Lot 111. A rare huanghuali recessed-leg long table, qiaotouan, Ming Dynasty, 17th century; 88 by 289.3 by 58.5 cm, 34 5/8  by 113 7/8  by 23 in. Estimate 4,000,000 — 6,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 60,155,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the top of a single-board panel flanked by shaped everted flanges on the shorter ends and moulding inward and downward and ending in a narrow band, supported on a frame formed by the long beaded-edged apron decorated with spandrels carved in openwork with phoenix motifs and short end aprons, the rectangular legs cut to house the long aprons and decorated with wide bands, all above shoe-type feet, the legs and feet framing an inset openwork panel carved with a cusped cartouche enclosing a pair of confronting chilong.

Note: This piece is an exceptional example of an altar table (qiaotouan) with the top fashioned from a single huanghuali plank of unusually large size. It is also striking for its precise and lively carving that reveal a master workshop, from the vivid phoenix spandrels with their bodies swirling upwards, to the confronting chilong that decorate the panels between the legs, and the fine beading on the legs which make the table appear taller. Placed against the south wall of a grand hall, this table would have had a commanding presence, leaving no doubt as to wealth and social standing of its owner.

Such long rectangular tables with recessed legs and upturned ends were generally placed in reception halls where important male visitors were received and family ceremonies took place. The prominent scholar Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645) in his influential Chang wu zhi [Treaties on superfluous things], refers to tables of this design, made from a single plank of wood as ‘natural tables’, and explains that their “length should not exceed eight feet, nor the thickness of the top five inches. The end flanges must not be too sharp, but smooth and rounded, which is the antique pattern” (Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things. Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China, Honolulu, 2004, p. 42). Wen further notes on their correct display: “On the table beneath the painting one may place such things as fantastic rocks, seasonal flowers, or miniature tray-landscapes; but avoid garish objects such as red lacquerware” (Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkley, 2001, p. 228). Despite their considerable weight, these large tables were at times moved outdoors and used for examining antiques, writing calligraphy or paintings, as in the album leaf Examining Antiques by Zhang Hong (1577-after 1652), in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, illustrated ibid., pl. 14.15. Altar tables of this type feature prominently on woodblock illustrated books and paintings testifying to their importance and popularity among affluent Ming dynasty households.

Known as qiaotouan among modern Beijing cabinet makers, tables of this type appear to have developed from altar tables, zu, used to hold meat offerings from as early as the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771-256 BC). Altar tables with upturned ends are depicted on archaic bronze yi vessels from this period, and a lacquered low table of this type was excavated from a tomb in Zhaoxiang, Hubei province, and illustrated in in Sarah Handler, ‘Side Tables. A Surface for Treasures and the Gods’, Chinese Furniture. Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 200. By the Ming period, the upturned ends of these tables had acquired a dual function: they heightened the table’s presence and concealed the unattractive and dull end grains of the plank top. Such tables are depicted in contemporary paintings and woodblock illustrations, such as one in the Ming novel Jin ping mei [The plum in the golden vase, or the golden lotus] (fig. 1).

fig. 1. Jin ping mei [The plum in the golden vase, or the golden lotus], Ming dynasty, chapter 7.

A slightly smaller table with lingzhi sprays on the spandrels and in the panels between the legs, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 125; another with cloud-shaped spandrels, also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is published in A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Beijing, 2007, vol. 1, pl. 310; a much smaller one was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 3077; and a slightly larger one, with spandrels carved as a zoomorphic mask, is illustrated in Sarah Handler, op.cit., pl. 13.

Huanghuali is amongst the most valued hardwood in China, appreciated for its vibrant colour, impressive grain pattern and light sweet fragrance. During the Ming and Qing dynasties it was used for making high-quality furniture and craftsmen took full advantage of its distinct qualities to create smooth and plain surfaces that retained much of the material’s natural beauty. The highest-quality huanghuali, also known by its Chinese botanical name Hainan jiangxiang huangtan, comes from Hainan and is known for its wide range of colouration from light yellow to purplish-red. By the Qing dynasty, huanghuali became especially treasured by the imperial court and was frequently used for the production of imperial furniture.

Lot 113. A rare archaic bronze 'Tapir' ritual wine vessel and cover, you, Early Western Zhou Dynasty; h. with handle upright 16.7 cm, 6 1/2  in.? h. 14.7 cm, 5 3/4  in. Estimate 600,000 — 800,000 HKD. Lot sold 6,175,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

of elliptical form, well cast with a compressed pear-shaped body resting on a splayed foot, the neck bordered with a band enclosing scrollwork and a small animal head mask on each side of the body, interrupted by two small loop handles supporting the U-shaped bail handle with a crisply cast tapir-mask terminal on each end, the cover resting on tall waisted sides, the domed upper surface decorated with a frieze enclosing similar scrollwork surrounding a hollow oval finial, the interior of the vessel and cover each with an inscription reading Xian zuo lüyi ('Xian made this lüyi vessel'), the patina of a mottled greyish-green colour with malachite encrustation, wood stand and Japanese wood box.

