Lot 180. A blue and white 'lotus' bowl, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period (1662-1722). 16.3cm (6 3/8in) diam. Estimate GBP  5,000 - 8,000. Sold for £8,125 (€9,228). Photo: Bonhams.

The finely potted bowl decorated with six lotus flower heads joined with a scrolling leafy meander, with a lappet border encircling the low foot rim, the interior with a further lotus blossom 

Provenance: Christie's, London, 9 November 2010, lot 278.

Lot 183. A blue and white 'dragon and carp' bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722). 21cm (8 1/4in) diam. (2). Estimate GBP  1,500 - 2,000. Sold for £22,500 (€25,557). Photo: Bonhams.

The exterior finely painted with a ferocious four-clawed dragon vigorously thrashing amongst foaming waves and cliffs, the beast confronting a large carp in the surf, the base with an apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark, wood stand. 

Provenance: Christie's, London, 9 November 2010, lot 278.

Lot 184. A blue and white 'five dragon' bowl, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period (1662-1722). 20.3cm (8in) diam. Estimate GBP  1,500 - 2,000. Sold for £2,250 (€2,555). Photo: Bonhams.

The exterior boldly painted with a quartet of four-clawed dragons striding purposefully over foaming waves, the well with a further writhing dragon.

Lot 185. A blue and white 'Romance of the Western Chamber' bowl, Kangxi six-character mark and of the period (1662-1722). 20cm (7 7/8in) diam. Estimate GBP  1,000 - 1,500. Sold for £1,125 (€1,277). Photo: Bonhams.

The deep bowl finely painted to the exterior with scenes from the Xi Xiang Ji, raised on a tall foot rim and with a flaring mouth rim decorated with diaper bands, the interior with a terraced garden with boys at play.

Provenance: Purchased from Glade Antiques, 10 May 1999 (receipt)

Lot 337. Superb and Exceptional 7.41 carats Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Blue Ring, Moussaieff. Estimate 13,700,000 — 17,615,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2017 

Accompanied by GIA report no. 2175090161, stating that the diamond is Fancy Vivid Blue, Natural Colour, Internally Flawless. 

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, Geneva, 15 Nov 2017, 10:30 AM

'Andres Serrano: An American Perspective', exhibition poster.

BEIJING - Red Brick Art Museum announce the opening of “Andres Serrano: An American Perspective,” the artist’s first solo show in China. The exhibition was curated by Yan Shijie, with assistance from Sun Wenjie. The exhibition will open on November 4, 2017 and run through February 25, 2018.

The exhibition takes an American perspective, presenting the artist’s most recent Made in China series, as well as key works from his past. Serrano’s calm perspective in describing reality and critical perspective in challenging social taboos provide us with two themes through which we can begin to discuss this controversial artist. The exhibition will present 53 works of photography and video from 16 of his major series. The exhibition will also feature Piss Christ (1987), Serrano’s most famous and controversial work, which depicts a crucifix submerged in urine.

Andres Serrano, Piss Christ (Immersions), 1987. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Created this summer during the artist’s residency at Red Brick Art Museum, Made in Chinawill be shown to the public for the first time at this exhibition. Serrano is Red Brick Art Museum’s first artist in residence and this was the artist’s first trip to China. Through the subject of Chinese marriages, he wanted to reflect the diversity of the “state of China.” He made a public call for recently-married couples, single men and women, and divorced people of different ages and social backgrounds who participated in a work on Chinese marriage. The participants wore formal attire and appeared in dramatic pictures, which explore marriage, love, relationships, and the deficiencies in these concepts and institutions. Made in China is Serrano’s most recent work, echoing Budapest (1994), America (2001), and Cuba (2012).

Andres Serrano, Wang Xiuying (Made in China), 2017. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame. © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

A portrait of current U.S. president Donald Trump, shot in 2004, is just one of the works included in Serrano’s America series, which will be shown to Chinese audiences for the first time. Serrano began work on America after 9/11, taking portraits of 115 Americans, including firemen that went through 9/11, the descendants of American indigenous peoples, and a pimp. As often happens in Serrano’s work, Americapresents larger themes through symbolic individuals, exploring identity and cultural diversity.

Andres Serrano, Donald Trump (America), 2004. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame. © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels 

Also presented at this exhibition, his series Objects of Desire (1992) is a series of close-up photographs of guns, simultaneously images of violent weapons, cool refinement, or intense danger, which reflect on the social issue of gun ownership and collecting.Torture (2015) presents still-life images of Medieval instruments of torture and the hooded men, which focuses the viewer on people who were oppressed or ostracized during that time.InImmersions (1987-1990)and Bodily Fluids (1987-1990), provocative substances such as urine, milk, blood, and semen are presented in formalist, dreamy images.

 Andres Serrano, Objects of Desire, 1992. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Andres Serrano, “The Hooded Men” (Torture), 2015. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Andres Serrano, Semen and Blood III (Bodily Fluids), 1990. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Andres Serrano was born in New York in 1950 to a Catholic immigrant family. After studying at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York, he decided to focus on photography as a medium for his conceptual art practice; although he is generally considered to be a self-taught artist, Serrano has claimed Duchamp as a teacher. Serrano came to prominence in 1987 when his work Piss Christ was protested by American conservatives, including Republican Senators from New York, touching off a debate between liberals and conservatives regarding the work. History of Sex(1995-1996) was damaged by enraged Neo-Nazis in Sweden in 2007. Although he has endured challenge and censure, and the destruction of his work, his work has always followed closely the universal topics of our times, including religion, race, violence, and sex. Even as he confronts standards by which people make values judgments, Serrano references classical aesthetics to create stunning visual images. 

