Lot 2023. A 54.65 carat Colombian emerald and diamond necklace. Estimate HKD 3,000,000 - 5,000,000 (USD 384,000 - 640,000) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Set with a cushion-shaped emerald weighing 54.65 carats, decorated with baguette-cut diamonds, to a diamond neckchain set with vari-cut diamond links, detaches into four sections, may be worn as a shorter necklace and two bracelets, mounted in 18K gold, approximately 45.0 cm long.

Accompanied by report no. GRS2017066558 dated 12 June 2017 from the GRS stating that the 54.65 carat emerald is of Colombia origin, with insignificant clarity enhancement.

Lot 2146. An 18.03 carat fancy yellow diamond and diamond ring, by Graff. Estimate HKD 2,800,000 - 3,500,000 (USD 358,400 - 448,000) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Set with a rectangular-shaped fancy yellow diamond weighing 18.03 carats, flanked on either side with half moon-shaped diamonds, mounted in platinum and 18K gold, ring size 5 3/4; Signed GRAFF.

Accompanied by report no. 2175221895 dated 30 June 2015 from the GIA stating that the 18.03 carat diamond is natural Fancy Yellow color, VS1 clarity.

Lot 2136. A set of very fine jadeite and diamond "Peapod" jewelry. Estimate HKD 2,800,000 - 3,800,000 (USD 358,400 - 486,400) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Set with a jadeite of brilliant emerald green color and high translucency, craved as a "Peapod", surmounted by pear-shaped diamond weighing approximately 1.01 carats, to a diamond set necklace and a pair of pendent earrings ensuite; mounted in 18K gold, the largest 'peapod' approximately 28.78 x 10.38 x 5.45mm, 5.0 cm long, earrings 4.4 cm long. 

Accompanied by report no. KJ96157 and SJ154919, both dated 4 August 2017 from the Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory stating that the jadeites tested are natural, known in the trade as “A Jade”.

Lot 2098. A pair of jadeite and diamond earrings. Estimate HKD 2,800,000 - 3,800,000 (USD 358,400 - 486,400) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Each set with two oval jadeite cabochons of intense green color and high translucency, weighing 11.08 and 11.75 carats, suspending pear-shaped diamonds, mounted in 18K gold, jadeite cabochon approximately 18.18 x 14.30 x 4.16mm, 2.8cm long. 

Accompanied by report no. KJ96441 dated 24 August 2017 from the Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory stating that the jadeite tested is natural, known in the trade as “A Jade” .

Lot 2025. A 5.32 carat 'pigeon blood' Burmese ruby and diamond ring. Estimate HKD 2,700,000 - 3,500,000 (USD 345,600 - 448,000) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Centering upon a cushion-shaped ruby weighing 5.32 carats, to the brilliant- and oval-cut diamond surround and shoulders, mounted in 18K gold, ring size 6. 

Accompanied by report no. 93137 dated 26 June 2017 from the SSEF stating that the ruby weighing approximately 5.323 carats is of Burma (Myanmar) origin, with no indications of heating Accompanied by report no. GRS2016-063009 dated 1 July 2016 from the GRS stating that the ruby weighing approximately 5.33 carats is of Burma (Mogok, Myanmar) origin, vivid red (GRS type 'pigeon's blood') color, with no indications of thermal treatment Also accompanied by 8 GIA diamond certificates, details see table.

Lot 2128. A unique pair of jadeite and diamond necklace-ear pendants. Estimate HKD 2,200,000 - 2,600,000 (USD 281,600 - 332,800) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Designed as an 18K white gold torque necklace, each terminal suspending a cluster of round brilliant and marquise-cut diamonds, with two flat jadeite leaves of brilliant emerald green color with highly rare translucency, to a surmount set with vari-cut diamonds, mounted with brilliantcut diamonds on top; may also be worn as pair of ear pendants, mounted in 18K white gold with artistic diamond decorations on the back. 

Accompanied by report no. KJ 96370 dated 24 August 2017 from the Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory stating that the jadeite tested is natural, known in the trade as “A Jade”.