Literature: Wu Dacheng, Kezhai jigulu [The record of collecting antiques in the Kezhai studio], 1896, vol. 19, p. 18, pls 3-4.
Zou An, Zhoujinwen cun [Surviving writings from the Zhou dynasty], 1916, vol. 5, p. 107, figs 3-4.
Ke Changji, Weihuage jigulu bawei [Explanatory notes of inscriptions from archaic bronzes in the Weihuage studio], 1916, vol. gengshang, p. 1.
Liu Tizhi, Xiaojiaojingge jinwen taben [Rubbings of archaic bronze inscriptions in the Xiaojiaojingge Studio], 1935, vol. 4, p. 32, fig. 5.
Luo Zhenyu, Sandai jijin wencun [Surviving writings from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties], 1937, vol. 13, p. 7, figs 1-2.
Sueji Umehara, Nihon shucho Shina kodo seikwa / Selected Relics of Ancient Chinese Bronzes from Collections in Japan, Osaka, 1959-1964, vol. 1, pl. 78.
Yan Yiping, Jinwen zongji [Corpus of Bronze Inscriptions], Taipei, 1983, no. 5256.
The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yinzhou jinwen jicheng [Compendium of Yin and Zhou Bronze Inscriptions], Beijing, 1984-1994, no. 05119.
Shang Zhou qingtongqi mingwen ji tuxiang jicheng [Compendium of inscriptions and images of bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasties], Shanghai, 2012, vol. 24, p. 435, no. 13010.

Note: You of this stout form with an elliptical cross-section and domed cover were popular in the early Western Zhou period, both in the relatively austerely decorated type as seen in the present piece and in highly-decorated vessels, often embellished with flanges. The animal mask handles were each uniquely cast and those on the present vessel are particularly notable for their naturalistic modelling. It is also unusual to find examples of this miniature size.

Despite the rarity of the design, a line drawing of a similarly modelled you vessel is included in Xiqing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], an illustrated catalogue of the over 1,500 bronzes in the imperial collection compiled from the 14th year (1749) and completed in the 20th year of the Qianlong reign (1755). The vessel in the catalogue is titled Zhou leiwen you ('you vessel with leiwen pattern from the Zhou dynasty') and its measurements are listed; see vol. 17: you vessels, p. 7 (fig. 1). 

fig. 1. Xijing gujian [Catalogue of Chinese ritual bronzes in the collection of the Qianlong Emperor], vol. 17, p. 7.

You of related type and decoration, the cover also surmounted by an oval finial, but of larger size, include one in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., included in Jessica Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, vol. IIB, Washington, 1987, p. 499, fig. 68.6; and another sold in our New York rooms, 23rd September 1995, lot 316.

Vessels of this category are more commonly known with bud finials on the cover and two horizontal ribs encircling the foot; for example see one from the Arthur Sackler collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 14th September 2009, lot 10, and published in Jessica Rawson, op.cit., pl. 68, together with another, pl. 69.

Lot 2843. A large very rare moulded and carved celadon-glazed vase, Qianlong impressed six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1796); 19 in. (48.2 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 3,000,000 - HKD 5,000,000. Price realised HKD 4,445,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The ovoid body and tall waisted neck are moulded and carved with a bold design of stylised lotus blooms on scrolling stems bearing curling feathery leaves, applied overall with a rich sea-green glaze pooling to a deeper tone in the recesses and continuing over the widely flaring dished mouth rim into the interior. The seal mark is crisply impressed on the celadon-glazed base, box.

Provenance: Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26 April 2004, lot 909.

Note: This vase, decorated with bold designs of luxuriant lotus scrolls, is very rare. Only one closely related example appears to have been published, which is a smaller celadon-glazed vase of similar shape, similarly moulded and carved with scrolling lotus and the base with an underglaze-blue Qianlong seal mark, from the Huaihaitang Collection illustrated in Ethereal Elegance: Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing, Hong Kong, 2007, no. 51.

Compare the style of decoration to the unusual celadon-glazed moulded vase in the Baur Collection, which has a similarly impressed Qianlong seal mark, illustrated by John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 295. The same effect of the contrasting shades of rich green and nearly white along the edges of the moulded elements, can be seen on a covered jar with archaistic designs in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 141, where a comparable Qianlong mark is also illustrated

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

Lot 2844. A fine and rare blue and white barrel-form jar, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 7.¾ in. (19.7 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 2,000,000 - HKD 3,000,000. Price realised HKD 2,500,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The jar is sturdily potted in barrel shape with a flat base and curved sides tapering at the mouth and foot rims. It is painted to the exterior in vibrant tones of blue with alternating lotus and chrysanthemum blooms borne on undulating leafy stems, between a ring of ruyi-heads and elaborate trefoil band, below a band of stylised crested and breaking waves near the mouth rim, all with a ‘heaping and piling’ effect, lacquer cover, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 3998.

