Alain.R.Truong

A black-glazed 'Hare's Fur' bowl, Song dynasty

A black-glazed 'Hare's Fur' bowl, Song dynasty.  Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

of conical form with deep sides, covered overall in a thick lustrous black glaze suffused with a rust-brown 'hare's fur' pattern draining from the rim on the interior and exterior, the glaze falling irregularly above the foot to reveal the reddish-brown body.Diameter 6 1/8  in., 15.6 cm

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

A 'Jizhou' inscribed bowl, Southern Song dynasty

A 'Jizhou' inscribed bowl, Southern Song dynasty. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the interior decorated with three medallions enclosing the 'Three Friends of Winter', two with Chinese characters reading chun (Spring) and mei (plum), the third character indecipherable, all reserved in brown against the variegated, milky buff ground, the exterior covered in a 'tortoiseshell' glaze of dark brown color mottled in beige falling short of the knife-pared foot. Diameter 5 in., 12.7 cm

Literature: Chugoku meito ten: Chugoku toji 2000-nen no seika [Exhibition of Chinese Pottery: Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics], Tokyo, 1992, no. 52.

Notes: This group of bowls with quatrefoil motifs enclosing auspicious phrases was popular throughout south China during the Southern Song period. It is unusual to find bowls of this type with three floral medallions enclosing a single character, and no other examples appear to have been published. Related bowls, each with three medallions but enclosing auspicious four-character phrases are in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese Ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 8, pl. 217; and another in Chugoku no toji. Temmoku, Tokyo, 1999, pl. 53.

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

A rare 'Jian' oil-spot bowl, Song dynasty

A rare 'Jian' oil-spot bowl, Song dynasty. Estimate 80,000 — 100,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

heavily potted, the rounded sides rising from a short foot to a slightly everted rim, indented below the rim, covered overall with a lustrous black glaze infused to the interior and exterior with rust-colored speckles and displaying an iridescent 'oily' halo, the countersunk base revealing the coarse and dense black body. Diameter 5 in., 12.8 cm

Notes: It is extremely rare to find an oil-spot bowl from the southern Jian kilns of Fujian province and most examples today are found in Japan, where they have long been prized and known as yuteki temmoku (oil-spot temmoku). This type of glaze was so popular that it was copied by several northern kilns, which applied a dark brown slip to the unglazed part at the base to hide their light gray or brown stoneware body. These 'oil-spots' were formed when oxides of iron segregated themselves from the iron-saturated glaze during firing and crystallized on the surface during cooling (Rober D. Mowry, Hare's Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers. Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-1400, Cambridge, 1995, p. 222).

Several examples of northern-type 'oil-spot' bowls can be found in Japanese museums; see one designated as 'National Treasure' by the Bunkacho (Agency for Cultural Affairs), in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, exhibited together with two further related bowls, one from the Tokugawa Art Museum and the other from the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts in Kyoto, in Tobutsu temmoku, Chado Shiryokan, Kyoto, 1994, cat. nos. 2-4. A further bowl in the Ryoko-in Temple, Kyoto, is published in Chugoku no toji. Temmoku, Tokyo, 1999, pl. 24; and one in the Tokyo National Museum is included in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, 1988, cat. no. 610.

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

A 'Jizhou' 'Phoenix' bowl, Southern Song dynasty

A 'Jizhou' 'Phoenix' bowl, Southern Song dynasty. Estimate 40,000 — 60,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

of conical form, decorated on the interior with a pair of long-tailed phoenix, interspersed with a butterfly and a floret, all reserved in rich dark brown against the densely variegated buff ground, the exterior splashed and streaked with tan-colored  'tortoiseshell' markings, stopping short of the narrow knife-paired foot. Diameter 6 in., 15.2 cm

Literature: Chugoku meito ten: Chugoku toji 2000-nen no seika [Exhibition of Chinese Pottery: Two Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics], Tokyo, 1992, no. 53.

Notes: See a related bowl in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, included in The Museum of East Asian Art Inaugural Exhibition, Bath, 1993, cat. no. 112; and another in the Mitsui Library, Tokyo, of slightly smaller size, illustrated in Chugoku no toji. Temmoku. Tokyo, 1999, pl. 54.