Lot 2115. A 4.44 carat Burmese ruby and diamond ring. Estimate HKD 2,200,000 - 3,200,000 (USD 281,600 - 409,600) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Set with a cushion-shaped ruby weighing 4.44 carats, flanked by two cushion-shaped diamonds weighing 0.91 and 1.00 carat, mounted in 18K gold, ring size 6. 

Lot 2111. A pair of 2.03 and 2.08 carat Burmese "pigeon blood" ruby and diamond earrings. Estimate HKD 2,000,000 - 2,600,000 (USD 256,000 - 332,800) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Each set with an oval-shaped ruby weighing 2.03 and 2.08 carats, surrounded with oval-shaped diamonds, altogether weighing 3.81 carats, mounted in 18K gold, approximately 1.6 cm long. 

Lot 2051. A 5.12 carat, D color, flawless clarity type IIA diamond ring. Estimate HKD 2,000,000 - 3,500,000 (USD 256,000 - 3,500,000) © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Set with an emerald-cut diamond weighing 5.12 carats, flanked by tapered baguette-shaped diamonds, mounted in 18K gold, ring size 6 1/2. 

Fortuny : un espagnol à Venise. Affiche

PARIS - Un musée porte son nom au cœur de la Sérénissime, il est vénitien d’adoption, mais espagnol de naissance, célèbre pour son plissé... C’est Mariano Fortuny, et le Palais Galliera, musée de la mode de la Ville de Paris, lui consacre une rétrospective. À travers une centaine de pièces issues du fonds Galliera, du Museo del Traje à Madrid et du Museo Fortuny à Venise, l’exposition dévoilera la diversité de ses inspirations et de ses talents d’inventeur : la robe Delphos créée en 1909 en est l’illustration la plus célèbre. Toute de soie unie, si finement plissée qu’elle se range en boule et retrouve toute sa fluidité une fois dépliée…

Fils du peintre espagnol Mariano Fortuny y Marsal (1838-1874), Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (1871-1949) s’oriente d’abord vers la peinture. C’est à Venise, où il s’établit en 1888, que son nom reste attaché. Ses goûts très éclectiques le poussent à s’intéresser à la gravure, à la photographie, au design (mobilier et luminaires) et à se passionner pour la mise en scène et l’éclairage scénique. Dès 1906, il se tourne vers le textile avec les châles Knossos en voile de soie imprimé de motifs inspirés de la céramique crétoise de Camarès. Œuvrant à la libération des corps, revisitant l’Antiquité, le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance, il s’attache à la souplesse du vêtement sans taille, en créant des pièces intemporelles aux lignes droites.

Mariano Fortuny tient une place de premier rang dans l’oeuvre de Marcel Proust. Le peintre Elstir dans À la recherche du temps perdu rapporte : «Mais on dit qu’un artiste de Venise, Fortuny, a retrouvé le secret de leur fabrication et qu’avant quelques années les femmes pourront se promener, et surtout rester chez elles, dans des brocarts aussi magnifiques que ceux que Venise ornait, pour ses patriciennes, avec des dessins d’Orient.»

Fortuny magnifie chaque tissu en une pièce unique aux subtils jeux de lumière. Le visiteur pourra admirer, parmi les robes portées par la comtesse Greffulhe et sa fille Élaine, Eleonora Duse, Ellen Terry, Oona Chaplin…, ses savantes impressions à base de poudres métalliques sur velours de soie qui rendent hommage aux influences byzantines, japonaises, persanes. L’exposition Mariano Fortuny est une invitation à la fluidité, aux atmosphères miroitantes d’un inventeur prolixe qui fut aussi un ardent défenseur de la libération du corps et, luxe suprême, du confort. Une plongée dans l’élégance intemporelle. 

Exposition organisée avec la participation exceptionnelle du Museo del Traje à Madrid et du Museo Fortuny à Venise.

Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949), Robe Eleonora Velours de soie vert imprimé or, taffetas de soie vert plissé, cordonnet de soie verte, perles en pâte de verre noir et blanc. Doublure en taffetas de soie or, Vers 1912. Collection Palais Galliera© Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949), Casaquin et ceinture Velours de soie vert bronze imprimé or, Doublure en cannelé de soie beige, Ceinture assortie, Vers 1912. Collection Palais Galliera© L. Degrâces et P. Ladet / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949), Ensemble robe Delphos et manteau, Vers 1919-1920. Collection Palais Galliera© Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949), Manteau Velours de soie chocolat, velours de soie caramel imprimés or, Doublure en satin de soie or, Vers 1920. Collection Palais Galliera© Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949), Robe Delphos Taffetas de soie vert bronze plissé, cordonnet en soie noire, perles en pâte de verre couleur ambre et en verre blanc et noir, Vers 1913. Collection Palais Galliera© L. Degrâces et P. Ladet / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Albert Harlingue, L’actrice Régine Flory, chez elle en robe Delphos, vers 1910. © Albert Harlingue / Roger-Viollet

Raphael, Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, detail, ca. 1514–1515. Oil on wood© National Gallery of Art, Washington

VIENNA.- Together with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, Raphael completes the triumvirate of Italian Renaissance artists. Moreover, the world-famous drawings of this prematurely deceased master (1483–1520) make him one of art history’s great draftsmen. The Albertina Museum is now paying tribute to Raphael with a major exhibition of 150 paintings and drawings. 

Starting from the Albertina Museum’s own significant holdings and rounded out by the most beautiful and important drawings from prominent museums such as the Uffizi, the Royal Collection of the British Royal Family, the British Museum, the Louvre, the Vatican Museums, and the Ashmolean Museum, this monographic presentation places Raphael’s thinking and conceptual process front and center: featured works range from initial spontaneous artist’s impressions to virtuosic detail studies, compositional studies, and the completed paintings themselves.  

Raphael, Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, ca. 1514–1515. Oil on wood© National Gallery of Art, Washington

Harmony and Ideal 
As a painter who worked in Umbria, Florence, and Rome and could count princes and popes among his patrons, Raphael was a true universal genius of the High Renaissance who constantly sought to strike a balance between naturalist imitation and idealization. This exhibition shows around 130 drawings and 18 paintings that amount to a representative survey encompassing all of the artist’s important projects: from his early Umbrian period (up to 1504) to his years in Florence (1504–1508) and on to his time in Rome (1508/1509–1520), during which he dealt closely with antiquity, the impressive selection covers Raphael’s entire artistic career. 

In a way that is truly universal, Raphael expresses the quintessentially human aspects of his figures: their character, their nature, their feelings, and the motivating forces behind their actions. Even if he does observe them with great accuracy, he also idealizes them and lends them universal meaning. Through their actions, his figures enter a web of relationships in which contradictions and tensions are clarified, reconciled, and joined together in a wonderful compositional unity.  

Raphael, Madonna with pomegranate, around 1504 © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Raphael is a master of beauty and of harmony, and his works are filled with an auspicious message that remains just as pertinent today as it was at the time. More than either Leonardo or Michelangelo, Raphael comes to terms with the art of his contemporaries and predecessors, adopts it, adapts it, and ultimately arrives at solutions that are entirely his own. 

One of the basic pillars of his artistic viewpoint is the observation of nature and the study of the human model, in reference to which he examined each movement and every posture of his figures. What’s more, Raphael’s examination of the ideals of antiquity lent his creations monumentality, dignity, and grandeur, for which reason he became known as one of the most important history painters in the grand classical style.  

Raphael, Study of head and hand, 1519-20, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

A Busy Master 
Raphael’s drawings provide the most immediate insight into his spontaneous thoughts and intentions. The viewer has the feeling of looking over the artist’s shoulder as he quickly draws a line, adds hatching in black or red chalk, or corrects one of his motifs. 

