Lot 25.  A very rare carved wood figure of a court lady, Chu Kingdom-Warring States Period (221-263); 49cm (19 1/4in) high. Estimate £3,000 - 5,000. Sold for £ 8,187 (€ 9,560). Photo Bonhams.

Carved from a single piece of wood with long and narrow body, the head flat with almond-shaped eyes, marked brows, straight nose and lightly cut mouth, clothed in a silk gown, stand.  

Property from the Collection of John J. Studzinski, CBE

Provenance: Jacques Barrere, Paris, purchased in 21 March 2001
John J. Studzinski, CBE.

Note: Notable for its great simplicity and delicacy and for the remarkable preservation of brocaded textile fragments attached to the body, the present figure was likely intended for internment in a burial belonging to a high-ranking member of the Zhou society and together with a vast array of furnishing, sustained the occupant in their afterlife.

Compare with a similarly-sized wood figure of a lady, Eastern Zhou dynasty, excavated in Hubei Province, illustrated by Wang Chuanfu and Yang Minghong, 'A Tomb of the State of Chu Wuchang Cemetery in Jiangling, Hubei', in Wenwu, 1989, vol.3, pl.3, figs.5 and 6.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, 7 Nov 2019