- Maître, lui dit un jour un ahmad qui se prévaut déjà de quelque sagesse, que d’agitation sur terre ! Dès le matin, les gens s’affairent, vont, viennent, sillonnent la ville dans tous les sens, comme s’ils n’avaient pas mieux à faire !

- Ignorant ! grogne Nasr Eddin.

- Oui, ce sont des ignorants, continue le jeune homme. Ne feraient-ils pas mieux de s’assembler tous en un lieu saint pour prier ?

- C’est toi l’ignorant ! tonne le Hodja. Ne comprends-tu pas que si tout le monde s’agglutinait au même endroit, la terre basculerait et perdrait son équilibre ? Allah sait mieux que nous !

Extrait de "Sublimes paroles et idioties de Nasr Eddin Hodja. Tout Nasr Eddin, ou presque. Paroles recueillies et présentées par Jean-Louis Maunoury. Éditions Phébus, collection "Libretto", 2002. © Editions Phébus.

"Acai-ul Makhlukat" ("les Merveilles de la Création") de Zekeriya Kazvinî. Traduit de l'arabe vers le turc. Istanbul: vers 1553. 

Lot 3217. A large Longquan celadon charger, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 16 1/2 in. (42.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 180,000. Price realised HKD 175,000. ©Christie's Images Ltd 2014

The large dish is heavily potted with flaring, slightly rounded sides. The interior is carved in the centre with a floral design below a band of trellis diaper in the well and undulating wave scroll on the everted rim. The dish is covered overall with a glaze of sea-green color, except for a wide unglazed ring on the base, which has burnt orange in the firing, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired in the Taisho period (1912-1926).

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 26 November 2014, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall

Lot 3206.  A rare Longquan celadon 'Dragon' charger, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 180,000. Price realised HKD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014

The charger is sturdily potted with round sides rising from a low foot ring to a broad mouth rim. The interior is moulded o the centre with a dragon chasing a flaming pearl and surrounded with a broad band of stylised foliage at the cavetto. The exterior is further moulded with a band of upright petals. The charger is covered in a glaze of bluish-green tone reserving an unglazed circular ring turned orange on the underside base, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A private institution, western Japan, acquired in the 1920s.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 26 November 2014, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall

Lot 3208. A large carved Longquan celadon charger, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 19 3/4 in. (50.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 40,000 - HKD 60,000. Price realised HKD 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014

The large dish is heavily potted with flaring, slightly rounded sides. The interior is carved in the centre with a trellis diaper below a band of lotus scroll in the well and scrolling tendrils on the everted rim. The dish is covered overall with a glaze of sea-green color, except for a wide unglazed ring on the base, which has burnt orange in the firing.

Provenance: A private institution, western Japan, acquired in the 1920s.

Note: Similar Longquan celadon chargers are illustrated by R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, vol. I, London, 1986, p. 324, nos. 336-38, all of which are dated to the fifteenth century. 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 26 November 2014, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall 

Lot 3211. Two Longquan celadon braziers, Ming dynasty, 15th century. The largest: 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 80,000 - HKD 120,000. Price realised HKD 62,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014

The first with bombe sides, is raised on a circular foot and cut-out in the form of five shaped 'legs' and carved with flower sprigs to their exteriors, and separated by openings of conforming outline. There are five apertures above the 'legs' and below the barbed, everted rim. The second is of similar form but carved with a raised edge to the 'legs'. The stands is covered overall in a glaze of even olive colour that pools to a darker tone in the crevices, Japanese wood box (2).

Provenance: Baron Fujita Family Collection
Sold at an auction held at the Baron Fujita family residence, 10 May 1929, lot 344
A private institution, western Japan, acquired in the 1920s.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 26 November 2014, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall

Lot 262. A Longquan celadon carved baluster vase, Ming dynasty, 15th century; 14 7/8 in. (37.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 8,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007

The elongated ovoid body fluidly carved with leafy peony scroll within cloud bands above and below, with a petal border encircling the base, covered overall with a glaze of sea-green tone, the unglazed foot ring burnt orange in the firing, Japanese wood box.

Note: A similar though slightly smaller Longquan celadon baluster vase, also carved with a leafy peony scroll, is illustrated in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 259, no. 244-1. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Jades and Works of Art, 19 September 2007, New York

Lot 284. A rare kinrande gilt-decorated iron-red stem bowl, Jiajing four-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566); 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 8,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007

The bowl with deep sides rising to an everted rim, decorated on the exterior with continuous leafy meander bearing two lotus blossoms alternating with two long-tailed phoenixes, above a band of petal lappets, the spreading stem decorated with three flower motifs, all in gilding reserved on a deep iron-red ground, the four characters of the reign mark spaced evenly around the interior of the foot, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Japanese private collection.

