Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (christies.com)
Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
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A LARGE SANCAI-GLAZED 'GOOSE' TRIPOD DISH
TANG DYNASTY (AD 618-907)
The shallow, circular dish is finely potted resting on three short, pad feet. It is incised and controllably painted on the interior with green, amber and cobalt-blue glazes with a central roundel of a goose in flight encircled by radiating lotus leaves and foliate tendrils, all reserved on a cream-glazed ground which extends to the underside and stops in an irregular line exposing the pale buff ware.
11 3/8 in. (28.8 cm.) diam.
PROVENANCE : Acquired from Li Yin Art Co. Ltd., Taipei, 10 October 1998. Lam & Co., Hong Kong.
Price realised ...HKD 1,134,000 Estimate : HKD 700,000 – HKD 900,000
A JUN BLUE-GLAZED PENTA-LOBED FOLIATE-RIMMED VASE
JIN-YUAN DYNASTY (1115-1368)
The vase is potted with a penta-lobed body rising to a stepped sloping shoulder and a tall slender neck flaring into the mouth moulded as five out-curved petals. The vase is covered inside and out with a sky-blue glaze suffused with crackles with the exception of the foot rim, decorated with three subtle purple-splashed highlights on the body and neck.
7 1/2 in. (19 cm.) high, box
Price realisedHKD 1,134,000 Estimate : HKD 300,000 – HKD 500,000
A WHITE-GLAZED COMPRESSED PEAR-SHAPED JAR AND COVER
SUI DYNASTY (AD 581-618)
The compressed globular body is surmounted by a stepped neck and rises to the flared rim, all covered in a finely-crackled glaze stopping short above the spreading foot. The domed cover is surmounted by a bud-form finial and covered in a similar glaze.
5 1/4 in. (13.4 cm.) high
PROVENANCE : Acquired in Hong Kong, 21 August 1983
Price realised HKD 1,008,000 Estimate : HKD 600,000 – HKD 800,000
A RARE COPPER-RED-DECORATED 'DRAGON’ VASE
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
The slightly tapered body is decorated on the exterior with nine writhing four-clawed dragons amidst flames, their eyes highlighted in underglaze blue. The dragons are arranged in pairs confronting one another, with the exception of a smaller one on the short trumpet neck chasing a flaming pearl. The base is inscribed with an apocryphal six-character Chenghua mark in underglaze blue.
17 in. (43.1 cm.) high
PROVENANCE The Butler Family Collection, UK
EXHIBITED
The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarde, Netherlands, Chinese Porcelain: The Transitional Period 1620-1683: A Selection from the Michael Butler Collection, 1986
Travelling exhibition to 12 museums in the United States, Seventeenth Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection, 1990
Shanghai Museum, Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collections: Beauty's Enchantment, 1 December 2005- 28 February 2006
Price realised HKD 6,048,000 Estimate : HKD 800,000 – HKD 1,200,000
AN IMPORTANT AND RARE LARGE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' JAR
JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1522-1566)
The heavily potted ovoid jar is boldly decorated in vibrant cobalt-blue with two fierce five-clawed dragons with writhing scaly bodies flying amidst ruyi-shaped clouds above crashing waves, and separated by two stylized shou characters stemmed from lingzhi fungus, all below a lotus scroll band at the shoulder and above a ruyi-head band at the foot. The waisted neck is inscribed with a six-character Jiajing mark.
21 1/4 in. (54 cm.) high, Japanese wood box
PROVENANCE : Mayuyama, Japan, by repute , Ninomiya Kenichi (1898 - 1996), acquired prior to 1955, Ehime Bunkakan, Japan, Mayuyama & Co., 2016
EXHIBITED
Tokyo Art Club, Special Triennial Tobi Art Fair, 14-16 October 2016
Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, A Jiajing and Wanli Exhibition, 18-23 October 2016
Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, A Jiajing and Wanli Exhibition, 18-23 October 2016
Price realised HKD 4,410,000 Estimate : HKD 4,000,000 – HKD 6,000,000
A BLUE AND WHITE ‘GRAPES’ DISH
YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1425)
The dish is painted in rich vivid tones of cobalt blue with three branches of grapes suspended from slender vines bearing coiled tendrils and broad leaves, surrounded on the cavetto by a composite floral scroll comprising lotus, camellia, lily, aster, chrysanthemum, gardenia, morning glory and lingzhi on an undulating leafy stem. The design is repeated on the exterior, the slightly sloping everted rim decorated with a border of breaking waves, the base is unglazed.
14 7/8 in. (37.8 cm.) diam.
PROVENANCE : Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 November 1980, lot 225
Price realised HKD 5,040,000 Estimate : HKD 3,000,000 – HKD 5,000,000
A LARGE PAIR OF DOUCAI 'NINE DRAGON' VASES, TIANQIUPING
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Each vase is decorated with nine sinuous five-clawed dragons in various colours, amidst scrolling clouds and iron-red flames, one emerging from a band of crashing waves at the foot, all below a ruyi-head border at the mouth.
22 3/4 in. (57.8 cm.) high
PROVENANCE : Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen, 1950 (according to labels), Frank Caro, successor to C.T. Loo, no. 693 (according to labels), Acquired in Newtown, Massachusetts, 1970s, A private collection, California, Sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1815
Price realised HKD 1,890,000 Estimate : HKD 1,500,000 – HKD 2,000,000
A FINE CELADON-GLAZED DOUBLE-GOURD FORM VASE AND COVER
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The elegant vase is well potted with a compressed globular lower bulb rising from the countersunk base to a slightly smaller globular upper bulb, surmounted by a long narrow mouth. The fitted cover is potted with a short stem. Both are covered with a pale sea-green glaze.