November 5, 2017 to February 25, 2018

Andres Serrano.

About the Artist 

Andres Serrano lives and works in Manhattan. In 2017, he was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.He has had solo exhibitions at the Petit Palais in Paris (France, 2017), La Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris (France 2016), the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels (Belgium, 2016), the Collection Lambert en Avignon (France, 2016), the Fotografiska Museum of Stockholm (Sweden, 2015), the Château de Villeneuve, Fondation Emile Hugues in Vence (France, 2015), the Palais Fesch - Musée des Beaux-Arts in Ajaccio (Corsica, 2014), the Kulturen of Lund (Sweden, 2007), the Villa Croce Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Genoa (Italy, 2006), the Williams College Museum of Art (USA, 2006), and the Moscow House of Photography (Russia, 2005).  

He has also taken part in several significant group shows, including Slip of the Tongue at the Punta della Dogana, Pinault Foundation in Venice (Italy, 2016), Perfect Likeness: Photography and Composition at the Hammer Museum of Los Angeles (USA, 2016), Joie de Vivre at the Palais des Beaux Arts of Lille (France, 2016), Nothing but Blue Skies at the Rencontres de la photographie in Arles, (France, 2016), Love Stories during the Photaumnales 2016 in Beauvais (France, 2016), Todo Abierto at La Friche de la Belle de Mai in Marseille (France, 2016)，Le Mur at La Maison Rouge in Paris (France, 2014), NYC 1993 at the New Museum in New York (USA, 2013), Unsettled: Photography and Politics in Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia (USA, 2011), Autour de l’extrême at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris (France, 2010), Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography at the Tate Modern in London (United Kingdom, 2008), and Traces du Sacréat the Pompidou Center in Paris (France, 2008). 

Andres Serrano’s work is present in many private and public collections such as the MoMA in New York (USA), Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris (France), Huis Marseille in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), National Gallery of Australia in Canberra (Australia), the Vancouver Art Gallery (Canada), the Museum of Contemporary Art of Zagreb (Croatia), the ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst in Copenhagen (Denmark), the CAPC Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux (France), the Collection Lambert en Avignon (France), the Institute of Contemporary Art in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), the Israel Museum of Jerusalem (Israel), the Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo of Mexico City (Mexico), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (USA), the Brooklyn Museum in New York (USA), the Institute of Contemporary Art of Boston (USA), the Modern Art Museum Fort Worth (USA), the New Museum of Contemporary Art of New York (USA), the Groninger Museum (The Netherlands), and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (USA).

Andres Serrano, Locked Brains (Early Works), 1985. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Andres Serrano, Rat Poison Suicide (The Morgue), 1992. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Andres Serrano, The Other Christ (Interpretation of Dreams), 2001. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Andres Serrano, Ahmed Osoble (Denizens of Brussels), 2015. Pigment print, back-mounted on dibond, wooden frame © Andres Serrano, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels

Lot 101. 1936 Bentley 4.25 Litre Vanvooren Pillarless Sports Saloon, owned by Jean Paul Boucheron of the jewellery dynasty. Estimate £60,000 - £80,000. © 2017 H&H Classics.

LONDON.- Supplied new in 1933 to Jean Paul Boucheron of the jewellery dynasty and retained by his family until 2001 when it entered the current ownership it comes to sale at H&H Classics auction on November 15 at Duxford, the Imperial War Museum. It is estimated to sell for £60,000 to £80,000.

This lovely car boasts very rare and elegant Vanvooren pillarless sports saloon coachwork. It was built to right hand drive specification for use 'in France and on the Continent' hence high ratio back axle, ski rack, 'Projecteur' centre spotlight, lightweight seats and Marchal headlights. 

The four-seater has only recently been granted the UK registration number 'YWG 928'. Never fully restored, it has been sparingly used over the past sixteen years and is still running on an oil-filled coil! It is only being offered for sale due to the vendor's poor health, the 'Boucheron Bentley' is now seeking a third family to own it and perhaps make it the jewel in the crown of their collection. 

Unveiled to great acclaim at the August 1933 Ascot Races, the Derby Bentley was underpinned by a 'double dropped' chassis featuring all-round semi-elliptic suspension and four-wheel drum brakes. Powered by a more potent version of its Rolls-Royce 20/25 sibling's 3669cc OHV straight-six engine allied to four-speed manual transmission, the newcomer was soon christened the 'Silent Sportscar'. 

Responding to increased competition from the likes of Alvis and Lagonda, Bentley gave its customers the option of a larger 4257cc engine during the 1936 season. Priced at £50, a comparatively modest sum compared to the cost of a basic chassis, the new unit proved so popular that the smaller capacity powerplant was soon dropped. 

Nicely balanced to begin with, the Derby Bentley chassis proved more than capable of handling the extra power and torque. Of the 1,241 4.25-litre variants produced, just 46 were clothed by the Parisian coachbuilder Vanvooren. Highly influential during the 1930s (its patents were employed by over forty European rivals), Vanvooren looked set to become Bentley's preferred body supplier for the soon to be introduced 'Corniche' version of the MKV model until WW2 intervened. 

