were enamelled with decoration against a black ground. See a pair of bowls vibrantly enamelled with floral scrolls against a black ground, dated to the Kangxi period, from the Avery Brundage Collection and now preserved in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, published on the Museum’s website, nos B60P1742 and B60P1743.

By the Yongzheng period, the porcelain body became finer, thus enabling the black enamel to achieve a glossier and more iridescent effect as seen on the present bowl. Despite the remarkable contrast from setting coloured enamels against a black ground, such wares and identical pieces are extremely rare due to the difficulties in producing them. The pair to the current piece is illustrated in Provenance, op.cit., pl. 138 right, and was probably the one included in the exhibition The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, 1956, pl. XIIIa.

Compare two related bowls more densely decorated with varying floral blooms using a wider range of enamels, one from the Bruce and Jean Beaudette Collection, sold in our New York rooms, 28th May 1991, lot 290, and later in these rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 781; and another, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 77, from the Alfred Beit Foundation.

Compare also three black-ground dishes predominantly decorated in iron red as is the current bowl, but also painted with blue enamel, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, gift of Julia C. Culland, illustrated in Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics, Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1998, (rev. ed. 1998), no. 23; and a pair offered in An Important Collection of Chinese Ceramics, lot 3020.

Sotheby's.  Qing Imperial Porcelain A Private Collection, Hong Kong, 08 October 2019, 10:00 AM

Lot . A fine pair of doucai'anbaxian' bowls, marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 13.2 cm, 5 1/8  in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,200,000 HKD (101,864 — 152,796 USD. Lot sold 3,250,000 HKD (413,823 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's. 

each well potted with flared sides rounding from a short foot, the exterior finely painted with the anbaxian emblems, each rendered with fluttering ribbons alternately coloured in green and iron red, all above a band of ruyi heads encircling the base and below a narrow frieze of interlocking 'C'-shaped motifs around the rim, the interior centred with a medallion enclosing a spray of peaches repeated at the rim, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Lot 3121. A green-ground aubergine-enamelled 'dragon' bowl, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 15.1 cm, 5 7/8  in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD (63,665 — 89,131 USD). Lot sold 625,000 HKD (79,581 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's

skilfully potted with deep rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to a flared rim, the exterior superbly incised and enamelled in aubergine with a dynamic scene depicting a pair of dragons soaring sinuously above crashing waves amidst flaming wisps, each scaly mythical beast rendered five-clawed and chasing a flaming pearl, all against a bright grass-green ground, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Note: Green- and aubergine-enamelled bowls of this design from the Yongzheng reign are extremely rare, and were modelled on earlier prototypes from the Kangxi period. Such design rendered in this colour scheme proved to be popular among the Qing court, as similar bowls continued to be made in the subsequent reigns.

A closely related example from the Qing court collection and now preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricolour Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl. 129. The identical size and close comparison of the mark calligraphy on these bowls suggest they are probably by the same hand and may have been destined as pairs. Bowls of this design from the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns are also illustrated ibid., pls 126 and 130.

Sotheby's.  Qing Imperial Porcelain A Private Collection, Hong Kong, 08 October 2019

Lot 3111. A pair of blue and white 'dragon' bowls, marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 9.6 and 9.7 cm, 3 3/4  in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD (63,665 — 89,131 USD). Lot sold 1,750,000 HKD (222,828 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

each with deep rounded sides supported on a short straight foot, the exterior decorated  in rich cobalt-blue tones with two five-clawed dragons soaring amidst cloud scrolls, the interior centred with a medallion enclosing a writhing dragon, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle.

Provenance: Collection of Henry and Beatrice Goldschmidt.

Lot 1. A highly important and superbly painted Beijing enamel falancai pouch-shaped glass vase, blue enamel mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 18.2 cm. Estimate upon request. Lot sold 207,086,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

masterfully conjured by the most dexterous craftsmen in the Imperial Workshops under the direct mandate from the Emperor, the immaculate glass charmingly modelled in the form of a ribbon-tied pouch, its ovoid body carved with vertical ribs simulating textile pleats, elegantly tapering to a fluted neck and ruffled rim, wreathed by a twisted soft-pink sash fastened into an off-centred knotted ribbon suspending two flowing tassels, exquisitely painted on each side depicting a phoenix gracefully swooping from cascading pink and lavender-blue clouds amid peonies, their bodies covered in flamboyant plumage individually picked out in shades of pink, green, yellow, blue and aubergine and gilding, their nimble wings outstretched to reveal the fluffy pinkish-white feathers on the underside of their bodies, extending to a trailing two-feathered tail in matching colours patterned with circular motifs, their crested heads supported on long necks with billowing plumes, curling backwards towards a cluster of frilly-edged peony blooms, the realistically painted flowers rendered in shades of rose-pink and aubergine, supported on stems with abundant foliage in two shades of green, the blue-enamelled four-character reign mark cleverly enclosed within a budding bloom, the fluted neck embellished with dianthus florets suspending jewelled pendants, all reserved on an imperial yellow ground save for the interior and base exposing the translucent vitreous material.