13 3/8 in. (34.5 cm.) high
PROVENANCE
Ninomiya Kaneichi (1898-1996), acquired prior to 1955
Ehime Bunkakan, Japan
Ehime Bunkakan, Japan
Price realised HKD 1,764,000 Estimate : HKD 1,000,000 – HKD 1,500,000
A FINE MAGNIFICENT CARVED ‘DRAGON’ CELADON-GLAZED MEIPING
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The elegantly potted vase is carved around the body in shallow relief with three sinuous ferocious dragons amidst clouds between breaking waves around the base and bands of upright plantain leaves, key-pattern and ruyi lappets around the neck and shoulder, all under a fine and even pale sea-green celadon glaze.
13 in. (33 cm.) high
PROVENANCE : Collection of Albert Keller, Sold at Sotheby’s New York, 4 June 1982, lot 219, The Jingguantang Collection, Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, The Jingguantang Collection: Magnificent Chinese Works of Art, 3 November 1996, lot 572
LITERATURE
Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1992, p. 343, no. 210
The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 34
The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 34
Price realised HKD 81,060,000 Estimate : HKD 50,000,000 – HKD 80,000,000
A RARE RU-TYPE GLAZED OVAL JARDINIÈRE
QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The jardinière is of oval form with slightly flared sides, raised on four low bracket feet, and covered inside and out with a greyish-blue glaze thinning to a darker grey on the rim. The recessed base with six spur marks is also glazed and inscribed with the reign mark at the center.
9 1/8 in. (23.1 cm.) wide, Japanese wood box
PROVENANCE
Formerly in an Important Private Japanese collection, amassed in the early 20th century
Price realised HKD 5,670,000 Estimate : HKD 800,000 – HKD 1,200,000
A RARE AND FINE CLAIR-DE-LUNE-GLAZED RECTANGULAR JARDINIÈRE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The rectangular jardinière is finely potted with low rounded sides supported on four shallow right-angled feet, and the recessed base is pierced with two circular apertures on either side of the reign mark, all covered in an attractive pale blue glaze, except for the bottom of the feet revealing the smooth white body and two tiny spur marks along the lengths of the base.
5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm.) wide, wood stand, cloth box
PROVENANCE : Sold at Sotheby’s London, 11 June 1991, lot 239, Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Jade Shears and Shimmering Feathers- Imperial Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, 28 November 2006, lot 1301
EXHIBITED
Christie's London, An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, 2-14 June 1993
Price realised HKD 2,772,000 Estimate : HKD 1,500,000 – HKD 2,500,000
A YANGCAI RUBY-GROUND SGRAFFITO ‘LOTUS’ VASE
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN IRON RED WITHIN A SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
Each side of the vase is enamelled with a blue ruyi-border intertwined with a lotus scroll, against a ruby-red sgraffito ground. The neck is painted with a yellow-ground panel containing a lotus bloom on each side, flanked by a pair of tubular handles decorated with blue-enamelled florettes on a scrolling ground.
10 1/8 in. (25.8 cm.) high
EXHIBITED
Capital Museum, Beijing, Treasures of Hong Kong: The 20th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover, 2018, Catalogue, p. 181, no. 188
Price realised HKD 1,638,000 Estimate : HKD 800,000 – HKD 1,500,000
A LARGE WOOD FIGURE OF A SEATED?BODHISATTVA
MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
The figure is shown seated in?dhyanasana?with right hand positioned above the left hand, and wearing a beaded necklace and scarves over layered robes that have a draped neckline and are gathered at the waist and on the upper arms. There is a circular hollow in the forehead for an inlaid?urna, and the hair is pulled up into a tall topknot and is worn in knotted tresses that fall onto the shoulders. A cavity in the back has a rectangular cover, and the back is carved in low relief with a four-character inscription, Wenshu?pusa; the first two characters on the body above the cover, and the second two characters on the cover, where a later additional inscription that identifies the figure as Wenshu is written in black and dated to the second year of Jiaqing (1798). There are traces of red and green pigment.
421/2 in. (108 cm.) high
PROVENANCE
Fong Chow (1923-2012) Collection, New York, acquired prior to 1966, Sold at Christie’s New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1196
Price realised HKD 693,000 Estimate : HKD 300,000 – HKD 500,000
A MASSIVE RARE BLACK-GROUND EMAMELLED AND INCISED CHARGER
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908), CHUXIUGONG ZHI HALL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE
The central medallion of the charger is incised with two dragons around a central flaming pearl, enamelled with flowering peonies and prunus springing up from behind ornamental rock, the dragons partially picked out in enamels, the rounded sides with branches of flowering prunus, peonies, chrysanthemum and lotus all reserved on a black ground. The reverse is decorated with further striding dragons amidst flowers reserved on a pale lemon-yellow ground.
25 in. (64 cm.) diam., box
PROVENANCE
Sold at Sotheby’s London, 4 November 1974, lot 269, Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 December 1977, lot 743, Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26-27 October 1993, lot 299, Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27-28 April 1997, lot 784, Sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 9 June 2011, lot 202
Estimate HKD 700,000 – HKD 900,000
A VERY RARE EARLY-MING BLUE AND WHITE 'FRUIT' BOWL
XUANDE SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN A LINE IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1426-1435)
The bowl, heavily potted with rounded sides, is painted in rich underglaze-blue tones on the exterior with a frieze of fruiting branches of peach, pomegranate, loquat, grape, persimmon and crab apple, between a double line encircling the mouth rim and a band of upright lappets around the base, above the circular foot encircled by floral sprays.
11 in. (27.9 cm.) diam.
PROVENANCE
Edward T. Chow (1910-1980)
The Edward T. Chow Collection, Part Three, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 19 May 1981, lot 406
Estimate : HKD 8,000,000 – HKD 12,000,000
