La vente d'art asiatique chez Christie's Paris d'aujourd'hui totalise €1.9 million

21 novembre 2008

La vente d'art asiatique chez Christie's Paris d'aujourd'hui totalise €1.9 million

"Dans un contexte économique difficile, l’art asiatique continue à bien se porter. Les estimations raisonnables ont attiré un grand nombre de nouveaux acheteurs asiatiques, les collectionneurs habituels sont quant à eux restés très actifs. Les pièces en bronze doré ainsi que les jades ont atteint de très hauts prix dépassant largement les estimations comme un bol couvert en jade du 18ème siècle adjugé € 103.000 avec les frais (lot 222) ou un miroir en cloisonné vendu €121.000 (lot 146). L’art du sud-est asiatique, très recherché par les amateurs européens a également suscité de vives batailles d’enchères, telle une tête de bouddha du Gandhara adjugée €51.400 avec les frais (lot256). On compte parmi les acquéreurs, 52% d’européens, 37% d’asiatiques et 11% d’américains." a déclaré Mathilde Courteault, directrice du département Art Asiatique à Paris.

Ci-dessous, les highlights de la vente:

Important miroir en bronze et émaux cloisonnés. Chine, dynastie Qing, XIXe siècle

De forme circulaire, orné au centre d'une poignée en bronze doré, entourée d'un décor en émaux polychromes sur fond turquoise de rinceaux feuillagés et lotus épanouis ou en boutons, la bordure rehaussée d'une frise de lotus plus petits alternant avec des volutes stylisées, le miroir inséré dans un cadre en bois polylobé à décor sculpté de feuilles et fleurs
Diamètre du miroir: 43,3 cm. (17 in.), Diamètre avec le cadre en bois: 62 cm. (12 3/8 in.)

Estimation: 12.000-17.000 € - Adjugé €121.000 à un collectionneur asiatique.

Notes: See another mirror from the Ming Dynasty illustrated in Clarified Beauty of Bronze Mirrors, Wellington Wang Collection, Huang Kuang Nan, The national Museum of History, Taipei, 2001, pp.196-197.

Compare with a Qianlong example of an enamelled mirror, illustrated in H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné - Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg, Zurich 1985, pl.272

Bol couvert en jade céladon pâle. Chine, Dynastie Qing, XVIIIeme-XIXeme siècle

De forme ovoïde, reposant sur un pied légérement évasé, la bordure plate composée d'une frise de ruyi, le couvercle bombé, surmonté d'une prise circulaire ornée du caractère shou et entourée de quatre éléments en forme de ruyi incisés de chauve-souris et soutenant quatre anneaux mobiles
Diamètre: 13 cm. (5 1/8 in.), Hauteur: 10,5 cm. (4 1/8 in.)

Estimation: 6.000-8.000 € - Adjugé €103.000 à un antiquaire européen.

Provenance: The Property of a lady of Title.
Acquired in Beijing during the Boxer rebellion 1900-1903

Notes: The shou character on the finial of the cover might indicate that the present bowl may have been a special commission for a wedding or a birthday celebration. It has been mentioned that covered bowls of this type, known as lian, were used by Qing court ladies as cosmetic boxes.
A formal related jade bowl and cover, but the body carved in shallow relief, is in the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, illustrated in Jadeware III - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong 1995, p.242, no.198 ; while another example of that type of bowls was sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 28-29 November 2005, lot 1645. For a further example of a covered jade bowl with loose rings suspending from the finial, see Christie's Hong Kong, Important Chinese Jades from the personal Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, 28 November 2006, lot 1389.

Rare coupe libatoire en corne de rhinocéros sculptée. Chine, dynastie Qing, XVIIeme-XVIIIeme siècle

De taille importante, l'extérieur finement sculpté en trois dimensions d'un paysage continu de rivière, montagnes et rochers, agrémenté de plusieurs pavillons et d'arbres divers aux troncs tortueux, des lettrés se promenant dans ce décor poétique, les branches d'un grand pin formant l'anse et s'étalant à l'intérieur de la coupe, marque gravée 'Ziangzhi' à la base, socle en bois ; partie de l'anse manquante, la base refixée, petits accidents
Hauteur: 15,5 cm. (6 1/8 in.)

