A very rare small coral-ground tripod sundial. Seal mark and period of Qianlong - Sotheby's

of semi-hemispherical form supported on three baluster feet, the rounded sides rising to an everted rim and set with a gilt gnomon to allow for the sun's reflection, covered overall with a rich coral-red enamel and inscribed in gilt on the interior with twelve two-hour sequences scattered along a diagonal table matrix, namely mao, chen, si, wu, wei, shen and you, each subdivided in 'begining' (chu) and 'middle' (zheng) except for mao and you lacking their 'beginning' and 'end' respectively, the rim further detailed between gilt fillets with twenty-four compass direction, each enclosed in small roundel within impressed circles, the underside moulded with a cash-diaper ground above petal lappets, the baluster feet incised with taotie masks, the base inscribed with a gilt-enamelled six-character seal mark; 9.4 cm., 3 3/4  in. Estimation: 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD. Lot. Vendu 2,440,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 9th April 1957, lot 4.
Palais Galliera, Paris, Etude Ader Picard, 16th June 1967, lot 161 (See invoice).
Salle des ventes Rossini, Paris, 16th March 2010, lot 269.

NOTE: This type of sundial is called a hemispherium. The gnomon casts a shadow and serves as a nodus. The height of the nodus-shadow within the bowl gives the times of year. When the sun is low in the sky in the winter, the nodus-shadow will be higher in the bowl and in summer the shadow will be lower. A companion piece to the present sundial, in the Baur Collection, Geneva, is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, vol. II, no. 250. This is a variation of the more classic sundial consisting of a stone disk and a needle placed on a stone platform at an angle. Two Ming dynasty examples can be found in the ancient observatory in Beijing and outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony inside the Forbidden City.

In its technique, the sundial shows a good understanding of contemporary lacquer wares carved with a similar decorative ground, perhaps there was an original example that served as a blueprint. Noteworthily, the same moulded diaper motif can be found on a porcelain tripod incense burner, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the museum’s Special Exhibition of K’ang-his, Yung-Cheng and Ch’ien-Lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch’ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 113; and on a bowl, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 101.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013 - www.sothebys.com

Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). Photo Beaussant-Lefèvre

Entier. CIC : FR 1305000018- K. Estimation : 200 / 400 €

Collection Béziat, 1966. 

Beaussant-Lefèvre. Mardi 16 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 5 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.beaussant-lefevre.com

Lémur ou Maki catta (Lemur catta). Photo Beaussant-Lefèvre

Contrairement aux autres Makis, le Maki catta n'est pas arboricole ; on le rencontre dans les montagnes rocheuses dépourvues d'arbres ; il évite manifestement les forêts. Très menacée dans la nature, l'espèce se reproduit heureusement bien en captivité. CIC : FR0804000251- K. Estimation : 1 500 / 2 000 €

Beaussant-Lefèvre. Mardi 16 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 5 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.beaussant-lefevre.com

A rare famille-rose 'figural' brushpot, inscribed with a poem by Su Dongpo, signed Tang Ying, Qing dynasty, 19th century - Sothebys

of broad cylindrical form with straight sides supported on a recessed base, masterfully painted around the exterior with a continuous scene taken after an episode of the Dongpo shihua, depicting the Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo seated at a rock desk, grinding ink in the 'Jasper Pond' inkstone next to an open scroll with a wood brushpot containing further scrolls and a pile of books disposed nearby on the monolith table, serviced by two attendants carrying a ewer and a cup, and carefully observed by the poet and calligrapher Mi Fu standing, dressed in a long greyish-blue robe near a young attendant fanning live charcoals under a kettle, all set in a lush green meadow laden with jagged rocks, tall gnarled pines, pink plum blossoms, wutong and bamboo shoots in the distance, the bright famille-rose enamels carefully applied in soft shaded tones with fine detailing in iron red and black, the reverse inscribed with a five-column poem by Su, signed Shenyang Tang Ying with three red seals, the base inscribed in iron-red enamel with an apocryphal six-character Qianlong reign mark; 21.5 cm., 8 1/2  in. Estimation: 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD. Lot. Vendu 2,440,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo.

EXHIBITED: Arts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, 1980.

LITTERATURE: Toji taikei, vol. 46, Tokyo, 1973, fig. 29.
Idemitsu Bijutsukan zhin zuroku. Chgoku tji/Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, col. pl. 231.

