HONG KONG.- Bonhams Hong Kong will be offering Objects of Refined Virtue: A Private Collection of Scholar’s Objects, a single-owner collection of 45 fine and rare Chinese works of arts originally commissioned for the Imperial court and literati elite.

The collection maintains a high level of craftsmanship, including a diverse range of materials and subject matter, including fans painted by famous modern Chinese artists.

Highlights include:
Lot 8
A large carved bamboo Hehe Erxian group, Mid Qing dynasty, 23cm high.
Estimate: HK$300,000-350,000
This fine large bamboo sculpture depicts Hehe Erxian, also known as the 'Two Immortals of Harmony and Union', who are traditionally believed to be associated with a long, happy marriage. The two Daoist Immortals originated from famous poet-monks of the Tang dynasty (618-906), Hanshan and Shide. In the late Ming dynasty they began to be depicted holding a lotus and a box. The typical iconography of the boys holding a lotus and a box forms the same homophone of he, meaning 'harmony' and 'union' respectively. In 1733, the Yongzheng Emperor decreed that they should be known as saints of harmony and unity.

Lot 41
A bamboo 'traveller amongst landscape' fan. Signed Zhang Daqian, inscribed on the reverse by Shen Yimo, 52.4cm wide.
Estimate: HK$600,000-650,000
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) was one of the most renowned and prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century, skilled not only in traditional Chinese paintings, but also poetry, calligraphy as well as carving seals. In the postscripts shown on the current lot, it is clear that the landscape was painted in the style of Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), a prince and descendant of the Song Dynasty Imperial family and a renowned artist scholar of the Yuan Dynasty.

The reverse of the fan is inscribed in xingshu by Shen Yimo (1883-1971), a native of Wuxing, Zhejiang Province. He was the former President of Peking University and Vice President of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History. Shen is known for his kaishu calligraphy and is regarded one of the most prominent calligraphers of the 1940s.

Lot 20
An exquisitely carved chenxiangmu 'quails' brushpot. Mid Qing dynasty, 13.2cm high.
Estimate: HK$600,000-650,000
Chenxiangmu, technically called agarwood, but commonly referred to as eaglewood, has been recorded as early as the third century AD by Wan Zhen, Magistrate of Danyangin of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, in the Nan zhou yi wu zhi, or 'Strange Things from the South', as produced in the Rinan commandery, present-day Central Vietnam.

Sally Fong and Xibo Wang, specialists in charge of the auction, comment: “We are pleased to be offering for sale these fine scholar’s objects and fan paintings, which are displayed in a specially designed catalogue. In order to maximise interest in the auction, the owner has chosen to offer their property with conservative estimates, particularly the fan by Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-Chien), whose paintings are currently highly sought after”.