Estimation: 20.000-30.000 € - Adjugé € 97.000 à un collectionneur asiatique.

Provenance: Acquired before the 1930's in China by a former German ambassador to China and thence by descent to the present owner.

Notes: The rhinoceros horn is considered as one of the 'Eight Precious' symbols. It was known to the Chinese for its power to detect poison which resulted in the creation of these specific food and drink vessels.
The quality of carving of this horn is exquisite and three-dimensional. A very similar rhinoceros horn libation cup is illustrated in Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong 2002, pl.145.

Vase 'phénix' en bronze doré et incrustations de pierres dures. Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong (1736-1795)

Formé de deux phénix représentés côte à côte, tous deux reposant sur une patte, l'autre relevée, la tête tournée vers l'arrière, les ailes repliées, le plumage en partie incisé et rehaussé de pierres dures diverses, le dos des oiseaux supportant une racine tortueuse formant vase et agrémentée de lingzhi incrustés, les deux volatiles reposant sur une base rocailleuse de laquelle émergent d'autres lingzhi incrustés ; le dessous de la base rapporté, quelques incrustations manquantes
Hauteur: 15,7 cm. (6¼ in.)

Estimation: 30.000-40.000 € - Adjugé €79.000 à un antiquaire européen.

Provenance: Famille Rothschild, Paris.

Notes: Compare a related vase with two birds surrounding a hollow trunk from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Philip Rawson and Laszlo Legaza, Tao, la Philosophie Chinoise de Temps et du Changement, Paris 1973, p.101, fig.17.
The present vase is related to a group of hardstone embellished gilt-bronze censers from the Qianlong period modelled as mythical qilin. These later are cast with a cylindrical funnel on their backs such as the example illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Incense Burners and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties, Taipei 1994, no.119 ; and the lot sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 29 November 2005, lot 1584. Another version of this type of gilt-bronze mythical beast is found cast in two separate parts with the beast's head acting as a cover, cf. a similar example sold in these Rooms, 15 June 2005, lot 219.

Rare et important coffre en laque nanban. Japon, époque Momoyama, fin du XVIeme-debut du XVIIeme siècle

De forme rectangulaire, les quatre côtés du coffre ainsi que le couvercle bombé à décor de panneaux délimités par des cadres en incrustations de nacre et de larges bandes à motifs de treillis losangés ou hexagonaux rehaussés en leur centre d'un chrysanthème, les panneaux à fond pailleté de nacre et ornés de cartouches polylobés à décor laqué or et brun sur fond noir et incrustations de nacre de scènes animalières dans des paysages fleuris et arborés, la face principale du coffre agrémentée de tigres et de paons, les petits côtés de singes et de chèvres, le couvercle de coqs et de daims, ces deux derniers médaillons rehaussés d'une bordure élaborée faite d'un quadrillage de nacre, les côtés du couvercle ornés du kaye-mon des Katô de Minakuchi, le dos agrémenté de deux médaillons à décor laqué or de rinceaux végétaux, l'intérieur du couvercle décoré en laque noire, or, ocre et blanche de trois grues volant parmi des lianes feuillagées de vigne vierge, l'intérieur du coffre et la base peints en noir, les ferrures, les fermoirs et les poignées en métal ; petits manques et petites zones de restaurations
Dimensions: 133 x 59,3 x 64,5 cm. (52 3/8 x 23 3/8 x 25 3/8 in.)

Estimation: 50.000-70.000 € - Adjugé € 67.000 à un antiquaire européen.

Provenance: From a private French collection.

Notes: This chest is a product of the brief, dynamic period of interaction between East and West around 1600, a period that produced some remarkable art. Between 1571 and 1640 Portuguese traders accompanied by Jesuit missionaries sailed into the Bay of Nagasaki once a year in an enormous carrack. Until 1624 there was also a small trade between the Japanese and the Spanish, who were based in the Philippine Islands. The Dutch East India Company arrived in 1609.

The Portuguese took advantage of local craftsmanship to commission utensils that they could use in their new churches in Japan or export to the West for profit. Late 16th-century Japanese lacquer was highly prized in Europe and most Nanban [southern barbarian] lacquers, so called because the Iberian traders came to Japan from the south, have been found in recent years in the West.

