PARIS.- On the occasion of Printemps Asiatique, Giquello auction house in association with Alice Jossaume – specialist in Asian art (Cabinet Portier) – will offer at auction the collection of Jacques Barrère at Drouot. The objects were amassed by three generations of dealers specialising in Asian art and represent a part of a collection purchased for their gallery in Paris.

The grandfather, Mr Laden, began importing ivory, Chinese jade, and silk in the early 20th century. The father, Jacques, preferred higher quality works such as porcelains, cloisonné works, and most of all sculptures, for which he developed an unshakeable passion that made his gallery a reference worldwide. His son, Antoine, then joined the gallery and became its director in 2008. He has carried forward his father’s heritage through the fresh eyes of a new generation in the now-globalised art world, appealing to an international clientèle of great connoisseurs of exceptional works.

Having chosen to concentrate his efforts on classical Buddhist art, he has decided that it is time for the Jacques Barrère Gallery to sell a part of the collection it has assembled in fifty years of intensive business, interspersed with many trips to China and participation in the field’s major events. The nearly 300 lots of this array offer an overview of Oriental arts from India to Japan, with stopovers in Tibet, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The Jaques Barrère Gallery continues to purchase the finest Asian works of art in Europe and the United States for an international clientèle of great connoisseurs seeking absolute reliability in terms of authenticity and taste.

Among the oldest pieces on offer in this auction are an important wooden horse figure bearing traces of polychrome paint from the Gansu province, Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) (estimate: €60,000-€80,000) and a sancai-glazed terracotta camel raising its head to bray, Tang Dynasty (618-917) (estimate: €8,000-€12,000). They illustrate the funerary art that developed under these two dynasties.

There are several Tibetan Buddhist bronzes, including 15th-century figures of the divine couple Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi (estimate: €60,000-€80,000) and a 17th-century white Tara richly adorned with jewellery and a crown (estimate: €60,000-€80,000) from the former collection of Guy Kaufmann, a major donor to the Guimet Museum.

Among the Japanese artwork is a boxwood netsuke dating from the Edo period in Japan, in the 18th century. Signed by Gessho and representing Nyo, the piece stands out for the expression of the Buddhist deity’s face: eyebrows raised back, ferocious gaze, and open mouth. The hair is styled in a high chignon. This rare piece was purchased for just £42 during the sale of the Henri L. Joly collection in London in 1921 before joining the Trower collection (estimate: €30,000-€40,000).