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

A 'Jizhou' 'Plum Blossom' bowl, Southern Song dynasty

A 'Jizhou' 'Plum Blossom' bowl, Southern Song dynasty. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the deep rounded sides rising from a short tapering foot to a grooved rim, the interior with two birds each perched on a plum blossom branch reserved in rich dark brown against the densely variegated buff ground, the exterior applied with a 'tortoiseshell' glaze of dark brown color mottled in beige stopping short of the knife-pared foot.  Diameter 4 7/8  in., 12.4 cm

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

A 'Jizhou' 'Ruyi' bowl, Southern Song dynasty

A 'Jizhou' 'Ruyi' bowl, Southern Song dynasty. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the rounded sides rising from a short foot to a slightly everted rim, covered overall with a rich brown glaze and painted in the interior with a stylized band of ruyi encircling a five-petaled floret enclosing tight scrolls, the exterior with irregular cafe-au-lait splashes in imitation of tortoiseshell. Diameter 5 in., 12.7 cm

Notes: See a related bowl of similar size in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, included in The Museum of East Asian Art Inaugural Exhibition, Bath 1993, cat. no. 128. Another bowl with similar pattern but of conical form is illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The George Eumorfopoulos Collection Catalogue of Chinese, Corean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain, London, vol. 6, 1928, pl. XV, no. F77; and another slightly smaller bowl, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 117, pl. 113.

Compare also a bowl of this size and decoration, but of more rounded form, sold in these rooms, 23rd March 2004, lot 617. 

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

A 'Jian' 'Hare's Fur' bowl, Southern Song dynasty

A 'Jian' 'Hare's Fur' bowl, Southern Song dynasty. Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

the robustly potted body with deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly everted rim, covered overall with a lustrous black glaze suffused with russet 'hare's fur' streaks extending from the rim down the interior and exterior, the glaze falling short of the foot to reveal the purplish-brown stoneware body. Diameter 5 in., 12.7 cm

Notes: Although bowls of this type were made in large quantities by the Jian kilns in Fujian province, the present bowl is exceptional for its lustrous glaze. It displays all the major characteristics of wares of this type in an exemplary fashion: the delicate and even russet-brown striations reminiscent of hare's fur, the rich glaze forming a thick wall around the body and pooling towards the foot, and the faint groove below the rim for ease of secure gripping and slow drinking. From literature it is known that the very best quality Jian bowls were carefully selected as tribute from Fujian to the court. Jian teabowls were renowned for their unique suitability for tea drinking as the fine foam of the whisked powdered tea contrasted attractively against the dark glaze of the vessel. The thickness of the glaze helped keep the beverage warm and protected the hands of the drinker against scalding.

See similar bowls of this type, including one from the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, included in the Museum’s exhibition Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, Hare’s Fur, Tortoiseshell and Partridge Feathers, Chinese Brown- and Black-Glazed Ceramics, 400-600, Cambridge, 1995, cat. no. 79; another, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 204; another bowl with a metal-bound rim in the Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto, illustrated in Chugoku no toji.  Temmoku. Tokyo, 1999, pl. 39; and a fourth in the Meiyintang Collection, also with a metal-bound rim, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, vol. 1, 1994, no. 530. 

Sotheby's. Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection. New York, 17 mars 2015, 11:00 AM

Coffret à monture de bronze doré et marqueterie Boulle de nacre, corne teintée rouge et vert, laiton et étain d'époque Louis XIV

Coffret à monture de bronze doré et marqueterie Boulle de nacre, corne teintée rouge et vert, laiton et étain d'époque Louis XIV. Estimation 25,000 — 40,000 EUR. Photo Sotheby's.

