05 mai 2008
A large painted red pottery figure of a horse - Tang Dynasty
A large painted red pottery figure of a horse - Tang Dynasty
The elegant horse well modelled striding forward with the head held high and right foreleg raised, the head with flaring nostrils and bulging eyes under the heavy brows and pricked ears flanking the incised mane sweeping down to the leather saddle fitted over a floral patterned cloth, the legs well defined and muscular, traces of black and red pigments over white slip (cracks), fitted box. 60cm (23½in) high. (2). Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000
Footnote: Provenance: the late Caroline Barkes.
Exhibited: The Oriental Museum, University of Durham, 1998-2007
(Copyright © 2002-2008 Bonhams 1793 Ltd., Images and Text All Rights Reserved)
Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 12 May 2008. New Bond Street
A painted red pottery figure of a prancing horse - Tang Dynasty
A painted red pottery figure of a prancing horse - Tang Dynasty
The elegant horse well modelled striding forward on muscular legs with the right foreleg raised, the head held high and to the left, the mouth as if neighing, with flaring nostrils and black-painted bulging eyes under the heavy brows and pricked ears bent backwards, the deeply grooved mane sweeping down to the leather saddle fitted over a blanket draped over the flanks, traces of black and red pigments remaining over white slip, (cracks), fitted box. 61.6cm (24¼in) high. (2). Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000
Footnote: Provenance: the late Caroline Barkes.
Exhibited: The Oriental Museum, University of Durham, 1998-2007.
(Copyright © 2002-2008 Bonhams 1793 Ltd., Images and Text All Rights Reserved)
Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 12 May 2008. New Bond Street
29 avril 2008
Pair of Guardian Spirits - Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Pair of Guardian Spirits - Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Earthenware with Pigments and Gilt - Height: 30 ½ inches (77 cm) and 31 inches (78.5 cm)
Note: One of the pair with a humanoid face, seated with front legs extended, the cloven hooves firmly planted on the ground, the head with large distended ears, and fierce eyes beneath deeply furrowed brows and curled tufts of hair around the chin. A fantastic, spiraled, horn sprouts from its head, with smaller horns to either side, a prominent, bifurcated thunder bolt projects from the back of the head. The creature has feathered wings atop each shoulder with a row of flanges behind and a line of serrated scales down its back. The other with leonine features, seated on its haunches, rests on three sharp talons with one claw dynamically raised above the head, mouth agape bearing fangs, with bulging eyes beneath heavy brows from which extend two long curling horns, with rows of flame-like finials emanating from the shoulders, the back of the neck and a sharp ridge of scales running along the spine. The generous size as well as the high quality of the sculpting and decoration indicate that these figures were commissioned by a person of very high rank. These striking mythical creatures were placed on either side of an entrance to ward off evil. Such chimera may be traced back at least to the 3rd c. BCE and were utilized to protect those within the compound. These composite beasts are derived originally from similar figures in central Asia and are comprised of the horns and feet of a deer, the head and body of a lion, a pair of wings and the flame or horn-like projection from the head. The hybrid human figure was introduced a bit later in the Six Dynasties. It is interesting to note that the exaggerated facial features are reminiscent of contemporaneous depictions of Central Asians.
(all text, images © Berwald Oriental Art)
Berwald Oriental Art ,5 East 57th Street 19th Floor, New York, NY 10022, USA - Tel: 212-319-1519 - Fax: 212-319-1518 - Email: info@berwald-oriental.com - Website: www.berwald-oriental.com
Pair of Warriors - Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Pair of Warriors - Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Earthenware with Pigments and Gilt - Height: 36 inches (91.5 cm) and 37 inches (94 cm)
Note: Each figure similarly modeled, standing upright atop a rockwork plinth in contrapposto. Their arms are bent at the waist; the clenched fists once held spears or staffs. The figures are attired in resplendent military dress which conveying the formality of their important protective function. One with more Chinese features with his hair pulled up into a high top knot; the other with western features and a soft helmet with flaps around the cheek. Their unique characteristics highlight their individuality. Cold painted pigments have been decoratively applied in an impressive array of vivid color and intricate patterns that help differentiate the many layers of their lavish armor. Of particular note is the lively use of diapers such as the play of the cloth that sweeps out from under the more constricting top layer of armor, the generous application of gilt highlights, and the use of the mountain scale pattern around their midriffs. The height of ancient Chinese armor development is perhaps the Shan Wen Kai or "Mountain Pattern Armor", such as in the present example. It appears during the Tang Dynasty and is made from a multitude of small pieces of steel that are shaped to resemble the Chinese character for the word shan (Mountain): mountains being regarded as a critical source of spiritual power. The pieces are then interlocked and riveted to a cloth or leather backing. It effectively covers the torso, the shoulders and the thighs while remaining comfortable and flexible enough to allow movement. Such costly armor was available only to a very high ranking few and to wear it would have been considered an honor.