NOTE: The present finely painted brushpot has an illustrious provenance, having been treasured in Japan for a long period of time. It was included in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art exhibition Arts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Osaka, 1980, and is also illustrated in Toji taikei, vol. 46, Tokyo, 1973, fig. 29, and in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, col. pl. 231. It is based on a near identical brushpot in the Shanghai Museum, of the same dimensions and closely related decoration, but with a four-character ‘Qianlong nianzhi’ reign mark in red enamel on the base instead of the six-character mark seen on this piece. It is illustrated in a number of publications including, Zhongguo taoci quanji, [The complete works of Chinese ceramics], vol. 15, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 22, and also in Wenwu 1978, vol 7, pp, 83-84.

The figural scene on the brushpot, titled ‘Painting of Old Mi Examining His Inkstone’, depicts the Song painter, poet and calligrapher Mi Fu (1051-1107), standing in his garden eyeing his friend Su Shi (1037-1101) seated at a rock table before an inkstone. The poem accompanying this scene reveals the story behind the painting. It may be found with a passage in the Dongpo shihua (Poetry Talks Related to Dongpo [Su Shi]), attributed to Mi Fu’s contemporary, Su Shi, later edited by Chen Xiuming and reprinted in Lin Li (ed.), Zhongguo lidai zhenxi xiaoshuo [Rare and Important Anecdotes from China throughout the Ages], Beijing, 1998, p. 398.

According to the passage, Mi Fu was once presented an inkstone named ‘Jasper Pond’2 by the Song emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126). Every time he brought it out for a look, he bowed twice toward it before appreciating but he never dared actually use it. One day, his close friend Su Shi asked to see his much treasured ‘Jasper Pond’ inkstone. 
Mi Fu ordered Su Shi to bow toward it twice and only then brought it out to show him. Su Shi said, ‘Although this inkstone seems very fine, we don’t know yet what the ink from it is like.’ He noticed an ink stick on the desk, spat into the inkstone and ground some ink with it. Mi Fu was outraged and scolded him saying, ‘You old bandit, you’ve ruined my inkstone!’ And then he tried to give the inkstone to Su Shi, who said, ‘How can you ever give a gift from the Emperor to someone else?’ Mi Fu replied, ‘How can such a soiled inkstone ever be used again?’ Su Shi laughed and,taking the inkstone, composed a poem in reply. The poem may be translated as follows:

This jade inkstone, shimmering and glossy
came from the Imperial Manufactory,
A personal gift from the Ninth Layer of Heaven3
to Mi Yuanzhang.If it weren’t for the power to cough up and spit out
jades and pearls,
How could this ‘Jasper Pond’ ever have reached
the Jade Hall?4

1 Jasper Pond is located in the land of the Immortals.
2 “Ninth Layer of Heaven” is the abode of the emperor.
3 The third line may be interpreted as follows: ‘If Su Shi had not spat onto the inkstone, and if his writings were not praised as brilliant as jade and pearl, the inkstone would not have come to him, a Hanlin academician.’ ‘Jade Hall’ refers to the Hanlin Academy.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013 - www.sothebys.com

Ours blanc. Photo Beaussant-Lefèvre

Naturalisé entier à quatre pattes. Estimation : 2 000 / 3 000 €

Beaussant-Lefèvre. Mardi 16 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 5 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.beaussant-lefevre.com

Ours noir (Ursus americanus). Photo Beaussant-Lefèvre

Naturalisé entier dévorant un saumon. Estimation : 1 000 / 1 500 €

Beaussant-Lefèvre. Mardi 16 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 5 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.beaussant-lefevre.com

Exceptionnel et rare cabinet italien. Venise, Époque XVIIème siècle. Photo Oise Enchères

en placage d’ébène et poirier noirci à incrustation d’ivoire, figurants de scènes mythologiques :

1) Le triomphe de Galatée dans la partie supérieure,
2) la Naissance de Vénus dans la partie inférieure, d’après les tableaux de Raphael du XVIème siècle à la Villa Farnèse à Florence.

La façade à huit colonnes torses détachées, encadrant cinq niches à arcatures romanes où se trouvent des statuettes de personnages de l’antiquité en bronze doré. Il ouvre à quatre tiroirs et deux portes démasquant huit petits tiroirs. Au sommet, un balcon à pilastres et pot à feu en bronze doré. Il repose sur un piétement postérieur en colonne torse réuni par une entretoise. H : 169 ; L : 146 ; P : 74 cm. Estimation : 35 000 / 36 000 €

Venice, XVIIth century. Exceptional and rare ebony veneer cabinet and blackened pear wood inlay of ivory, which represented mythological scenes:
1) The Triumph of Galatea in the upper part,
2) The Birth of Venus in the lower part, like Raphael's paintings of the XVI century the Villa Farnese in Florence.