Note: Jars of this form in blue and white are extremely rare, as they are more commonly found in monochrome glazes and applied with bands of bosses and a pair of mask-form handles. For a nearly identical Qianlong-marked blue and white barrel-form jar, see an example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1581. It is also interesting to compare with a small blue and white garden barrel-form stool (25.1 cm. high) dated to the Kangxi to Qianlong period in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, illustrated in Cornelius Osgood, Blue and White Chinese Porcelain - A Study of Form, New York, 1956, no. 56, which shares a similar floral decoration but with the addition of applied bosses.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

Lot 2845. A Dehua figure of Guandi on a horse, Late Qing dynasty; 17.¼ in. (43.9 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 500,000 - HKD 700,000. Price realised HKD 625,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The figure is meticulously potted depicting the legendary warrior Guandi dressed in elaborate armour, holding his famous weapon Green Dragon Crescent Blade in one hand, and riding on his loyal horse the Red Hare. The back is impressed with an illegible potter’s seal. The figure is covered overall with an even glaze of a cool white tone, box.

Provenance: Sold at Nagel, 4 November 2011, lot 84.

Note: Jars of this form in blue and white are extremely rare, as they are more commonly found in monochrome glazes and applied with bands of bosses and a pair of mask-form handles. For a nearly identical Qianlong-marked blue and white barrel-form jar, see an example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1581. It is also interesting to compare with a small blue and white garden barrel-form stool (25.1 cm. high) dated to the Kangxi to Qianlong period in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, illustrated in Cornelius Osgood, Blue and White Chinese Porcelain - A Study of Form, New York, 1956, no. 56, which shares a similar floral decoration but with the addition of applied bosses.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

Lot 2846. A white jade and gilt-bronze ladle, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 9 in. (22.8 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 80,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The ladle is carved at one end with a shallow oblong bowl, mounted with a gently tapering gilt-bronze handle cast with stylised ruyi to both ends.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced the second headline work of its major cross-category summer evening auction, which will take place in London on 28 July. Gerhard Richter’s Wolken (fenster) (Clouds (window)) will appear with an estimate of £9-12 million ($11.25-15 million). Spanning more than four metres in length, the immersive skyscape will be on view to the public in Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries from 23-27 July (34-35 New Bond Street, W1S 2RT).

A glorious panoramic view of the clouds, Richter’s subject draws on a long and familiar artistic legacy, from heavenly Renaissance frescoes and the sequential panels of church altarpieces, to John Constable’s cloud studies, J.M.W. Turner’s atmospheric skyscapes and the Romantic sublime landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich. Nevertheless, in 1986 Richter referred to his landscapes as ‘cuckoo’s eggs’ for their misleading nature; where many artists have used clouds as a symbol of the divine, Richter’s clouds do not suggest the existence of any heavenly being beyond.

Instead, Richter’s skyscape reinvents the sublime landscapes of his predecessors, channelling their works into a new contemporary vision, in an effort establish a legitimate place for painting in the post-photo age. The resulting abstract, almost minimalist work, is painted not from life but from a photograph. In Richter’s eyes, clouds were nature’s own form of abstract painting. It was the act of painting a photograph of the naturally abstract clouds that bridged the gap between Richter’s black and white photographic studies of the 1960s, and his famously abstract squeegee-paintings of the 1980s.

From Rembrandt, ‘the first modern painter’, to Richter, who has earned his position as one of today’s great contemporary artists by drawing upon the inheritance of the past, this auction will span over 500 years of art history, drawing the Old Masters together with 19th century, Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary artists.

Emma Baker, Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Department, said: “Standing in front of this work is like standing before the panels of a church altarpiece, while simultaneously looking through the panoramic top floor window of a skyscraper. Richter unites aspects of the traditional and the contemporary in such a brilliant way.

Painted in 1970, Clouds comes from a deeply important period in the artist’s life, after the black and white photo paintings of his early career, and just before he masters abstraction in the 80s. Whereas these later Abstraktes Bilder have enjoyed a decade of glory in the limelight, it is lesser known series like these clouds which are now catching the eye of collectors, bringing a breath of fresh air to the market. This is really a moment of reassessment for Richter, who is such an impressive artist, and who turned his hand to so many seminal series and subjects, but who was always focused on one goal - to find a space for painting in the contemporary moment. In a sale which encompasses a vast spectrum of art history, it is a gift to have a titular work which embraces the ambitions of art’s forefathers, and yet is so contemporary in itself. The result is as aesthetically glorious as it is weighted in Richter’s lifelong artistic mission.”

