The Arts d’Asie sale, to be held in Paris on the 18th June, includes Buddhist sculpture, jade and porcelain, highlighted by a superb Qianlong vase, brilliantly painted in blue and white with a vibrant design of lotus flowers. Carefully preserved for decades by its owner, this imposing vase epitomises the grandeur of 18th century blue and white porcelain. The sale will also include interesting works of art, including some rare gilt-bronze figures as well as Japanese works of art and prints, including a complete set of Hiroshige's Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji.
Japanese metal works typical of the Edo to Meiji period (lot 114 to 136) are a striking feature of this sale. Ranging from a collection of gold and silver filigree works of art from the Komai workshop (Kyoto), to a small cloisonné enamel vase made in the workshop of Namikawa Yasuyuki and signed by Kyoto Namikawa, highlights include a rare Myochin school iron articulated sculpture of a dragon, signed Myochin Nobumasa, Japan, late Edo-Meiji, 19th century, and two groups of fifty-one iron or metal inlaid tsuba.
Also offered for sale is a very rare and exquisite gilt-bronze mounted Kakiémon ‘gnarled prunus’ ewer, Japan, ca. 1680. The pure aesthetic of Japanese prints is illustrated by a complete set of Hiroshige's Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji, 1858. 'the sensitive art of Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita appears in a very large pencil on paper figuring a standing nude. This iconic work is a preparatory sketch for the left figure on Foujita's famous painting Cinq Nus, originally presented at the 1923 Salon d'Automne in Paris and now preserved in the National Museum of Art in Tokyo, an omen to Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon.
This sale presents a magnificent selection of Buddhist Art from various European collections. It includes a beautiful selection of 18th century gilt-bronze, including a Qing Dynasty figure of Palden Lhamobut, a rare copper-alloy Pala style figure of Bodhisattva from Tibet, and a rare gilt bronze figure of Rolpai Dorje, the 3rd Changkya Khutukhtu (1717-1786), Qing Dynasty. He was the principal Tibetan Buddhist teacher in the Qing court and a close associate of the Qianlong Emperor of China.
Gathered in a private collection in Switzerland, two bronze Buddhist sculptures complete this selection: a large bronze triad of Avalokitesvara and two acolytes, Qing dynasty, 18th century, and this peaceful seated bronze figure of Shakyamuni buddha, Ming dynasty, 16th century.
The Buddhist symbolism appears also in two Thangkas dated both from 18th-19th century, one depicting a Vajrasana mandala and the other the Buddha Akshobhya, both from a French Private Collection.
