From late November throughout December, Bonhams will present a strong line-up of 11 Asian art sales across its global salerooms from Australia and Asia to Europe and America, as well as on Bonhams.com. Below are the highlights of each sale in chronological order.
Fine Chinese Paintings
30 November 2020 | Hong Kong
The biannual Fine Chinese Paintings sale in Hong Kong will be led by Seasonal Flowers (estimate: HK$1,000,000-2,000,000) by Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), Harvesting Watermelons (estimate: HK$350,000-450,000) by Feng Zikai (1898-1975), Landscape, Looking Afar from Pavilion (estimate: HK$350,000-450,000) by Pu Ru (1896-1963), as well as Zhang Daqian's Moji Garden Landscape (HK$150,000-250,000) from the collection of French art historian Philippe Stern (1895-1979), who dedicated his life-long career to the renowned Musée Guimet as a curator, a musicologist, and finally as a director until his retirement in 1965.
The Richard Fabian Collection of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy II
30 November 2020 | Hong Kong
Building upon the successful sale of the Reverend Richard Fabian Collection in 2019, Bonhams once again presents a series of fine paintings and calligraphic works from America's premier private collection of modern Chinese paintings. Reverend Richard Fabian – founder and rector of San Francisco's ecumenical St. Gregory Nyssen Episcopal Church – first discovered the compelling beauty of Chinese paintings while majoring in Chinese art at Yale University in the 1960s. Over three decades, he formed a panoramic collection spanning the 200-year development of modern Chinese paintings. Spotlighting a selection of calligraphic works influenced by the 'Epigraphy Movement' in the 18th century, this 'part II' sale is led by: Qi Baishi (1864-1957), Crows Returning to Barren Trees (estimate: HK$1,200,000-1,800,000) and Begonias and Rock (estimate: HK$800,000-1,200,000); Lu Yanshao (1909-1993), Cloud and Mist Come and Go (estimate: HK$2,000,000-3,000,000); and Fu Baoshi (1904-1965), Goddess of the Xiang River (estimate: HK$800,000-1,200,000), as well as Album of Bamboo (estimate: HK$50,000-80,000) by Qing female painter Xia Lingyi. Female artists were extremely rare in the history of Chinese art, leaving fewer than a handful of their masterworks available in the market. Bamboo was a favourite subject for Xia and her family's generations of painters, and this work is by far one of her finest to appear at auction.
Eternal Resonance: Music in Chinese Art
1 December 2020 | Hong Kong
Bonhams presents Hong Kong's first-ever fine Chinese works of art thematic auction dedicated to music. The sale of Eternal Resonance: Music in Chinese Art, to be held on 1 December 2020, surveys a vast range of music-themed works from across time in Chinese culture, from the Bronze age to the present time. Highlights include musical instruments from archaic bronze drums and ritual bells to guqin and bamboo flutes, alongside other works of art embellished with musical elements in the varied medium of jade, porcelain, lacquer, painting, calligraphy, cloisonné-enamel and many more. Highlights include a 'Taigu yuanyin': an important and rare Confucius-style huanghuali and zitan inlaid hundred-patch guqin, Ming Dynasty (estimate: HK$1,500,000-2,000,000); a rare and large archaic bronze ritual bell, yongzhong, Early Western Zhou Dynasty (estimate: HK$400,000-600,000); and a unique qin table designed by Jerry J.I. Chen (estimate: HK$200,000-300,000). Please refer to a separate release – available in image links – for full details.
Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
1 December 2020 | Hong Kong
Also to be held on 1 December 2020 is Bonhams' Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale, led by a pair of exceptionally rare Late Tianshun/Early Chenghua yellow-glazed anhua 'Dragon' Saucer-dishes. The dishes are each moulded around the interior cavetto in anhua with a pair of dragons pursuing flaming pearl amidst fire and cloud scrolls. It is believed that yellow monochromes were reserved for the sole use of the imperial court, whereas a yellow-coloured dragon with five claws, as a decorative motif, would have been restricted exclusively for decorating items for the emperor's personal use. The dishes, hitherto unknown and hailing from the Athens collection of Thekla and Costa Marinidis from the 1950s, will be offered as two individual lots, estimated at HK$600,000-800,000 each. Other highlights include a very rare and large imperial bronze incense burner, chaoguanlu, Yongzheng six-character mark and Jing Zhi two-character mark and of the period (estimate upon request), a huanghuali waisted corner-leg side table, tiaozhuo, 17th/18th century (estimate: HK$800,000-1,200,000), a very rare pair of large white and russet jade discs, bi, Late Warring States/mid Western Han Dynasty (estimate: HK$2,000,000- 3,000,000), and a large huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinet, Yuanjiaogui, 18th century (estimate: HK$1,500,000-1,800,000).
