LONDON.- On 13 May 2015 Sotheby’s London will bring to the market an exceptional range of Chinese and Japanese Works of Art. Alongside the biannual auction of Important Chinese Art, Sotheby’s will offer the single owner sale The Soul of Japanese Aesthetics: The Tsuneichi Inoue Collection.

The collection formed by the Tokyo collector Tsuneichi Inoue encapsulates the best of collecting taste in Japan in the early to mid-20th century. This can be seen not only in the significant highlights such as the exceptional early Ming Dynasty blue and facetted vase and the rare Beishoku Guan vase of the Song Dynasty, but also in a number of more modestly estimated pieces throughout the sale.*

Important Chinese Art features Chinese ceramics and archaic bronzes from a distinguished Japanese private collection. Highlights include a rare Early Western Zhou Dynasty archaic bronze ritual vessel, fang ding, a beautifully carved Song Dynasty slip decorated Cizhou meiping vase and a rare Tang Dynasty sancai phoenix-head ewer. The sale is also distinguished by a rare pair of exceptionally carved imperial zitan armchairs from the Qianlong Period.

Robert Bradlow, Head of Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Sotheby’s London, commented: “Inoue had the eye and sensitivity of a true connoisseur, as well as the boldness to snap up the best pieces as they came onto the market. These traits enabled him to build up his incomparably precious collection. While it may appear that he assembled it as an academic scholar, as one handles each of these refined objects it is clear that he was attracted not only by their cultural and aesthetic values but also by their essence. This is a collection that tests the sophistication of the viewer, and teaches, in Inoue’s words, “to look for the real thing.”

The Soul of Japanese Aesthetics: The Tsuneichi Inoue Collection
A Painted Earthenware Figure Bust, Dogū
Japan, Jōmon Period
19.5cm
Estimate: £70,000-90,000
Dogu are earthenware humanoid figures made during the Jomon period (circa 12,000 BC-300 BC), Japan’s Neolithic era. Their origins are quite ancient, dating back to the beginning of the Jomon period. This particular dogu belongs to a grouping of similar figurines that have been labelled shakoki-dogu (goggle-eyed ceramic figurines) that developed about 2,800 years ago during the Final Jomon period. The name derives from the resemblance of their large eyes to sun goggles that historically have been used by the northern region’s hunting tribes. The overall impression is one of a beautifully plump, almost Rubensian, female form with sloping shoulders and the ample, somewhat swollen breasts give the figure a maternal strength. The shape of the mouth gives this piece its unique personality. In many other dogu of this period, the mouth is commonly stylised into a simple circle or oval, but here the lips have a life to them suggesting the figure is speaking to us. Several other features add to the historical value of this figure: the hourglass-shaped earring suspended from the right earlobe and the two parallel vertical lines descending from each cheek below the eyes, which probably represent the tattooing believed to be customary in that era. These figurines were probably used at festivals and other rituals to represent fertility goddesses who brought about the renewal of nature; they have been discovered discarded with other festival implements or as burial goods. In making figurines such as these, thin coils of clay were stacked to build a form with a hollow centre. The lower half of this particular figure is missing, but if still intact, it would have been quite large, perhaps more than 40 cm tall.

A Rare 'Beishoku Guanyao' Vase
Southern Song Dynasty
21.5cm
Estimate: £500,000-700,000
This vase with its highly unusual golden amber glaze and exquisite 'ice flake' crackle represents one of the rarest varieties of Guan wares of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). In order for a vessel to be considered guan ware at all, it requires an exceptional glaze and a striking crackle. The yellow glaze colour, resonant of rare yellow jade, would have appealed to connoisseurs of the period. With its broad base and ever so slightly everted lip, which displays a feeling for proportion that makes Song ceramics models for design even today, this vase is one of the masterpieces of Song potting and a masterpiece of guan ware.

A Rare Blue and White Facetted Vase
Xuande Mark and Period
13.8cm
Estimate: £200,000-250,000
The Xuande Emperor (r.1426-1435) was a remarkable patron of the arts, which may explain the exceptionally high standard of the imperial porcelains manufactured under his patronage. This facetted vase is a superb example of blue and white porcelain from the Xuande period. It was made in the era of the global voyages (1405-1433) lead by the Muslim Admiral, General Zheng He and follows metal prototypes from the Middle East in shape. Painted with cobalt pigment mined in Persia and brought to China by diplomatic missions, the vase is of a complex geometric shape. Not much more than a century later, during the Jiang period (1522-1566), Xuande porcelains were already overtaking the classic antique wares of the Song dynasty (960-1279). By the time of the Qing dynasty, these blue and white porcelains were so highly valued they were presented as imperial birthday gifts to the Kangxi Emperior (r.1622-1722). Vases of this type are extremely rare, with only five other examples of the Xuande period in museum collections.

