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First Look: Asia Week’s 4,000 Years of Magnificent Artworks and Treasures

New York | March 2019
Drawing of a Buddha holding a lotus flower.
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This spring Sotheby's celebrates the magnificent history and breadth of Asian Art with a series of sales and exhibitions that will bring with it the most outstanding offerings of the continent’s finest and rarest treasures. This season’s exceptional sales include Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China, The Robert Youngman Collection of Chinese Jade and KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection, Part II. Click through to preview a selection of the both historic and elegant works highlighting the week.

First Look: Asia Week’s 4,000 Years of Magnificent Artworks and Treasures

  • Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art
    18 March | New York
    A spectacular array of art by some of the most important and avant-garde artists from India will headline this auction, including a rare 1948 painting, Golgotha in Goa by Francis Newton Souza. Other key works include several early Maqbool Fida Husain paintings from his Japan and Banaras series, as well as iconic pieces by Jagdish Swaminathan, Sayed Haider Raza and Ram Kumar.

    A diverse selection from the Bengal School of Art will also be offered, as well as a curated segment of works by modern and contemporary Pakistani artists, including Sadequain, Shahzia Sikander, Imran Qureshi and Huma Bhabha.

    Francis Newton Souza, Golgotha in Goa, 1948. Estimate $250,000–350,000.
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  • Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art
    18 March | New York
    Huma Bhabha, Untitled. Estimate $50,000–70,000
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  • Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China
    19 March | New York
    Sotheby’s is honored to present a selection of Chinese gilt-bronzes, weapons, jade animals, Buddhist sculpture and pottery from the collection of Stephen Junkunc III (d. 1978). The works in this singular collection reach back to China’s antiquity, dating from the Neolithic to the Tang Dynasty periods, and offer a fascinating window into the rituals, religions and politics of the times.

    Among the sale's many highlights are a rare and striking gilt-bronze dragon from the Six Dynasties period and a rare archaic bronze ceremonial blade from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, formerly exhibited in Mostra d’arte Cinese, Venice, 1954.

    A rare archaic bronze ceremonial halberd blade (ge), Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period. Estimate $20,000–30,000.
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  • Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China
    19 March | New York
    An exceptional gilt-bronze dragon, Six Dynasties. Estimate $100,000–150,000.
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  • Junkunc: Arts of Ancient China
    19 March | New York
    An exceptionally rare yellow and russet jade figure of a kneeling mythical toad, Six Dynasties . Estimate $200,000–300,000.
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  • The Robert Youngman Collection of Chinese Jade
    19 March | New York
    Comprised of jades spanning 4,000 years of Chinese art, the Robert Youngman Collection of Chinese Jade will be offered at auction this year. Over 70 jades, ranging from the Song to Qing dynasties, will be offered in New York, including an extraordinary Song–Yuan dynasty yellow jade carving of a tapir and a small Song dynasty white and gray jade carving of a hare.

    Part II of the collection will be offered in Hong Kong in April 2019.

    A yellow and russet jade carving of a tapir, Song–Yuan dynasty. Estimate $80,000–120,000.
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  • KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection, Part II
    19 March | New York
    Following the success of KANGXI: The Jie Rui Tang Collection in March 2018, Sotheby’s is pleased to present another selection of Kangxi-era ceramics from the Collection of Jeffrey P Stamen. Built over a 30-year period, the Jie Rui Tang collection is one of the finest, most comprehensive assemblages of Kangxi porcelain in private hands.

    The present sale features exemplary objects from all the major ceramic categories of the period. Highlights range from a rare and massive famille-verte ‘banquet’ dish, a fine and large inscribed famille-verte brushpot, to a magnificent and rare rose-verte ‘phoenix’ rouleau vase formerly in the Collection of Alfred Morrison at Fonthill House.