According to its accompanying copy build card records, this particular example - chassis B244GA - was intended for use in 'France and the Continent'. Ordered by Franco Britannic Automobiles Ltd on behalf of Monsieur Jean Paul Boucheron of 81 Avenue Malakoff, Paris, it was loaded aboard the SS Silver Thorn bound for Boulogne on 15th May 1936. 

Part of the Boucheron jewellery dynasty which had crafted pieces for countless heads of state the world over (the Greville Tiara remains a favourite of the British Royal Family), Jean Paul possessed an understandable eye for detail. As well as having Vanvooren fashion notably handsome pillarless four-door sports coachwork for the Bentley, he specified a fuel gauge in litres, speedometer in kilometres, taller 11x43 rear axle ratio for improved high-speed cruising (which FBA Ltd took from chassis B154GA), special damper settings (120lb front / 100lb rear initial load at minimum position), twin side wheel carriers and jewel-like Marchal lights. Given the Paris registration number '740 X 75', the 4.25 litre saw enthusiastic use in Monsieur Boucheron's hands. Treated to a rear axle overhaul during September / October 1938 including new gears and half-shafts, the Pillarless Sports Saloon also gained dual Lucas Mellotone horns in January 1940 (just months before the invasion of France). The horns were augmented by a centre-mounted spotlight complete with 'Projecteur' switch on the leather covered dashboard, while other unusual features included a rear-mounted ski rack and lightweight front seats. 

Relocating to England, the Bentley passed to one of Monsieur Boucheron's relations, Dr Louis Hamilton, and remained in his care until 2001. Entering the current ownership when Tennants auctioned off the entire contents of Dr Hamilton's magnificent home 'Southerly', the 4.25 Litre had lain dormant for decades. Found to be surprisingly sound and got going with a jury-rigged fuel supply and fresh battery, the pillarless sports saloon was nonetheless treated to a partial refurbishment.

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

vNEW YORK, NY.- London Painters brings together works by a small group of artists who have commonly been identified as the main proponents of the so-called “School of London”: Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj and Leon Kossoff. Through a selection of self-portraits, depictions of their loyal, sometimes shared sitters and London scenes, the show explores the artists’ dedication to the figure and cityscape, at a time when abstraction prevailed. This is the first exhibition dedicated to this group in New York. 

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

“The story of the supposed School of London is a story of friendships, an intimate tale. With that in mind, London Painters unites pictures that highlight these relationships and the circles of shared acquaintance, as well as London itself, the city that provided such a thrilling backdrop to so much of their development,” says Pilar Ordovas, founder of the gallery. “It feels fitting to bring London to New York for my third exhibition in the city, to celebrate the work of artists that have defined much of what I do.”  

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

Powerfully evoking the early days of the British post-war period is Francis Bacon’s ‘Fury’, circa 1944, which relates to Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion from the same year – the first Bacon painting in the Tate’s collection and the first to garner critical attention for the artist – the fervent orange background and screeching creature speak of the horrors that remained after the Second World War. Painted just a few years later, in 1950, ‘Study after Velázquez’ is a variation on Velázquez’s magnificent portrait of Pope Innocent X and one of the first Popes that Bacon ever made. Bacon’s subject appears to be metamorphosing into a secular figure, having lost most of the purple from his cape and depicted without a papal cap. 

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

Bacon was a regular at Wheeler’s and the Colony Club in Soho, as were Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, who met as students in the late 1940s. As well as sharing a long friendship and a sculptural way of applying oil paint, in the early 1950s, Auerbach moved into his current Camden studio, formerly Kossoff’s. It was here that Juliet Yardley Mills, the subject of Head of J.Y.M., came to sit for Auerbach each Sunday and Wednesday for forty years. In a sense, Auerbach and Kossoff are the most literal members of the ‘School’, using the cityscape as their devout subject. Auerbach’s The Pillar Box III and Kossoff’s Stormy Summer Day, Dalston Lane, are intimate portraits of their familiar city. 

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

Over the years, this small group came to share a number of friends and acquaintances. Jane, Lady Willoughby de Eresby, was a great friend to Michael Andrews and to Lucian Freud. Andrews’ Portrait of Jane, 1989-91, is one of very few portraits that the artist (who is buried on her estate in Scotland) painted. Freud’s depiction of Jane, Woman with Fair Hair – Portrait II, shows her as more youthful, set against a dark background. Man in a Blue Shirt, 1965, is one of two portraits Freud made of Bacon’s partner, George Dyer. This painting was in fact painted on Lady Willoughby’s estate – a striking testament to the intermingled lives of this group of artists and their loyal sitters.  

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

It was R.B. Kitaj who promoted the notion of a “School of London” when he organized, The Human Clay, at The Hayward Gallery, London in 1976. This show was filled with works by the artists exhibited here, and a few years later, when Kitaj married Sandra Fisher, Auerbach, Freud and Kossoff were part of his minyan – the ten Jewish men that accompany the groom. Kitaj was friends them all and they often ate together at his home, surrounded by their paintings. The Neo-Cubist, 1976-1987, is a portrait of Kitaj’s oldest and closest friend, whom he met in his first year at the Royal College of Art – David Hockney. This painting started with a photograph of the blond-haired, bespectacled student, standing fully nude except for two mismatched socks. Represented here by an iconic Los Angeles pool painting, Hockney, although based in the United States during much of the period, was a close friend to the young Londoners.  

