The gilt-bronze bodhisattva, estimated £200,000-300,000 at Sotheby's.
AUCTION HOUSES
SOTHEBY’S
Gilt-bronze bodhisattva, 11th-12th century
This fire-gilded figure of the four-armed bodhisattva has a supine figure of a demon underfoot.
In its principal hands it holds a willow branch and lobed bowl, symbols of healing that identify it as Guanyin Avalokiteshvara, while its lower hands hold a diamond sceptre - emblem of the diamond path of Vajrayana Buddhism - and a sword that symbolises cutting through ignorance.
The iconography is not described in Indian texts and appears to be unique to the Dali culture.
From an Italian private collection, the estimate at Sotheby’s on November 1 is £200,000-300,000.
CHISWICK AUCTIONS
Pair of Korean four-panel screens
Korean four-panel screens, estimate £4000-6000 at Chiswick Auctions.
These screens (one of the pair shown here) depict the common Korean theme of ‘Sun and Moon, Birds and Flowers’ and are from the late 19th or early 20th century.
Made from silk embroidery on paper ground, one set shows pairs of birds including ducks, pheasants and woodpeckers among flora, the other has various birds such as peacocks and magpies among other flora and also features the sun and moon.
The estimate at Chiswick Auctions on November 6 is £4000-6000.
BONHAMS
Imperial pomegranate vase, Qianlong mark and of the period
Imperial pomegranate vase, estimated £200,000-300,000 at Bonhams.
This rare vase encapsulates the very highest standards of elegance and craftsmanship that existed during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
Its decoration is laden with auspicious meaning and symbolism. The ripe pomegranate bursting with seeds (‘zi’) is a homophone for child or son and provides the rebus for liukai baizi, ‘pomegranate revealing one hundred sons’, or also qianzi tongmo, ‘one thousand sons within the same generation’.
Beneath the pomegranates are sprigs of bamboo which, together with the pomegranate, create another blessing zisun wandai, ‘may you have numerous descendants’.
At 16cm (6½in) high, it is much smaller than other similar vases. The only other similar one of this size with the Qianlong seal and of the period - possibly the pair to this one - was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong for HK$14.43m (£1.23m) in May 2013.
From a British private collection and with some restoration, the estimate in the Fine Chinese Art auction at Bonhams New Bond Street on November 2 is £200,000-300,000.
DEALERS
ESKENAZI
Glazed slip-decorated stoneware pillow, Northern Song-Jin dynasty, 12th-13th century
Glazed slip-decorated stoneware pillow offered at Eskenazi.
With a height of 18.4cm and a width of 31cm, this stoneware pillow struck all the Asian Art in London award judges as being much larger than its photos had suggested.
It is strikingly decorated with a lively cat and a butterfly in dark black-brown slip, cut away to reveal the cream slipped ground beneath and had already found a buyer by the time the award judging was taking place.
JACQUELINE SIMCOX
Silk kesi panel Ming dynasty, late 16th-early 17th century
Silk kesi panel Ming dynasty offered by Jacqueline Simcox.
Measuring 85 x 62cm, this panel was part of a large wall hanging and features symbols of long life such as red-capped cranes and peach blossoms.
The panel is unusual because of its dense and complex pattern, showing a mastery of colour and design and because the colours are for the most part unfaded, which is rare for Ming silk textiles.
ANASTASIA VON SEIBOLD
Pair of ink on silk hanging scrolls
Pair of ink on silk hanging scrolls offered by Anastasia von Seibold.
These hanging scrolls, 2.48m x 68cm, illustrate two famous scenes from two chapters of The Tale of Genji: chapter 3 Utsusemi (The Shell of the Cicada) (right scroll) and chapter 9 Aoi (Heartvine) (left scroll).
They are by painter Watanabe Hiroteru (1778-1838).
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ASIAN ART
