This past May I attended the Spring Asian Art in London events for about 12 days. Even though the Spring edition of Asian Art in London is smaller than the Fall series, it was still a wonderful opportunity to stop by all the international and regional auction house previews where thousands of Asian art objects were on view.
The auction previews I visited were at Bonhams, Sotheby's and Christie's, and I also made trips to the smaller houses like Dore & Rees, Roseberys, Chiswicks and Dreweatts.
The strength of the Asian art market is still mostly with Chinese works of art, but there were strong representations in the Himalayan and Japanese art categories, especially for Tibetan Buddhist sculptures and Japanese Meiji Period decorative arts.
Image 1a. One of the highlights from this edition of Asian Art in London was an Imperial Chinese yellow-ground silk embroidered 'dragon' robe from the Yongzheng Period (1723-1735). It was offered at Bonhams for a conservative GBP 60/80,000 (approximately CAD 106,000/141,500).
This robe was formerly from the collection of Marie Joséphine Eugénie Brégère-Kromer Violet (1864 - 1921), a maker of French aperitif wine.
There has been a drop in prices for Chinese textiles over the past few years, but when an example with Imperial connections, solid provenance, and impeccable condition appears in the market, the major collectors (with deep pockets!) often show up.
And this dragon robe was simply gorgeous! In addition to the incredible details in the dragon roundels, its yellow silk ground featured auspicious elements such as shou (壽) longevity characters, good fortune bats, and rainbow clouds.
There was a lot of interest in this Imperial Chinese dragon robe and after a long bidding battle, it sold for a stunning GBP 368,700 including buyer's premium (approximately CAD 652,600).
Image 1b. Here are some details of the Chinese dragon robe's central dragon medallion. The fierce five-clawed dragon is chasing a flaming pearl of wisdom while floating over a heavenly ocean with waves and rockery along the bottom, and multicoloured clouds at the top.
Image 2a. Another Chinese art object I really liked at Bonhams was this extremely rare Chinese porcelain peachbloom 'beehive' waterpot with Kangxi Mark and period (1662-1722).
This piece cames from the esteemed collection of John E. Bodie, a well known collector from London's prestigious Oriental Ceramic Society. It was featured in their 2009 exhibition 'The World in Monochromes'.
These types of waterpots are called taibozun (太白尊) and contains a very rich copper red glaze in addition to its attractive 'beehive' shape. You can also see faint details of an archaistic dragon on the surface.
This waterpot would have been part of a group of porcelain wares made for the Chinese scholar's table called the badama (八大碼), 'eight great numbers'. The other pieces from this set would include a seal paste box, various small vases, water cups and pen holders.
This waterpot was estimated at GBP 60,000/80,000 and sold for an incredible GBP 190,900 (approximately CAD 337,893).
Image 2b. Detail of the base of the Cinese peachbloom waterpot with the reign mark daqing Kangxi nianzhi 大清康熙年製 which translates to ‘made during the Kangxi years of the Qing Dynasty'. You can also see that there is an exhibition label from the 'World in Monochromes' and another label from the famous dealer John Sparks London.
Image 3a. Just down the street from Bonhams, Sotheby's was hosting a small online sale. Over the past few years, Sotheby's usually has their bigger Chinese art auctions in November and an online sale during the Spring .
At their preview, I was absolutely drawn to this Tibetan gilt bronze figure of a bodhisattva from the 17th Century. Bodhisattvas are enlightened Buddhist beings who chose to stay on the earth to teach the Buddhist doctrine and ease humanity's suffering.
This figure was finely casted with highlights such as the thick lotus petals on the base and sensitive mudras (hand gestures) of teaching. The face was stunning too, with the neck naturally tilted to one side, and the detailed face giving a simultaneous sense of reverence and compassion.
Many collectors definitely noticed this figure as well and it ended up selling for GBP 19,050 (approximately CAD 33,700), much higher than the estimated value of GBP 3,000/5,000.
Image 3b. The reverse of this boddhisattva figure. You can see remnants of blue pigments in the hair and also a line of Sanskrit along the bottom which I was unfortunately unable to translate. Typically it would state a combination of the craftsmen, a potential donor, and the temple/shrine for which this figure would have been bestowed.
Image 4a. There were more Buddhist sculptures on view during the Spring edition of Asian Art in London Week, and one of the most talked about was at Dore & Rees. Here they had an exceptionally rare Chinese Imperial gilt bronze figure of Manjushri, the Buddhist bodhisattva of wisdom.
The deity is holding onto his flaming sword of knowledge and is dated to the Yongle Period (1404-1424) of the Ming Dynasty. In the current market, Chinese Buddhist bronze figures from the early Ming Dynasty are highly sought after for their rarity and extremely well-casting. Typically these types of Buddhist bronzes will fetch incredibly high prices if they ever make it to auction.