à décor de putti et scènes champêtres ; le couvercle à doucine ; ornementation de bronze doré ; l'intérieur en placage de palissandre ; avec une inscription à l'encre sur le fond : Hamilton sale n° 2186. Haut. 11,5 cm, larg. 21,5 cm, prof. 15,5 cm

A GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED MOTHER-OF-PEARL, STAINED HORN, BRASS AND PEWTER MARQUETRY CASKET, LOUIS XIV

Provenance: Ancienne collection du 12e duc de Hamilton, vente Christie's, le 19 juillet 1882, lot 2186
Vente à Paris, palais d'Orsay, étude Ader Picard Tajan, le 18 mars 1980, lot 71

Notes: Accessoire de la toilette des femmes comme on peut le voir sur un tableau de Nattier, Madame  Marsollier et sa filleconservé au Metropolitan Museum de New York, ce coffret appartient à un groupe comprenant une douzaine d'exemplaires. De deux tailles différentes, similaires dans leurs formes, décors, la richesse des matériaux qui les composent et l'ornementation de bronze doré, il est probable qu'ils furent réalisés dans un même atelier parisien vers 1710-1720. La préciosité de telles oeuvres ainsi que la maîtrise technique nécessaire pour les fabriquer plaident pour un atelier se situant dans l'entourage de Bernard Ier Van Risamburg ou Noël Gérard. Ils présentent un décor similaire d'enfants dans des paysages tandis que la doucine du couvercle est ornée d'un médaillon avec les colombes de Vénus et flanqué de motifs de losanges. La contre-partie de notre coffre, provenant lui aussi de la collection des ducs de Hamilton sous le n°2187 dans la vente de 1882 a plus tard été vendu à Paris, étude Ader Picard Tajan, le 28 novembre 1978, lot 149 (avec une étiquette  au dos inscrite "Hamilton Palace, n°2127" [pour le 2187].

Jean-Marc Nattier, Madame Marsollier et sa fille. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Catalogue de la vente Hamilton Palace en 1882.

Ces coffrets ont appartenu aux plus grandes collections privées comme celles des ducs de Hamilton mais aussi Lopez Willshaw, David-Weill, Keck, Wildenstein et plus récemment Safra qui en comprenait quatre, vendus chez Sotheby's à New York, le 19 octobre 2011, lots 708 à 711. Certains exemples sont conservés au musée Paul J. Getty ou dans la collection Jones du Victorian & Albert museum à Londres.

Coffret Hamilton, n°187.

Sotheby's. Les Dillée : Une dynastie d’experts et de collectionneurs Paris, 18 mars 2015, 04:00 PM

Paire de plaques à papier au rhinocéros en bronze doré, travail allemand de la fin du XVIIe-début du XVIIIe siècle sur une base

Paire de plaques à papier au rhinocéros en bronze doré, travail allemand de la fin du XVIIe-début du XVIIIe siècle sur une base d'époque Louis XVI. Estimation 10,000 — 15,000 EUR. Photo Sotheby's.

le socle en bois teinté orné d'une frise d'entrelacs avec quatre pieds boules. Quantité: 2. Haut. 12 cm, larg. 16,5 cm, prof. 10,5 cm - Height 4 3/4 in; width 6 1/2 in; depth 4 1/4 in

A PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE RHINOCEROS, GERMANY, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, ON A LOUIS XVI STAND

Litterature: "Le Goût d'un expert", in Connaissance des Arts, mai 1969, n°207

Notes: Le modèle de cette paire de rhinocéros est à rapprocher d'une gravure d'Albrecht Dürer, elle-même inspirée de l'animal en provenance des Indes Orientales débarqué à Lisbonne le 20 mai 1515 et offert comme présent au roi du Portugal.

Albrecht Dürer, gravure.

Sotheby's. Les Dillée : Une dynastie d’experts et de collectionneurs Paris, 18 mars 2015, 04:00 PM

Coupe en agate à monture de vermeil par Elias Adam, Augsbourg, 1705

Coupe en agate à monture de vermeil par Elias Adam, Augsbourg, 1705. Estimation 7,000 — 10,000 EUR. Photo Sotheby's.

les anses formant des rinceaux feuillagés, la base ciselée de grodrons et coquilles - long. 13 cm, Ht. 6,5 cm ; 5 1/4 in long, 2 12 in high

A GERMAN AGATE AND SILVER-GILT MOUNT CUP, ELIAS ADAM, AUGSBURG, 1705

Sotheby's. Les Dillée : Une dynastie d’experts et de collectionneurs Paris, 18 mars 2015, 04:00 PM