    A magnificent and rare rose-verte rouleau vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. Estimate $300,000–500,000.
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  • Important Chinese Art
    20 March | New York
    Nearly 300 Chinese artworks, spanning from the Neolithic period to the Republic Era, will be offered. The sale features all major collecting categories such as early bronzes, Buddhist sculpture, ceramics, imperial porcelain, jades and classical furniture.

    Star lots include a complete set of the sutra of Perfect Enlightenment by the Qianlong emperor; a rare and magnificent Tang dynasty stone standing torso of a bodhisattva; an important imperial battle painting from the Guangxu period; and porcelain and works of art from the Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III .

    An exceedingly rare and important complete set of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment by the Qianlong Emperor, dated Qianlong Bingyin year, corresponding to 1746. Estimate $300,000–500,000. Detail shown right.
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  • Important Chinese Art
    20 March | New York
    A pair of luduan-form censers, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. Estimate $300,000–500,000.
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  • Important Chinese Art
    20 March | New York
    A rare 'Peachbloom' Chrysanthemum' bottle vase (Juban Ping), Kangxi mark and period. Estimate $300,000–400,000.

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  • Important Chinese Art
    20 March | New York
    A famille-rose 'floral' bottle vase, Jiaqing seal mark and period. Estimate $200,000–300,000.
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  • Important Chinese Art
    20 March | New York
    An exceptional and rare pair of blue and white 'dragon' jarlets and covers, Kangxi marks and period. Estimate $ 200,000–300,000.
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  • Sculpture of a bodhisattva
    Important Chinese Art
    20 March | New York
    A limestone figure of a standing bodhisattva, Tang Dynasty . Estimate $600,000–800,000.
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  • Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art
    21 March | New York
    Our upcoming March sale of Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art will present important artworks created over the course of 2,000 years in South Asia and the Himalayas. Included in the auction are sculptures in bronze and stone, such as an impressive 8th-century Buddha from Eastern India, as well as fine miniature paintings and ritual and devotional works, such as this spectacular cloth painting (Paubha) from Nepal.

    A Paubha depicting the worship of Lord Jagannatha, Nepal, 18th century. Estimate $200,000–300,000.
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  • Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art
    21 March | New York
    A large black stone figure of Buddha, Northeastern India, Bihar, early Pala period, 7th/8th century. Estimate $250,000–300,000.
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  • Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    22 March | New York
    This March, the Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy department offers another outstanding group of works with the most impeccable provenance, sourced from private collections worldwide.

    With much enthusiasm, we will present POEMS ON FALLING FLOWERS IN RUNNING SCRIPT, written by Shen Zhou in the style of Huang Tingjian during his late period, a rare and extraordinary handscroll previously collected by Wu Dacheng, Wu Hufan and kept in wonderful condition.

    Other highlights include an exceptionalLOTUS AND ROCKpainting by Chen Hongshou, a handscroll by Qian Qianyi, works from The Tao Ting Yee and Tao Bao Ve Ming Collection and by Modern masters Xu Beihong, Qi Bashi, Wu Hufan, Huang Junbi, Zhang Daqian and many more.

    Shen Zhou, Poems On Falling Flowers In Running Script. Estimate $1,200,000–1,800,000.
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  • Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    22 March | New York
    Chen Hongshou, Lotus and Rock. Estimate $1,000,000–1,500,000.
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  • Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    22 March | New York
    Zhang Daqian, Scholar's Boat Passing Lofty Mountains. Estimate $300,000–400,000.
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  • Saturday at Sotheby’s: Asian Art
    23 March | New York
    Saturday at Sotheby’s: Asian Art presents over 350 lots of fine and decorative Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art. Set at attractive estimates ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, offerings include, offerings include ceramics, imperial porcelain, furniture, lacquerware, thangkas, jades, snuff bottles, paintings and calligraphy.

    Highlights include property from the Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, Qing dynasty porcelain from the Collection of Dr. Lester D. Shultis and gilt-bronzes and thangkas from the Estate of Mrs. Angela Jucker-Grunauer.
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