Provenance: Collection of Yixin, the first Prince Gong (1833-1898), by repute.
Collection of Abel W. Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai.
Collection of Paul (1902-1987) and Helen Bernat, Brookline, Greater Boston, Mass.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15th November 1988, lot 75.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th October 2000, lot 2.

Exhibited: Qingwan Yaji nianzhou nianqing shouzang zhan/Ching Wan Society Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition. Works of Art, Taipei, 2012, cat. no. 73.

Literature: Sotheby’s Hong Kong – Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 430.
Sotheby’s. Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 439.
Geng Baochang, ‘Ya qi tian cheng/Qingwan Yaji zhencang taociqi duoying [Refined works made in Heaven. Highlights of ceramics collected in the Ching Wan Society]’, Ching Wan Society Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition. Works of Art, Taipei, 2012, p. 15, no. 73 (detail).

A Brocade Pouch to Amuse the Emperor
Regina Krahl

Imperial works of art completely conceived and created inside the Forbidden City in Beijing, to the direct order and under the close scrutiny of the Emperor himself, are among China’s greatest treasures; and the present flask, with a ‘Peking glass’ body made by imperial artisans in the Glass House, and falangcai decoration applied by imperial painters in the Enamelling Workshops, is one of the most important examples preserved. It is a masterpiece in virtually every respect, in terms of its model and design, its execution and its size. The flask is unique, but there exists one companion piece, of the same form and colour scheme, but of different design, that was clearly made at the same time, and apparently shared the same imperial provenance and collecting history, before entering the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art in the 1980s (fig. 1). 

fig. 1. Beijing enamelled falangcai pouch-shaped glass vase decorated with chilong, black enamel mark and period of Qianlong, two views Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 15th November 1988, lot 77. Collection of Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong.

An imperial order from the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) to hand in a clear blue glass pouch-shaped bottle (baofu shi ping) and to produce some falangcai enamelled glass-bodied bottles modelled after it, is listed in the Zaobanchu records for the 22nd day of the first month in the third year of the Qianlong reign, 1738 (fig. 2). Only two pieces, the present bottle and its companion, seem to have resulted from this order. The complexity of creating such works that required the cooperation of different palace workshops is underlined by the fact that the companion bottle was sent to the palace, even though its enamels fired less well.

fig. 2. Zaobanchu records for the 22nd day of the first month in the third year of the Qianlong reign, 1738.

The importance of these two vessels for the history both of Chinese glass and of falangcai enamelling can hardly be stressed enough. A workshop for enamelling was first set up in the Forbidden City by the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) in 1693 and a glass workshop followed in 1696, and we know that at least by 1705 enamelled glass items had been successfully completed and sent to the Emperor; but whereas the Beijing Enamelling Workshops supplied large numbers of exquisitely painted copper-bodied and porcelain-bodied falangcai wares to the court from the late Kangxi to the mid-Qianlong period – many of which are still extant – the number of glass vessels is extremely small. By far the largest proportion consists of snuff bottles, and the few other falangcai glass pieces known are miniature vases, miniature brush pots and other small vessels for the desk, rarely over 11 cm tall. In short, apart from the present bottle and its companion in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which seem to be the only large pieces in existence and the only ones of such complex shape, there appear to be no other vessels that could similarly document the true capability of the imperial craftsmen working in this medium.

No comparable pieces have been preserved in the Palace Museums, either in Taipei or Beijing. A recent exhibition of Chinese glass in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included 45 falangcai enamelled pieces, 38 of them snuff bottles (two without stopper called vases, but also of snuff bottle size and shape) and the other seven pieces comprising a pendant, a miniature spittoon and five small vases, only two of them slightly larger, at 13.1 cm and 16.3 cm, respectively (Zhang Xiangwen, ed., Ruo shui cheng hua. Yuan cang boli wenwu tezhan/Limpid Radiance. A Special Exhibition of Glass Artifacts from the National Palace Museum Collection, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2017, cat. nos 193-237). According to Zhang Rong, only 20 falangcai glass pieces are in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, all snuff bottles except two small vases, 9.8 cm and 8.5 cm tall (Zhang Rong, ed., Guangning qiushui. Qing Gong Zaobanchu boli qi/Lustre of Autumn Water. Glass of the Qing Imperial Workshops, Beijing, 2005, p. 20, and cat. nos 84-93).

