HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong Chinese Works of Art Autumn Sales 2015 will take place on 7 October at Hall 3, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Autumn sales this year will be highlighted by exquisite court portraits of Imperial Consorts from the Qing dynasty including one by Italian court painter Giuseppe Castiglione. Other highlights include an extraordinary selection of objects that adorned the most elegant rooms in classical China – from understated and elegant Ming huanghuali furniture made to the scholarly taste to magnificent screens lavishly inlaid with precious material to decorate the palaces of the Qing emperors at the zenith of their power in the 18th century; Important Chinese Works of Art led by famille rose ‘peach’ ware from the early Qianlong period; and a private collection that retraces the evolution of Buddhist sculptures in the Vajrayana tradition. The series of five sales will offer more than 270 lots with a total estimate of approximately HK$800 million / US$103 million.
Nicolas Chow, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Asia, International Head and Chairman, Chinese Works of Art, said, “The coming season at Sotheby’s includes four extraordinary private collections spanning fields as diverse as Ming dynasty huanghuali furniture, lavish Qing dynasty Imperial panels, rarefied Qing dynasty Imperial portraiture as well as Buddhist sculpture. We will also offer a tight selection of Imperial porcelain fit for the most discriminating collectors.”
Auction Highlights:
I) IMPERIAL CONSORT
The sale consists of three exquisite Imperial court portraits, including an exceptionally rare large Imperial portrait of Consort Chunhui by Italian court painter Giuseppe Castiglione.
A Large Imperial Portrait of Consort Chunhui By Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) and Studio Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period 198 x 122 cm Expected to fetch in excess of HK$60 million / US$7.7 million
This is the only full-length Imperial portrait by Giuseppe Castiglione outside of the Palace Museum, Beijing. The subject of the portrait, Consort Chunhui, officially became the Qianlong Emperor’s consort in 1737, at the age of 24, and was posthumously awarded the title ‘Consort Chunhui’ by the emperor after she passed away at the age of 48. This painting is currently the only example of her in full ceremonial costume, and the inscription of her posthumous title by the emperor himself demonstrates his remembrance of the deceased consort.
A native of Milan, Giuseppe Castiglione served under three emperors, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong for over 51 years. His true-to-life portraits were greatly admired by the Qianlong Emperor, who commissioned many imperial portraits by him. The European style and technique used in the present scroll gives his subject a beauty and gentility befitting a high ranking court lady. She looks young and beautiful, with a sensitive expression on her face achieved by the use of the European pictorial technique of light ‘shadowing’. Castiglione captured the inner vitality of his subject, producing a Chinese style portrait with Western influence.
II) IMPERIAL INTERIORS
The sale consists of nine outstanding works of art commissioned for the decoration of the inner rooms of Imperial palaces, and represents some of the finest quality Imperial Qing dynasty workmanship ever to appear on the private market.
A Magnificent Twelve-Panel Inlaid Lacquer ‘Imperial Hunting’ Screen Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period Each panel 198.5 x 37 x 2 cm Est. HK$20 – 30 million / US$2.6 – 3.8 million
The truly magnificent twelve-panel inlaid lacquer screen, decorated with a theme of an Imperial hunt, is preserved in unusually good condition and is the counterpart to the famous example in the Ca’Pesaro Oriental Museum, Venice.
Kangxi period (r. 1662-1722) lacquer screens produced for the Imperial court are extremely rare. The black lacquer on the panels is carved and decorated with inlaid tortoise shell and mother-of-pearl containing painted details, and further applied with gold and silver leaf and dust. The use of the precious mother-of-pearl, employed for its significance to the Manchu culture, lends a luxurious pictorial effect to the composition. Of great importance in early Qing political culture, Imperial hunts were not merely of a leisurely nature, but functioned as inspection tours and as a means of asserting Manchu authority over the empire, and as a physical exercise and a preparation for warfare and military training in the Manchu tradition.
A Superbly Carved and Rare Embellished Lacquer Panel inscribed with Imperial Poem Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong, dated 1753 132 x 105 cm Est. HK$8 - 10 million / US$1 - 1.3 million
Superbly arranged with an array of auspicious motifs to welcome in the New Year, this panel reveals the wealth and abundance of the Qing empire under the Qianlong Emperor, both in terms of the precious material available and the availability of the most skilled of artisans to work with them. The ‘reverse trompe l’oeil’ technique was employed to recreate the various objects with their original materials in two dimensions.
III) MING FURNITURE – THE DR S Y YIP COLLECTION
The upcoming sale will offer 38 sets of Ming furniture from the collection of Dr S Y Yip. Admired by collectors worldwide, Dr Yip’s internationally acclaimed collection is the result of years of fervent acquisition of Ming furniture throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The great majority of the Collection came from leading Ming furniture expert and dealer Grace Wu Bruce. Widely respected by collectors, scholars and museum experts, her professionalism and rigour in maintaining the highest standards underlie the fame and success of the Collection.
