Hong Kong - Sotheby’s Hong Kong June series of Chinese Works of Art sales will take place on 1 and 2 June at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery. The highlight of the Chinese Art sale is a set of two Imperial Qing dynasty jade seals from the collection of Emile Guimet (1836–1918), the founder of the eponymous Asian Art Museum in Paris. Also featured is a collection of archaic jades assembled in Hong Kong from the 1950s, Yixing stoneware from a prominent English collection, and a selection of Song ceramics with early Buddhist sculptures and bronze animal paperweights. Incorporating for the first time other collecting categories, this sale will feature a fine group of Japanese woodblock prints from a private Hong Kong collection, among them the eminent ‘Under the Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), from the series of the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. A selection of 100 jades from a Hong Kong collection featured in a special sale titled Qing Dynasty Jades From A Hong Kong Collection encapsulates the rich diversity and artistic skill of Qing dynasty jade craftsmanship.

Christian Bouvet, Director and Head of Mid-Season Sales, Chinese Works of Art Department, said, “Comprising archaic jades to Song dynasty ceramics, Yixing stoneware, early Buddhist gilt-bronze sculpture and even Japanese prints, we are very pleased with the diversity of the sale's offerings this season and honoured to be entrusted with the sale of these great collections. Most of them were formed in Hong Kong over several decades, and we look forward to presenting them to connoisseurs as well a new generation of collectors.”

SALE HIGHLIGHTS

Lot 577. Property from the collection of Emile Guimet (1836-1918). A Set of Two Imperial Celadon and Brown Jade ‘Daoguang Yubi’ and ‘Zhengzai Yangmin’ Seals, Qing Dynasty, Daoguang Period, 4.7 x 2.2 x 2.2 cm. Estimate HK$2 – 3 million / US$258,000 – 387,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

Highlighting the auction is a pair of small seals from the Daoguang Emperor. Both are meticulously carved from a jade boulder of warm and lustrous celadon tone that transmutes at the finials into a light red colour typical of tangyu, or ‘sugar jade.’ The seal texts, both inscribed in seal script in intaglio, read respectively Daoguang yubi (‘treasure inscribed in the hand of the Daoguang Emperor’) and Zhengzai yangmin (‘the way of governance lives in nurturing people’). The lines in the inscriptions are even and robust, indicating the creator’s high degree of skill. 

Lot 514. Yixing Stoneware from the Collection of Paul Moss. An Inscribed Documentary Yixing Stoneware Teapot and Cove, Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing Period, Dated 1815, Designed by Chen Mansheng, Made by Yang Pengnian and Incised by Guo Pinjia, 16.3 cm. Estimate HK$800,000 – 1.2 million / US$103,000 – 155,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

This exceptional teapot is of documentary importance in encapsulating the literati approach to teapot appreciation in the early 19th century. Commissioned and designed by Chen Mansheng, it was created by the master potter Yang Pengnian and inscribed by Guo Lin, a famous artist, calligrapher and associate. 

Lot 412. Property of a Distinguished Hong Kong Collector. A Large Carved ‘Ding’ White-Glazed ‘Lotus’ Bowl, Song Dynasty,  25.5 cm. Estimate HK$150,000 – 200,000 / US$19,400 – 25,800. Photo: Sotheby's.

The present bowl displays all the characteristics attributed to ‘Ding’ wares known in museum and private collections. Celebrated for their thin potting, fine near-white body and an ivory-colored glaze which tends to run down in somewhat darker ‘tears’, ‘Ding’ wares were ranked among the ‘five great wares’ of the Song.

The Huai Qin Ge Collection of Archaic Jades

Chinese civilization has a long tradition of appreciating and collecting jades from as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Ancient jades dating from the Han and pre-Han periods are venerated for their historical significance and well represented in major museum collections although they rarely appear on the market. The Huai Qin Ge collection was formed by Mr Lui Shu Ying in Hong Kong between the 1960s and 1980s. It ranges stylistically from the Neolithic period to the Han and Jin periods and also includes archaistic works from the Ming and Qing dynasties that imitate jades from the Zhou and Han. 

(From top to bottom, left to right). 

Lot 302. A Celadon And Brown Jade Ornament, Heng Western Han Dynasty, 17 cm. Estimate HK$60,000 – 80,000 / US$7,800 – 10,300. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 303. A Partly Calcified Greyish Green Jade Disc, Huan Warring States Period, 10.7 cm. Estimate HK$60,000 – 80,000 / US$7,800 – 10,300. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 315. A Partly Calcified Celadon Jade Scabbard Slide, Wei Han Dynasty, 9.7 cm. Estimate HK$50,000 – 70,000 / US$6,500 – 9,100. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 321. A Rare Yellowish-Green Jade Ornament, Heng Late Spring & Autumn Period, 7.6 cm. Estimate HK$50,000 – 70,000 / US$6,500 – 9,100. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 306. A Partly Calcified Celadon Jade Square Ornament Warring States Period, 4.3 x 3.8 cm. Estimate HK$60,000 – 80,000 / US$7,800 – 10,300. Photo: Sotheby's.

Japanese Prints from a Hong Kong Private Collection

Lot 737. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), ‘Under The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ From The Series Thirty-Six Views Of Mount Fuji, c1831, 25.7 x 36.9 cm. Estimate HK$400,000 – 600,000 / US$51,500 – 77,500. Photo: Sotheby's.

QING DYNASTY JADES FROM A HONG KONG COLLECTION 1 JUNE, 10 AM

Highlights of this sale include three jades of the finest jet-white quality: a group of two boys and lotus; an exquisite quatrelobed tray; and a rooster, to celebrate the current zodiac year. 

Lot 64. A Pale Celadon Jade 'Mountain' Brushrest, Qing Dynasty, 18th Century, 12 cm. Est. HK$100,000 – 150,000 / US$12,900 – 19,400. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 14. A White and Russet Jade Figure of a Rooster Qing Dynasty, 18th Century, 6.6 cm. Est. HK$ 120,000 – 180,000 / US$15,500 – 23,200. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 28. A Fine White and Russet Jade Quatrelobed Tray, Qing Dynasty, 18th – 19th Century, 14.5 cm. Est. HK$150,000 – 200,000 / US$19,400 – 25,800. Photo: Sotheby's.

Lot 8. A White Jade ‘Hehe Erxian’ Group, Qing Dynasty, 18th Century, 7.3cm. Est. HK$150,000 – 200,000 / US$19,400 – 25,800. Photo: Sotheby's.