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

The artists included in London Painters used paint not for the explosions of Abstract Expressionism, but rather to create a connection between artist and subject, to examine the emotions and internal struggles on both sides of the canvas. Nowhere is this more evident than in their self-portraits, including Freud’s Self-Portrait, executed in 2002, which has only once been exhibited, in the inaugural Met Breuer show, Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible.

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

London Painters installation view, Photograph by Maris Hutchinson.

Évangiles de Drogon. Plaque d'ivoire d'éléphant illustrant des scènes de la Passion du Christ : Metz, vers 850. Bordure d’orfèvrerie à filigrane avec perles et pierres, XIe siècle. BnF, département des Manuscrits, latin 9388.© Bibliothèque nationale de France

PARIS - En lien avec l’exposition de la Petite Galerie, Théâtre du pouvoir, où sont actuellement présentés les regalia, les instruments du sacre des rois de France, la Bibliothèque nationale de France a accepté le prêt de cinq de ses reliures les plus précieuses, conservées au département des Manuscrits : pendant huit mois, elles prennent ainsi provisoirement place dans les vitrines des salles médiévales du département des Objets d’art du Louvre.

Ces reliures forment un ensemble exceptionnel par leur somptuosité et leur histoire, du siècle de Charlemagne à la fin du Moyen Âge. A elles cinq, elles laissent entrevoir, chacune à leur manière, la richesse de l’art médiéval et, par-delà, celle de l’histoire culturelle et politique des différentes régions qui ont participéà la genèse de l’histoire de la France et des pays voisins.

Missel à l'usage de Saint-Denis. Plat supérieur : Figurines d’ivoire de morse de l’école du palais de Charles le Chauve, vers 870. Feuille d’or gravée, repoussée, filigrané et orné de pierres précieuses et de perles remontant au XIe siècle (bordure extérieure du XIIIe siècle). BnF, département des Manuscrits, latin 9436. Plat inférieur : Plaque de cuivre dorée, gravée et ciselée, insérée dans un cadre d’argent estampé et contenant la figure de saint Jean l’Évangéliste (France, XVe siècle) . BnF, département des Manuscrits, latin 9436.© Bibliothèque nationale de France

Conservés par la BnF depuis la Révolution et le Consulat, ces livres dialoguent, dans un parcours inédit, avec les Objets d’art des collections médiévales du Louvre et s’offrent sous un nouveau jour, en particulier pour   les deux reliures restaurées grâce au mécénat de la Fondation Polonsky.

Au Moyen Âge, les livres liturgiques utilisés pour la célébration du service divin faisaient partie des trésors des églises aux côtés d’autres objets sacrés comme les reliques. Ils revêtaient, pour l’établissement religieux qui les conservait, une fonction mémorielle essentielle : le trésor servait à perpétuer le glorieux souvenir de la fondation du lieu comme à incarner son histoire vivante et la puissance de son assise spirituelle et temporelle.

Premier Évangéliaire de la Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, vers 1230 et 1240-1248. Plat supérieur de la reliure : Résurrection du Christ. Plat inférieur : Crucifixion. Argent doré et niellé. BnF, département des Manuscrits, latin 8892.© Bibliothèque nationale de France

Le statut d’unica des livres qui en faisaient partie et leur valeur hautement commémorative justifiait l’ornementation luxueuse qui était la leur et qui rivalisait sans peine avec les plus riches pièces d’orfèvrerie dans la glorification de Dieu.

Tous ont pour point commun d’avoir reçu une riche décoration enluminée et, en guise de couverture, de véritables joyaux dont la splendeur et l’iconographie élaborée sont à la mesure de la dimension spirituelle et symbolique de leur contenu. Ces manuscrits proviennent de centres variés : Metz pour les deux livres d’Évangiles présentés dans la première et dernière vitrine, Saint-Vaast d’Arras pour le Missel de Saint-Denis dans la vitrine de la salle 4 et Paris pour les deux Évangéliaires de la Sainte-Chapelle dans la vitrine centrale de la salle 2.

Deuxième Évangéliaire de la Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, vers 1240 (bordures extérieures de la reliure du XVIe siècle). Plat supérieur de la reliure : Crucifixion. Plat inférieur de la reliure : Christ en majesté. Argent doré, cabochons de verre et de pâte de verre. BnF, département des Manuscrits, latin 9455.© Bibliothèque nationale de France

Lot 262. A famille rose blue and white 'Nine peaches' vase, Wang Bu (1898-1968). 14 ½ in. (37 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 300,000 - GBP 500,000. Price realised GBP 728,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

The elegantly potted vase is decorated with nine famille rosepeaches executed in shades of powder pink on a pale yellow ground. The underglaze blue leafy branch bearing these peaches is depicted in free strokes and the depth conveyed in varying shades of cobalt blue.

Provenance: Private German Collection, amassed in the mid-20th century.
Phillips, London, 12th November 2001, lot 159.
The collection of Peter Wain, London.