Images of Devotion
2 December 2020 | Hong Kong
The sale of Images of Devotion features more than 30 lots, led by a gilt copper alloy figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Khasa Malla, circa 13th century (estimate: HK$8,000,000-12,000,000). Measuring 40cm tall, this large, gilded bronze with a defined physique hails from the old French collection of Guy Kaufmann, a benefactor of the Musée Guimet. The sculpture ranks among an important few large bronze Buddhas from the enigmatic Khasa Malla kingdom, which ruled part of western Nepal and western Tibet between the 13th and 14th centuries. Also on offer is a Thangka of Vaishravana from Tibet, circa 1720-1760 (estimate: HK$1,500,000-1,800,000). Painted in a vibrant golden orange, an exceedingly rare colour to be used, the resplendent thangka of Vaishravana riding a lion is one of the finest and rarest depictions of the celebrated deity, who is both a fearsome protector and benevolent benefactor. The front cover lot is a 16th century Tibetan gilt copper alloy figure of Guhyasamaja Manjuvajra (estimate: HK$3,500,000-4,500,000), which was featured in the exhibition 'Tibet's Secret Temple' at the Wellcome Collection in London. Guhyasamaja, represented by the union of the male and female deities, is one of the earliest and most important tantric, transformative deities in Vajrayana Buddhism. The worship, or 'practice', of Guhyasamaja extends back to about the 8th century in India. Through Guhyasamaja, the practitioner can transcend his or her consciousness to achieve Buddhahood.
With this additional sale of Images of Devotion in the December auction calendar, there have now been six sales this year of Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art across New York, Hong Kong and via online, allowing collectors to buy and sell in the current strong market with heightened frequency and flexibility. As the market leader, Bonhams remains the only international auction house to dedicate our expertise on Himalayan, Indian and Southeast Asian art as a distinct category.
Chinese Paintings
2 December 2020 | Sydney
The Sydney sale of Chinese Paintings features more than 70 lots from a number of fresh-to-market private collections. Among the highlights are works by modern masters, including: Xu Beihong (1895-1953), Horse in a Deep Glaze (estimate: AU$90,000-110,000) and Magpies (estimate: AU$80,000-120,000), Pan Tianshou (1897-1971), Plum Blossoms (estimate: AU$50,000-80,000), Chen Zhifo (1895-1962), Indian Flycatcher and Plum Blossoms (estimate: AU$20,000-30,000), and Qing-dynasty master Xu Gu (1824-1896), Squirrels (estimate: AU$25,000-35,000), as well as works by many more contemporary artists active during the 1990s.
Fine Asian Works of Art
14 December 2020 | Los Angeles
Bonhams Los Angeles' three-day sale of Asian Art will be held on 14-16 December. The 400-lot Fine Asian Works of Art sale on the first day will highlight the Chinese Art Collection of Rosalind Ching Pastor. Born in Shanghai and raised in a family of collectors, she travelled by herself to Chicago in 1950 and remained there for the rest of her life. Under the guidance of Zhuang Yan and Na Zhiliang of the Taipei National Palace Museum, and her uncle, C. F. Yao, the owner of the prestigious Tonying & Company, Rosalind Ching Pastor formed her sizable collection which later became the subject of a published exhibition at the Honolulu Academy of Art in 2005. Highlights of Mrs. Pastor's collection include: Qi Baishi, Shrimps (estimate: US$70,000-90,000); a monumental painting attributed to Zhenran (1816-1884), Twelve Beauties from the Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng) (estimate: US$40,000-60,000), which was also featured in an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1990s; and an exquisite jadeite covered censer (estimate: US$30,000-50,000). The sale also features fine Chinese jades from the collection of Robert Youngman, including a group of archaic and archaistic nephrite examples, such as a small figure of a bi-toned kneeling deer looking over its back, dating to the Western Han Dynasty (estimate: US$15,000-20,000).
Also featured is Bonhams' inaugural offering of Japanese art in Los Angeles, highlighting more than 150 lots of prints, paintings, folding screens, arts of the samurai, netsuke and inro, many from the collection of the late Richard Silverman, beloved collector and long-time member of the International Netsuke Society. The strong netsuke highlights are led by a rare umoregi wood netsuke of a yuki daruma (snow daruma) (estimate: US$3,000-5,000) by the famed contemporary carver Nakamura Masatoshi (1915-2001). Other notable lots of the sale include: early modern works by printmaker Kawase Hasui, such as Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto (estimate: US$800-1,200), a rare watercolor of a beauty by the French expatriate Paul Jacoulet (estimate: US$4,000-5,000), a subtle and refined black-lacquer tray (estimate: US$15,000-20,000) by Shibata Zeshin, Japan's foremost lacquer artist; and a katana in fine mounts (estimate: US$12,000-18,000) by Kanesada.
Asian Decorative Works of Art
15-16 December 2020 | Los Angeles
This sale will feature more than 400 lots of Chinese, Japanese and Himalayan decorative arts from American estates and private collections, with highlights spanning paintings, ceramics, bronzes, jade carvings, snuff bottles and textiles. Leading the sale are Chinese paintings, textiles and ceramics from the Estate of the late legendary Cecilia Chiang, the renowned San Francisco-based culinary icon and founder of the Mandarin Restaurant who, according to San Francisco Chronicle, brought 'new levels of sophistication to Chinese cuisine in America.' Highlights include a historic hardwood mahjong table (estimate: US$1,500-2,500) where she gathered for decades to play with her friends. The sale also present a Colorado collection of wood and cinnabar lacquer sceptres, Qing dynasty jades, scholars' objects and modern paintings; a group of Chinese export silver and China trade paintings and photographs from the Richard Kelton Trust; as well as Japanese 20th century studio ceramics, furniture and contemporary paintings from the Richard Silverman Trust, along with cloisonné and metalwork from West Coast collections.
ONLINE-ONLY SALES
Bonhams.com
Southeast Asian Art and Adornment
20 November – 3 December 2020
Japanese Paintings from a London Collection (To Be Sold Without Reserves)
27 November – 11 December 2020
Chinese Paintings – The Online Sale
Sale date to be announced