13 octobre 2013

Vietnamese, Lê Dynasty (1428–1788). Plate with floral designs. Stoneware with blue and white underglaze decoration and red and green overglaze enamels. The Menke Collection. Photo Eric Zetterquist ©2013 Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University The history of Vietnamese ceramic traditions reflects the complex history of Vietnam itself. Early on, during a millennium of rule by China, northern Vietnamese potters learned from China’s ceramic technology even as the region incorporated aspects of Chinese... [Lire la suite]

Cartier. Boreal. Necklace, platinum, one 115.03-carat cabochon-cut Ceylon sapphire, sapphire beads, quartz beads, onyx, sapphire eyes, brilliant-cut diamonds. Cartier. Boreal Ring.  Cartier Boreal Panther ring - Platinum, one 24.46-carat cushion-shaped sapphire from Ceylon, onyx spots and nose, emerald eyes, brilliants. PHOTO Vincent Wulveryck © Cartier 2012 Cartier Boreal Panther Necklace - Platinum, carved chalcedony, sapphires, chalcedony beads, onyx, brilliants. PHOTO Julien Claessens & Thomas Deschamps ©... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3183. A rare Ming-style copper-red decorated 'Three Fish' stembowl, Archaistic mark and period of Qianlong; 15.7 cm., 6 1/4  in. Estimate 200,000 - 300,000 HKD. Lot sold 687,500 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's. the wide conical bowl supported on a tall hollow splayed stem, brightly decorated around the exterior in copper-red glaze on the white ground with three mandarin fish, each detailed with serrated dorsal and rounded tail fins, all fired to a soft purplish-red transmuting to brownish-grey... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3182. A rare copper-red 'peony' vase, yuhuchunping, Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Period. Estimation 600,000 - 800,000 HKD. Lot sold 2,920,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's. the pear-shaped body rising from a spreading foot to a tall waisted neck with flaring rim, painted in greyish tones of copper-red against a crackled glaze with an undulating leafy scroll bearing large peony blooms, all between trefoil leaf motifs above and a lappet band below, the neck encircled by stiff leaf, key-fret and foliate scroll bands, the foot... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3181. A rare copper-red 'dragon' vase, laifuzun, Mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722); 22.1 cm., 8 3/4  in. Estimate 1,400,000 - 1,800,000 HKD. Lot sokd 2,320,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's  2013. of tapered ovoid form with a short neck below a lipped mouthrim, the exterior freely painted with two five-clawed dragons in vivid tones of copper-red, each with arms outstretched, eyes picked out in blue and their scaly bodies leaping vigourously among trailing flames, covered overall in a transparent... [Lire la suite]

Cartier. Ring, platinum, rubies, onyx, brilliant-cut diamonds. Cartier Earrings, Luxuriant Landscape. Cartier Luxuriant necklace / brooch - Platinum, one 91.34-carat emerald drop from Colombia, one pear-shaped diamond, brilliants. PHOTO Nils Herrmann © Cartier 2012 Cartier. Necklace, platinum, 25 Burmese rubies totaling 55.00 carats, pear-shaped diamonds, oval diamonds, baguette-cut diamonds, brilliant-cut diamonds. Cartier. Earrings from Luxuriant Landscape. Cartier. Ring, platinum, one cabochon-cut 36.74-carat ruby,... [Lire la suite]

An archaistic rhinoceros horn libation cup, 17th century. Photo: Sotheby's. the rich chestnut-toned horn carved with eight facetted sides tapering towards the foot, the exterior carved in low relief with two taotie animal masks reserved on a leiwenground, below a rim of incised pendent ruyi heads, one end set with a chilong clambering up the side grasping the rim of the interior with his mouth, the rim further decorated with a key-fret border, the horn with a smooth patina, stand;width... [Lire la suite]

A rhinoceros horn 'Scenes of the Red Cliff' libation cup, Qing dynasty, 18th century. Photo: Sotheby's. the horn of deep brown colour and lustruous patina, carved with a continuous landscape depicting the Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo’s second visit to the Red Cliff when Su left his boat and companions and climbed up the steep cliff, on one side Su is seated on a ledge jutting out from the high cliffs watching a single crane flying in the distance, while his two friends stand at the base of... [Lire la suite]

A rhinoceros horn 'Six Hermits of the Bamboo Stream' libation cup, attributed to the Bao Tiancheng School, 17th century. Photo: Sotheby's. the tightly grained horn of rich reddish-brown colour deepening towards the foot, finely carved with a continuous figural landscape depicting the ‘Six Hermits of the Bamboo Stream’ in a mountainous retreat of jagged cliffs lined with verdant trees, a contorted pine twisting its way below an arched rock and further extending... [Lire la suite]

A rare rhinoceros horn 'log raft' vessel, 17th century. Photo: Sotheby's. superbly carved in varying relief with the figure of the great Han statesman and explorer, Zhang Qian, perched in a small nook at the stern of a raft, exquisitely formed as a long hollowed segment of a gnarled tree trunk, pierced and carved with naturalistic knots and twisting boughs issuing from the sides and jutting out from each end of the boat, the broad central cavity tapering to a pointy end at the prow forming the spout,... [Lire la suite]