The facade has eight twisted columns parts, which framed five Romanesque arches niches where there are statues of characters from antiquity in gilded bronze. It opens with four drawers and two doors where there are eight small drawers. On the top, a balcony with pilasters and firepot in gilded bronze. It rests on a base posterior column join by a crossbar.

Oise Enchères.  Dimanche 14 avril 2013. 81,83 rue Georges Latapie - 60490 Ressons sur Matz

A fine yellow-glazed dish, Mark and period of Hongzhi - Sotheby's

thinly potted with rounded sides supported on a short foot, covered overall in an even pale egg-yolk yellow glaze, the white base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within double circles; 21.6 cm., 8 1/2  in. Estimation: 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 HKD. Lot. Vendu 2,320,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: A private Japanese collection.

EXHIBITED: Ming Porcelain, Marchant, London, 2009, no. 9.

NOTE: A closely related dish in the Qing court collection and still in Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 39; one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics. Ming Official Wares. vol. 4, Taipei, 1991, p. 155 (top); another included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. 2, London, 1986, pl. 774 and in colour, p. 447; and a fourth example, later incised with the name of Jahangir, Mughal Emperor of India, and a date corresponding to 1612, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, Fribourg, 1978, pl. 113. Further examples include one from the H.M. Knight collection, sold in our London rooms, 12th May 1970, lot 51, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2541; one from the Noral Lyle Harris and B. and V. Lake collections, also sold in our London rooms, 8th November 2006, lot 28; and a pair of dishes from the E.T. Hall collection, sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2000, lot 503.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013 - www.sothebys.com

Brûle parfum couvert ajouré. Vietnam, début du XXème siècle. Photo Aguttes

sur son socle de forme rectangulaire reposant sur quatre pieds à l'imitation de bambou ; les anses et le couvercle également à l'imitation de bambou avec oiseaux perchés. H : 44 cm - Estimation : 800 / 1 000 €

Aguttes. Vendredi 19 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 4 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.aguttes.com

Platinum-Topped Gold, Emerald, Sapphire and Diamond Brooch - Sotheby's

Designed as a peacock feather, the eye centered by a fancy-cut cabochon emerald framed by 16 calibré-cut sapphires, further set with round and single-cut diamonds; circa 1900. Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 17 Apr 2013 www.sothebys.com

Platinum and Diamond Brooch, Lacloche, Paris - Sotheby's

Designed as a pavé-set sculpted rosebud within a frame, set with numerous baguette, old European and single-cut diamonds weighing approximately 5.75 carats, signed LaCloche Paris, with French assay marks; circa 1925. Estimate: 15,000 - 25,000 USD

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 17 Apr 2013 www.sothebys.com

Deux costumes en soie rouge et noire. Chine, Fin du XIXème siècle. Photo Aguttes

brodées de dragons pentadactyles sur fond de nuages encadrés de volatiles et de vagues à la base. L. 1m et 1,20 m - Estimation : 400 / 500 €

Aguttes. Vendredi 19 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 4 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.aguttes.com

Fauteuil en bois de fer ajouré. Fin du XIXème siècle. Photo Aguttes

H : 97,5 cm - L : 65 cm - P : 46,5 cm - Estimation : 500 / 600 €

Aguttes. Vendredi 19 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 4 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.aguttes.com

Important fauteuil en bois laqué rouge et ornementations de laiton. Chine, XIXème siècle. Photo Aguttes

(accident) H : 103 cm - L : 82 cm - p : 53 cm - Estimation : 400 / 500 €

Aguttes. Vendredi 19 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 4 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.aguttes.com

Pair of 18 Karat Gold, Coral and Diamond Pendant-Earclips, Bulgari - Sotheby's

The articulated fringes set with ten button-shaped coral cabochons, suspending six coral drops, set with round diamonds weighing approximately 5.75 carats,signed Bulgari. Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 17 Apr 2013 www.sothebys.com