Note: A similar though slightly smaller Longquan celadon baluster vase, also carved with a leafy peony scroll, is illustrated in Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 259, no. 244-1. 

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Jades and Works of Art, 19 September 2007, New York

Lot 268. A set of five small blue and white bowls, Wanli six-character marks in underglaze blue within double circles and of the period (1573-1619); 4¾ in. (12 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 29,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007

With rounded sides rising to a slightly everted rim, the exterior decorated with four alternating branches of peaches and pomegranates, and the center of the interior with four flower sprigs including lotus, peony, rose and chrysanthemum, all within double line borders, fitted Japanese wood box (5).

Provenance: Japanese private collection.

Note: Compare the single bowl of this pattern and size, also Wanli mark and period, from the Estate of Frances Leventritt, sold in these rooms, 20 September 2005, lot 256. See, also, the example from the E.T. Chow Collection, sold Sotheby Parke Bernet, Hong Kong, 19 May 1981, lot 419.  

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Jades and Works of Art, 19 September 2007, New York

Lot 274. A blue and white square baluster jar and cover, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double rectangle and of the period (1522-1566); 8 3/8 in. (21.2 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 18,000. Price realised USD 29,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007 

Each side painted with a dragon leaping amidst scrolling, leafy stems of lotus, above a band of petal lappets below and a ruyi band on the shoulder, with a key-fret band around the square neck, the cover painted with a tiny auspicious emblem at each corner below a band of leaf scroll and the stepped center surmounted by a faceted blue knop, wood box. 

Provenance: Hirano Kotoken, Japan.
Japanese private collection. . 

Note: Compare with the Jiajing-marked jar of similar form and decoration illustrated by J. Ayers in The Baur Collection, Chinese Ceramics, vol. II, Geneva, 1969, no. A155.   

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Jades and Works of Art, 19 September 2007, New York

Lot 283. A rare blue and white peach-form ewer, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566); 8 in. (20.5 cm.) high. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 18,000. Price realised USD 29,800. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007  

Each side molded with a peach-shaped panel enclosing a pair of dragons leaping above waves and a rock as they contest a flaming pearl, surrounded by cranes and sprigs of lingzhi and peaches, with a band of petal tips below and a ruyi band on the waisted neck below a band of key fret encircling the galleried rim, with sprigs of lingzhi on the handle and faceted spout, Japanese wood box.  

Provenance: Kochukyo, Japan.
Japanese private collection. 

Note: A Jiajing-marked blue and white ewer of this shape with similar dragon and pearl decoration in the Ashmolean Museum is illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Ceramics, New York, 1978, p. 142, pl. 122. Another very similar Jiajing-marked example was sold Sotheby's, New York, 26-27 September 1978, lot 54. A Jiajing-marked ewer of this shape but with decoration of boys at play within the peach-shaped panel is illustrated in the Special Exhibition Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1976, no. 129.      

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Jades and Works of Art, 19 September 2007, New York

Lot 281. A rare slip-decorated brown-glazed pear-shaped vase, Wanli period (1573-1619); 10½ in. (26.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 4,000 - USD 6,000. Price realised USD 3,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2007  

The bulbous body tapering towards the garlic neck and decorated on each side in thickly applied white slip with stylized prunus trees and bamboo, all reserved on a ground of toffee-brown color, Japanese wood box.  

Provenance: Japanese private collection. 

Note: Two similar bottles in The British Museum are illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, pp. 347-8, nos. 11:188 and 11:189, where the author notes that this combination of toffee-brown ground with contrasting white decoration was first introduced in the Wanli period. She goes on to note that shards of brown-glazed vessels with white decoration dating to the late Ming era have been excavated at Zhushan in Jingdezhen. A bottle of this type was among Queen Mary II of England's porcelain collection and is documented in an inventory of 1696-7.       

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Jades and Works of Art, 19 September 2007, New York

Lot 2281. A fine carved Longquan celadon baluster vase, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 14 in. (35.4 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price realised HKD 250,000. ©Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The vase is strongly potted with a ribbed foot rising to a baluster body surmounted by a trumpeting mouth with ribbed sides just below the everted rim. The body is freely carved with a characteristic lotus scroll above a band of upright leaves, and the neck with similar decorations. It is covered overall with a thick glaze of an even olive-green tone with the exception of the base which is burnt orange in the firing, Japanese wood box 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 28 November 2012, Grand Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

Lot 2280. A fine small Longquan celadon meiping, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 20,000 - HKD 30,000. Price realised HKD 60,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The vase is of characteristic meiping shape with the rounded shoulder tapering down to the foot, incised on the widest part of the body with two horizontal lines, Japanese wood box 

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 28 November 2012, Grand Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

Lot 2235. A Longquan celadon carved and moulded 'Dragon' dish, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 14 1/4 in. (36.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 100,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 200,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The dish is heavily potted with gently rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to a flat everted rim, and sprig-moulded on the centre of the interior with a writhing scaly dragon in pursuit of a flaming pearl, encircled by a band of freely carved foliage scroll around the cavetto. The exterior is carved and moulded with petal lappets radiating from the foot. The dish is covered overall with an olive-green glaze with the exception of the foot, Japanese wood box.

