PARIS.- Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr will offer six auctions from 9 to 16 June 2023 (including two online), with a series of exhibitions taking place before the auctions and conferences on Saturday 10 June. This rich and varied programme will allow collectors from all over the world to discover and appreciate Asian Art exhibited during the Printemps Asiatique in Paris.

The Claude de Marteau Collection, Part III | 12 June 2023

Following two successful auctions in Paris in 2022, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr will be offering part III of the remarkable Claude de Marteau Collection at 6 Avenue Hoche on 12 June. The Claude de Marteau Collection is a unique assemblage of art gathered over decades by the late dealer and collector. It contains works created over a period of 1,500 years in the Hindu and Buddhist cultures that once flourished in India, Nepal, Tibet and China.

This auction will offer a range of Hindu and Buddhist treasures including a 3rd century Gandhara Bodhisattva statue, over 1 meter high (estimate : €400,000-€600,000). The sale also features a 15th/16th century Tibetan gilt copper alloy figure of the 9th century Buddhist master Virupa, renowned for both his wisdom and for his wild, unpredictable behaviour. The statue depicts a famous episode in the story of his life with his left hand is raised in order to stop the flow of the Ganges river (estimate: €150,000 to €200,000). The figure is richly gilded and inlaid with turquoise stones. The face is painted in gold and the lips, eyes and eyebrows are also painted in the Tibetan style, giving it a more realistic appearance.

As a young man, Claude de Marteau stumbled upon the art that was to be his lifelong passion while he was on an extended trip through Afghanistan, over the Hindu Kush to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Entirely self-taught, he became a respected dealer and an eminent authority on Tibetan, Nepalese, Indian and Southeast Asia art.

Bonhams Global Head of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Edward Wilkinson, recalls the first time he was shown into the storage room: “A plain door opened to reveal simple metal shelving and large wood work benches, but once the lights came on the contents of the shelves left me stunned. Hundreds of superb Tibetan, Nepalese, and Indian sculptures were interspersed with paint cans and cleaning materials.”

Chinese Art | 13 June 2023

Formerly in the Paul Houo-Ming-Tse collection (circa 1880-1949), a highly important wood figure of the Water-Moon Guanyin Bodhisattva comes from a French Private Collection formed in the 1930s. Large sculptures such as this one were originally made for Buddhist temples. Its monumental size is reminiscent of the bodhisattva from the Rousset collection sold at Bonhams last October (estimate: €800,000 - €1,200,000).

This impressive sculpture is a religious work which depicts the Buddhist Bodhisattva Guanyin that was made in the 12th/13th century under the Jin dynasty (1115-1234). His inward-turning gaze and contemplative pose expresses the Bodhisattva’s powers as a comforter of human suffering and hardship, while his naturalistic image expresses proximity and approachability.




This magnificent figure of the Bodhisattva Guanyin is seated in the pose of ‘Royal Ease’, with his right hand resting on his right bent knee. Traces of vivid blue and red pigment hint at the original colours. The eyes are inlaid with black glass and emphasize the figure’s intense regard.

From the same collection, an important stone head of a Guanyin bodhisattva from the Tang dynasty (618-906) will be offered, still showing traces of polychromy. The serene face features half-closed almond-shaped eyes, surmounted by sharp eyebrows, an aquiline nose, and a fleshy mouth (estimate: €60,000 - €80,000).

Mythes, Malice et Magie : La Collection de Netsuke et Sagemono de Guy de Lasteyrie | 14 June 2023

On June 14, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr will be offering the extraordinary collection of Guy de Lasteyrie, who discovered the world of netsuke in his grandmother's library, where these small objects fascinated him. His grandmother left him her collection as an inheritance, marking the starting point of a long passion of more than fifty years.

Made by numerous schools located throughout the Japanese archipelago in Edo, Osaka or Kyoto, some remarkable pieces are signed by great masters such as Tadayoshi, Toyomasa, Masanao, Tsuji and Tametaka. They often represent animals, ghosts or characters with admirable precision and attention to detail.

Since the 17th century, the Japanese wearing kimonos tied at the waist with a belt called obi. The men carried objects in sagemono, small boxes attached to the belt by a cord. The cord passed behind the obi and was blocked by a small object – the netsuke. It seems that the first netsuke were particularly austere and purely utilitarian: simple shells or pieces of wood. But with the advent of the Edo period (1603-1868), these objects became of unprecedented refinement in various materials such as wood. With the opening of Japan to international trade in 1854, Westerners became fascinated with these objects, which they imported to Europe. In this auction, the work of Shugasai Toyokazu, active in Tanba in the 19th century, is remarkable. A 3.8 cm long sabre-toothed tiger is estimated between €10,000 to €15,000.

A wooden netsuke depicting the giant sansukumi snake by Masanao, Yamada, Ise Province, 19th century is estimated at €18,000 to €25,000. Another model depicting an elephant and a karako (little boy) by Tsuji, Osaka, mid/late 18th century is estimated at €25,000 - €35,000 and a sarumawashi (monkey trainer and showman) by Matsushita Otoman, Hakata, 19th century is estimated at €12,000 - €18,000.

Vietnamese Art Online | 9 - 15 June 2023

Following the success of the first sale last December, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr is organising a second one offering Vietnamese works of art from 9 to 15 June under the direction of Joan Yip. Blending Vietnamese and French traditions, the paintings in this sale explore not only the golden age of Vietnamese art (1930-1945) but also the pre-war and post-war periods with paintings by Vietnamese artists such as Le Pho.

From the collection of Pierre Le Tan, this painting entitled La Famille is dated circa 1955 aka the Romanet period (1946-1962) during which Le Pho continued to paint on silk, using gouache and thick oil paint to give substance and intensity to his paintings. The colour palette became lighter, as well as the brushstrokes, and he abandoned the dark, clearly delineated lines of his earlier work to explore a freer, impressionistic style. Here, Le Pho creates an ideal world of beauty and love through an idyllic scene with a flowery backdrop, depicting the love between a mother and her child (estimate: €250,000 - €340,000).

This sale will also offer at auction a collection of Vietnamese porcelain including a pair of blue and white Chinese porcelain vases made for Vietnam around 1924 (estimate: €3,000 - €5,000).