Lot 65. Property from the Preiser Collection. A fine Dehua figure of seated Guanyin, 17th-18th century; 30.5cm high. Sold for US$3,200 (Estimate US$ 4,000-6,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Seated lalitasana on an elaborate rockwork throne, wearing elegantly draped robes falling in voluminous folds over her plump body and holding a scroll in her left hand, her serene features framed by a floral-embellished chignon, a rocky outcropping at her left supporting a book.

Provenance: The collection of Dr. Franklin Preiser, by descent.

Lot 67. Property from the Preiser Collection. A rare Dehua figural group, 19th century; 31.7cm high, 28.9cm long. Sold for US$1,408 (Estimate US$ 4,000-6,000) © Bonhams 2001-2024

Depicting Xiwangmu floating on a bucolic raft fashioned from the trunk of a peach tree, the Queen Mother of the West surrounded by three musicians playing the lute pipa and shaded by a luxurious crane-decorated fan held by her attendant and flanked by her imposing companion and mount at the right, the vessel buoyed on its journey by the breaking waves below.

Provenance: The collection of Dr. Franklin Preiser, by descent.

Note: For a similar item executed by the pottery Xu Youyi (1887-1940) from the Koger Collection, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida (32.21.3) see John Ayers, Blanc de Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain, New York, China Institute Gallery, 2002, p. 127, no. 77. See another depiction of a raft on waves, this time conveying a group of female musicians, published in Blumenfield, op. cit., p. 97, fig. C.

The weight, the restraint exhibited in the composition and the construction of the current lot piece argue for a placement in the 19th century.

Bonhams. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 16 September 2024