A MAGNIFICENT VASE DECORATED WITH A FRUITING BRANCH OF PEACHES IN UNDERGLAZE COBALT BLUE
AND OVERGLAZE ENAMELS BY WANG BU (1898-1968)
Rose Kerr
Independent Academic Consultant
Former Keeper of East Asian Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

In traditional China the painting of porcelain was not regarded as an art. Painting on silk or paper was regarded as the highest form of visual culture, indicative of educated refinement, while porcelain was merely a decorative craft. Until the Qing dynasty, the success of Jingdezhen painted porcelain was judged on perfect potting and refined decoration. The finished product was appraised as a single entity, even though different, anonymous, specialists worked on forming, firing and decoration. The situation changed in the late nineteenth century, when a few intellectuals turned their attention to painting on porcelain. Their efforts met with success and in the early twentieth century the activity of porcelain painters at Jingdezhen burgeoned. From this time onwards, the painting of art ceramics has been regarded as a true art, while the potters remain anonymous. 

Wang Bu was one of the second generation of porcelain painters at Jingdezhen. He had the courtesy name (字) Renyuan 仁元, adopted the pseudonym (號) Zhuxi Daoren 竹溪道人 and in later life called himself Taoqing Laoren 陶青老人, naming his studio Yuan Wen Wu Guo Zhi Zhai 願聞五過之齋.He was born in Fengchengxian in Jiangxi province, about 300 kilometres southwest of Jingdezhen. Wang was apprenticed at the age of nine, learning to decorate porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue, one of the hardest techniques. He thus entered the Jingdezhen porcelain industry at the very moment that it was emerging from the doldrums of the late Qing dynasty. 

During the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) the finest porcelain manufacture, research and decoration had traditionally been undertaken at the imperial factory. By the late nineteenth century the factory was in decline, having never recovered from the destruction wrought by Taiping rebels between 1854 and 1864. In 1882 the scientific researcher Francisque Scherzer visited Jingdezhen to collect samples. He reported the imperial factory buildings in ruins, with a demoralised workforce paid at little more than the general rate available in the city. Chinese authors also had a sad view of contemporary porcelain production. In 1910 Chen Liu lamented in his book Tao Ya (Ceramic Refinements): “Today our Chinese porcelain is in sad decline, the craftsmanship is no good and the material is rough and crude.” 

However, the demise of the imperial porcelain factory had one good outcome, in that it released a group of highly trained and skilled decorators onto the private market. They joined a talented group of master porcelain painters working for private firms and in their own studios, such as Wang Yeting, He Xuren, Wang Qi, Wang Dafan, Xu Zhongnan, Deng Bishan, Cheng Yiting and Wang Bu. Moreover, a significant decline in skills is contradicted by the fact that Jingdezhen porcelains won gold medals at International Exhibitions in France in 1911, in Belgium in 1914, in Japan in 1914, in Panama in 1915 and in San Fransisco in 1915. 

Meanwhile, Wang Bu continued his training. For a period in his youth he decorated bird-feeders in overglaze enamels, which familiarised him with the use of enamels and the practice of painting in miniature on tiny vessels. When he was a little older he joined the staff of a professional workshop owned by Wu Aisheng (1896-1926), called Hexing Ci Zhuang (Hexing Porcelain Village). Wu Aisheng was an entrepreneur with business links in Hong Kong and Singapore, whose family originally came from Guangzhou. Wu had received a good education including in science subjects, and during his seventeen years in Jingdezhen he brought about a significant number of innovations. In Wu’s workshop Wang Bu at first made copies of Kangxi blue-and-white, and then, under the influence of other famous Jingdezhen painters such as Wang Qi, started to practise traditional Chinese painting in earnest. This matured his expertise with the brush, a skill which he also employed to decorate porcelain with landscapes, figures and birds-and-flowers.  

During the 1920s skilled decorator Wang Xiaotang (1885-1924) led a new movement that created fresh techniques for applying overglaze enamel decoration. Wang Xiaotang had started his career by painting round and folding fans in Hangzhou, so had great dexterity in creating designs on irregular surfaces. Wang Bu was inspired by this new approach and took it one stage further, by combining underglaze blue decoration with the new enamelling style. This was more tricky because the ceramics needed an initial firing to mature the underglaze blue, before up to ten layers of enamel colour were applied, each of which needed separate low-temperature firings. This technical and artistic mastery gained him both domestic and international recognition.  

By the late 1930s Jingdezhen once again endured decline, caused by the Japanese occupation. Although the city never fell into Japanese hands it was bombed several times from the air, and more than thirty kilns were reduced to rubble. Other factories shut and workers lost their jobs, the industry shrinking by two-thirds. The Second World War had a further devastating effect and matters did not significantly improve until after the revolution of 1949, when the state re-assumed control and set about restoring production. The first step was to grant loans to craftsmen so they could get going again. To improve the provision of raw materials such as clay, colouring materials and fuel, the government nationalised supply depots. It also undertook the transport and marketing of finished wares. Recovery was slow, for by the mid 1950s Russian scientists reported about 70 large kilns were again in operation, firing at the rate of 5-6 times per month.  

Wang Bu was a survivor, learning to live with whatever circumstances came his way. In the 1950s he followed Mao Zedong’s credo of combining Eastern traditions with Western modernism, by integrating the traditional, painterly styles he was well versed in, with ideas taken from Western art. He created a series of extraordinary blue and white porcelains that employed their plain white porcelain surface as part of the overall design. The viewer was thereby encouraged to create an overall picture, from their own imagination. In 1955, Wang Bu joined a Sino-German and Sino-Czech technical cooperation in Jingdezhen, whose purpose was to facilitate exchange between East German, Czech and Chinese artists and to generate new dimensions in blue-and-white painting. Between 1955 and 1959 he created a number of outstanding blue and white porcelain works, whose spirit is reflected in this particular vase. 

