18 septembre 2021

Frans Hals, The Laughing Cavalier, 1624. (c) The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London. Frans Hals (c.1582/3–1666) is one of the greatest masters of the Dutch Golden Age, praised by his contemporaries for his capacity to paint lifelike portraits that seem ‘to live and breathe’. In autumn 2021, The Wallace Collection will celebrate Hals’s most famous and beloved, yet still enigmatic, painting The Laughing Cavalier (1624). The historic purchase of The Laughing Cavalier in 1865 by the 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800– 1870), the... [Lire la suite]

Lot 49. A pale celadon jade lobed cup, Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Width 4⅜ in., 11.2 cm. Estimate: 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Lot sold: 25,200 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 the eight-lobed floriform sides rising from a conforming pedestal foot, the sides set with a pair of archaistic scroll handles each incised at the top with a beast mask, the rim finely incised with a keyfret band, the highly polished translucent stone a pale celadon tone with natural inclusions. Property from the Junkunc... [Lire la suite]

Lot 50. A rare Liangzhu-style beige jade cong. Width 3 in., 7.7 cm. Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 USD. Lot sold: 50,400 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 the cylindrical central shaft abutted by four hollow square shafts rising along its sides, each square shaft carved with concave and convex bands with faint traces of two registers of taotie masks with incised lines and eyes, the calcified stone with russet and white variegation. Property from the Junkunc Collection ... [Lire la suite]

Lot 49. A rare pale gray and russet jade bracelet, Western Zhou dynasty. Diameter 2¾ in., 7 cm. Estimate: 20,000 - 30,000 USD. Lot sold: 75,600 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 of cylindrical form with one end straight cut and the other end delicately polished to a concave bevel along the interior rim, the exterior sides finely incised with a continuous wavy band edged in fine double lines and with an additional double line coursing along the center, a double-lined oval carved in the negative... [Lire la suite]

  Lot 48. A rare gilt-silver-inset bronze mirror, Tang dynasty (618-907). Diameter 5⅛ in., 13 cm. Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 USD. Unsold. © Sotheby's 2021 of floriform with eight petals, the silvered bronze inlaid to one side with a silver sheet with traces of gilt, finely chased with phoenix and mythical beasts encircled by a foliate scroll with birds and chilong, all against a ring-punched ground, centered by a pierced domed knop. Property from the Junkunc Collection ... [Lire la suite]

Lot 47. A large turquoise-inlaid gilt-bronze belthook, Warring States period - Han dynasty. Length 9⅜ in., 24 cm. Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD. Lot sold: 44,100 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 The curved and faceted shaft tapering to a small dragon-head hook at one end, inlaid with gold lozenge-shaped panels studded with turquoise bosses at the intersections, the lozenges enclosing a network of intricate geometric designs with further turquoise inlay, the reverse plain and centered with a... [Lire la suite]

Lot 46. A beige and russet jade bixie, Han - Six Dynasties. Length 2¾ in., 7 cm. Estimate: 30,000 - 50,000 USD. Lot sold: 107,100 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 prowling with the body lowered and turned slightly to the right, the right foreleg drawn back and the other three legs pushing the body forward, the spine and muscular torso twisting in concert with the movement, the contours mimicked by the wings issuing from the shoulders and laying flat against the back, the ferocity of the beast... [Lire la suite]

Lot 45. A stone axe, Neolithic period. Length 5½ in., 14.1 cm. Estimate: 8,000 - 10,000 USD. Lot sold: 10,080 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 of circular form pierced with a central aperture, densely carved to both sides with spiral patterns enclosed within line borders, the stone a deep hunter-green streaked with russet and areas of calcification. Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, February 1997. Collection of Jacob and Mary Stein. Christie's New York, 20th-21st... [Lire la suite]

Lot 44. A dark green jade bi disc, Late Warring States period-Western Han dynasty. Diameter 6½ in., 16.5 cm. Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD. Lot sold: 18,900 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 of circular form pierced with a central aperture, densely carved to both sides with spiral patterns enclosed within line borders, the stone a deep hunter-green streaked with russet and areas of calcification. Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., New York, April 1993. Collection of Jacob and Mary Stein. ... [Lire la suite]

Lot 43. A turquoise-inlaid gilt-bronze 'bear' fitting, Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). Height 4½ in., 11.43 cm. Estimate: 8,000 - 12,000 USD. Lot sold: 13,860 USD. © Sotheby's 2021 well cast as a hollow conical socket issuing from a ferocious bovine mask with bulging eyes and a broad flattened nose, flanked by flaring ears, all below tall curved horns cast with intaglio coil details, the conical socket with further intaglio motifs and pierced with two apertures, the bronze with a reddish-brown... [Lire la suite]