Note: Compare the present dish to two almost identical examples, one in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, illustrated by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istabul, vol. I, p. 256, no. 62, the other in the British Museum, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collection, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, no. 132. 

Christie's. Imperial Sale. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 29 May 2013, Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall

Lot 715. A very rare blue and white 'Peacock' jar, guan, Yuan dynasty (1279-1368); 9 in. (23 cm. ) high. Estimate USD 120,000 - USD 180,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The heavily potted, tapering body is decorated on one side with a peacock with spread wings and extended tail and legs and on the reverse with a peahen shown descending, the two above bamboo and between flowering and budding tree peonies that grow from rocks positioned below each of the molded animal-mask handles. All between a band of petal lappets below and a band of peony scroll on the sloping shoulder. The neck is encircled by a band of classic scroll and flares towards the galleried rim decorated with diaper pattern.

Provenance: Private collection, Japan.
David Lin & Co., Taipei

Exhibited: Taipei, David Lin & Co., Yuan and Ming Blue and White Porcelain, 20-26 October, 2000, no.1.

Note: The small size of this jar as well as the manner in which it is decorated are unusual for Yuan blue and white jars of this type, which have lion-mask handles below a canted shoulder and a short neck below a galleried rim. Usually, the decoration is organized in two bands on the body, such as the example in the Cleveland Museum of Art, illustrated by M. Medley, Yuan Porcelain and Stoneware, London, 1974, pl. 45B; one illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, p. 231, pl. 694; and one in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 13, Tokyo, 1981, p. 209, pl. 195. On these jars the lower band is usually filled with leafy flower scroll, but the upper band is variously decorated: flower scroll on the Topkapi Saray jar, phoenixes on the Mayuyama jar, or phoenix and flower-filled pendent ruyi lappets on the Cleveland jar. On the present jar, the body has a single wide band of decoration above the lower petal lappet band, and no second band below the shoulder where the handles are located. 

Lot 175. A Kashmir Sapphire 'Toi et Moi' Ring, weighing approximately 16.16 and 15.62 carats. Estimate CHF 750,000 - CHF 1,250,000. Price realised CHF 2,405,000. ©Christie's Images Ltd 2014

Set with two cushion-shaped sapphires, weighing approximately 16.16 and 15.62 carats, to the plain hoop, mounted in gold, ring size 4½ with ring sizer

Accompanied by report no. 13100239 dated 29 October 2013 from the Gübelin GemLab stating that the 15.62 carat sapphire is of Kashmir origin, with no indications of heating, and an Appendix stating that the sapphire '..possesses a richly saturated and homogeneous colour, combined with a high degree of transparency, and a finely proportioned cut.'

Report no. 73470 dated 17 March 2014 from the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute stating that the 15.62 carat sapphire is of Kashmir origin, with no indications of heating and a colour 'that may also be called Royal Blue', and an Appendix letter stating that the '...sapphire exhibits a remarkable size and weight of 15.625 ct combined with an attractive saturated blue colour and a fine purity'

Report no. 13100240 dated 29 October 2013 from the Gübelin GemLab stating that the 16.16 carat sapphire is of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating, and an information sheet on 'Unheated sapphires'

Report no. 73471 dated 17 March 2014 from the SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute stating that the 16.16 carat sapphire is of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating 

Christie's. Geneva Magnificent Jewels, 14 May 2014, Geneva

Lot 2156. A fine and extremely rare opaque violet-blue Beijing glass bowl, Qianlong incised four-character mark and of the period (1736-1795); 6 in. (15.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,500,000 - HKD 2,000,000. Price realised HKD 2,300,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The bowl is of ovid form, with rounded sides rising from a slightly indented base carved with the reign mark. The sides are well carved in low relief with two opposing shaped cartouches of Islamic script on an extremely finely stippled ground contrasting with the smooth polished surface of the glass, box.