The order of ‘brocade-bundle-shaped’ vases listed in the Zaobanchu records is also included in Peter Lam’s extensive ‘Selection of Archival Records of the Qianlong Period on Glass Objects’, which among its hundreds of glass items, contains references to only three further pieces of falangcai glass: a small water pot and two snuff bottles (Zhang Rong, op.cit., pp. 44-55 and 74-83). The rarity of falangcai glass is of course largely explained by the complexity of the production process. According to the National Palace Museum exhibition catalogue “each colour of enamel is applied separately and fired successively at the temperatures required for each colour, with a view to bond the enamel décor to the glass body. Because the melting point of glass is close to that of enamel, the glass vessel-body can easily melt and deform if firing temperature is too high, while enamel cannot take on the desired colour if firing temperature is too low” (Zhang Xiangwen, op.cit., p. 178).

The companion bottle, now in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, is decorated with twelve dragons diving through dense composite floral scrolls, and at first glance both pieces would seem to be complementary. Yet they were not necessarily meant as a pair. Both are enamelled in matching colours on a similar lemon-yellow ground onto the same, or very similar, white glass blanks, and both have the reign mark inscribed on one of the flowers. However, the companion bottle is painted with chi dragons rather than the long generally paired with the phoenix, has the mark inscribed in black, rather than in blue, and on the reverse side, rather than the front. Its design is also very different in concept, as a much denser layout was adopted to accommodate twelve dragons on the bottle. The two bottles certainly seem to have been painted by different hands (fig. 3).

fig. 3. Enamel Qianlong marks of lot 1 (above) and the Hong Kong Museum of Art example (below)

Lot 105. A rare underglaze-blue and yellow-enamelled 'lotus bouquet' charger, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 39.6 cm, 15 1/2  in. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD (76,398 - 101,864 USD). Lot sold 2,250,000 HKD (286,493 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

rising from a short tapered foot to a lipped rim, painted in various shades of cobalt blue against a bright yellow ground, the interior with a beribboned bouquet of lotus and other water plants, encircled by a composite floral scroll, all below a classic scroll border, the exterior similarly decorated with a slightly different composite floral scroll, between key-fret and classic scroll bands, the base enamelled yellow and inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle reserved on white, wood stand. 

Note: Both the lotus-bouquet design of this dish and the yellow and blue colour scheme are borrowed from early Ming prototypes that were developed at the Jingdezhen imperial kilns in the Yongle and Xuande periods. The combination is, however, not known from the Ming period.

In the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns this design was revived and produced in various dimensions, the present dish being of the largest size, of which only three others appear to have been sold at auction, one in our London rooms, 2nd March 1971, lot 190; another at Christie's London, 10th July 1978, lot 47; and a third sold at Christie's New York, 2nd December 1986, lot 206 and more recently in these rooms, 7th April 2011, lot 74, from the Meiyintang collection.

Compare also three smaller related examples, one illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pl. 122; two from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1981, lots 583 and 584, the latter also from the collection or Sir Quo-Wei Lee, more recently sold in these rooms, 3rd October 2018, lot 108.

For the blue and white Yongle prototypes see two dishes from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, nos 665 and 666.

Lot 108. A peachbloom-glazed washer, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 11.8 cm, 4 5/8  in. Estimate 50,000 — 70,000 HKD (6,367 — 8,913 USD). Lot sold 525,000 HKD (66,848 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

with low rounded sides incurved at the mouth and supported on a low tapering foot, the exterior covered with an attractive mottled peachbloom glaze, the interior and base left white, the latter inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue, wood stand. 

Note: The peachbloom glaze was notoriously difficult to achieve. To manage the fugitive copper-lime pigment, it is believed to have been sprayed onto a layer of transparent glaze and then fixed with another layer, so as to be sandwiched between two layers of clear glaze. The technique marks one of the great ceramic innovations of the Kangxi period, but probably due to this demanding process, it remained in use for only a short time and was never revived again at a later stage.

A comparable peachbloom washer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 19; another is published in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 208.