Andrew Fletcher, Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department, said: “Richter’s Wolken (fenster) is the perfect bookend to this ground-breaking sale, for it looks back 500 years to the polyptychs of the Renaissance, to the huge, billowing skies of the Dutch Golden Age and the romantic cloud studies of Constable; to the magisterial, proto-abstract visions of Turner and the poetic landscapes of his countryman Caspar David Friedrich that are, like Wolken (fenster), so contemplative of nature. The list of celebrated artists who have sought to immortalise the ephemeral beauty of the clouds is endless.

Jan Josefsz Van Goyen (Leiden 1596 - The Hague 1656), Coastal Scene with Small Vessels in a Choppy Sea. Oil on oak panel, 36.9 × 51.3 cm. (14 ½× 20 ¼ in.). Signed and dated lower right: VG 1652. Estimate £200,000-300,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.

In this sale, a coastal scene by the Dutch master Jan van Goyen bears unmistakable similarities to Richter’s own rolling skyscape – his rain-filled, wind-beaten clouds occupying over two thirds of the panel such that they become the subject itself. To my mind, in his Wolken (fenster) Richter was undoubtedly influenced but the huge skies of Van Goyen and Jacob van Ruisdael.

I’m excited to see Van Goyen’s coastal scene hang side by side with Richter in our galleries, and alongside the other eponymous pillar of this auction – perhaps the most influential painter of all - Rembrandt. Known for his obsessive visions of self, Rembrandt surely presents the perfect juxtaposition to Richter who, as Emma so brilliantly put it, looked back through the annals of art history to reinterpret the masterpieces of his forefathers, in all his abstract glory.”

A deeply important facet in the evolution of Richter’s career, many of the Cloud Paintings reside in prestigious collections worldwide, including The Museum Folkwang, Essen, Fondation Carmignac in Paris, and The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Lot 2864. A bronze tiger-form finial, Warring States period (475–221 B.C.); 9. 3/8 in. (24 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 380,000 - HKD 500,000. Price realised HKD 750,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

It is solidly cast in the form of a crouching tiger. Its head is raised growling with a long lean body and outstretched tail curling upwards at the tip. The head is finely cast with wavy lines suggesting fur, and with spiralled scrolls and continuous patterns defining the brows, ruff and the tail, the eyes inlaid with turquoise. Each side of the body is also decorated with bands of stylised kui dragons. The underside has a small aperture for attachment, box.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, 6 December 1995
Property from a member of the Ching Wan Society, Taiwan
Chang Wei-Hwa & Company, Taipei.

Note: Bronze tiger-form fittings of this type were originally used as the finial on top of a bronze drum, chunyu, which served as a musical instrument to give commands to troops, as stated in Zhouli (Rites of Zhou). From late Warring States (475-221 BC) to early Western Han (206 BC-AD8) the instrument was largely used by people in the State of Ba (?-316 BC), an ancient state in eastern Sichuan province whose border was shared by the Qin, Chu and Shu Kingdoms. According to legend, the founder of the State of Ba, Lord Lin, transformed into a white tiger after his death. Hence, the tiger motif signified the power, strength and supernatural forces of the Ba people.

Two chunyu drums bearing a similar tiger figure on top, but unornamented, are illustrated in J. So, Eastern Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York, 1995, pp. 399-405, nos. 82 and 83, the first dated 4th-3rd century BC, the second late 3rd century BC. Another example is a Western Han tiger-mounted chunyu in the Shaanxi History Museum Collection, China, illustrated by Li Xixing in The Shaanxi Bronzes, Xi’an, 1994, p. 284.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

Lot 2865. A painted pottery model of a caparisoned ox, Eastern Wei Dynasty (534-550); 15. 1/8 in. (38.4 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 250,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The muscular beast modelled standing foursquare on a rectangular base, its well-formed head positioned between the large hump on its neck and the dewlap that hangs beneath, adorned with a decorative harness and trappings applied with circular bosses and hanging oval-shaped ornaments that is accented with gold pigment, box.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, prior to January 1998
Chang Wei-Hwa & Company, Taipei.

Exhibited: Chang Foundation, Ching Wan Society Millennium Exhibition, Taipei, 2000, p. 150, pl. 55.

Note: Compare a similar caparisoned ox dated to the Northern Wei dynasty which is illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics: The Koger Collection, London, 1985, p. 26, pl. 7; and another example accompanied with a cart dated to the Tang dynasty is included in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 347.

The dating of this lot is consistent with the result of a thermoluminescence test, conducted by Oxford Authentication Ltd, sample No. C298j56, 22 December 1998.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

Lot 2867. A rare jade bixie, Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD); 3. 1/8 in. (8.2 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 800,000 - HKD 1,200,000. Price realised HKD 1,000,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The mythical beast is shown crouched low in an attacking stance standing on four sharply clawed feet. Its head is slightly turned to one side as it bares its ferocious teeth and bulging eyes, further detailed to the body with fine incisions and a bifurcated tail, wood  box.