The vase developed a traditional motif that had been utilised on top-quality porcelain since the Yongzheng period (1723-35). Imperial wares bore a design of bats and peaches in delicate famille rose enamels. The pattern is highly decorative but also embodies a pun wishing long life and happiness (福壽雙全). Wang Bu took this traditional motif one step further. He omitted the bats, but skilfully painted the peach tree leaves to simulate an illusion of hovering bats. The underglaze blue painting showcased his robust brushwork, the painterly effect built up with a series of small, broken strokes to create three-dimensional effects of movement. The high-temperature underglaze blue painting of the leafy branch was successfully combined with delicately overglaze-enamelled peaches. The fruit’s skin was suggested perfectly, in tones of yellow and pink with darker pink flecks. 

Wang Bu must have been very satisfied with the result, for both colours emerged from the kilns in perfect states. The vase represents a highlight in the mature phase of his potting and is a rarity, for he only created two vases of this kind. One remained in Jingdezhen and is now in the Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum, illustrated by Wang Bu et. al., Qing hua qing yun: shang, Beijing, 2004, p. 18. That piece is marked “ Made in Jingdezhen 1955”. The vase discussed here came to Europe with the German artists who had collaborated with potters at Jingdezhen. 

(fig. 1 圖1) Vase in the Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum

References: Chen Liu, Tao Ya (Ceramic Refnements) (陶瓷譜錄, 1910)
Ueda Kyosuke, Chugoku tojino jidaiteki kenkyu (Modern Research on Chinese Porcelain) (Tokyo, 1929)
G. L. Efremov, “Art porcelain in the Chinese People’s Republic” Stecklo I Keramika 13 (2) (Moscow, 1956), pp.490-497
Jiangxi sheng qinggongye taoci yanjiusuo (Ceramic Research Division of Jiangxi Province Light Engineering), 江西省輕工業廳陶
瓷研究所, Jingdezhen taoci shigao (A Draft History of the Pottery Industry at Jingdezhen) (Beijing, 1959)
Georges Francisque Fernand Sceherzer, “A Trip to Jingdezhen”, in Robert Tichane, Ching-Te-Chen : Views of a Porcelain City ( New
York 1983), pp.187-202
Urban Council, Hong Kong, Brush and Clay. Chinese Porcelain of the Early 20th Century (Hong Kong, 1990)
Rose Kerr (ed) and Nigel Wood, Science and Civilisation in China, volume V, part 12, Ceramic Technology (Cambridge, 2004)
Liu Jinsheng (ed), Qinghua qingyun (shang) Wang Bu taoci shijia zuopin ji (The Delight of Blue-and-White(1) A Worldwide Collection of Pieces by Wang Bu) (Beijing, 2004)

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 7 November 2017, London

Lot 42. A smokey rock crystal figure of Amitabha, 19th century. Estimate GBP 8,000 - GBP 12,000. Price realised GBP 428,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

The figure is carved with his hair in tightly curled whorls above a serene face with his eyes downcast, wearing long robes open at the chest. He is seated in padmasana on a double lotus base holding his hands in front of him. The base is incised with a four-character seal mark reading 'Wan Fo Lou cang' which may be translated as 'Collection of the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Buddhas'. The stone is of a greyish clear tone with natural veins and inclusions. 8 ½ in. (21.5 cm.) high

Lot 352. Qi Baishi (1863-1957), Peaches. Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper. Inscribed and signed with three seals of the artist. Dated September, dingchou year (1937). Dedicated to Mr Bo Jie, 53 7/8 x 13 3/8 in. (137 x 34 cm). Estimate GBP 80,000 - GBP 120,000. Price realised GBP 284,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

The figure is carved with his hair in tightly curled whorls above a serene face with his eyes downcast, wearing long robes open at the chest. He is seated in padmasana on a double lotus base holding his hands in front of him. The base is incised with a four-character seal mark reading 'Wan Fo Lou cang' which may be translated as 'Collection of the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Buddhas'. The stone is of a greyish clear tone with natural veins and inclusions. 8 ½ in. (21.5 cm.) high

Provenance: Property from a Private European Collection.

Lot 192. A very rare large bronze ceremonial bell, dated the sixth year of Zhengde corresponding to 1512 and of the period (1506-1521). Estimate GBP 120,000 - GBP 180,000. Price realised GBP 272,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2017

The heavily cast bell is fashioned with a loop for suspension formed as a pair of muscular dragons surrounded by a band of raised lotus petals. The walls are cast with rectangular panels enclosing 314 names, and on one side a vertical panel encloses the reign mark reading 'Da Ming Zhengde liu nian yue ri zao', and on the other 'huangdi wan sui wan wan sui' within a panel shaped as a stele. The slightly flaring lower section of the bell terminates in a wavy scalloped rim. 36½ in. (92.8 cm.) high.

Provenance: Acquired in the first half of the 20th century, then by descent within the family.

Property of a noble Scottish gentleman.

Note: Bronze temple bells would have formed an important part of the rituals in a Buddhist temple, they would have provided a platform for dedications; been rung on significant days; to announce events; and the melodious sound produced by the bell was considered a form of communication to the spirit world.

