Name: Auction: RARE GILT-METAL ENAMELLED PRESENTATION SNUFF BOX AND HINGED COVER GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, 19TH CENTURY
Brand: Lyon & Turnbull
Price: 2617 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

Chinese Works of Art

Sale number: 464A 600 year old china Ming cup, valued at £2m and sold for £3.6 million, was offered in Hong Kong on 31 May 2016. The Stem Cup, which dates back to about 1425, was valued in excess of £2 million and was the star lot of a specially curated sale of Chinese Works of Art, co-produced with our sister company Freeman's of Philadelphia, America's oldest auction house. The sale previewed in America, first at Freeman’s from 10 - 11 March, then in New York at Carlton Hobbs Gallery from 14 - 16 March during Asia Week New York.From there, the piece was exhibited during <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.asiaarthongkong.com/">Asia Week Hong Kong</a> on the 28th, 29th, 30th May, before the sale on the 31st May 2016.Lee Young, Head of Asian Art,&nbsp;<blockquote>“The Ming Xuande (1426 - 35) mark and period blue and white Stem Cup is a rare masterpiece and, of its type, is virtually unseen outside museum collections. The motif of flying dragons was popular in the Yuan dynasty, but was revived in the Xuande dynasty as can be seen in this case. The fearsome five - clawed dragon flies amongst flames, chasing the eternally flaming pearl, above a sea with crashing waves tipped in white, with rocks seen around the base.”</blockquote>The Stem Cup was the most valuable of 270 items bequeathed to the Staffordshire University by Mr Ernest Thornhill in 1944, having originally been sent there during wartime to safeguard the collection. Upon rediscovering the collection, which has been hidden away in storage for a significant number of years, the University appointed Lyon &amp; Turnbull to sell the Stem Cup so that it can raise funds to build a permanent new home for the remainder of the collection at its Stoke-on-Trent campus. This resource centre allows student access to the collection for their study, complying with the original bequest and wishes of Mr Thornhill.Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, Rosy Crehan, and Lee Young agree:&nbsp;<blockquote>"Whilst to some it may seem unfortunate to have to sell one item from a collection, this is simply being done for the greater benefit of University students, and indeed the wider public. The funds raised will finally allow the remaining 269 pieces to be curated, conserved and enjoyed in a facility that will attract a broader audience to Staffordshire, complementing what is, the heart of the British ceramics industry. An appropriate tribute to the Stem Cup will feature in this display.”</blockquote>Ernest Thornhill was a pharmacist from London who collected Oriental ceramics. He donated several pieces to the British Museum as well as the then North Staffordshire Technical College, which later became Staffordshire University in 1992.

Diego

Grace Tu | Lyon & Turnbull Asian Art Auction Specialist

Asian Art Auction House: Chinese & Oriental Antiques

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the cover painted finely in a central circular panel with a Chinese immortal seated holding a peach in a garden, flanked by engraved floral sprigs, the front and back sides each engraved with a spray of flowers surrounded by hexagrams, all on a translucent blue enamel ground, the base compartment opening to reveal an abacus with blue glass beads

RARE GILT-METAL ENAMELLED PRESENTATION SNUFF BOX AND HINGED COVER

GUANGZHOU WORKSHOPS, 19TH CENTURY

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