Provenance: Ku Ngar Antique Ltd., Hong Kong
E Yuan Tang Chinese Art, Taipei, acquired in 1992.

Note: A closely related carved jade bixie, also dated to the Han dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 240, no. 201. Though slightly longer in size (10.9 cm.), it is notable that both beasts are carved naturalistically with an alert posture and ferocious features. Compare also to another bixie dated to the Western Han dynasty in the collection of the Xianyang Museum in Shaanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji-qin han, vol. 4, Shijiazhuang, 1993, p. 109, no. 148 (fig. 1).

A jade bixie, Western Han dynasty in the collection of the Xianyang Museum in Shaanxi province.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 9 July 2020

Lot 2869. A chestnut-glazed pottery figure of a boar, Tang Dynasty (618-907); 8.¼ in. (21 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 50,000 - HKD 80,000. Price realised HKD 187,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The boar is naturalistically modelled standing foursquare on short legs on a rectangular base with head facing forward and short tail flicked to one side. It is incised with hair markings. All is covered with a chestnut-brown glaze falling to the base around the hooves. The base is unglazed.

Provenance: Eskenazi Ltd., London.

Literature: Eskenazi Ltd., London, March 1972, Catalogue, no. 31

Note: Compare a similar example dated to the eighth century from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection at the Seattle Art Museum, Washington, which is illustrated by W. Watson, Tang and Liao Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 201, fig. 221. Also, compare one illustrated by E. Scholoss, Ancient Chinese Ceramic Sculpture: From Han through Tang, Stanford, 1977, vol. 1, p. 76, fig. 12; and one in the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, Japan, 1976, vol. 11, col. Pl. 194. A similar amber and straw-glazed figure of a boar was sold at Christie’s New York, 20 March 2001, lot 125.

The result of Oxford Authentication thermoluminescence test no. C114k9 (13 October 2014) is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Lot 2872. A rare pair of sancai-glazed pottery lions, Tang Dynasty (618-907); The larger: 5. 3/8 in. (13.7 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 375,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

Each lion is seated on a waisted rectangular plinth in an alert posture, with its front legs braced below the strong muscular chest, the face detailed with a fierce expression and bulging eyes, the mouth agape with its sharp fangs exposed. The mane is finely detailed with curling tresses and the body covered with a golden-brown glaze highlighted with splashes of green and straw.

Provenance: An English private collection, acquired in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Note: The powerful, muscular body and the ferocious expression of the present pair of lions are hallmarks of Tang sculptural vitality and naturalism. It is, however, very rare to find a pair of lions of such small size. They are closely related to a crouching sancai lion which is slightly larger in size (19.2 cm high), illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art – Chinese Ceramics I: Neolithic to Liao, Hong Kong, 1993, no. 100. Compare also to another green-glazed seated lion (26.5 cm. high) with an almost identical powerful depiction of the muscular chest, in the collection of the British Museum, London and illustrated in The World’s Great Collections – Oriental Ceramics, Vol. 5: The British Museum, London, New York and San Francisco, 1981, no. 6.

Lot 2873. A painted pottery figure of a seated hound, Northern Wei dynasty (386-534); 7 in. (18 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 30,000 - HKD 50,000. Price realised HKD 47,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The figure is modelled naturalistically as a hound seated on a flat base. The head is attentively raised and finely detailed with a pointed snout and floppy ears. The front paws are outstretched with its tail curled to one side. There are traces of brown, brick-red and white pigments remaining, box.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong, prior to November 1999
Chang Wei-Hwa & Company, Taipei
The Dexinshuwu Collection, Taipei.

Note: Related pottery hounds from the Northern Wei dynasty have been published, including one of similar style but smaller in size (16.4 cm. long), illustrated in ‘Luoyang Shachangxilu Beiwei HM555 fajue jianbao’, Wenwu, September 2002, p. 14-15. Compare also to a grey pottery figure of a dog dated to the Northern dynasties, early 6th century, which is also finely sculpted with its head raised in an attentive pose, illustrated in Susan L. Beningson, ‘Highlights from the New Arts of China Gallery at the Brooklyn Museum’, Arts of Asia, March-April 2020, p. 54, fig. 12Related pottery hounds from the Northern Wei dynasty have been published, including one of similar style but smaller in size (16.4 cm. long), illustrated in ‘Luoyang Shachangxilu Beiwei HM555 fajue jianbao’, Wenwu, September 2002, p. 14-15. Compare also to a grey pottery figure of a dog dated to the Northern dynasties, early 6th century, which is also finely sculpted with its head raised in an attentive pose, illustrated in Susan L. Beningson, ‘Highlights from the New Arts of China Gallery at the Brooklyn Museum’, Arts of Asia, March-April 2020, p. 54, fig. 12.