Lot 109. A pair of celadon-glazed ogee dishes, Qing dynasty, 18th century, Jingweitang zhi marks; 13 cm, 5 1/8  in. Estimate 80,000 — 100,000 HKD (10,186 - 12,733 USD). Lot sold 275,000 HKD (35,016 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

each of ogee form, the interior and exterior covered overall with a pale bluish-green glaze interrupted by a brown rim, the base left white and inscribed in underglaze blue with a four-character mark reading Jingweitang zhi ('Made for the Hall of Veneration of Respect') within a double square, wood stands. 

Note: Jingweitang was the studio name of Li Hu (alias Duanren, style name Zhucun) a native of Cixi, a city within the sub-provincial city of Ningbo, Zhejiang province. Ming Wilson, in the exhibition catalogue Rare Marks on Chinese Ceramics, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1998, quotes Wang Qingzheng to suggest that porcelains bearing the Jingweitang mark actually belonged to the Manchu high official Agedunbu (see p. 114). Although no supporting evidence is available, Jingweitang wares were noted in Taoya [Ceramic Elegances] of 1906 by the government official Chen Liu (1863-1929) as porcelain with celadon glaze (ibid.).

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art from the Collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee II, Hong Kong, 08 October 2019

Lot 116. A fine celadon-glazed lobed zhadou, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 20.9 cm, 8 1/4  in.. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD (190,995 - 254,660 USD). Lot sold 5,215,000 HKD (664,026 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

the shouldered body divided into six undulating lobes resembling petals, all supported on a stepped splayed foot and surmounted by a short trumpet-shaped mouth, covered overall save for the footring with an even bluish-green glaze, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark. 

Provenance: Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th May 1987, lot 285.

Note: This vase exemplifies the technical perfection obtained by craftsmen working during the Yongzheng period through its deceptively simple form and luminous celadon glaze. The Yongzheng Emperor was a keen antiquarian who instructed the study and production of numerous pieces from the Imperial collections. As with many monochrome wares produced during his reign, both the form and glaze reference celebrated traditions from China's illustrious cultural history. The form is a reinterpretation of the archaic bronze zun, while the subtle glaze has been created in imitation of Longquan celadon of the Song period (960-1279). Monochrome vessels required great skill in every stage of their production, from the purity of the clay and precision of potting to the evenness of the glaze and control of the firing process. 

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Self-Portrait, 1887. Oil on canvas, 40.3 x 34 cm. Wasdworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, Gift of Philip L.Goodwin in memory of his mother, Josephine S. Goodwin, 1954.189. © Allen Phillips / Wasdworth Atheneum

COLUMBIA, SC.- The Columbia Museum of Art presents the major exhibition Van Gogh and His Inspirations, on view Friday, October 4, 2019, through Sunday, January 12, 2020. Organized by the CMA and presented by the Blanchard Family, Van Gogh and His Inspirations is an original, exclusive exhibition that brings the work of one of the most beloved artists in the world to Columbia, South Carolina, alongside a variety of handpicked paintings and drawings that shaped his vision.

With the support of Premier Programming Sponsor First Citizens Bank, the CMA is able to provide numerous ways for visitors to engage with Van Gogh and His Inspirations, including free field trip admission for schools and a robust programming schedule that includes a Getting to Know Van Gogh lecture series, art classes, a selfie station, and more.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Flower Beds in Holland, c. 1883. Oil on canvas on wood, 19.25 x 26 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.21.

“From the fun to the formal, there’s something for everyone,” says Jackie Adams, CMA director of education & engagement. “Drop in for a lecture, sign up for a studio class, attend a film screening, plan a school field trip, or get interactive with several Van Gogh-themed gallery activities, and we’ll inspire you to contemplate, connect, and create around the astounding artistic legacy in Van Gogh and His Inspirations.”

Announced earlier this year, Van Gogh and His Inspirations has become one of the most greatly anticipated exhibitions in CMA history.

“Van Gogh and His Inspirations represents an exhilarating high-water mark for exhibitions at the Columbia Museum of Art,” says Executive Director Della Watkins. “This show is the commitment of years of work to secure loans from museums and private collections; plan complicated logistical details; establish national, statewide, and local partners in arts, culture, tourism, marketing, hospitality, and education; and honor audience requests for internationally significant shows in the Midlands. Get ready to immerse yourself in fascinating stories and breathtaking art, and get to know the real Van Gogh, one of history’s most mysterious and intense artists.”

