Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art

Highlights from the May 2021 Auction

This May, our auction of Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art features masterfully crafted works of art from collections around the globe. Here, we are taking a look at a few highlights featuring in our forthcoming auction.

Highlights from our 14th May auction include works of art from collections from Germany, France, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Featuring pieces from the neolithic period to the 19th & 20th century, the auction includes excellent examples of works of art, metalwares, jade, hardstone, glass, ceramics and paintings, as well as a curated selection of pieces relating to ancient scholars. We have selected a few pieces to highlight the fine craftsmanship of the works to be offered in our forthcoming auction.

LOT 21 | SPINACH-GREEN JADE 'SCHOLARS' BRUSH POT

LOT 21 | SPINACH-GREEN JADE 'SCHOLARS' BRUSH POT | QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY | 清碧玉雕文人山居圖筆筒

(Qty: 1) 15.5cm high | Provenance: Private French collection | £4,000 - £6,000 + fees

View Lot 21 ⇒

Discover the curated selection of scholar's pieces ⇒

LOT 73 | VERY RARE BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD VESSEL

LOT 73 | VERY RARE BRONZE RITUAL TRIPOD VESSEL | NEOLITHIC-TO-BRONZE-AGE-STYLE, MONGOLIA, DONGHU TRIBE | 新石器時代至青銅時期類型蒙古東胡部落青銅三足禮器

(Qty: 1) 18.5cm wide | Provenance: formerly in the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (1929-2014) Collection, acquired from Sotheby's New York on 19th March 2002, lot 30 | £2,000 - £3,000 + fees

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Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (July 13, 1929 – August 3, 2014) was a Manhattan-based American art dealer of Asian paints and works of art. His art collection is mainly found in museums in the United States. He was a supporter of architectural restoration in Huangshan, China and is an honorary Chinese citizen.

LOT 69 | LACQUERED WOOD CARVING OF SEATED GUANYIN

LOT 69 | LACQUERED WOOD CARVING OF SEATED GUANYIN | QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY | 清黑漆木雕觀音座像

(Qty: 1) 32cm high | Provenance: private English collection | £8,000 - £12,000 + fees

View Lot 69 ⇒

LOT 83 | PAIR OF GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF TEMPLE GUARDIANS

LOT 83 | PAIR OF GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF TEMPLE GUARDIANS | QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY | 清銅鎏金金剛力士立像（一對）

(Qty: 2) 23cm high each; 26cm high with stand | Provenance: private German collection | £6,000 - £8,000 + fees

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LOT 126 | RARE PALE CELADON JADE CARVING OF A BIXIE

LOT 126 | RARE PALE CELADON JADE CARVING OF A BIXIE | WESTERN HAN DYNASTY | 西漢青白玉雕辟邪

(Qty: 1) 7.5cm wide | Provenance: Private English collection | £3,000 - £5,000 + fees

View Lot 126 ⇒

A closely related carved jade bixie, also dated to the Han dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, p. 240, no. 201. Compare also to another bixie dated to the Western Han dynasty in the collection of the Xianyang Museum in Shaanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji-qin han, vol. 4, Shijiazhuang, 1993, p. 109, no. 148.

LOT 128 | RARE WHITE JADE 'DAYLILY' PENDANT

LOT 128 | RARE WHITE JADE 'DAYLILY' PENDANT | JIN DYNASTY, 12TH CENTURY | 金白玉雕萱草花珮

(Qty: 1) 7.5cm wide | Provenance: Private English collection, acquired from UK market about 10 years ago; possibly sold to the UK market during the mid-20th century for earning foreign currency | £4,000 - £6,000 + fees

View Lot 128 ⇒

LOT 149 | IMPERIAL RED-OVERLAY TRANSLUCENT GLASS BOTTLE VASE

LOT 149 | IMPERIAL RED-OVERLAY TRANSLUCENT GLASS BOTTLE VASE | QIANLONG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD | 清乾隆 ‘乾隆年製’方框刻款霏雪地套紅料瓶

(Qty: 1) 27.3cm high | Provenace: Private English collection, acquired from Christie's London, 13 November 2001, lot 105 | £4,000 - £6,000 + fees

View Lot 149 ⇒

A similar pair which also bear Qianlong marks, illustrated in Elegance and Radiance: Grandeur in Qing Glass, The Andrew K.F. Lee Collection, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 296, no. 111. The style of carving of the ruby-red overlay to the snowflake ground is highly similar; another closely comparable white glass with red overlay vase, similarly with a four-character Qianlong mark and dated to the late 18th century, is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, accession number 1925-27-93; a further comparable example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Live Auction 3322 on 28th May 2014, lot 3496.

LOT 157 | ZHANG DANNONG (CHINESE B.1903-D.1975) | WEST TAIHUA MOUNTAIN, DATED 1932 AND 1952

LOT 157 | ZHANG DANNONG (CHINESE B.1903-D.1975) | WEST TAIHUA MOUNTAIN, DATED 1932 AND 1952 | 一九三二年畫張丹農太華西峰圖水墨掛軸紙本設色

(Qty: 1) 119cm x 42.2cm | Provenance: Private Scottish collection | £500 - £700 + fees

View Lot 157 ⇒

According to the inscription, the Duke and Duchess of Kent referred to would be Prince George, Duke of Kent (1906 - 1968) and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (1906-1968), recorded visited Sarawak (then a British Crown Colony) in 1952, where she laid the foundation stone of the Cathedral of St. Thomas in Kuching.

