On the 8th and 9th of November, Roseberys presented two days of Asian Art sales, including fine art from China, Japan, and South-East Asia. We had the privilege of offering a number of private collections in this sale, including that of the late Anthony Powell. His collection was wonderfully varied, but his eye was extremely good.
We were also fortunate enough to find a number of very interesting pieces from various properties, which attracted strong interest at the auction. Interesting pieces with good private provenance, acquired from reputable dealers and auction houses, are always very well received by the market. Clients have also been appreciative of a professional presentation of all lots, with diligent research and condition reporting.
As always, good pieces at the right estimates appear to command strong prices across the board, be they Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, or Chinese for the Vietnamese market. It is clear that a connection to the Imperial household of China or a Royal house will always command a premium at auction. The head of the department has commented that this was a strong sale with good prices and selling rates across the board. Whilst - of course - top pieces have commanded the strongest prices, there has been a healthy interest and selling rate at all levels, including the more decorative market. It is encouraging to see participation from Mainland Chinese buyers continuing to grow, with a greater number in this sale than ever before.
Rosebery’s viewing and drinks event at our central London gallery was extremely well attended, also; it proved itself to be a wonderful opportunity not only for the many prospective buyers who travel to London to see the auction highlights but also for our vendors who have been able to see their treasures displayed in all their glory.
The solo standout lot of this sale was Lot 112 - a rare 19th Century Chinese Bleu de Hue ‘dragon and phoenix’ bowl. The lt belongs to a group of Chinese porcelains commissioned by the Vietnamese Royal family to Jingdezhen and exchanged via means of diplomacy in the 18th and 19th centuries. ‘Bleu de Hue’ refers to the city where the seat of the Vietnamese Kings was at the time. It bears a ‘nhut’ mark, dating it to the Dực Tông reign (1847 – 1883).
Being destined for court use, the designs for these porcelains were made by Vietnamese artists and sent to Jingdezhen for execution, resulting in a very distinct aesthetic vocabulary and range of motifs. The patterns used were very strictly regulated, with specific designs destined for the King, for Royal princes, for concubines, and others for the ladies of the Royal court. The decoration of dragons on the present bowl - paired with the mark to the base - specifies its creation for the King’s personal use, making it a very sought-after object in the current market.
Whilst porcelain of the Bleu de Hue group destined for the King’s use has always been desirable, a revived interest in Vietnamese Royal pieces may have been buoyed by the sale of 150 lots from the collection of Vietnam’s last Queen, which were auctioned last June in Paris by Hotel Druout. Among these, there were two lots of blue and white bowls decorated with dragons, which fetched very significant prices.
Lot 112 realised a hammer of £20,000 following an £800 to £1,200 estimate.
Lot 116: A Chinese Imperial turquoise-ground famille rose 'auspicious' plaque, Qianlong period
Lot 116 - a Chinese Imperial turquoise-ground famille rose plaque, dating from the Qianlong period - achieved £18,000 under the hammer. Plaques like these were often made to be inset in fine huanghuali furniture, and the shape of this plaque suggests it may originally have been inset into a square low table.
The quality of the painting and its fine detail single this lot out as an object made for imperial use. The colour palette and the lotus motif recall the decoration of contemporary cloisonne enamels made for the Imperial court, where turquoise ground and scrolling lotus are a common motif. Within the fine Indian lotuses, bats and Buddhist Emblems are entwined, giving a particularly auspicious character to the decoration.
The 14th and 15th century were a particularly interesting period in terms of artistic production in Tibet, and Lot 244 - a Tibetan parcel-gilt silver dragon plaque - is a wonderful example. Thanks to the adherence to and patronage of Tibetan Buddhism by the early Ming Emperors Yongle and Xuande, there was a proliferation of Buddhist artistic production at the Imperial court, where Newari artists were also employed in the production of Buddhist bronzes, with a resulting unprecedented Sinicization of the imagery.
Lot 244: A Tibetan parcel-gilt silver dragon plaque, 14th/15th century
Lot 244 displays all the elements of the fine workmanship typical of Tibetan metalworkers of the period, with its sophisticated reticulation, lovely scrollwork, and the entwined, sinuous dragons.The use of noble materials such as a white metal with high silver-content for the base, paired with gilding, also denote the particular care paid into its manufacture.
