Christies Auctions of Chinese and Asian Art This November | News

Christie's auctions of Chinese and Asian art this November has resulted in a stack of superb catalogs. Their content covers Western Zhou jade to fine 20th C. modern paintings with several collections of fine Ming and Qing ceramics. Some absolutely excellent items.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the sales, however, I urge you to check the catalogs. Several, as always, have some excellent write-ups and are well worth reading.

On offer:

• A stunning pair of late Ming Compound cabinets and upper hat chests. The form and color are outstanding and were acquired in Hong Kong in 1994 from Cola Ma. (see photo)
• In the Le Cong Tang collection sale among the many great items is an extremely rare Jiajing wucai jar and lid "Fish Jar".  It appears to be in stunning condition with nearly no signs of wear. It sold in 1992 at Sotheby's for $2,860,000 and then again in 2000 for $44,044,750HK. At the time it was the record price for a piece of Chinese porcelain.
• Also in the Le Cong Tang sale is an amazingly handsome and extremely rare blue and white Yongle Islamic form basin, the estimate is $1.6 to $2.3 million.

For the collector of scholar's objects, there are a number of great things to peruse.

• Lot 8117 an extremely rare lost wax cast parcel gilt-bronze incense burner with seal mark of Yunjian Hu Wenming. The preeminent artist of the day for his superb bronze castings. Several are in the Palace and National Palace museum collections.
• Lot 8107 a fine and very rare carved Huanghuali Ming to early Qing "Chilong" floral form brush pot.
• Lot 8120 a very large Ming dynasty dehua Kwan yin figure bearing the seal mark of He Chaozong. The figure measure 20.25 inches tall and is an absolutely superb example. Est. $1.3 to $1.9 million.

• Other cataloged items include a very fine and quite unusual yellow enamel Xuande bell-shaped bowl, previously in the Meiyintang collection and ex Eskenazi Ltd.  Yellow enamel examples form this period are incredibly rare. A nearly identical example from the period is also in the National Palace Museum collection.

Yangdetang Collection Jades, a year or so ago the collection sold some of its fine porcelains, this time around it will be early jades. Mostly of pendants and fine ornaments. Comprising around 82 lots of some terribly rare items.

The HU Collection of Monochromes.

Excerpt from catalog: The collection of J.M. Hu represents a lifetime’s dedication to connoisseurship and beauty. Across more than half a century, J.M. Hu acquired an exceptional grouping of Chinese ceramics—and in particular imperial porcelain—that illuminated the rich history of China and its people. In both his personal collection and in his bequests to cultural institutions, J.M. Hu stood as a model of the modern scholar-collector.