LOT 168 | DING WARE 'FOLIATE' BOWL

LOT 168 | DING WARE 'FOLIATE' BOWL NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY | 北宋定窯白釉花口碗

(Qty: 2) 12.1cm diameter | Provenance: Private Scottish collection, has been collecting Asian ceramics for 25 years; acquired from R & G McPherson Antique, Kensington Church Street, London on 14 June 2002, with a photocopied handwritten receipt which stating the piece dated to the Northern Song Dynasty, c. 11th Century | £500 - £800 + fees

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LOT 183 | JIAN WARE 'OIL SPOT' TEA BOWL

LOT 183 | JIAN WARE 'OIL SPOT' TEA BOWL | SONG DYNASTY | 宋建窯天目釉暗銀滴茶碗

(Qty: 1) 11.7cm diameter | Provenance: Private Taiwanese collection | £1,800 - £2,200 + fees

View Lot 183 ⇒

LOT 196 | LARGE WHITE GLAZE 'DRAGON' CHARGER

LOT 196 | LARGE WHITE GLAZE 'DRAGON' CHARGER | POSSIBLY YONGZHENG PERIOD | 或為雍正白釉暗刻龍紋大盤

(Qty: 1) 36.3cm diameter | Provenance: property of a gentleman; formerly from a private German collection, acquired from Beijing in 1965, thence by descent | £5,000 - £7,000 + fees

View Lot 196 ⇒

LOT 207 | TURQUOISE-GLAZED 'DRAGON' STEM BOWL

LOT 207 | ‡ TURQUOISE-GLAZED 'DRAGON' STEM BOWL | YONGLE MARK BUT POSSIBLY QIANLONG PERIOD | 或為清乾隆永樂款孔雀綠釉暗刻龍紋高足碗

(Qty: 1) 10cm high, 15.8cm diameter | Provenance: property of a gentleman; formerly in a private German collection, acquired from an antique shop in Munich between 1965 and 1980 | £3,000 - £5,000 + fees

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LOT 290 | PAIR OF QIANJIANG ENAMELLED HEXAGONAL HAT STANDS

LOT 290 | PAIR OF QIANJIANG ENAMELLED HEXAGONAL HAT STANDS | QING DYANSTY, 19TH CENTURY | 清任煥章款淺絳彩山水紋六方帽筒（一對）

(Qty: 2) 27.8cm high each | Provenance: Private Paris collection | £2,500 - £3,500 + fees

View Lot 290 ⇒

Ren Huanzhang, actived in 1874-1902, an imperial painter in the late Qing court, famous for his shanshui landscape and sage-like figures, pioneered in the literati faction of painted porcelain.

LOT 306 | LARGE BRONZE SCULPTURE GROUP OF FUGEN BOSATSU

LOT 306 | LARGE BRONZE SCULPTURE GROUP OF FUGEN BOSATSU | LATE EDO TO MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH CENTURY | 江戶末至明治十九世紀銅鑄普賢菩薩騎象像

(Qty: 1) 76.7cm high | Provenance: The Collection of Robert Cowan Marshall, thence by descent. | £6,000 - £8,000 + fees

View Lot 306 ⇒

Robert Cowan Marshall (d. 1935, fig. 1) was a Glasgow Industrialist and a contemporary of the shipping magnate Sir William Burrell and Kilmarnock lace tycoon Alexander Morton. Cowan Marshall purchased Bruntshields (fig. 2) in 1896 from the local horse dealers in Paisley, the Crawfords, where he continued his passion for both the Hackney Horse but also his love for collecting. Bruntshields was home to his treasures. An image from the ledger (fig. 3) made by Cowan Marshall would indicate that this large bronze sculpture was exhibited and purchased at the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901 and the prices were what they cost.

LOT 318 | PROPERTY OF MAHARAJAH DULEEP SINGH (1838-93) THE LAST SIKH KING

LOT 318 | PROPERTY OF MAHARAJAH DULEEP SINGH (1838-93) THE LAST SIKH KING | TWO SILK AND GILT-METAL THREAD SASHES, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY (Qty: 2) length: 202cm and 308cm long | Provenance: Elveden Hall, Suffolk, Home of Maharajah Duleep Singh (1863-1893). Private Collection, UK, acquired from the above in the late 1950s. | £2,500 - £3,500 + fees

LOT 318 | PROPERTY OF MAHARAJAH DULEEP SINGH (1838-93) THE LAST SIKH KING | TWO SILK AND GILT-METAL THREAD SASHES, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY

(Qty: 2) length: 202cm and 308cm long | Provenance: Elveden Hall, Suffolk, Home of Maharajah Duleep Singh (1863-1893). Private Collection, UK, acquired from the above in the late 1950s. | £2,500 - £3,500 + fees

View Lot 318 ⇒

Auction Information