Platinum, Gold and Diamond Brooch, Tiffany & Co. - Sotheby's

Of floral design, centered by an old European-cut diamond weighing approximately 1.10 carats, further decorated with smaller old European-cut diamonds weighing approximately 8.80 carats, signed Tiffany & Co.; circa 1910. Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels. New York | 17 Apr 2013 www.sothebys.com

Potiche de forme balustre décorée en émaux Wucai d'immortels dans un jardin. Période Transition, vers 1650. Photo Aguttes

H : 36 cm; (restaurations anciennes) - Estimation : 400 / 600 €

Aguttes. Vendredi 19 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 4 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.aguttes.com

Broderie sur soie Kesi. XIXème siècle. Photo Aguttes

représentant une scène d’immortels sur des montagnes avec rochers et pins parasols. Dim à vue : 122 x 53 cm - Estimation : 3 000 / 4 000 €

Aguttes. Vendredi 19 avril 2013. Drouot Richelieu - Salle 4 - 9, rue Drouot - 75009 Paris - www.aguttes.com

A small doucai'birds and flowers' meiping. Mark and period of Yongzheng - Sotheby's

of baluster form, delicately potted with a constricted waist and high shoulders sweeping up to a short waisted neck, supported on a high footring, finely enameled around the body in washes of underglaze blue, shades of green, iron red, aubergine, yellow and black enamels with two ribbon-tailed birds, one perched on a branch of apricot blossoms, the other on a large taihu rock, further surrounded by sprays of bamboos, iron red and yellow roses, and a sprig of day lilies extending toward the reverse, the slightly pointed base inscribed in underglaze bue with a six-character reign mark within double circles; 9.5 cm., 3 3/4  in. Estimation: 800,000 - 1,200,000 HKD - Lot. Vendu 1,720,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th November 1976, lot 505.

NOTE: Miniature vessels of this type were much appreciated by the Yongzheng Emperor who had a penchant for unassuming elegant wares of traditional form and simple design inspired by Chinese ink painting. This vase may be after slightly earlier, Kangxi period, doucai meiping, although of larger dimensions but delicately painted with songbirds perched on blossoming branches, such as the piece sold in our London rooms, 24th October 1994, lot 145.

For examples of other Yongzheng miniature vessels see a double-gourd form doucai vase, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Yeh Pei-Lang, Gems of the Doucai, Taipei, 1993, pl. 93, decorated in a similar painterly style with grape vines and a small squirrel inspired by Ming dynasty designs; and another globular bottle vase, ibid., pl. 98, from the Chang Foundation, Taipei.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013 - www.sothebys.com

A rare white enamel turquoise-glazed double vase Seal marks and period of Qianlong - Sotheby's

each vase of flattened baluster form, with slightly tapering sides rising from a short foot to a waisted neck and a rounded square rim, conjoined at the shoulder with the smaller vase slightly in front, finely painted in white enamel beneath a bluish-green glaze, the larger vase with a lotus wreathed by feathery leaves below a shou character, set between a frieze of ruyi and key-fret at the shoulder and upright lappets skirting the foot, the neck decorated with flower sprays under a gilt mouth rim, the smaller vase similarly painted with a single hibiscus bloom borne on leafy scrolls above upright lappets and 'C' motifs around the foot, below a tasseled hibiscus and a frieze of ruyi collaring the gilt mouthrim, the bases with a white panel enclosing an iron-red four-character seal mark; 18.3 cm., 7 1/4  in. Estimation: 500,000 - 700,000 HKD - Lot. Vendu 1,480,000 HKD

NOTE: It is rare to find the delicate lace-like decoration of white enamel over a turquoise ground on Qianlong vessels. A shallow bowl decorated with bats amongst a lotus scroll, in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, is illustrated in the Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 265; and a tall ovoid vase, with a six-character ironred Qianlong reign mark and of the period, was offered at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 671. For a
similarly decorated Jiaqing mark and period triple gourd vase see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Liu Lian-yu, Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 252 (top left); a vase of globular form and long neck flanked by handles, from the Weishaupt collection, included in the exhibition From the Dragon's Treasure, Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt Museum, 1987, cat. no. 17; and another globular bottle vase, from the Alfred Morrison collection and the Fonthill Heirlooms, sold at Christie's London, 9th November 2004, lot 54.

See a Qianlong conjoined vase of related form, but of slightly smaller size and decorated with lotus scrolls on a yellow and pink ground on the small and larger bottles respectively, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1768a.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 avr. 2013 - www.sothebys.com