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Orchard with Arles in the Background, 1888. Reed Pen, Pen, Ink, And Graphite On Laid Paper, 21 x 15 3/8 in. Bequest of Charlotte Pruyn Hyde, 1971.81. The Hyde Collection, Glen Falls, New York. Photogrph by Joseph Levy.

Art historians and South Carolina residents Steven Naifeh and his late partner Greg Smith made a major contribution to the understanding of Van Gogh through the publication of their monumental book (and New York Times bestseller) Van Gogh: The Life in 2011. During the decade spent researching and writing this book, with access to the Van Gogh Museum archives and translations of previously ignored documents, the pair built a coherent collection of works by artists who influenced Van Gogh’s aesthetic thinking. On view to the public for the first time, this private collection speaks directly to Van Gogh’s artistic evolution.

In addition to the Naifeh/Smith collection used as its foundation, Van Gogh and His Inspirations includes loans from 12 museums across the U.S. to explore the development of Van Gogh through the lens of the artists who inspired him. The exhibition also brings 12 paintings and drawings by Van Gogh himself, including an outstanding painting of flower fields from the National Gallery of Art, a sensitive painting of a weaver from The Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the world-famous self-portrait from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Side-by-side with their inspirations, these works offer visitors a window into the mind of Van Gogh. In total, Van Gogh and His Inspirations consists of some 60 works, largely paintings but also drawings and etchings, that form a unique, landmark exhibition building on the scholarship of Smith and Naifeh.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Portrait of a Man with a Pipe (Dr. Paul Gauchet), 1890. Etching, 18.1 x 15.2 cm, Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo,Ohio), Frederick B. and Kate L. Shoemaker Fund, 1940.98. Image Credit: Christopher Ridgway.

“No artist emerges out of a vacuum, including Van Gogh,” says Chief Curator Will South. “All of us are shaped by our culture, our time, our experiences. The works by Van Gogh being loaned for this exhibition reveal his connections to the artists and culture he was part of: Flower Beds in Holland from the National Gallery of Art, for example, shows how he looked hard at the work of other landscapists like Charles-Francois Daubigny in addition to that of the Impressionists. His famous Self-Portrait from the Wadsworth Atheneum shows how Van Gogh’s ability to translate psychological intensity stretches back to predecessors such as Rembrandt. This exhibition explores, in short, how Van Gogh became Van Gogh. It is a rare opportunity in the art world, and it just happens to be in Columbia.”

A full-color catalogue accompanies the exhibition and document, for the first time, the Naifeh/Smith collection.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Weaver, 1884, oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Tompkins Collection-Arthur Gordon Tomkins Fund, 58358. Photograph © March 2019 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Charrette de Bœuf(The Ox Cart), July, 1884, oil on canvas, Portland Art Museum, Gift of Fred and Frances Sohn, 2007.68.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890), Nursery on Schenkneg, 1882, black chalk, graphite, pen, brush, and ink, heightened with white body color on laid paper watermarked ED & CIE (in a cartouche), the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Jean François Raffaëlli (French, 1850-1904), An Old Woman, Seated, in Breton Dress, ca. 1890. Black Chalk on Light Brown paper, Naifeh/Smith Collection.

Alfred Emile-Leopold Stevens (Belgian, 1823-1906), Shipping on a Squall, 1892, oil on canvas, Naifeh/Smith Collection.

Eugène Boudin, (French, 1824–1898), Trouville, Les Jetées, Marée Basse, 1888, oil on panel, John and Kay Bachmann Collection.

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (French, 1845–1902), La Butte Montmartre en 1878, 1878, oil on canvas, Naifeh/Smith Collection.

Antonij (Anton) Rudolf Mauve (Dutch, 1838–1888), “On the Dunes,” c. 1875, oil on canvas, Naifeh/Smith Collection.

Jean Béraud (French, 1849-1936), Christ, 1900-1906, oil on panel, Naifeh/Smith Collection.

Lot 126. A fine and rare pair of blue and white cupstands, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 17 and 17.2 cm, 6 5/8  and 6 3/4  in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD (63,665 - 89,131 USD). Lot sold 1,875,000 HKD (238,744 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 131. A celadon-glazed jar, seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); h. 20 cm, 7 7/8  in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,000,000 HKD (101,864 - 127,330 USD). Lot sold 2,000,000 HKD (254,660 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 137. A fine and rare celadon-glazed lobed garlic-mouth vase, seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 25.4 cm, 10 in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD (254,660 - 381,990 USD). Lot sold 5,575,000 HKD (709,865 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.