• Large Pair of High Continuous Yoke-Back Armchairs, Huanghuali Wood Late Ming (1573–1644) Width 58.5 cm, Depth 45.3 cm, Height 124 cm Est. HK$12 – 18 million / US$1.5 – 2.3 million
• Couch Bed Luohan Chuang, Huanghuali Wood Late Ming (1573 – 1644) Width 202.5 cm, Depth 86.4 cm, Height 91 cm, Seat Height 50 cm Est. HK$8 – 12 million / US$1 – 1.5 million
• Large Painting Table, Huanghuali Wood Late Ming (1573 – 1644) Width 213 cm, Depth 76.3 cm, Height 83.4 cm Est. HK$12 – 18 million / US$1.5 – 2.3 million
IV) IMPORTANT CHINESE WORKS OF ART
The Important Chinese Works of Art auction is a tightly curated assemblage of fine and rare porcelain and works of art with a particular focus on the Ming and Qing dynasties. Highlights include an outstanding blue and white brushwasher from the Xuande period (1426 – 35), formerly in the collection of Mrs Alfred Clark, painted with a fish pond design in brilliant tones of underglaze-blue; and a superb Yongzheng (1722-35) imperial famille rose ‘peach’ bowl formerly in the collections of the legendary dealer Edward T Chow.
A Fine And Rare Famille-Rose ‘Peach’ Bowl Mark and Period of Yongzheng Diameter 11.4 cm Est. HK$40 – 60 million / US$5.1 – 7.7 million
Yongzheng porcelain bowls with famille-rose peach-and-bat design are extremely rare, and the present bowl, with five peaches all rendered on the exterior, appears to be unique. The present bowl was formerly with Edward T Chow and then Mr Alan Chuang, whose outstanding collection of Chinese porcelain has been studied and published by Julian Thompson, the late Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia.
An Exceedingly Rare Blue and White “Fish Pond” Brushwasher Mark and Period of Xuande Diameter 18.5 cm Est. HK$20 – 40 million / US$2.6 – 5.1 million
Formerly in the collection of Mrs Alfred Clark, this brush washer is painted with a fish pond design in brilliant tones of underglaze-blue. The radiant painting displays a freedom of the brush rarely seen in the official designs of China’s imperial kilns, which is echoed in the freedom of spirit symbolised in the subject of fish swimming freely in water.
An Imperial White Jade ‘Zhoujia Yanxi Zhi Bao’ Seal Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing Period 9.5 x 9.1 x 9.1 cm Est. HK$30 – 40 million / US$3.8 – 5.1 million
A modest and prudent ruler, the Jiaqing Emperor commissioned a group of Zhoujia yanxi zhi bao seals (‘Seal of Continual Joy on the 60th Birthday’) on the occasion of his 60th birthday in the place of lavish birthday celebrations. Court officials were invited to compose poetic couplets on the seals, narrating the Emperor’s major life experiences and ideas. The seals were thus of utmost significance to the Jiaqing Emperor, and amongst them the current seal is one of the most impressive in size and craftsmanship. It is also offered complete with its original well-preserved ribbon, which is extremely unusual amongst Qing imperial seals appearing at auction.
V) VAJRAYANA: VOYAGE TO THE TANTRA
The sale represents the personal journey of a collector inspired by the evolution of Buddhist sculpture in the Vajrayana tradition, the esoteric path to enlightenment. Originating in seventh-century Kashmir and ranging across the vast Himalayan plateau through Nepal, Tibet and finally Qing dynasty China, each of the figures is unique, endowed with the individual spirit under which it was commissioned for the original tantric practitioner.
A Rare Large Gilt-Bronze Figure of Avalokiteshvara Mark and Period of Zhengtong, dated 1447 Height 34.9 cm Est. HK$4 – 6 million / US$510,000 – 770,000
The only Zhengtong-reign marked example of its type outside of the Palace Museum, Beijing, this majestic and richly gilt sculpture portrays the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara seated with an attitude of ease and serenity indicated by the right foot extending over the pedestal to rest on a lotus bud emerging below. The altruistic nature of the bodhisattva is expressed in the subtle hand gestures, the mudras signifying the bestowal of charity, reassurance and fearlessness. It has distinguished provenance from the collection of Joseph Morak (1889-1969), Prague.
A Rare Silver-Inlaid Copper Alloy Figure of Shakyamuni Buddha Kashmir, 7th Century Height 23 cm Est. HK$5 – 7 million / US$640,000 – 900,000
The bronze is one of a small corpus of statues of Buddha seated in this particular position surviving from the early Karkota period (600-855), and represents one of the most popular forms of Buddha found in early Kashmir art. The iconography relates to Shakyamuni Buddha’s first sermon after his enlightenment at Mrigadava. Originally in the collection of Professor Samuel Eilenberg (1913-98), this rare early Kashmir figure has been extensively published throughout the 20th century and is in extraordinarily good condition with an attractive and lustrous silvery patina. Works such as this made their way to Tibet upon the demise of Buddhism in Kashmir and had a significant influence on the art of the western regions of Tibet in the eleventh century.
