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Chinese Works of Art

Magnificent Works of Asian Art

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Our Arts d’Asie sale in Paris on 10 December brings together Imperial pieces with exceptional noble provenance. Featured highlights include a pair of 14th-Century gilt-bronze Bodhisattva figures and exquisite imperial porcelains from the never-before-sold collection of a Belgian aristocrat who served as ambassador to Japan in the early 20th century (lots 8 to 14).

Past Auction
Arts d'Asie
10 December 2019 | 10:30 AM CET | Paris

Magnificent Works of Asian Art

  • An important and very rare pair of parcel-gilt bronze figures of Bodhisattva, 14th century; together with a pair of lacquer-gilt thrones, Qing Dynasty, 18th century. Estimate €500,000–700,000
    This important pair of parcel-gilt bronze bodhisattvas may originally have formed part of a larger group of figures, such as the Eight Great Bodhisattvas. They are among the few surviving Buddhist figures cast in bronze made in the 14th century during the Yuan or very early Ming dynasty, a short period of transition in style and iconography in Chinese Buddhist sculpture, making the present pair of figures exceptionally rare and important.
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  • A rare Ming-Style blue and white moonflask, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng period
    Estimate €150,000–250,000
    In its form and decoration, the present moonflask closely copies a Yongle prototype of which only one example appears to be extant, from the Sir Percival David Collection and now in the British Museum, London. Only few Yongzheng examples of this design are known including the well-known example formerly in the Collection of Richard de la Mare and the Meiyintang Collection.
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  • Two green-enamelled 'dragon' jars and covers, Qianlong seal marks and period
    Estimate €60,000–80,000
    This pair of green-enamelled ‘dragon’ jars and covers are well potted with a tapering ovoid body rising from a recessed base to a rounded shoulder and a short neck, painted to the exterior in rich tones of green enamel with two striding five-clawed dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls amidst cloud scrolls, all between a register of bajixiang ('Eight Buddhist Emblems') encircling the shoulder and a border of lotus-lappet skirting the foot.
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  • A rare large blue and white 'lotus' baluster vase, Qing Dynasty, 18th century
    Estimate €80,000–120,000
    This large vase is rare because of its large size, its good condition and its noble provenance. Furthermore, its body is finely painted in rich cobalt-blue tones with a large and beautiful composite flower scroll band.
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  • A rare Famille-Rose 'Ladies of the Han palace' lantern-shaped vase, Jiaqing seal mark and period
    Estimate €80,000–120,000
    In its shape and decoration the present vase belongs to a group of porcelains produced at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the early years of the Jianqing reign. Porcelains of this period continued to be influenced by Qianlong designs and are quite likely to have been made by the same potters who made porcelains for the Qianlong emperor and his household.
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  • A very rare archaistic pale celadon jade disc, guibi, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period
    Estimate €40,000–60,000
    This rare jade disc combines two of the most recognisable objects made in early Chinese jade history. The disc (bi) and the tablet (gui) both appear among the six important ritual jades in the Zhouli (Rites of Zhou), one of the three classics on rites and etiquette compiled in the latter part of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. It lists the six ritual jades as bi, cong, gui, zhang, hu and huang. Their functions and forms were later reconstructed by Nie Chongyi in the Sanli tu (Three Rituals Illustrated) during the Northern Song Dynasty, and by Wu Dacheng in his Guyu tukao (Investigations of Ancient Jade with Illustrations) in the late Qing Dynasty.
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  • A very rare small white and russet jade vessel in the form of a phoenix, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period
    Estimate €15,000–20,000
    Vessels of this fine quality were made in the Palace Workshops (Zaobanshu), established by the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722). A special jade workshop was added in the first year of the Yongzheng emperor's reign (1723-1735) to make many of the jades displayed around the palace. The present vessel is rare and only few comparable pieces of related shape are known. Among them is a phoenix-shaped rhyton with dragon handle, dated to the mid-Qing period from the Palace Museum Collection in Beijing.
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  • A well carved and pierced celadon and russet plaque, Yuan/Ming Dynasty
    Buddhist gilt-bronzes
    Estimate €8,000–12,000
    The superb plaque is remarkable for its skilful carving in achieving several layers of depth on a thin and flat jade pebble. The carver has utilised as much of the precious stone as possible to fashion a scene of crane and lotus, the foliage of which is cleverly picked out by the russet skin of the stone. In its three-dimensionality, the setting helps illustrate the narrative in a naturalistic manner.
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  • A very rare gilt-bronze figure of Akshobya, Zhengtong mark and period, dated 1439
    Estimate €220,000–250,000
    This work is an important art historical document in the stylistic development of early Ming period Buddhist metal sculpture. Relatively high numbers of gilt bronzes were produced in the Yongle period (1403-1424) compared with the Xuande (1425-1435), in part because the Xuande emperor did not lavish gifts on Tibetan hierarchs in the same quantity as his forebear. This trend continued in the Zhengtong period (1435-1449). The overall style introduced in the Yongle period nevertheless remains more or less consistent in this rare Zhengtong example dating to 1439.
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  • A rare gilt-copper alloy figure of Ushnishavijaya, Mongolia, Zanabazar style, 18th/19th century
    Estimate €150,000–250,000
    Ushnishavijaya, 'Victorious Crown Ornament', the goddess of long-life, is one of three special long-life deities along with the Buddha Amitayus and White Tara. Together they are known as the Three Long-life Deities of Tantric Buddhism. In the words of Jamyang Kyentse Wangpo (1820-1892), Ushnishavijaya is "the colour of an autumn moon; with three faces, white, yellow and blue and eight hands. Each face has three very large eyes.
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  • A rare and large gilt-bronze figure of Yidam, Ming Dynasty, early to mid-15th century
    Estimate €80,000–150,000
    The ithyphallic god displays attributes that distinguish the wrathful Yidam deities of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, including a flaming moustache and beard; a now fragmentary garland of severed heads; a skull crown; a beaded apron of human bone; a snake coiled around a mass of flaming hair; and one draped over the left shoulder and around the corpulent body. Regal jewellery adorns ears, arms and ankles, and a billowing scarf frames the deity as he stands with feet planted in a dramatic and aggressive posture.
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