A Rare ‘Dingyao’ Slip-Decorated Dish
Northern Song Dynasty
15.6cm
Estimate: £120,000-180,000
Ding wares with sgraffiato decoration are extremely rare and valuable. The decorative technique, which requires excellent skills and is labour intensive, was seldom used by Ding ware potters. This dish appears to be unique and no other Ding ware dishes or bowls feature a similar sgraffiato design. The lotus blossom and leaf pattern is a characteristic motif of the Ding kilns.

A Large Amber-Glazed Vase
Sui Dynasty
45cm
Estimate: £50,000-70,000
This rare and finely decorated vase, covered with a glaze which resembles amber, appears to be unique, being the only example of its kind ever recorded.

A Dated Gilt-Bronze Figure of a Bodhisattva
Northern Wei Dynasty, Dated 495
11.4cm
Estimate: £20,000-30,000

A Gilt-Bronze Figure of Young Buddha
Japan, Nara Period
8.5cm
Estimate: £6,000-8,000

A Dated Gilt-Bronze Figure of Buddha
Northern Wei Dynasty, Dated 495
8cm
Estimate: £6,000-9,000

Important Chinese Art
Property From A Japanese Private Collection
A Rare and Magnificent Archaic Bronze Wine Vessel, Fangding
Late Shang/Early Western Zhou Dynasty
25.5cm
Estimate: £400,000-600,000
Fang ding are among the rarest ritual vessels of the Bronze Age, and this piece with its bold taotie mask and powerful shape is an exceptional example that ranks among the most attractive of its kind. Its square form and magnificent size gives this vessel a sense of balance and strength while the green patina which has developed evenly on its surface enhances the striking design. Food vessels of this fang ding form have a long history in China. They were first produced as ceramic food containers in the Erlitou period and were later made in bronze in the Erligang period. In the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, fang ding were made for use in ancestral worship or other sacrificial ceremonies, and their ownership appears to have been strictly regulated. The provenance of this fang ding is noteworthy, as it was in the collection of the well-known nineteenth-century scholar and collector Jin Futing, who impressed his seal under the base.

Property From A Japanese Private Collection
An Archaic Bronze Wine Vessel and Cover, You
Early Western Zhou Dynasty
24cm
Estimate: £40,000-60,000
Bronze you are sacrificial wine vessels that emerged as one of the major ritual receptacles in the late Shang dynasty and remained prominent until the middle Western Zhou dynasty. This outstanding example is significant for its crisp decoration of long-tailed dragons over a leiwen ground, which compliments the elegant pear-shape body.

Property From A Japanese Private Collection
A Rare Sancai ‘Phoenix-Head’ Ewer
Tang Dynasty
36.8cm
Estimate: £40,000-60,000
Phoenix head ewers with applied designs are extremely rare. This ewer embodies the commercial and cultural exchange that characterises the art of the early Tang dynasty. The Tang potters had a far-reaching effect on the opening of diplomatic relations between the Chinese Emperor Yangdi of the Sui dynasty (581-618) and the Sasanian Persian Empire (224-651), which led to the exchange of tributary gifts as well as the arrival of Persian craftsmen at the Imperial court in the Tang capital Chang’an (today’s Xi’an, Shaanxi).

Property From A Japanese Private Collection
A Rare ‘Cizhou’ Sgraffiato ‘Peony’
Meiping
Northern Song Dynasty
29.5cm
Estimate: £40,000-60,000
This piece is remarkable for its bold and vigorous floral scroll which has been endowed with a sense of three-dimensionality through its carving and delicate incised lines. Meiping decorated with the sgraffiato technique, in which the design is carved through the black slip covering a white slip beneath, were produced at the Guantai kilns in Henan province, during the Northern Song dynasty.

A Rare Pair of Zitan Armchairs
Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period
Estimate: £200,000-300,000
Deftly carved with a luxurious European-influenced rocaille design, this pair of chairs embodies the commercial and cultural exchange that characterised the first hundred years of the Qing dynasty. The chairs exhibit a hybrid style, their frame and construction being Chinese and the rich resin-like zitan wood providing the perfect medium to capture the elegant curvilinear lines and relief-carving of their Western design. During the early Qing dynasty Western art and culture entered China through two principle routes: via merchants through the port of Guangzhou, for sale or use as models for reproduction and via Jesuit missionaries and foreign embassy officials as tribute. Eager to establish scientific and cultural exchanges with China with the motive of extending political, religious and commercial interests in the region, European monarchs as well as the papacy sent envoys who gifted a range of items. Concurrent with ‘Chinoiserie, the adaptation of Chinese-inspired themes and forms to Western fine art, decorative art, architecture, and gardens, was ‘Européenerie’. Such was the extent of exchange that by the Qianlong period ‘Européenerie’ taste in the Palace was mirroring that of ‘Chinoiserie’ in the West. The most clearly identifiable European influence in this pair of armchairs is the flamboyant architectural rocaille crest of the back and the motifs of the carved surfaces. The embellishments of these chairs, with their rich design of shell patterns, are drawn from the palette of European rococo art.