5 août 2018

Lot 3627. A pair of brilliantly enamelled doucai 'Sanduo' cups, Marks and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 7.2 cm., 2 7/8  in. Estimate 1,000,000 — 1,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,320,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's. each with slightly rounded conical sides rising from a straight foot, delicately painted in the doucai palette on the exterior with three fruiting branches, one bearing two yellow finger citrons, another with three peaches with spotted skin shaded from yellowish green to bright... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3671. A white jade 'phoenix' rhyton, Qing dynasaty, early 18th century; 16.6 cm., 6 5/8  in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,440,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's. the flattened upright body with a band of archaistic kui dragons between rope-twist borders and a key-fret band bordering the mouthrim, all rising above a recumbent phoenix with claws held tightly beneath, its head turned back with its beak open, its tail intricately incised with ruyi-shaped plumage and... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3618. A fine and rare guan-type vase, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 34.3 cm., 13 1/2  in. Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,560,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's. of archaistic hu form, well potted with a slender ovoid body rising from a slightly splayed base to a waisted neck and a slightly flared mouth, the neck flanked by a pair of tubular lug handles, covered overall in a thick caesius-coloured glaze suffused with a network of light grey and colourless... [Lire la suite]

Lot 3631. A pair of doucai 'chicken' cups, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 6.6 cm., 2 5/8  in. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,680,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's. each finely potted with rounded sides rising from a concave base to a gently flared rim, the exterior decorated in delicate shades of enamels and underglaze blue with two cockerels and five chicks enamelled yellow and aubergine, a large rock formation issuing... [Lire la suite]

Ornament for a belt or horse fittings, parcel-gilt silver, embossed, chased, and engraved, Iran, 6th-7th century. H without eyes: 0.7; Diam: 5.5 cm, Inv. no. 4/1967. © The David Collection.   Metal roundels of this kind, fitted with a bar at the back for attachment, are known from the Iranian area as early as the end of the 2nd century B.C. It is unclear whether these ornaments were used to decorate belts, clothing, or horse fittings.   Other museums have at least four related Sasanian roundels which,... [Lire la suite]

Drinking bowl, parcel-gilt silver, Iran, 6th-7th century. H: 3.7; Diam: 12.1 cm, Inv. no. 8/1966. © The David Collection. The outside of this bowl is decorated with a centrally placed naked man, seated with a wineskin and a drinking bowl. Around him is a vine that forms six circular panels containing a dog, a bear, a pair of birds, a leopard, a wild boar, and a monkey. The inside is engraved with a duck holding a ring or a necklace in its bill. Sasanian silver often combines different techniques. We see the more ordinary... [Lire la suite]

Bowl, silver on a low ring base, Eastern Iran or Afghanistan; 4th-5th century. H: 7.3; Diam: 14.6 cm, Inv. no. 2/1984. © The David Collection. The outside of the bowl is embellished with three dynamically rendered scenes with princes on horseback hunting ibexes, wild sheep, and deer, while its inside is smooth. The decoration’s relief was produced by both scraping away the surface and applying extra silver plates, whose engraved and chased decoration has almost been worn away.   The shape of the bowl is Roman... [Lire la suite]

Box, turned wood with painted decoration, Central Asia; 3th-5th century. H with lid: 7.3; Diam: 10.3 cm. Inv. no. 2/2003. © The David Collection. Probably the most distinctive feature of the box’s painted decoration is the lid’s two-headed eagle with large, tufted tail feathers. The eagle’s beaks hold long tendrils. The form and decoration of the box are related to those on a number of somewhat larger reliquaries that were excavated in Kuqa on the Silk Road and have been dated to the 6th-7th century. A carbon-14 analysis of... [Lire la suite]

Two fragments of murals on clay mixed with straw, Central Asia, Kizil near Kuqa; 6th-7th century. H: 15; W: 13.1 cm (44/1979); H: 12; W; 11.5 cm (45/1979), Inv. no. 44/1979 & 45/1979 © The David Collection. These two fragments come from the largest mountain cave in Kizil that German archeologists excavated on the Silk Road in the years preceding the First World War.   The heads resemble those of a Sasanian king and a Buddha, and stylistically, there is in fact a great variety of sources for art in the... [Lire la suite]

Bowl, thick, colorless glass, facet-cut, Iran or Iraq; 6th-7th century. H: 8.3; Diam: 11.5 cm, Inv. no. 6/1969. © The David Collection.   The form and facet-cut decoration of this bowl are characteristic of Sasanian glass. It is covered entirely by a pattern of hexagonal, slightly concave facets that were cut on a grinding wheel. The form of the facets varies slightly so that the pattern can continue uninterrupted from top to bottom. This type of “honeycomb” decoration was adopted by the early Islamic glassmakers,... [Lire la suite]