Berwald Oriental Art ,5 East 57th Street 19th Floor, New York, NY 10022, USA - Tel: 212-319-1519 - Fax: 212-319-1518 - Email: info@berwald-oriental.com - Website: www.berwald-oriental.com
20 avril 2008
Une collection privée belge. Chevaux en terre cuite grise. Chine époque Han
Cheval en terre cuite grise à traces de polychromie blanche et bleue. Chine époque Han.
L_32,5 cm. Estimation : 1 000 - 1 500 € - Résultat : 1 200 €
Cheval en terre cuite grise à traces de polychromie. Chine époque Han.
L_47 cm. Estimation : 1 000 - 1 500 € - Résultat : 1 100 €
Cheval en terre cuite grise à traces de polychromie. Chine époque Han.
L_30 cm. Estimation : 1 000 - 1 500 € - Résultat : 1 600 €
Cheval en terre cuite grise à traces de polychromie. Chine époque Han.
L_30 cm. Estimation : 1 000 - 1 500 € - Résultat : 1 200 €
Cheval debout à l'arrêt en terre cuite grise. Chine époque Han. (Test).
H_27,5 cm. Estimation : 500 - 700 € - Résultat : 1 100 €
Pierre Bergé & Associés. La cargaison du marchand I Sin Ho / Une collection privée belge. Mardi 04 mars à 10h00. SALLE DES BEAUX-ARTS BRUXELLES.
02 avril 2008
"Cina: Alla Corte Degli Imperatori -- Capolavori mai Visti, Dalla Tradizione Han all'Eleganza Tang (25-907)." au Palazzo Strozzi
To June 8 : The fashion designer Romeo Gigli has been given free rein to arrange this collection of 100 masterpieces from the Chinese Golden Age, a period of great changes for the country, first divided then reunified into a great political empire. With the Silk Road, it also became a cultural center open to foreign influences. The exhibition opens with some bronze chariots and horses found in a Han tomb; it documents the arrival of Buddhism with a selection of sculptures and ends with artifacts from the Tang court: earthenware sculptures to go into tombs, silver and gold objects, frescoes and paintings on stone. -- www.palazzostrozzi.org
FLORENCE, to June 8: "Cina: Alla Corte Degli IMperatori" brings together 100 masterpieces from the Han to the Tang dynasties. This Buddha dates to the Tang dynasty. (Longmen Caves Research Institute)
Two polychrome earthenware statuettes representing foreigners also date to the Tang dynasty. (Gansu Provincial Museum)
A jug with foreign faces, probably from North India. Height: 29.5 centimeters. (Lintong Museum, Shaanxi Province)
Eastern Han Dynasty horse. (Nanjing Museum, Jiangsu Province)
A wall painting depicting a presentation of horses. Painted during the Tang Dynasty. (Zhaoling Museum, Shaanxi Province)
24 mars 2008
A rare group of two green-glazed pottery figures of Liubo players - Eastern Han Dynasty between 25 and 220 A.D
What gives the hunt for the cream of the cream in Chinese art its latest surge is its world-wide constituency. Pictured here is a rare group of two green-glazed pottery figures of Liubo players around a rectangular gaming table. It is dated from the Eastern Han Dynasty between 25 and 220 A.D. (photo Christie's Images Ltd.) - (source www.ith.com)
18 mars 2008
A rare blue, amber and cream-glazed pottery figure of a young girl - Tang dynasty (618-907)
A rare blue, amber and cream-glazed pottery figure of a young girl - Tang dynasty (618-907)
The slender figure shown standing with her hands clasped beneath her long blue-glazed shawl worn over a cream-glazed, long-sleeved top and a long skirt decorated in stripes of blue, amber and cream resist dots, her hair dressed in two loops that frame her round face modeled with small nose and mouth, with traces of black, red and flesh-colored pigments
13½ in. (34.2 cm.) high, box - Estimate: $150,000-180,000
Provenance: Acquired in 1996.