Provenance: Baroness Figlia d'Essen, Italy
Baroness Jacobea Sapuppo, Italy

Note: The collection of Baroness Figlia d'Essen, mostly consisting of fine Chinese snuff bottles, was formed in the late 19th century and early years of the 20th century and then passed down to her daughter, Baroness Jacobea Sapuppo. The latter was the wife to the former Italian Ambassador to Bulgaria and Peru. A number of pieces of Chinese glass from the collection were sold at Christie's Milan, 11 May 2000 while the collection of snuff bottles was sold at Sotheby's London, 14 November 2000.

The inscription can be translated as, 'The Prophet, may salutation be upon him, said: There is no God but the God'. Although Islamic inscriptions appear on porcelain from the Ming dynasty onwards, vessels with Islamic inscriptions in the medium of glass appear to be extremely rare. 

A clear blue glass pear-shaped vase from the Brooklyn Museum, New York bearing similar cartouches containing Islamic inscriptions is illustrated by Claudia Brown and Donald Rabiner in the Clear as Crystal, Red as Flameexhibition catalogue, New York, 1990, pl. 27; compare also a blue glass vase with an Islamic inscription illustrated by Yoshio Tsuchia, Ch'ing Dynasty Glass, Japan, 1989, black and white pl. 37. 

Vase with Arabic Inscriptions, 1736-1795. Glass, 10 1/4 x 5 3/8 in. (26 x 13.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Anonymous gift, 47.219.22. Photo: Brooklyn Museum

Lot 2134. A rare pair of ruby-red-overlay snowflake glass bottle vases, Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century; 10 in. (25.4 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price realised HKD 500,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

Each globular body is finely carved through the ruby-red overlay to the snowflake ground with a scene of Liu Hai teasing a three-legged toad with a string of cash in the far distance, and in the near distance Shoulao is standing on a mountain path followed by his attendant. The scene is depicted below walled pavilions carved on the tall cylindrical neck. The vases are each supported on a dark ruby-red foot, incised to the base with an apocryphal Qianlong four-character reign mark. (2).

Property from the Walter and Phyllis Shorenstein Collection

Provenance: Charlotte Horstmann & Gerald Godfrey Ltd., Hong Kong, 3 June 1988 

Note: Compare to the pair of similar vases in the Andrew K.F. Lee Collection, illustrated in Elegance and Radiance, The Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000, no. 111, which also have Qianlong marks, and are dated late 18th/19th century. The style of carving of the ruby-red overlay to the snowflake ground is very similar, as is the inclusion of walled pavilions on the necks. 

Lot 2157. A clair-de-lune glass jar, Yongzheng incised four-character mark within double-squares and of the period (1723-1735); 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 437,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The circular jar is supported on a splayed foot rising to a short waisted neck and lipped rim. The material is of an even pale bluish-white tone.

Provenance: A distinguished South African Collection, acquired in London in the 1960s-70s  

Note: The Qing Court Records list 30 different colours of monochrome glass made by the Imperial Workshops during the Yongzheng period, including the clair-de-lune on the present lot, see Zhang Rong, Luster of Autumn Water: Glass of Qing Imperial Workshop, Beijing, 2005, p. 15. The author also states that Yongzheng-marked glass, predominantly monochrome, are very rare with only 21 pieces in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum, and under 100 pieces in other collections.

Compare to a Yongzheng-marked yellow glass jar of the similar shape but smaller size (3.8 cm high) in the Beijing Palace Museum, op. cit., pl. 8.  

Lot 2158. A fine and rare transparent pale-green glass circular box and cover, Qianlong incised four-character mark within a square and of the period (1736-1795); 3 in. (7 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 100,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 350,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012

The box is of compressed cushion form, incised with a four-character reign mark inside a short foot ring. The glass is of transparent yellow with a green tint, box.

Note: Among the very few Qianlong-marked boxes of this form and size, two examples in opaque coloured glass with gilt designs and belonging to sets of incense garniture are in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated by Zhang Rong, Luster of Autumn Water: Glass of Qing Imperial Workshop, Beijing, 2005, pls. 117-118; a smaller example (5.9 cm. diam.) in transparent purple, pl. 40; and another imitating realgar but without a mark, pl. 39. See also an example imitating realgar included in the exhibition Elegance and Radiance Grandeur in Qing Glass, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 134, where the author suggests the form may be fashioned after the peachbloom-glazed seal paste box of the Kangxi period.

See also a transparent red example with a yinyang roundel carved on the cover illustrated by C.F. Shangraw and C. Brown, A Chorus of Colors: Chinese Glass from Three American Collections, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1995, no. 48, and later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Luminous Colours: Treasures from The Shorenstein Collection, 1 December 2010, lot 2943.