Despite this example's small size, it sold for GBP 221,000 (approximately CAD 391,000) against an estimate of GBP 50,000/100,000.
Image 4b. The reign mark inscribed for this figure reads daming yongle nianshi 大明永樂年施 which translates to 'made during the Yongle years of the Ming Dynasty'. You can also see the fine casting in the figure's fleshy feet (and toes!) and also the gentle folds of the robes.
Image 5. Another wonderful Asian artwork at Dore & Rees was this wonderfully painted and large Chinese blue, white and copper red 'Star God and Deer' lantern vase from the Qianlong Period (1736-1795).
The details of this piece are fantastic with its large detailed figures and masterful control of the cobalt blues and coppers reds. These types of vases would have been related to ones produced by Tang Ying 唐英 (1682-1756), the renowned supervisor of the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen.
There is a large inverted 'U' crack which you can see in the upper left section of the vase. But despite this condition issue, the vase still managed to sell for GBP 227,500 (approximately CAD 402,700) despite a low estimate of GBP 30,000/50,000.
Image 6a. Over at Roseberys in southeast London, one of the highlights of their two-day sale (which featured over 1500 pieces!) was this pair of Chinese blue, white and iron red two-part wine ewers and covers. Dated to the mid-Qing Dynasty by the auction house, one of them had a Yongzheng mark on the base while the other had a yanghetang 養和堂 hall mark.
The vessels are shaped as double gourds and consist of two sections. The bottom-half is used for storing hot water, while the top-half is for wine. Its design of dragons flying amidst blue clouds was also extremely attractive.
These ewers had an EXTREMELY LOW estimate of GBP 6,000/8,000 and were much sought after by collectors and dealers from the Japan, China and the USA. After much bidding during the auction, they sold for many times more and realized GBP 338,240 (approximately CAD 598,000).
Image 6b. The base mark of one of the wine ewers reading daqing Yongzheng nianzhi 大清雍正年製 which translates to 'made during the Yongzheng years of the Qing Dynasty'. There is also a John Sparks London label.
Image 7a. Christie's on King Street also featured some Asian art objects. Christie's haven't had specifically Asian-themed auctions since 2018, but they do feature assortments of Asian art pieces every now and then.
The auction preview I visited as titled ‘Three Dealing Dynasties: London, Paris, Geneva.’ It mostly focused on European decorative pieces from the 17th to 19th centuries, but also features numerous rare Chinese cloisonné enamel objects and a strong collection of Japanese early Kakiemon and Arita porcelain animals.
The staging of the preview reminded me of the grand decorative art auctions that were so prevalent when I joined this industry back in the mid 2000's. The gallery was organized into grand 19th Century room settings interspersed with some modern backgrounds to showcase the Asian pieces.
Image 7b. One of the interesting settings for Chinese art at the Christie's 'Three Dealing Dynasties' auction preview is shown here. On the classic floating shelf and in front of a bright red circle was this pair of Chinese 18th Century cloisonné and champlevé enamel 'elephant and vase' groups. Against an estimate of GBP 60,000/80,0000 they sold for GBP 119,700 (approximately CAD 211,900).
Image 7b. Also at the Christie's auction preview were two Japanese 17th Century Arita models of hounds. Each hound was a separate lot and had an identical auction estimate of GBP 25,000/35,000.
These types of hounds were produced for the export market and were incredibly popular from the 18th Century until the late 20th Century. The one on the right in particular is one of my favourites since there is a similar example at Toronto's Gardiner Museum (where I recently became a board member!).
At Christie's, each of these hounds ended up selling for the same realized price of GBP 23,940 (approximately CAD 43,000).
Image 9. While in London, I also had a chance to visit the spectacular exhibition ‘Zimingzhong 凝时聚珍: Clockwork Treasures from China’s Forbidden City’ at the Science Museum in South Kensington. I was there just one week before the exhibition closed on June 2nd!
Sponsored by the Huo Family Foundation, the show brings in 23 clocks from the Imperial vaults of Beijing’s Palace Museum in the Forbidden City. Many of these examples are automated with moving designs, and were the pinnacle of clockmaking technology during the 18th century.
One of the highlights was this 18th Century gilt bronze model of a longevity crane. Realistically rendered, the crane holds a branch of lingzhi (靈芝) fungus in its mouth. On its back is a large saddle supporting an exquisite jewel-encrusted pagoda-form clock.
Thank you for reading my latest blog! In my next posting I will go through some highlights from my late May trip to Hong Kong. In July I will be in Vancouver and Victoria for various Asian art appraisal and valuation projects. I'll also begin to source objects for my next Heffel Asian art online auction that is scheduled for October 3-31. In the meantime, you can follow me on my Instagram account @anthonywuart for more recent updates.