The use of bells has a long history in China, beginning with the sets of musical bells developed in mid-2nd century BCE. The form of the current bell can be surmised to develop along with the Buddhist tradition brought from India to China in the 3rd to 4th century. 

Only a handful of similar Ming-dynasty examples have been published, including one in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto which was cast only six years after the present lot (1518), and commissioned by Wei Bin, a eunuch official acting as the Director of Ceremonies under Zhengde emperor and for whom the Hongshan Si ('Temple of Great Bounty') was built. Interestingly that bell also bears the inscription wishing the emperor wan sui (ten thousand years). For a detailed discussion, see Klaas Ruitenbeek, "Wei Bin's Bell", Orientations, 2006, vol 37, no. 3, pp. 66-69.  

A further similar example dated to the eleventh year of Jiajing emperor (1632) and cast with the name of the ceremony, the dedicating eunuch, and one hundred and seventy further participants is in the Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm and published by Sheila Riddell, Dated Chinese Antiquities: 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 136, pl. 124. From the parallels in aesthetic composition, it can be speculated that the names on the present lot were also participants in a certain ceremony, although the exact event is not indicated on this bell. 

An earlier bell dated to the third year of Zhengtong (1438) resides in the Museum of of Applied Arts & Science in Ultimo, Australia, no H7752, and one of the largest bells of this type in the world measuring at over 5 metres high was cast during the reign of Yongle emperor (1403-1425) can be found in the Ancient Bell Museum in Beijing. 

Chinese temple bell, dated to the third year of Zhengtong (1438), H7752, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences © Museum of of Applied Arts & Science, Ultimo

A smaller gilt bronze example (48.5 cm. high) dating to the Chenghua period (1465-1487) was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 October 2011, lot 1971.

An important and extremely rare imperial gilt-bronze bell, Mark and period of Chenghua (1465-1487). 48.5 cm., 19 in. Sold for  39,860,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 October 2011, lot 1971. Photo: Sotheby's

Lot 275. A rare famille rose'Peony' dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735). 8 ¼ in. (20.8 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 80,000 - GBP 120,000. Price realised GBP 200,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The dish is delicately decorated with a design of several intertwining blossoming branches of peony, magnolia and crabapple, beginning on the reverse and spilling over into the interior, with two butterflies fluttering above a large vibrant peony bloom to the centre.

Note: The style of decoration on this dish, which shows a flowering branch over the rim, is known as guozhihua, 'flowering branch passing over (the rim)'. It was first developed at the end of the Ming dynasty in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. However, it was not until the Yongzheng period that this guozhihua style of decoration seems to have been most popular. It was especially favoured at court which is shown in Imperial examples such as a larger dish (29.5 cm.) with a slightly different design to the present lot, from the Baur Collection, illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pl. 221 [A589]; and a charger (50.6 cm.) sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 October 2002, lot 611.

A magnificent imperial famille rose 'prunus' dish, Yongzheng blue enamel four-character mark within a double square and of the period (1723-1735). Sold for 32,524,100 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 October 2002, lot 611. © Christie's Images Ltd 2002.

Lot 149. A nanmu-inset huanghuali wine table, jiuzhuo, Ming dynasty, 17th century. 36 ½ in. (92.7 cm.) wide, 18 ¼ in. (46.5 cm.) deep, 29 in. (73.6 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 80,000 - GBP 120,000. Price realised GBP 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The single panel top is set within a rectangular frame above plain aprons and spandrels. The table is supported overall on legs of rounded section, joined by pairs of stretchers.

Provenance: With Grace Wu Bruce.
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection.

Note: Woodblock prints depict tables of similar size and proportion to the present lot used in daily activities, such as for writing, displaying objects, and dining. See, a serpentine-inlaid huanghuali wine table illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, pp. 94-95, no. 44. In Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 77. no B34, Wang Shixiang illustrates a wine table of with square-section, beaded legs. The author also discusses the form, and its variants, ibid., vol. I, pp. 54-6.

Lot 29. A white jade archaistic phoenix vase and cover, Qianlong period (1736-1795). Estimate GBP 80,000 - GBP 120,000. Price realised GBP 100,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The vessel is carved and pierced as a phoenix with its wings closed with upswept tips, its tail is finely modelled with long feathers curling outwards. The bird carries an openwork floral branch in its beak and supports an archaistic wine vessel,guang, on its back. The vessel is finely incised with c-scrolls and upright lappets, the cover is decorated with a twin knob finial and a row of flanges down the central axis. The jade is of an even pale tone. 8 ¼ in. (21 cm.) wide, wood stand.

Provenance: With Bulgari, Rome.

Lot 84. A blue-ground yellow-enamelled 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). 9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000. Price realised GBP 100,000 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The dish is decorated to the interior with a five-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl, leaping amongst ruyi-head clouds and flames. The shallow, rounded sides rise to a slightly everted rim and are painted with two similar dragons in pursuit. Two further dragons are decorated to the exterior, above a petal-lappet band enclosing the base.

Provenance: From the collection of James and Phyllis Rosati, acquired between 1947 and 1949, when Mr. Rosati was stationed in Japan.
With Marchant, London, Imperial Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics and Works of Art, 2013, no. 32
The Collection of Professor Stephen Charles Wallace, FInstP, and Dr. Geraldine Kenney-Wallace, RSC, FInstP.