The plaque realised £16,000 hammer against a £500 to £800 estimate.
Lot 15 - a pair of large Chinese lacquered jade and hardstone inlaid ‘trompe l’oeil’ display cabinet panels - achieved £15,000 hammer following a £2,000 to £4,000 estimate.
The decoration of this pair of panels is known as ‘hundred treasures’ or ‘Zhuozhi’ inlay - named after the artisan who is said to have invented the technique in the late Ming Dynasty. The idea is to cleverly render in trompe l’oeil the cabinet of curiosities, which had become popular in the Qianlong period in a similar fashion to the cabinets of curiosities popular in Europe in the same period.
Panels of this type became very popular in the Qianlong period but continued being produced throughout the rest of the Qing Dynasty; they were often inlaid with objects made of precious materials such as jade, cloisonne, bronze and lacquer, and could often incorporate older artworks. It is particularly pleasing when, like with Lot 15, the panels are arranged symmetrically.
The Chinese furniture market is very material-driven, with pieces made of zitan and huanghuali being the most sought-after (since they are rare woods which are traditionally hard to harvest and were grown mostly in the island of Hainan and outside of China). Lot 14 is a fine Chinese huanghuali and zitan altar table, which realised £13,000 at auction after its £5,000 to £8,000 estimate.
Zitan and huanghuali pieces are characterised by a beautiful grain and a lustrous quality to the surface. They were often used by the most skilled furniture makers, and it is noticeable that Lot 14 is very well-constructed, and decorated with very refined, shallow carving to the sides.
Lot 13: A Chinese huanghuali tapered cabinet, yuanjiaogui, late Qing dynasty
Lot 13 - another highlight of Rosebery’s Asian Art sale - is a Chinese huanghuali tapered cabinet, which sold for £12,000.
‘Yuanjiaogui’ (or ‘round-corner tapered cabinets’) are one of the four essential types of Classical Chinese cabinets, usually splayed with round-edged tops that protrude beyond the side posts. This shape became popular in its current form in the 15th century, with many examples dating from the 17th century. As with most Classical Chinese furniture, this classic design remained virtually unchanged until the end of the Qing Dynasty, from which Lot 13 dates.
Four nicely carved jade plaques of a very pale stone from the late Qing Dynasty made an impressive appearance at the Asian Art sale, reaching £10,000 hammer against its £1,000 to £1,500 estimate. The market is always very well receptive to this type of object; white jade plaques like Lot 182 - even those dating to the late Qing Dynasty - can be highly sought-after.
Lot 321: A garniture of Japanese of inlaid bronzes, Meiji Period, comprising two miniature vases
Lot 321 is a lovely garniture in inlaid iron made by the Komai company in Japan in the Meiji period. Pieces made by the Komai company are always well-received in the market as they are highly sought-after by Chinese buyers, as well as by European and Japanese collectors. This set is a wonderful example of the incredible skill typical of Meiji period metalworkers, and sold for £10,000 following a £1,200 to £1,800 estimate.
Lot 219: A Chinese 'lotus flower' kesi panel, 17th century
A final highlight from November’s Asian Art was Lot 219, a Chinese 'lotus flower' kesi panel from the 17th century
This was but one of the many pieces collected by the late costume designer Anthony Powell included in the recent sale. It is a 17th-century piece of kesi silk tapestry (a very sought-after type of tapestry) which was made by passing through the warp and breaking the weft, giving the tapestry a wonderful painting-like quality, and becoming perfectly reversible. It is typical for kesi weave to display pictorial designs; in the case of Lot 219, we can see a subject matter - paired with a bright turquoise ground - that would have suited very well a scroll painting, or that we can easily imagine on a cloisonne plaque of the same period. Lot 219 achieved £4,800 hammer.
This auction took place across two days:
Day I: Fine Chinese Art, Japanese Art, South East Asian Art (Lots 1 - 371)
Day II: Asian Art II: Chinese Ceramics & Works Of Art (Lots 372 - 814)
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