Chinese Works of Art

A group of 32 ancient gold ornaments have been returned to China following claims they had been illegally removed.

Asian Art has blossomed in Paris this month. Items that combined quality, rarity and provenance generated fierce bidding at sales at Drouot and the various salerooms around the French capital.

The highlight of the latest Woolley & Wallis sale of Asian art held in Salisbury was this 4in (10cm) Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period doucai lingzhi bowl.

This exceptionally rare Sancai ‘phoenix-head’ ewer from the early Tang dynasty was among the highlights of the week-long Asian art series of sales held in London.

Drama came at a recent sale at Taylor’s Auction Rooms in Montrose when a lot of two pieces of Chinese blue and white porcelain sold for £200,000.

Annual auction totals hold steady across provincial salerooms.

Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse are on a roll with Republican period (1911-49) porcelain.

Appearing at a recent sale held by Toovey’s of Washington, West Sussex, this Imperial Qianlong famille rose and calligraphic vase sold for a house-record £520,000.

Nantwich auctioneers Peter Wilson set a new house record at their latest sale with this large Qianlong (1736-95) mark-and-period doucai ‘lotus and bats’ jar and cover.

Among the most important Asian works of art to come to market in the modern collecting era, an Imperial Ming dynasty embroidered silk thangka sold for HK$310m (£27m) at a Christie’s latest Chinese art series in Hong Kong.

Bonhams will their launch their sales of Modern and Contemporary Art from Asia in Hong Kong on March 15 during the ‘Art Basel Hong Kong’ week.

Mallams of Cheltenham saw this jade rolling horse, part of a private collection of Chinese handstone carvings, sell for £170,000 at their latest Asian art sale.

Christie’s have reorganised the sale schedule for their future auctions of Chinese works of Art in Europe making some significant changes.

The Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple A) are hosting a viewing event timed to coincide with Asian Art in London. This Qianlong ‘lotus and bats’ doucai jar and cover, estimated to bring £100,000-150,000 at Peter Wilson of Nantwich on November 27, is among the lots on view at Rountree Tryon Galleries of 7 Bury Street on November 2 from 12 noon-9pm.

The US staged a raft of dedicated Asian auctions in New York salerooms and beyond last week. Top lot as ATG went to press was this 2ft 10½in (88cm) high fencai vase from the Qianlong period with a six-character turquoise Qianlong mark to the base when it sold for $22m (£14.2m) hammer at Skinner (23/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Boston on September 17.

The opening lots of a recent sale at Reeman Dansie of Colchester comprised a collection of Chinese porcelain which included a rare bowl that was apparently a favourite resting place for the family cat.

There was huge pre-sale interest from the Far East in this Qing jade table screen at the latest fine art sale held by Tennants of Leyburn.

It’s only recently in the decade-long boom in Chinese works of art that Far Eastern buyers have come to appreciate once again the merits of Export silver. Once a neglected area, academic interest has been piqued in the subject as the marketplace moves in leaps and bounds.

The most highly regarded piece of Chinese porcelain offered during the recent round of Asian sales was seen in Edinburgh where Lyon & Turnbull sold this blue and white dragon charger for £355,000.

This Imperial Qianlong white jade ‘hinge-fitting’ achieved the highest price of the round of Asian sales held this month in London and the regions, selling for £410,000 at Bonhams New Bond Street.