Zhang Daqian, Splashed-Ink Autumn Landscape, 1965. 59 x 44.5cm. Estimate $180,000-250,000. Sold for $509,000. Photo: Bonhams.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Two important paintings by the renowned artist Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) yielded top results in the June 23 auction of Fine Chinese Works of Art and Paintings held at Bonhams in San Francisco. 

A splashed in Autumn landscape, dated 1965, and titled “Qiu Shan Xiao Si” (Buddhist Temple in Autumn Mountain) (est. $180,000-250,000) brought $509,000 and a monumental landscape “Mountain Retreat Among Clouds and Streams,” dated 1972 (est. $150,000-250,000) sold for $485,000 in a hotly contested battle between floor and telephone bidders. The paintings were purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Hal Louchheim in the mid-1970s from the Erickson Gallery of Palo Alto, Calif., during the period when the artist lived in Carmel, Calif., and have been with the owners since the date of purchase.

These fine paintings, and a couplet of calligraphy painted by Zhang Daqian for the Chinese Industrialist Song Feiqing (1899-1955) which sold for $100,000 (est. $40,000-60,000) were among 83 lots of Chinese paintings sold to a full house of bidders during this 400 lot auction, which was part of a two-day sale featuring Chinese works of art and paintings and Asian Decorative Art from private collections, institutions and estates throughout the United States.

Property from the Family of Song Feiqing (Sung Fei-ch'ing). Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Couplet of Calligraphy in Running,Script, 52 1/2 x 12 3/4in (133.3 x 32.4cm) each. Estimate $40,000-60,000. Sold for $100,000. Photo: Bonhams.

The top lot of the afternoon was garnered by an elegant and diminutive blue and white porcelain meiping by the Republic Period artist Wang Bu (1896-1983). Wang Bu, along with his older brother Wang Qi, was one of the Eight Friends of Zhushan, and particularly accomplished in bird and flower paintings. This rare vase, painted with two chicks on a gnarled tree branch and only 17 cm high, carried a pre-sale estimate of $5,000-10,000, and soared within two minutes to a record price of $533,000. It came from a Hawaiian collection by descent, and was acquired in Hong Kong in the 1960s. Late Qing and Republic Period pieces painting by this school and founding artists are currently highly sought after in the market. A massive vase depicting “100 deer” painted by the artist Cheng Men (1833-1908) and dated by inscription to 1877, brought $68,750 - more than six times its pre-sale estimate. 

A blue and white porcelain meiping with birds on branch, Wang Bu (1896-1968), with two seals, 1920-1935. Estimate US$ 3,000 - 5,000. Sold for $68,750.  Photo: Bonhams.

A superbly carved white jade circular table screen of the 18th/19th century was the top lot of the fine jades and hardstone carvings offered from a California Institution and various owners. Selling for $269,000 against an estimate of $20,000-30,000, the elegant panel was carved with a landscape scene featuring Shoulao and two boys on a mountain path near a waterfall. 

A superbly carved white jade circular table screen, 18th-19th century. Estimate $20,000-30,000. Sold for $269,000. Photo: Bonhams.

An inscribed gilt bronze seated figure of Shadaksari Lokesvara, Kangxi mark and period, dated to 1680, sold for $185,000, and was the top lot of the bronzes and works of art offered in the auction. 

An unusual high karat gold 'dragon' snuff bottle, Qianlong mark. Sold for US$ 185,000 (€165,119). Photo: Bonhams.

The Chinese furniture in the auction brought consistently strong prices during both sessions, with a pair of huanghuali rectangular stools from the Estate of Naomi Lindstrom of San Francisco, bringing $87,500. The total for the two-day auction was $7,250,000.