Highly important c.13th century Song / Yuan Dynasty piece from Elsa Peretti's collection offered on behalf of the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation

13 février 2025

Highly important c.13th century Song / Yuan Dynasty piece from Elsa Peretti's collection offered on behalf of the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation

The Elsa Peretti brush washer. A magnificent and highly important Ge mallow-shaped brush washer, Song-Yuan Dynasty (960-1368), Estimate €1,200,000 – 1,500,000. © Bonhams

PARIS - A magnificent and highly important Ge Mallow-Shaped Brush Washer, Song/Yuan Dynasty, uniquely from the personal collection of one of the greatest 20th/21st century designers, Elsa Peretti (1940-2021), will star in Profound Beauty: The Elsa Peretti Brush Washer, a single-lot sale at Bonhams, Paris on 11 June 2025. It is offered on behalf of The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation.

"I love nature, but I try to change it a little bit, not copy it." - Elsa Peretti

Elsa Peretti, Sant Martí Vell, Spain, 2015 (photograph by Eric Boman)

“Elsa was a really multifaceted person. She was not only this incredible and successful designer. She did great charity and philanthropic work. Our mission in the Foundation is to preserve and to disseminate Elsa Peretti's legacy.” - Laura Cornejo, Senior Curator, The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation

Asaph Hyman, Bonhams Global Head of Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, commented: “Elsa Peretti’s genius was the ability to distil forms and functions to design-perfection transcending time. Often she found inspiration in the natural world, and it is therefore no surprise that she was captivated by this sublime brush washer emulating the form of the mallow flower, seven centuries after it was made.

Equally, the famous Ge glaze, one of the ‘Five Great Wares’ of the Song Dynasty, with its intricate ‘iron-wire and golden-thread’ effect, would have appealed to Elsa’s love of the craftsman’s transformation of the world’s disorder.

Elsa Peretti’s unique eye and freethinking allowed her to engage with different world cultures, appreciating the best that each had to offer in craftmanship and creativity, with this brush washer amongst the most important pieces in her personal collection.”

The Elsa Peretti brush washer. A magnificent and highly important Ge mallow-shaped brush washer, Song-Yuan Dynasty (960-1368), Estimate €1,200,000 – 1,500,000. © Bonhams