Notes: This charming figure of a young girl belongs to a distinctive group of figures which have broader child-like faces in contrast to the more oval faces seen on the vast majority of Tang sancai ladies. While the current figure wears the style of dress seen on the elegant court ladies who make up the procession in the mural on the eastern wall of the front chamber in princess Yongtai's tomb, illustrated in The Silk Road - Treasures of Tang China, Singapore, 1991, pp. 66-7, her face and her hair-style mark her out as a young girl. It is interesting to note that the tomb of Princess Yongtai, which was excavated in 1964, dates to AD 706, and a standing figure dressed in the same style as the current figure is also depicted on a silk hanging scroll unearthed from the tomb of Zhang Lichen (AD 655-702) at Astana, Turfan, Xinjiang province, illustrated in Gems of China's Cultural Relics, Beijing, 1993, p. 315, no. 129. Comparing the current figure with these paintings suggests that the figure probably dates to the first decade of the 8th century.
The figure's long striped skirt appears to have been very popular at the time, as does her diaphanous blouse and long shawl. These shawls were either worn with one end tucked into the front of a band just under the bust and the other taken around the neck to hang down the other side, or, as with the current figure, the shawl goes around the back of the neck and both ends hang down in the front and often appear wrapped around the hands. This is one of the few periods in which Chinese ladies wore garments with low necklines, which provoked the Tang poet Fang Gan (died c. AD 888), in his poem To Beauty to remark "The highs and lows of those vermillion lips imitate cherries, Half covered breasts are snow on a sunny day" (quoted in J.C.Y. Watt, ed., China - Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD, New York, 2004, p. 293). While some figures dressed in this style emphasize the throat and breast area, that is not the case on the current figure, probably because of her youth.
The hairstyle of this figure with its distinctive heavy loops framing her face is quite unusual among sancai figures, but appears to denote a young, unmarried, girl. The hairstyle can be seen on a blue-robed figure standing under a tree in a Tang dynasty painting in colors on paper in the Atami Art Museum, Japan, which has been designated by the Japanese authorities as an Important Cultural Property, illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1976, color pl. VI. Two ceramic figures with the same two bunches on either side of the face excavated in 1972 in Henan province are illustrated in Zhongguo gudai shi cankao tulu - Sui Tang Wudai shiqi, Shanghai, 1990, p. 112 (upper image). Another figure dressed in the same style and with similar hairstyle and round face in the Alsdorf collection is illustrated in Chinese Art from the collection of James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf, Chicago, 1970, no. c29.
The result of Oxford Authentication Ltd. thermoluminescence test number C207h38 is consistent with the dating of this lot.
Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 19 March 2008, 2:30 pm. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
15 mars 2008
Brûle-parfum en forme de colline «boshanlu» - Epoque HAN (206 av. JC - 220 ap. JC)
Brûle-parfum en forme de colline «boshanlu» - Epoque HAN (206 av. JC - 220 ap. JC)
en terre cuite recouverte d'une glaçure verte irisée, la partie basse décorée en relief sous la glaçure d'animaux. (éclat). Hauteur : 36 cm. Estimé : 2 500 / 3 000 €
Note: Il est très rare de trouver ce type de brûle-parfum avec sa base.
Provenance : Cette pièce aurait été exposée à Seattle dans les années 1966 et 1980, ainsi qu'au Victoria et Albert Museum antérieurement.
Référence : «Chinese Pottery in the Han Dynasty» par Laufer Pl : LV, figure 1.
Piasa Paris. Art d'Asie. Vente du 9 avril 2008. www.auction.fr/cp/piasa/auction.php
12 mars 2008
A two-section painted pottery model of a horse - Han Dynasty
A two-section painted pottery model of a horse - Han Dynasty
Including the elongated body and the well-modeled head with its spreading neck, the surfaces showing extensive burial deposits, traces of carmine and white gesso (losses). 21 12in (54.5cm) long - Sold for $1,900 plus Premium and tax
Copyright © 2002-2007 Bonhams 1793 Ltd., Images and Text All Rights Reserved
Bonhams. Decorative Art, 3 Mar 2008. 220 San Bruno Ave., San Fra