Nanban lacquers are characterized by a density of decoration that seems quite un-Japanese, and this example is no exception. No surface is left uncovered. The formal geometric borders and strong symmetry are also alien to traditional Japanese design.
The Nanban lacquers are distinguished by their use of sparkling mother-of-pearl, a technique that achieved great popularity at this time. There are two possible sources of influence for the increased use of shell. Portuguese traders in Goa acquired objects with wood and ivory inlay produced by Indian craftsmen. Simultaneously, Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea in the late 16th century may have exposed the Japanese to Korean lacquers, which are lavishly decorated with shell inlay.

See another very impressive Nanban chest with domed lid and three drawers, sold in our London Rooms, 16 June 1999, lot 135.

Grand plat en porcelaine émaillée vert, jaune et aubergine sur fond vert. Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Kangxi (1662-1722)

De forme circulaire, à décor incisé et peint, au centre d'un médaillon orné de deux grands dragons à cinq griffes, l'un vert, l'autre aubergine, évoluant parmi les nuages, de part et d'autre de la perle sacrée, l'aile agrémentée de bouquets fleuris (prunus, lotus, camélia, pivoine et chrysanthème), le marli rehaussé de six dragons pourchassant des perles sacrées, l'extérieur du plat reprenant le même décor, le revers du marli rehaussé de grues, marque à quatre caractères de l'Empereur Chenghua réservée sur fond noir et entourée de deux dragons verts inclus dans un double cercle en bleu sous couverte ; usures
Diamètre: 40,5 cm. (16 in.)

Estimation: 30.000-40.000 € - Adjugé € 55.000 à un collectionneur asiatique.

Provenance: From a German private collection

Notes: The design of this dish appears to be based on Wanli prototypes from the 16th/17th century. Such an early small dish decorated with a related design of two dragons contesting a flaming pearl above a rock and waves below flowering and fruiting sprigs in the well and painted on the biscuit was included in the exhibition, Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period, Hongzhi to Wanli (1488-1620), 8 September 1994 - 7 February 1995, and is illustrated by R. Scott and R. Kerr in the catalogue, p. 27, no. 41.
Several later dishes of this pattern and of comparable large size like the present lot from the Kangxi period are known, but all with a yellow-ground. Such a dish sold in Our Hong Kong Rooms, Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 2 November 1999, lot 578; another dish is illustrated in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Periods from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 122, no. 105; a further dish is in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Enameled Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Book I, Hong Kong, 1969, pp. 62-63, pl. 7-7b; and in J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, fig. 197. Only one other dish of this type in the green palette of the present lot is recorded in the Exhibition catalogue International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-1936, nr.1689, p.142, illustrated pl.161.
There are two smaller and one larger dish from the Kangxi period decorated in a different style showing a dragon playing with the flaming pearl in Famille verte and Famille noire on biscuit from the collection of the Musée Guimet but with the same type of black over decorated four- character Chenghua marks flanked by two dragons like the present lot (see Chefs-d'oeuvre de la collection Grandidier de céramiques chinoises, Musée National des Arts asiatiques - Guimet, G 4832, G 4833, G 4947). These pieces are described as imperial. On plate G 4832 there is an old paper label from 1934 on which is mentioned that Sir Percival David ascertains that these black marks were added to cover the underglaze blue Kangxi marks as homage to an earlier period of Chinese history.

Rare et importante tabatière en émaux de Pékin. Chine, dynastie Qing, Ateliers Imperiaux, Beijing, marque yuzhi à quatre caractères et &poque Qianlong, 1770-1799

De forme balustre allongée, décorée en émaux polychromes d'une scène continue représentant un couple de faisans posés sur un rocher, sous un arbre feuillagé, trois oiseaux perchés sur les branchages d'un pin, surplombant un bosquet de pivoines, le pied et le col rehaussés de frises de grecques, la base portant une marque yuzhi à quatre caractères, le bouchon en métal ciselé
Hauteur avec le bouchon: 8,5 cm. (3 3/8 in.)

Estimation: 40.000-60.000 € - Adjugé € 51.400 à un acquéreur anonyme

Provenance: Collection de Monsieur Charles V. Swain

Notes: There is a series of Beijing enamel snuff bottles which can be dated to the last decades of the reign of Qianlong, among which are several of varying shapes decorated with a similar design of pairs of birds, representing marital harmony.
A bottle with the same pattern although of different shape from the Meriem Collection, Part II, was sold in our New York Rooms, 19 March 2008, lot 252.

