East meets West
Works of Art from a European Collection
Collections are often by their nature diverse and eclectic, and the collection we will offer in April and May this year is no exception.
Consigned from a European collector, Part I, included in our Decorative Arts auction in April, comprises a wide group of British and Continental ceramics, glass and sculpture, predominately from the early to mid-20th century. Ceramic artists such as Lucie Rie, Bernard Leach, Taxile Doat and Maurice Dufrêne will be represented. The selection of sculpture features works by diverse American and European sculptors including Edith Parsons, Willard Paddock, August Gaul and Emmanuel Frémiet.
In May our Fine Asian Works of Art auction will include Part II of the collection, a group of Chinese scholar’s rocks. The Chinese scholar occupied a position at the top of the traditional hierarchical society, and as such they were rigorously trained in Confucianism, current affairs, poetry and writing to become a well-rounded member of the Chinese literati. Because of this training, these government officials were valued not just for their bureaucratic work but also for their artistic and poetry skills.
These rocks were placed on the scholar’s desk, creating in miniature the essence of the natural world outside their studio. The aim was not only to admire them as works of art in their own right, but as items of contemplation and inspiration for their landscape paintings. It is in these landscape paintings that you can see the effect of the scholar’s rock in the artist’s fanciful depictions of mythical mountains scenes and abstract forms alike.
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