Note: This design and colour combination appears to be based on porcelains from the Kangxi period, such as the dish illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. I, Tokyo, 1976, no. 1047, p. 349. A similar dish is illustrated by Shincho Kogei No Bi, New York, 1995, pl. 126, p. 45 or by Qian Weipeng in Tian Wu Guan Cang Ci, Shanghai, 2011, vol 1, pp. 198/9. 

Another Qianlong mark-and-period dish with similar design was sold at Christie's New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1600.

A yellow-glazed blue-ground 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795). 9 7/8 in. (25 cm.) diam. Sold for 35,000 USD at Christie's New York, 17-18 March 2016, lot 1600. © Christie's Images Ltd 2016. 

Lot 190. A tiger-maple four-poster canopy bed, jiazichuang, 18th century. 90¼ in. (229.9 cm.) high, 80 in. (223.3 cm.) wide, 55½ in. (141 cm.) deep. Estimate GBP 100,000 - GBP 150,000. Price realised GBP 100,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

The longyan wood bed is characteristic of Fujian manufacture and is of lofty and generous proportion. The soft mat sleeping platform is enclosed by a rectangular frame and narrow waist above square-section legs joined by a beaded apron pierced with three small, beaded, ruyi-shaped apertures. The square-section legs have in-curving hoof feet, and the four square corner posts are joined on three sides by a railing enclosing joined ring braces, above a lattice-work railing holding rectangular rings carved with notched interior corners. The posts are also joined at the top by a rectangular frame separated into three sections front and back. Two sections to the sides are carved with shou medallions and confronting dragons above spandrels of interlocked dragons.

Provenance: The Gangolf Geis Collection of Fine Chinese Furniture, Christie's New York, 18 September 2003, lot 28. 
The Francisco Capelo collection.

Note: It has been suggested that the four-poster bed was more likely to have been made for a man's apartment, with its ideal of 'pleasant refinement and elegant simplicity without stylish adornment,' cited by Wen Zhenhung in his early Ming guide to stylish living, Zhangwuzhi (Treatise on Superfluous Things). The six-poster 'wedding bed', often a dowry item brought into the marriage with the bride, was more likely to be made for the women's quarters. Compare with the more severe nanmu four-poster bed with open panels set along the three rails, sold at Christie's New York on 21 March 2000, lot 41. Two four-poster beds in huanghuali have been sold at Christie's New York on 16 September 1998, lot 81 and 16 September 1999, lot 79. For a further discussion of this piece, see Curtis Evart's introductory essay, 'Splendor of Chinese Classical Furniture: Highlights from the Gangolf Geis Collection', on pp.12-13 of this catalogue. Also see the side view of this bed illustrated on p. 9.

Lot 57. A coral, kingfisher feather and pearl-inset gilt metal torque, lingyue, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Estimate GBP 3,000 - GBP 5,000. Price realised GBP 93,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Its body is divided into six sections inset with coral divided by kingfisher feather and hardstone mounts, the terminals confronting spheres forming hinges attaching to the two pivoting front sections, the reverse chased with alternating panels enclosing flowers and butterflies and the Buddhist endless knot. The blue ribbons are hung with tourmaline and hardstone pendants and are mounted with double happiness characters, xi, worked in seed pearl and coral either side of coral beads carved with shou characters. 6 7/8 in. (17.3 cm.) diam.

Note: The jewelled torque, known as lingyue, was worn around the neck over the collar of a court robe and formed an important part of the formal attire of Qing dynasty noble women and members of the Imperial family. The wife of Emperor Qianlong, Empress Xiaoxianchun, for example, is depicted in her portrait with a gold lingyue inset with coral and pearls, illustrated in The Splendours of Royal Costume Qing Court Attire, Hong Kong, 2013, p. 21. A gold torque inset with eight segments of coral and pearls in the National Palace Museum is illustrated in Catalogue of the Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Costume Accessories, Taipei, 1986, no. 75. A silver example inlaid with six segments of coral, kingfisher and rubies in the Beijing Palace Museum is illustrated in Treasures of Imperial Court, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2004, pl. 143. Christie's Hong Kong sold a coral and pearl-inset gold torque, 28 May 2014, lot 3355.

A rare coral and pearl-inset gold torque, lingyue, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Sold for 625,000 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3355. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

Lot 78. A small lemon-yellow-glazed dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double-square and of the period (1723-1735). 3 ½ in. (8.9 cm.) diam. Estimate GBP 20,000 - GBP 30,000. Price realised GBP 93,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.

This dish is finely potted with shallow rounded sides on a wide low tapered foot. The interior and exterior are covered overall in a rich lemon-yellow glaze. 

Provenance: From a private collection in the UK.

A pair of Yongzheng period small lemon-yellow glazed dishes with double-circle mark sold at Christie's London 13 May, 2014, lot 359 and another pair at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 November 2014, lot 3287. Also compare the current lot with a pair of dishes in the Percival David Foundation, London, illustrated by M. Medley in Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1973, nos. B543-B544.

A small lemon-yellow-glazed dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double-square and of the period (1723-1735). 3 ? in. (7.8 cm.) diam. Sold for 60,000 GBP at Christie's London 13 May, 2014, lot 359. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014.

A fine and very rare pair of small lemon-yellow-glazed dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double-square and of the period (1723-1735). Sold for 875,000 HKD at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 November 2014, lot 3287. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014.