Lot 2875. A rare gold figure of a qilin, Yuan (1279-1368); 2. 7/8 in. (7.3 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 180,000. Price realised HKD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The double horned qilin is hammered standing four-square with a hollowed body. Its head is chased with bulging eyes, furry eyebrows and open jaws revealing its set of fangs and tongue. The body is defined with scales, serrated mane and upright bushy tail, box.

Provenance: An English private collection, acquired in Hong Kong in the 1980s.

Note: There are numerous references in traditional Chinese mythology and symbolism to the qilin, an auspicious animal with a lion’s head, tiger’s eyes, deer’s body, dragon’s scales, horse’s hooves and the tail of an ox, symbolising longevity, fertility and flourishing age during the reign of a benevolent ruler. In the Yuan dynasty, particularly in the mid-fourteenth century, the image of the qilin became one of the most popular motifs depicted on porcelains, and is usually rendered with a galloping pose with the head facing forward in the centre of a dish.

Lot 114. A rare archaic jade 'rhinoceros' plaque, Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-221 BC); 12.7 cm, 5 . Estimate HKD 500,000 — 700,000. Price realised HKD 1,250,000 . Courtesy Sotheby's. 

worked in the form of a crouching rhinoceros with an undulating silhouette outlined with defined edges, the head of the beast depicted with a long curling horn tapering to an upturned tip, and portrayed diving far down, further rendered with a prominent and broad snout ending in an arc-shaped tip, one side of the body detailed in subtle relief with haunches, the flat reverse with incised lines, the edge incised with three undeciphered characters, the pale stone of an even celadon colour with patches of calcification.

Provenance: Eskenazi Ltd, London.

Note: This piece belongs to a fascinating group of exquisitely carved and finely polished animal plaques made in the Eastern Zhou period. These plaques were part of larger ornamental assemblages that included numerous plaques connected by a silk rope and suspended from a belt worn on or above the waist. While they have been recovered in burial contexts, they were not considered tomb goods but rather treasured personal belongings that the deceased would have worn in his lifetime. When walking, the plaques would gently knock each other producing a tinkling sound that “signified physical and moral elegance and restraint, admired qualities in Confucian circles” (Jenny F. So, Early Chinese Jades in the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 2019, pp. 188-9).

Lot 115. A rare huanghuali'kui dragon' couch-bed, luohanchuang, Ming dynasty, 17th century; overall 71.9 by 201.2 by 122.7 cm, 28 1/4  by 79 1/2  by 48 1/4  in. Estimate HKD 3,000,000 — 5,000,000. Price realised HKD 48,765,000 . Courtesy Sotheby's. 

of elegant proportions, the rectangular seat frame of standard mitre, mortise and tenon construction with a soft matted seat, the rounded edge of the seat frame moulded downwards and inwards into a narrow flat band, resting on a short straight waist and a beaded-edged apron carved with archaistic kui dragons, the apron further continuing into thick legs terminating in incurved hoof feet, all below the shaped back and arms with subtly sloping ends bordered with raised bands, the arms superbly carved in low relief on both sides with kui dragons with sinuous bodies, some accented with scrollwork, the design skilfully echoed on the front of the back panel.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 23rd September 1997, lot 399.

Note: This attractive couch-bed (luohanchuang) represents one of the most elegant and recognisable forms of Chinese classical furniture. Its powerful incurved feet and convex apron impart a sense of stability and strength, while the three solid panels with subtly sloping ends would have framed the sitter to provide both an intimate space and a platform that imparts prestige. Drawing from Chinese traditional iconography, the intricately carved kui dragons grant a sense of opulence and make this piece particularly rare.

The great popularity of couch-beds (luohanchuang) in the Ming and Qing dynasty resulted from their adaptability. Used as a couch during the day and a bed at night, couch beds were found in scholar’s studios and garden pavilions, at reception halls and in women’s quarters. As Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645) notes in his Chang wu zhi [Treaties on superfluous things], “There was no way they [couches] were not convenient, whether for sitting up, lying down or reclining. In moments of pleasant relaxation, they would spread out classic or historical texts, examine works of calligraphy or painting, display ancient bronze vessels, dine or take a nap, as the furniture was suitable for all these things” (Craig Clunas, Superfluous Things. Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China, Honolulu, 2004, p. 42). When entertaining a guest, a small table could be placed on the couch as depicted in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) woodblock print Playing Double Sixes, illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, pl. 9.7 (fig. 1).

Lot 116. A rare tea-dust glazed 'three rams' vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 34.2 cm, 13 3/8  in. Estimate HKD 1,500,000 — 2,000,000. Price realised HKD 4,975,000. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

potted with a gently compressed globular body rising from a splayed foot to a tall waisted neck, the upper shoulder decorated with three ram heads, the lower neck encircled by a raised double-fillet band, repeated at the central and lower body, covered overall save for the footring with a warm mottled olive-green glaze thinning to the rim and rams' horns, the base with a six-character seal mark beneath a brown dressing, wood stand, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo, 2016.

