Auctions
Eight Sales On Tap At Christie’s During Asia Week New York
Rare Guangzhou enamel “European subject” snuff bottle, imperial, Qianlong four-character mark in blue enamel and of the period ($22/32,000).
NEW YORK CITY — During Asia Week New York Christie’s will conduct a series of auctions, viewings and events March 15—18. This season comprises of eight sales and features the collection of Guy and Marie-Hélène Weill, Dongxi Studio-Chinese jade and hardstone carvings from a private collection, the Ian and Susan Wilson collection of scholar’s objects, the Lahiri collection, the Van der Wee collection of Himalayan paintings and Part 2 of the Ruth and Carl Barron collection of Chinese snuff bottles.
More than 700 lots will be offered, drawing together works and objects from every category of Asian art, including Chinese and Bengal School paintings, imperial Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain, gilt-bronze Buddhist sculpture, Chinese scholar’s objects, archaic ritual bronze vessels, jade and hardstone carvings, thangkas, snuff bottles and more. Notable highlights include a fresh-to-market masterpiece painting from the acclaimed Robert H. Ellsworth collection and a sandstone Indian Revanta panel dating to the post-Gupta period.
In conjunction with the sales, Christie’s will host a day of gallery talks on Friday, March 11, and lectures on Sunday, March 13, featuring guest speakers and the second annual Robert H. Ellsworth Memorial Lecture featuring prominent scholar Dr Robert D. Mowry. In addition, Christie’s will display “Touching Time,” the first exhibition in the United States of monumental sculpture by Kan Yasuda, one of the preeminent contemporary Japanese sculptors of this age. This selling exhibition of 15 works from the artist’s studio is currently taking place at Christie’s 20 Rockefeller Galleries until March 26…
Sotheby’s Previews Asia Week Auctions & Exhibitions
Rare large yellow-ground “Auspicious Emblems” dish, Yongzheng mark and period ($600/800,000).
NEW YORK CITY — Sotheby’s Asia Week New York lineup includes seven auctions and two selling exhibitions during the March 10–20 period.
The single-owner sale of the Reverend Richard Fabian collection of classical Chinese hardwoord furniture kicks things off on March 15 at 10 am. A founder and rector of St Gregory’s of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco, Father Fabian also found time to pursue a burgeoning interest in Chinese art. He acquired his first piece of Chinese furniture, a pair of chairs, in 1974 from a small Connecticut antiques shop and the collection grew from there. The sale comprises 63 lots ranging in date from the late Ming to early Qing dynasty and in scale from a massive pair of huanghuali cabinets to small portable scholar’s objects. Highlights include two rare pairs of huanghuali and burlwood fu-character yokeback armchairs, a pair of huanghuali latticework cabinets with book-matched panels and a carved huanghuali bamboo-style horseshoe-back armchair.
The firm’s auction of Modern and contemporary South Asian art on March 15 at 10 am will be led by a monumental work by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde. Initially created as a commission for the Air India Building in Mumbai, it was instead purchased by eminent patron and artist, Bal Chhabda for his personal collection. The painting at 5913/16 by 1053/8 inches is perhaps the largest work that Gaitonde has ever created on canvas and symbolizes air, buoyancy and flight…
Four Asia Week NY Auctions At Bonhams March 14 & 16
A 33-deity Ushnishavijaya mandala, Tibet, Ngor monastery, circa 1500–50 ($400/600,000).
NEW YORK CITY — As a partner in the eighth annual Asia Week New York, March 10–19, Bonhams contributes to the Asia Week auction lineup with four sales from its three Asian art departments: Chinese snuff bottles from two private American collections, Chinese works of art and Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art on March 14; and Japanese works of art on March 16.
“Yet again, Bonhams brings fine private collections to the market for the international collecting community,” said Dessa Goddard, head of Asian art, Bonhams North America. “Asia Week New York serves as the pivotal North American hub for the global collecting community in this dynamic and ever-changing field. It provides an exceptional platform for Bonhams to present highly important and compelling works. As a market leader in Asian art, Bonhams is proud to be a strong supporter of this exciting week of sales and exhibitions.”
Chinese snuff bottles from two private American collections kicks off Bonhams’ series of sales on March 14 at 10 am. The auction features more than 100 significant snuff bottles from the collections of Joanna Lau Sullivan and Marcia Howard. Both collectors were actively involved with the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society for many years and the Sullivan family heavily supported the Honolulu Museum of Art…
$15 Million Vase To Lead Gianguan Auctions’ March 19 Asia Week Sale
This Qing Dynasty yellow-ground famille vase decorated with masterful enameling and sgraffito could realize $15 million.
NEW YORK CITY — When Asian art collectors and museum curators visit New York for Asia Week, Gianguan Auctions will greet them with collections of Chinese ceramics, ancient and modern scroll paintings and works of art by court scholars, artisans and monks whose vision and craftsmanship inspired emperors and influenced style for generations to come. The sale is Saturday, March 19.
An item to watch is a Qing dynasty yellow-ground famille vase with garlic head and arched scroll handles valued at $15 million. The estimate reflects the sophisticated use of enameling and sgraffito. It presents an abundance of precisely executed peonies and butterflies set beneath ruyi heads, floral scrolls and gilt rim. The 9-inch-tall vase bears the Qianlong six-character mark and is of the period.
Leading the Chinese paintings is “Five Cattle” by Yan Ciping of the southern Song dynasty. Fine paintings of this period often inspired others to copy them, as is the case with this painting, which is after Han Huang’s earlier “Five Cattle.” It could command as much as $5 million…
Rare Chinese Porcelains From Two Museum Donors At Freeman’s
The Thornhill Stem Cup, valued at $3/6 million, will make several stops in the United States and the United Kingdom before hitting the auction block in Hong Kong in May.
