LOS ANGELES, CA.- Continuing their Spring line up, John Moran Auctioneers presents the highly-anticipated 2-day sale, The Traditional Collector: Featuring The Collection of Walter and Nesta Spink taking place Tuesday, April 9th & Wednesday, April 10th, 2024, at 12:00pm PDT. The entire auction will offer over 440 lots, including fine and decorative art, furnishings, tableware, lighting, clocks, and more. Featuring 176 lots of Asian and Southeast Asian works from remarkable private collections, the sale will begin with property from Walter and Nesta Spink, two highly respected figures in the world of art history, academia, and collecting. Walter’s scholarly focus on early Buddhist art and architecture, particularly at the UNESCO World Heritage designated Ajanta Caves in western India, reshaped our understanding of these ancient sites.

As one of the first researchers to thoroughly explore the issues behind the creation of Ajanta’s 29 rock-cut caves, many of which feature impressively painted walls and elaborate carvings, including the contributions and roles of individual artists and critical questions of chronology and patronage, Professor Walter Spink has offered new paradigms that have reconstructed the human history behind the caves' creation. During his 40 year tenure as a professor at the University of Michigan, Professor Spink lead the field of Asian art in many ways, such as serving as a member of the editorial board of the scholarly journal Ars Orientalis (1963-2000), and as a Trustee of the American Institute of Indian Studies (1962-1965 and 1972-1973). He also completed a seven-volume series of books (published 2005-2017) and offered site seminars for students at Ajanta. In 1974, during his brief time as president of the American Committee for South Asian Art (1972-1976), he founded as well as served as director of their Color Slide Project. During the pre-internet years, this became a primary source of teaching on 3000 years of Indian, South, and Southeast Asian art, architecture, and culture through a collection of slides captured from his many trips to the East. Nesta Spink is regarded as the preeminent authority on the lithographic work of James McNeill Whistler and is the lead author of the catalogue raisonné of his lithographs published by the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to embarking on that project, she served as curator of European and American art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (1967-1979).

Over the decades of collecting, Nesta and Walter’s home in Ann Arbor became a scholarly sanctuary filled with books, art, and artifacts from around the world – most especially from India. To share their love of culture and the importance of teaching, the couple gradually donated much of their collection to museums and educational institutions, and now, Moran’s is honored to pass along their passion through the offerings presented in this Traditional Collector sale.

Leading the selection of highlights is a bronze figure of Chandeshvara, lot 1015, from South India during the Chola Period of the 12th century. Chandeshvara is the principal guardian of Shiva. During the Chola period, all Shaiva temples had a separate shrine dedicated to Chandeshvara, usually on the northern side near the inner sanctum. The Shaiva saints, of which there are sixty-three, are known as nayanars. They were part of a community of holy persons traveling the countryside, stopping at temples along the way to sing the glories of the enshrined deity. Their hymns form the sacred canon of South India. During the 1970s, this Chandeshvara figure, estimated at $100,000-200,000, was featured in eight different exhibitions in museums nationwide.

Coming from the 5th/6th century from Óc Eo Region, Vietnam is lot 1002, a buff sandstone figure of Kubera, valued at $20,000-30,000. Óc Eo was part of the Funan kingdom that flourished in the Mekong Delta between the first and sixth centuries. By the third or fourth century, a 43-mile-long road connected Óc Eo to Angkor Borei, situating it between the flourishing Khmer Empire, and important international maritime trade routes accessible by the Mekong River. Due to this strategic location, Óc Eo became the economic and cultural center of the Mekong Delta, drawing traders and artists to this hotbed of cultural exchange to experience the wealth of foreign influences from all over South and Southeast Asia, including India. This "crossroads of Southeast Asia" stimulated a flourishing of the local artistic idiom.

Fast-forward to the 19th century, a painting and a polychromed wood cabinet of the Jagannatha Triad from Odisha, Eastern India. "Jagannath" is a compound of two Sanskrit words: "jagat," meaning "universe," and "natha," meaning "Master" or "Lord." Thus, Jagannath means "lord of the universe," and is often interpreted as Krishna, avatar of Vishnu. These two images are inspired directly by those found in the inner sanctum of the Jagannath temple in Puri. Here the blue-skinned Jagannath stands to the right of his brother Balabhadra with their sister Subhadra in the middle, encircled by a lively retinue of gods and animals. Lot 1030 will offer these two works with a $3,000-5,000 estimate.

Other highlights from this collection include a sandstone figure of Buddha from India, a Chinese figure of a Lokapala, and an album of twelve ink and watercolors from Wang Su. Lot 1003 is a buff sandstone relief figure of Buddha from the Gupta Period circa 5th century from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, estimated $3,000-5,000. Created during the Tang dynasty in China (618-907) is lot 1046, a Chinese large painted pottery figure of a Lokapala, estimated $2,000-4,000. Lot 1049, estimated at $1,400-1,800, is an album consisting of twelve ink and watercolors by the Chinese artist, Wang Su (1794-1877).

This two-day sale will also present an array of other traditional fine art and furnishings. Representing the variety of furniture is an American Aesthetic mantel by the Herter Brothers (1864-1906). Estimated $6,000-8,000, this mantel was part of an interior decoration scheme by the Herter brothers for a first floor bedroom for the Darius Ogden Mills Residence (a.k.a. ‘Happy House’) in Millbrae, California around 1880.

Chandeliers, sconces, and lamps make up the selection of lighting. A standout example is a René Lalique "Cardamine" lamp from the 1920s. This model was designed with a molded frosted rectangular-outlined glass box shade raised on an intaglio with stylized watercress scrolls, estimated $8,000-12,000.

Also in the auction are numerous lots of dinner and tea services, serving dishes, stemware, and flatware, perfect for the Spring holiday gatherings. Among the many Tiffany & Co. offerings, a 134-piece “Audubon” and “Japanese” sterling silver service, estimated $15,000-20,000.

Other noteworthy lots include a Fabergé jeweled and enameled silver and gold egg by Michael Perchin (1860-1903), estimated $12,000-18,000, and a pair of 18th century Chinese carved wood and hardstone landscape panels, valued at $8,000-12,000.