Exhibited: The Collection of Chinese Art II – Special Exhibition 'Strolled for last ten years', Sen Shu Tey, Tokyo, 2016, cat. no. 145.

Note: Vases of this design appear to have been introduced in the Yongzheng period. A line drawing of this form is included among Yongzheng shapes in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 235, fig. 401:13, where it is called sanxizun ('vase of three beasts'), referring to the kind of animals used in ritual offerings.

SANTA FE, NM.- In connection with the 2nd Annual Santa Fe Art Week, TAI Modern presents Japanese Bamboo Art, a group exhibition featuring a diverse selection of recently acquired works, both historic and contemporary, of Japanese bamboo art. The fifteen artists in this show include members of historic family lineages and contemporary masters such as Yamaguchi Ryuun, Honma Hideaki, and National Living Treasure of Japan, Fujinuma Noboru.

TAI Modern is the world’s leading dealer of contemporary Japanese bamboo art. For over 20 years, the gallery has sought to present compelling exhibitions, build strong collections, further academic research on bamboo art in Japan, and support and encourage artists in this incredibly challenging medium.

“Bamboo says many things to me. I enjoy my conversations with it. I express beauty through bamboo: the beauty of water flowing, the beauty of flowers, the beauty of moving clouds. I try to bring the beauty of nature into my sculpture.” –Yamaguchi Ryuun

The exhibition will be on view July 10-August 15 with an opening reception on Friday, July 10 from 5-7pm. Both the exhibition and opening reception will be held in-person at the gallery, supplemented by online exhibitions on taimodern.com and artsy.net. TAI Modern is open Monday through Saturday from 10am-5pm. For further information and image requests, contact the gallery at (505) 984-1387 or amy@taimodern.com.

Fujinuma Noboru, Wild Flower Basket, 2015, madake bamboo, rattan, 13.50 x 17.50 x 17.50 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Higashi Kiyokazu, Izutsu (The Well Curb), 2018, madake bamboo, rattan, 13.00 x 8.25 x 8.25 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Honda Syoryu, Flare, 2020, madake bamboo, 22.75 x 14.25 x 12.50 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Honma Hideaki, Crossing B, 2019. Madake & nemagari bamboo, rattan. 18. 25 x 17.75 6 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Kajiwara Koho, Three Color Flower Basket, 2015, madake bamboo, rattan, 8.00 x 14.00 x 14.00 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Kawano Shoko, Warmth, 2017, madake & nemagari bamboo, rattan,9.75 x 15.50 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Morigami Jin, Flickering Flame, 2019, madake bamboo, rattan, 17.00 x 16.00 x 13.75 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Nakatomi Hajime, Frill III-03, 2019, madake bamboo, rattan, 15.00 x 19.75 x 13.75 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Shono Tokuzo, Urin, 2004, madake bamboo, rattan, 11.75 x 21.00 x 21.00 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Sugiura Noriyoshi, Pure Land, 2019, madake bamboo, rattan, 15.25 x 9.00 x 8.00 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Suzuki Gengensai, Untitled, Showa Period, madake bamboo, rattan, 23.25 x 8.50 x 8.50 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Wada Waichisai III, Strong Waves, late 1930s to early 1940s, susutake bamboo, 14.00 x 12.75 x 12.25 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Watanabe Chiaki, Crossing, 2018, madake bamboo, rattan, 19.00 x 11.00 x 8.00 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Yamaguchi Ryuun, Sign of Spring, 2020, madake bamboo, rattan, 8.50 x 28.00 x 28.00 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Yufu Shohaku, Crouching, 2020, madake bamboo, bamboo root, 22.50 x 22.00 x 21.50 in. Courtesy TAI Modern.

Lot 117. An extremely rare Longquan 'Guan' tripod incense burner, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 13.5 cm, 5 1/4  in. Estimate HKD 6,000,000 — 8,000,000. Price realised HKD 6,775,000 . Courtesy Sotheby's. 

with a compressed globular body rising to a constricted cylindrical neck and flat everted rim, all supported on three slightly splayed tapering legs, the rounded exterior with three evenly spaced ridges extending from the shoulder to the centre of each leg, superbly covered with a soft bluish-green glaze suffused with a delicate network of golden-brown crackles stopping short of the tips of the legs and exposing the pale grey bodyx.

Provenance: Collection of Mr and Mrs Alfred Clark.
Sotheby's London, 25th March 1975, lot 58.
Collection of Robert Barron.
Christie's New York, 30th March 2005, lot 321.