Raphael’s drawings were made strictly for specific purposes that were always related to the final execution of an artwork. He conceived his projects in a series of individual design steps, from the prim o pensiero [first thought] to studies of individual figures and groups, overall compositional designs, studies of (often nude) live models, and on to the modello and cartoon. This systematic and procedural character of Raphael’s approach to designing his works testifies to the great care with which he prepared them. 

Especially in his later career, Raphael was positively overwhelmed with commissions: he worked on the painted decoration of the individual Stanze in the Vatican, created designs for the tapestry series in the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican loggias, and also worked at Villa Farnesina.  

Finally, after the death of Bramante in 1514, he was put in charge of the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica and appointed as architect for the Vatican Palace. His archaeological research culminated in the project to draw a map with the buildings of ancient Rome. Alongside the papal commissions for frescos and panel paintings, Raphael also worked extensively for a variety of ecclesiastical and secular patrons, of whom the wealthy banker and entrepreneur Agostino Chigi (1466–1520) was the most important. In order to fulfill all these obligations, Raphael availed himself of pupils and assistants. Since the late 19th century, researchers have attempted to attribute drawings from this late phase to the people in his employ, but most of them have since been shown to indeed be works by Raphael—for which reason some of the works in this exhibition have now been reattributed to the master himself. 

The present selection of impressive drawings demonstrates all of the techniques and materials used by the artist including pen-and-ink, chalk, charcoal, metal- and silverpoint, white heightening, and wash, and the great number of paintings affords the exhibition’s visitors a unique opportunity to experience Raphael’s multifaceted artistic personality as a painter and a draftsman.

Raphael, Apostle Head (Study for 'Transfiguration'), 1519 - 1520 © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Raphael, Two Studies of Male Nudes, 1515 © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Raphael, Madonna dell’Impannata, 1511 © Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Uffizi, Florence: Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence

Raphael, The Cumaean Sibyl (Study for the Sibyls fresco in Santa Maria della Pace, Rome), around 1511 © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Raphael, The Vision of Ezekiel, 1516–1517 © Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Uffizi, Florenz: Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

Raphael, Madonna studies, 1506-1507 © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Raphael, Saint George, 1505, Musée du Louvre, Paris © RMN-Grand Palais  / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Raphael, The marriage of Alexander and Roxane, around 1517 © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Raphael, Self-Portrait, detail, 1506. Oil on wood © Galleria degli Uffizi Florenz, Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi

Lot 101. A very rare Qingbai‘Lion’ pillow, Song dynasty (960-1279), 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm.) wide, box. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 200,000. Price realised HKD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Property of the Dexinshuwu Collection

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong

Lot 102. A very rare Qingbai‘Double Makara’ pillow, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 6 1/8 in. (15 cm.) long, box. Estimate HKD 60,000 - HKD 120,000. Price realised HKD 50,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Property of Mr Mark Lam.

Literature: Dream Quest: The Mark Lam Collection of Chinese Ceramic Pillows, Shanghai, 2008, pl. 3

The result of Oxford Authentication thermoluminescence test no. P107e18 (9 February 2007) is consistent with the dating of this lot.

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong

Lot 103. A Henan Dengfeng carved ‘Peony scroll’ pillow, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), 12 5/8 in. (32 cm.) wide, box. Estimate HKD 60,000 - HKD 120,000. Price realised HKD 50,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Property of Mr Mark Lam.

Literature: Dream Quest: The Mark Lam Collection of Chinese Ceramic Pillows, Shanghai, 2008, pl. 13

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong 

Jacopo Amigoni (Italy, circa 1685 - 21 Aug 1752), Bacchus and Ariadne, c. 1740-42. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of James Fairfax  AC 1993. Photo: AGNSW, Diana Panuccio

SYDNEY.- For the first time in more than 30 years, 27 magnificent works by some of the leading Italian, French and British artists of the High Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Romantic periods left the walls of the Art Gallery of New South Wales for an exhibition at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, European Old Masters: 16th – 19th Century. 