See the exhibition catalogue, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Snuff Bottles of the Ch'ing Dynasty, p.51, nos.14 and 15; and for a third, see R. Kleiner, Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Collection of Mary and George Bloch, p.9, no.8. A fourth bottle in the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, Seattle Art Museum, has a Jiaqing reign mark, which reinforces the dating of the group to the late eighteenth century.

Importante Tête de Bouddha Shakyamuni en Stuc. Gandhara, 4ème-5ème siècle

Superbement modelée, le visage serein, l'urna rehaussant le front, les sourcils arqués, les yeux mi-clos en amande, le nez aquilin, la fine bouche légèrement souriante, le lobe allongé de son oreille gauche cassé, socle ; accidents
Hauteur sans le socle: 55 cm. (21 5/8 in.)

Estimation: 40.000-60.000 € - Adjugé € 51.400 à un collectionneur européen.

Notes: Larger than life size, the present head is an outstanding example of the ability of gandharan artists capturing the idealized physical beauty of the enlightened Buddha. The head blends naturalism with spiritual content, expressing a sense of mediative concentration. The perfect proportions of the Buddhas's oval face with its deeply carved elongated eyes, high cheekbones and prominent nose are remarkable and attest to the consummate skill of the sculptor.
Compare a stylistically related example in W. Zwalf, A catalogue of Gandhara Sculpture in the British Museum, 1996, cat. no. 545. Another large head is illustrated in Harald Inghold, Gandharan Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957, no. 531.

Habit de cérémonie et son casque. Chine, Dynastie Qing, 19è siècle

Comprenant plusieurs éléments indépendants: une veste et un tablier brodés de motifs bleus en Y sur fond de fils d'or rehaussés de clous métalliques en forme de Y et bordés de velours marron, un médaillon brodé d'un dragon sur la poitrine, un autre dans le dos, deux sur le tablier, un autre sur chaque épaulette, celles-ci bordées de plaques métalliques dorées ornées de dragons en repoussé ; le casque en métal orné d'ornements en filigrane représentant des dragons, surmonté d'un pompon fait de fils rouges
Hauteur: 155 cm. (61 in.), Hauteur du casque: 27 cm. (10 5/8 in.)

Estimation: 10.000-15.000 € - Adjugé € 50.200 à un collectionneur asiatique.

Provenance: From a French collection

Notes: Each regiment of the Manchu Banner army was wearing uniforms in the colors of their banner. They were made in the Imperial workshops in Hangzhou and when not worn were stored at the Western Gate of the Forbidden City.
Ceremonial suits of armor of the present type were worn by high-ranking officers during ceremonies when the Emperor reviewed his armies to assess their strength and techniques of cavalry, archery and combat. Although the purpose of this uniform was purely ceremonial, its construction is based on armour used for protection in battle. Made of satin padded with cotton, trimmed and lined with blue silk, they were covered with gilt studs and embroidered with dragon roundels. The sleeves are separate from the tunic body and attached by means of silk straps and buckless, thus allowing the wearer a greater range of arm movement. The exposed areas around the sleeves were then covered with shoulder guards. The legs were covered with aprons, again for protection, but the seat was left free to allow the wearer to mount a horse. The front square panel here is made of silk, but would have been made of metal in an actual combat armour.
Compare with two almost identical ceremonial suits of armor, one kept in the Museuo Oriental de Valladoid, the other in John E. Vollmer, Decoding Dragons: Status garments in Ch'ing Dynasty China, University of Oregon Museum of Art, 1983, frontispiece; another similar suit of armor was sold at Sotheby's New York, 23 March 2004, lot 554 and a further one at Sotheby's London, 13 November 2002, lot 17.

Plaque en jade sculpté, Chine

De forme rectangulaire, à décor sculpté représentant Shoulao accompagné par deux serviteurs tenant un vase, dans un paysage montagneux agrémenté de pins et bordant une rivière, une frise incisée de rinceaux fleuris sur la bordure au revers
Dimensions: 17 x 23,9 cm. (6¾ x 9 3/8 in.)