Exhibited: Celadon Wares, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1947, no. 13, pl. 9.
The Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Ju and Kuan Wares: Imperial Wares of the Sung Dynasty, Related Wares and Derivatives of Later Date, London, 1952, cat. no. 94.
Art of China and Japan, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, 1977, p. 26, no. 46.
Ceramics: The Chinese Legacy, The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, 1984, p. 15, cat. no. 10.
Heaven and Earth Seen Within: Song Ceramics from the Robert Barron Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, 2000, cat. no. 57.

Literature: B. Gray, 'Chinese Porcelain and Pottery: Some Pieces in the Collection of Mrs. Alfred Clarke [sic]', The Connoisseur, April 1953, p. 21:X.

Note: This censer exudes a sense of refined elegance through its pleasing form and dazzling crackled glaze. Well-rooted in the aesthetic ideals of the Southern Song dynasty, it testifies to the exceptional quality achieved at the Longquan kilns.

As the Jurchen Jin began advancing towards the Song dynasty capital, Kaifeng in Henan province, the Song court fled to the south and in 1135 founded a new capital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. This move gave rise to a flourishing time not only for the arts but also for Chinese culture in general. The establishment of the court in Hangzhou gave an unprecedented boost to the ceramic manufactories in Southern China, including the Longquan kilns. Centred around Dayao in Longquan county, these kilns were able to adapt their wares to the demands o the ruling scholar-official class and the court. The focus was to achieve perfection in material, design and craftsmanship; thus the Longquan craftsmen focused on improving the technical aspects of ceramic production, from the preparation of the material, the precision in potting, glazing and firing to produce the coveted jade-like glaze seen on this censer.

The Longquan kilns were very active in this period and produced glazes that feature a wide variety of celadon hues, including the striking crackled glaze seen on this censer. This thick, semi-opaque bluish glaze was most likely inspired by the iconic guan (official) wares made for the imperial court at the Jiaotanxia kilns near Hangzhou. Zhu Baoqian in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, pp. 37-39, suggests that these crackled wares began to be produced around 1200, and fragments of crackled wares have been recovered at various Longquan kilns active in this period, including the Xinting and Aodi kilns in Daoyao county, and the Wayaoqing, Kulouwan and Lijiashan kilns in Xikou county (Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1989, p. 30). Zhu Baoqian, further explains that two distinct types of crackled wares were made at Longquan: those with a light-coloured body such as the present piece, and those with a dark body.

Ceramic wares of the Song dynasty, including this incense burner, were adapted to the taste of the court and the scholar-official class and stylistically moved away from the baroque tendencies of the Tang period (618-907), to a 'purification' of style that culminated in the Southern Song period. Wares were often devoid of ornamentation and their qualities were meant to be visible only to the trained eye. Craftsmen concentrated to create clean and well-balanced lines that were seemingly modest in appearance, and were often adapted from archaic jades and bronzes, including this piece. This censer was modelled after archaic bronze liding, which in the Shang (16th century-c.1050 BC) and Zhou (c.1050-221 BC) dynasties, were used during ritual ceremonies for boiling millet.

While Longquan censers of this form were produced in large quantities, those with a crackled glaze are unusual. See a Longquan censer of this form covered in a beige glaze suffused with crackles, from the Sekido family collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 18th/19th September 2014, lot 745.

Compare also a censer of this form, identified as guanyao, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum. Guan Ware of the Sung Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1962, pl. 19; and a reconstructed censer unearthed at Jiaotanxia, illustrated in Nan Song guannyao [Southern Song dynasty official ware], Beijing, 1996, pl. XX, no. 2.

Lot 118. A pair of huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinets, yuanjiaogui, 17th century; 155.5 by 77 by 42.3 cm, 61 1/8  by 30 1/4  by 16 5/8  in. Estimate HKD 1,500,000 — 2,500,000. Price realised HKD 4,375,000. Courtesy Sotheby's. 

each of rectangular section and surmounted with a cabinet top with a round edge beginning and ending with a narrow flat band, supported on four recessed slightly splayed stiles at each corner forming the tapered silhouette, the front with a pair of single panel doors, each with a frame fitted with a curved metal plate adorned with a lock receptacle and door pull, a rounded-edged stretcher resting below the doors with a plain shaped apron beneath, the side aprons similarly left plain, the interior divided into three compartments.

Note: Cabinets of this form combine functionality and aesthetics through the harmonious balance of flat surfaces and round members, and the almost imperceptible outward splay of the recessed stiles. The striking swirling patterns of the huanghuali boards set into the door frame are in sharp contrast to the metal pulls and backplates, successfully drawing attention to the design. As aptly expressed by George N. Kates, cabinets of this type display the Chinese furniture markers’ "ability to handle inflexible wood in such masterly fashion that, almost unaware, one receives the impression of design in a living medium" (George N. Kates, Chinese Household Furniture, New York 1948, p. 32).