Dr Michael Brand, Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales said while we will miss those 27 works as they have been on the walls of the gallery for more than 3 decades, we are delighted to collaborate with Hazelhurst Regional Gallery to give people an opportunity to see some of the finest works in our European collection.  

Jan van Bijlert (Netherlands, 1597 or 1598 - buried 12 November 1671), Girl with a flute, circa 1630, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1967, OO3.1967. Photo: AGNSW.

This exhibition is the first occasion these important European paintings have been shown together outside their permanent home said Belinda Hanrahan, Director, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery. We are thrilled the Art Gallery of New South Wales has given us this opportunity for people to see the works by some of the greatest artists in Europe at the time like William Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Bernardo Strozzi and Frans Snyders. 

The Art Gallery of New South Wales did not embark upon collecting old masters until the 1950s, some 80 years after its foundation. Previously, the great masters of the past could only be experienced through copies intended for educational purposes. The focus of the Gallery’s acquisitions policy since the late 19th century had been primarily on works by living artists – initially British, later Australian and European.  

Luca Cambiaso (Italy, 18 Oct 1527 - 06 Sep 1585), Holy Family with St John the Baptist, circa 1578, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of Mrs Dorothy Spry in memory of Charles Eckersley Forrest 1992, 25.1992. Photo: AGNSW.

Between 1951 and 1976, the Gallery acquired an outstanding group of English 18th-century portraits, including works by three of the leading painters of the age: William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. During these years the Gallery also purchased landscapes and subject pictures representative of British Neo-Classicism and Romanticism by artists such as Richard Wilson, John Glover, Richard Westall, William Hamilton and Francis Danby. Although accessions of non-British painting were rare, three powerful and imposing figural compositions by the Baroque painters Bernardo Strozzi, Jan van Bijlert and Matthias Stomer expanded the scope and ambition of the collection. 

The extraordinary donation by James Fairfax AC during the 1990s significantly enriched the Gallery’s holdings of European old masters, particularly in the area of 18th-century French and Italian art such as the works by Nicolas de Largillierre and Canaletto. The collection has continued to develop with the acquisition of major Italian Renaissance and Baroque works such as the work of Giulio Cesare Procaccini. 

The works in European Old Masters: 16th – 19th Century offers an insight into ages and cultures so different from our own.

Canaletto (Italy, 17 Oct 1697 - 10 Apr 1768), The Piazza San Marco, Venice, 1742-1746, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of Mrs Dorothy Spry in memory of Charles Eckersley Forrest 1992, 25.1992. Photo: AGNSW.

Francis Danby (Ireland, England, 16 Nov 1793 - 09 Feb 1861), The three sisters of Phaethon weeping over the tomb of their brother, 1841-1845, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1970, 31.1971. Photo: AGNSW.

Nicolas de Largillierre (France, 10 Oct 1656 - 20 Mar 1746), Portrait of an officer, circa 1714-circa 1715, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of James Fairfax AC 1995, 176.1995. Photo: AGNSW.

Nicolò dell'Abate (Italy, France, between 1509 and 1512 - 1571), Portrait of a gentleman with a falcon, circa 1548-circa 1550, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of James Fairfax AC 1995, 176.1995. Photo: AGNSW.

Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (England, 17 Nov 1793 - 24 Dec 1865), An antique rural scene, 1823-1824, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Bequest of Amy Alfreda Vickery 1942, 7262. Photo: AGNSW.

Thomas Gainsborough (England, baptised 14 May 1727 - 02 Aug 1788), Samuel Kilderbee, circa 1758, partially repainted circa 1783, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1966, OB3.1967. Photo: AGNSW.

John Glover (England, Australia, 18 Feb 1767 - 09 Dec 1849), Ullswater, early morning, circa 1824, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1979, 164.1979. Photo: AGNSW.

William Hamilton (England, 1751 - 02 Dec 1801), Christ and the woman of Samaria, 1792, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1970, 28.1971. Photo: AGNSW.