PHILADELPHIA, PENN. — Freeman’s March 12 Asian arts auction will offer two remarkable porcelain vases once belonging to Heber R. Bishop, best-known for bequeathing his monumental jade collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1902. In addition, Freeman’s, in partnership with Lyon & Turnbull, will conduct its premiere auction in Hong Kong on May 31. The centerpiece of this auction is a rare Ming stem cup valued at $3/6 million. Before heading to auction during Asia Week Hong Kong in May, it will be on view at Freeman’s March 10–11 and at Carlton Hobbs in New York City during Asia Week New York, March 14–16.
Collectors will have the rare opportunity to acquire property that was part of one of the most renowned American collections of Asian art from the Gilded Age. Hand-illustrations of both Bishop vases were prominently featured in the original 1906 “de luxe” American Art Association of New York auction catalog, which will be on display alongside the vases.
The first is an exceptional blue and white bottle vase dating to the Qianlong period ($80/120,000). Reminiscent of a Chinese domed treasure box, the graceful rounded body displays a subtly molded central band emphasized by lines of crisp incised blue. The belly of the vase is elaborately decorated with hand-rendered dragons and floral scrollwork with simulated heap-and-pile effect, imitating earlier Ming ware. The striking cobalt is a pronounced contrast against the smooth composition of white porcelain. The rising three-ring neck, decorated with bands of hanging chimes, is slightly everted and comes to a shallow cupped rim which rests above a traditional lappet design…
Exhibitions
Ten Days Of All Things Asian For Asian Art Collectors & Connoisseurs
Ono Hakuko (1915-1996), Kinrande floral-patterned covered porcelain water jar, Japan, circa 1985, 53⁄8 by 73⁄8 inches. Courtesy Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd.
NEW YORK CITY — March 10 kicks off Asia Week New York, the ten-day extravaganza that animates this city with an array of prized Asian works of art.
Originating from every corner of the Asian continent, the artworks will be shown throughout Manhattan by international Asian art specialists March 10–19. In the museum-quality presentations by 45 galleries, art lovers can take in the rarest and finest examples of painting, sculpture, bronzes, ceramics, jewelry, jade, textiles, prints and photographs from all over Asia…
Shows
Asia Art Fair Showcases Ancient Through Contemporary Art March 11–15 In NYC
NEW YORK CITY — Now in its third year, with more than 3,000 annual visitors, the Asia Art Fair will showcase a rich and diverse range of treasures from international top exhibitors and dealers who specialize in regions of China, Japan, South East Asia, Oceania, India and the Near East. Presented March 11–15 as the anchor of Asia Week in New York City, the Asia Art Fair is a convenient, comfortable and engaging destination for art collectors to explore ancient through contemporary Asian art in one location — the Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street, between First and Second Avenues. The show will open with a preview and reception on Friday, March 11, from 5 to 9 pm; tickets are $120.
Moke Mokotoff will present this Imperial textile from the Ming dynasty, 19 feet by 38 inches, which includes iconography relating to the “Seven Possessions of the Chakravartin (universal ruler),” wheel of the law, wish-granting gem, precious queen, precious minister, good elephant, good horse and precious general.
Top Asian art specialists and galleries will join the fair, including Alexander Gallery, Anavian Gallery, Dharma Art, Dakini Arts, Dennis George Crow, Eleanor Abraham Asian Art, Hua Fong Art Center, Lotus Gallery, Mark Walberg Fine Art and Antiques, Moke Mokotoff, Nicholas Pitcher Oriental Art, Niki Art, Robyn Buntin of Honolulu, Rupert Smith Textiles and The Jade Dragon, among others…
Flying Cranes Antiques Debuts Rare Meiji Period Artwork
NEW YORK CITY — For the month of March, Flying Cranes Antiques, Ltd, specialists in Japanese Meiji Period artwork, will mount an exhibition of more than 50 diverse examples of the period’s metalwork, ceramics, carvings, lacquer and bamboo, many from noted collections from around the world. According to gallery owner Jean Schaefer, not since the 1980s has such a rare and choice compilation of Japan’s Meiji material appeared for sale in the West.
A silver-lined tripodic silver and enamel koro bears a singular, moriage signature seal and enameled openwork beetle within the lid. Its cover has a web of overlapping insects in silver and gold-wired enamels, 5¼ inches tall, Meiji period, Japan.
Center stage among the items in the exhibition will be rare examples by masters of the koro, censer and the covered box — configurations especially honored by the Japanese artisan, the imperial household and by serious collectors both in the East and in the West…
Japanese Art Dealers Show Their Best At ‘JADA 2016’ March 12–14
NEW YORK CITY — In conjunction with the annual winter Asia Week in New York City, the Japanese Art Dealers Association (JADA) will feature “JADA 2016” at the Ukrainian Institute of America March 12–14, as well as gallery exhibitions of Japanese art from the five members of JADA and affiliated galleries from Switzerland and the West Coast of the United Sates.
Kano School, old and young bamboo, pair of six-panel folding screens, mineral colors on gold leaf, with cut gold squares and moriage (raised relief), Edo period, circa 1640–50, each 72 inches high by 150 inches wide. Courtesy Leighton R. Longhi, Inc. Oriental Fine Art, New York City.
A highlight among these exhibitions will be the show at the Ukrainian Institute, “JADA 2016: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association.” Featuring refined and elegant works of art in major collaborative exhibitions, “JADA 2016” will present scores of fine and important works of art, from the archaic to luminous gold-leaf screens to exceptionally refined ceramics and vibrant, colorful woodblock prints that influenced the West’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists…