William Hogarth (England, 10 Nov 1697 - 25 or 26 October 1764), Dr Benjamin Hoadly MD, early 1740s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1951, 8586. Photo: AGNSW.

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg (France, England, 31 Oct 1740 - 11 Mar 1812), A shipwreck off a rocky coast, 1760s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 2002, 11.2002. Photo: AGNSW.

Jean-Marc Nattier (France, 17 Mar 1685 - 07 Nov 1766), Madame de La Porte, 1754, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of William Bowmore OBE 1992, 119.1992. Photo: AGNSW.

Johann Georg Platzer (Austria, 24 Jun 1704 - 10 Dec 1761), The sculptor's studio, 1730, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of Howard Hinton 1923, 696. Photo: AGNSW.

Giulio Cesare Procaccini (Italy, 30 May 1574 - 14 Nov 1625), The dead Christ on the cross with Sts Mary Magdalene, Augustine and Jerome, and angels, circa 1618, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased with funds from the estate of Mr Walter Hartwig through the Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation 2005, 249.2005. Photo: AGNSW.

Sir Henry Raeburn (Scotland, 04 Mar 1756 - 08 Jul 1823), John Spottiswoode of Spottiswoode, circa 1820, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased with the William and Mary Farnsworth gift fund 1971, 54.1971. Photo: AGNSW.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (England, 16 Jul 1723 - 23 Feb 1792), James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale, 1759-1760, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased with an anonymous gift fund for an 18th century portrait 1976, 8.1977. Photo: AGNSW.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (England, 16 Jul 1723 - 23 Feb 1792), Stephen Croft, 1760, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1965, OB1.1966. Photo: AGNSW.

David Roberts (Scotland, 24 Oct 1796 - 25 Nov 1864), Edinburgh from the Calton Hill, 1858, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1890, 662. Photo: AGNSW.

Frans Snyders (Belgium, baptised 11 November 1579 - 19 Aug 1657), The boar hunt, circa 1650s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of Charles Davies-Scourfield 2005, 239.2005. Photo: AGNSW.

Matthias Stomer (Netherlands, Italy, circa 1600 - post 1650), Mucius Scaevola in the presence of Lars Porsenna, early 1640s, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1970, OO4.1970. Photo: AGNSW.

Bernardo Strozzi (Italy, 1581 - 02 Sep 1644), The release of St Peter, circa 1635, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1965, OO1.1966. Photo: AGNSW. 

 Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (Italy, 30 Aug 1727 - 03 Mar 1804), The apotheosis of a pope and martyr, circa 1780-1785, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Gift of James Fairfax AC 1995, 178.1995. Photo: AGNSW.

Richard Westall (England, 1765 - 04 Dec 1836), Landscape – solitude, 1811, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1970, 27.1971. Photo: AGNSW. 

Richard Wilson (Wales, 1713 or 1714 - 11 May 1782), St Peter's and the Vatican from the Janiculum, Rome, 1757-1764, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1970, 25.1971. Photo: AGNSW. 

Joseph Wright of Derby (England, 03 Sep 1734 - 29 Aug 1797), Margaret Oxenden, circa 1757-circa 1759, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Purchased 1952, 8698. Photo: AGNSW. 

Lot 105. A white-glazed meiping, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1134), 8 7/8 in. (22.5 cm.) high, box. Estimate HKD 150,000 - HKD 260,000. Price realised HKD 350,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong 

Lot 106. A small Longquan celadon vase, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), 5 5/8 in. (14.2 cm.) high, Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 200,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired in the 1980s

Note: Compare with a Southern Song example from the Linyushanren Collection sold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 716.

A small Longquan celadon long-necked vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), from the Linyushanren Collection, 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm.) high. Sold for 245,000 at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 716. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016.

 (Cf. my post A small Longquan celadon long-necked vase, Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong 

Lot 108. A rare Longquan celadon vase, zun, Yuan-Ming dynasty (1279-1644). 9 ½ in. (24 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000. Price realised HKD 687,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The vase is in the form of an archaic bronze zun, sturdily potted with a compressed globular mid-section, rising from a splayed foot to a tall trumpet neck, each register divided by four vertical crenelated flanges, applied overall with an unctuous sea-green glaze, gold brocade wrapper, Japanese wood box.

Note: Celadon vases of this archaic form were made in the Longquan and guan kilns from as early as the Southern Song dynasty and continued throughout the Ming dynasty. Fragments of zun of similar form were recovered from the Laohudong kiln site, Hangzhou. A closely related Longquan celadon example dated to the Southern Song period, from the collection of Tokyo National Museum, was included in the exhibition Longquan Ware: Chinese Celadon Beloved of the Japanese, Yamaguchi, 2012, pl. 29; another related Yuan example with similar design of flanges, in the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou, is illustrated in Celadon from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 2014, pl. 150, p. 177. Compare also to two Yuan examples of similar shape with varied designs of flanges, from the collection of Sir Percival David, London, illustrated in Stacey Pierson, Illustrated Catalogue of Celadon Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1997, p. 25, no. 221 and ibid., p. 29, no. 234. Another Longquan celadon zun vase, with similar crenelated flanges but of a slightly different shape, dated to the Ming dynasty, is in the collection of Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi and illustrated in Sensei Bansei to Ryusenyo no Seiji [Bansei, Sensei and Celadon of Longquan Wares], Izumi, 1996, no. 116.

Vase modelled after an ancient bronze, Yuan dynasty, AD 1280–1368. Stoneware, porcelain-type, carved, sprig-moulded decoration and celadon glaze, Longquan ware, Longquan region, Zhejiang province, Height: 24,5 cm, Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF 221 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

This celadon vase is modelled after an ancient ritual drinking vessel called a gu. Wealthy aristocrats and generals of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, (about 1600–256 BC), buried bronze vessels as part of ritual eating and drinking equipment for tombs. The shape was transformed into a vase in the Song dynasty (AD 960–1279) as catalogues of collections of antiques were published with woodblock-printed illustrations. Related gu vases with less well-defined decoration were recovered from the Sinan shipwreck of AD1323. This ship was sunk in the waters near the Dokdo islets off the Shinan coast in south-west Korea. Of the 17,000 ceramics on board, over half were from Longquan. The ship is believed to have been travelling from Ningbo in southern China to Korea, on its way to Japan.

Vase modelled after an ancient bronze, Yuan dynasty, AD 1280–1368. Stoneware, porcelain-type, carved, sprig-moulded decoration and celadon glaze, Longquan ware, Longquan region, Zhejiang province, Height: 19,2 cm, Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF 234 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Refer also to the Southern Song example of a guan zun vase with four divided low flanges, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Sung Dynasty Kuan Ware, Taipei, 1989, pl.2, p. 48.

Celadon-glazed zun vessel, Guan ware, Southern Song dynasty, height 25.9cm © National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong 

Lot 109. A Longquan celadon 'Treillis' vase, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), 8 3/4 in. (22 cm.) high, Japanese wood box. Estimate HKD 30,000 - HKD 50,000. Price realised HKD 20,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Christie's. The Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 October 2017, Alexandra House, Hong Kong  

Lot 2017. A 15.01 carat Colombian emerald and diamond ring, by Jewellery Theatre. Estimate HKD 1,300,000 - 3,000,000 (USD 166,400 - 384,000). Lot sold HKD 1,534,000 (USD 196,352). © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

Set with a cushion-shaped emerald weighing 15.01 carats, flanked on each side by a fancy-shaped diamond, mounted in 18K gold, ring size 6 1/2; with marker's mark for jewellery theatre 

Accompanied by report no.17071065 dated 14 July 2017 from the Gübelin stating that the 15.01 carat emerald is of Colombia origin, with indications of minor clarity enhancement Also accompanied by report no. GRS2006-081591 dated 19 August 2006 from the GRS stating that the 15.02 carat emerald is of Colombia origin, with minor clarity enhancement.