PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART

The Stoclet Collection

“There is nothing of the expected in this collection, for the collector was only interested in the exceptional”

Georges A. Salles, Directeur des Musées de France

Adolphe Stoclet (1871–1949) was a Belgium engineer, financier, and notable collector of antiquities. With his wife, Suzanne, he amassed an eclectic and encyclopaedic collection of ‘haute epoque’ pieces from ancient civilisations including China, Cambodia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, pre-Columbian Mexico and tribal Africa.

In 1905 the Stoclets’ passion for art, architecture and antiquities culminated in the commission of Josef Hoffmann, of Wiener Werkstätte, to build Stoclet Palace in Brussels to house their extensive collection.

The palace is considered to be one of the great monuments of Vienna Secession architecture, heralding the birth of modernism and embodying the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk.

Gesamtkunstwerk was written about by the composer Richard Wagner in 1849, heralding his aesthetic ideals for theatre to be a total work of art. Every dimension of Stoclet Palace - interior and exterior architecture, decoration, furniture, silverware, gardens and planting – is praised for its unity of style.

The Stoclets were avant garde in the truest sense of the term, their aesthetic innovation and passion for creativity brought together the artists of the age; Gustav Klimt painted the mural in the dining room of Stoclet Palace, his last monumental piece before his untimely death in 1918.

Adolphe and Suzanne Stoclet entertained Queen Elizabeth and the King of Sweden as well as historians, archaeologists, writers, and musicians however, pieces from the Stoclet Collection have rarely been published or seen in the public domain.

John Axford

+44 (0)1722 424506 | jea@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Freya Yuan-Richards

+44 (0)1722 424589 | fyr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Jeremy Morgan

+44 (0)7812 601098 | jm@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Opposite:

This rare marble stele depicting the Buddhist goddess Guanyin predates the Sutton Hoo hoard. It was carved in China in the Northern Qi dynasty, (550–577 AD), and is a treasure from the collection of Adolphe Stoclet. It was exhibited at ‘Art bouddhique’, in Paris at the Musée Cernuschi in 1913.

Estimate £40,000–60,000

Below:

Chinese rarities from the Stoclet Collection: All the Stoclet pieces illustrated here were published by Salles and Lion-Goldschmidt in 1956, (The Adolphe Stoclet Collection).

Zhao Mengfu was a Chinese calligrapher, scholar and painter during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). He was a descendant of the Imperial family of the Northern Song dynasty, and as a prince, Mengfu was educated at the Imperial college, but rejected the refined brushwork of his era for the simplified style of ancient masters.

Mengfu was honoured as an early master of the literati painters who sought personal expression rather than the representation of nature. Khubilai Khan and other Mongol emperors admired his work, offering him the position of President of the Hanlin Academy, the most prestigious body of scholars in China in 1316.

The painting we are offering in our May sale is attributed to Zhao Mengfu and comes from the Stoclet Collection. It depicts a rider with his servant racing ahead. This is one of Mengfu’s favoured subject matters and he is popularly remembered as a painter of horses in the style of the Tang Dynasty (618–907) master Han Gan.

Below:

Attributed to Zhao Mengfu, Rider and his servant.

Yuan/ Ming dynasty, 33cm x 51cm

Provenance:

From the collection of Adolphe Stoclet, 1871–1949.

Exhibited:

Peintures chinoises anciennes, Paris, Musée Cernuschi, 1912, no.130.

Published:

Georges A Salles and Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Adolphe Stoclet Collection (part I), Brussels, 1956

Estimate £8,000–12,000

Right:

A rare Chinese market gilded bronze equestrian timepiece c.1780–1800

Provenance:

From the collection of the Hon. Nellie Ionides, 1883–1962, sold by Sotheby & Co, London

31st May, 1963

Below left: Nellie with her beloved poodle Cliquot

Below right: The Chinese room, Buxton Park

John Axford

+44 (0)1722 424506 jea@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Freya Yuan-Richards

+44 (0)1722 424589 fyr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Jeremy Morgan

+44 (0)7812 601098 jm@woolleyandwallis.co.uk then the home of Mr and the Hon. Mrs Basil Ionides, with beautiful shots of the interiors and of their treasures. If you look closely at the image of the Chinese room, you will see this exquisite gilded bronze equestrian timepiece on the mantelpiece on the left-hand side. Nellie amassed an important collection of Chinese art, part of which was left to the British Museum, and part of which was sold in 1963 and 1964.

This superb pair of deeply carved Chinese Imperial cinnabar lacquer dragon bowls and stands are one of the highlights of our May auction series. They date from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, and will be sold on behalf of Parkinson’s UK.

Right and below:

Chinese Imperial cinnabar lacquer dragon bowls and stands

Date from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, 18cm Estimate £100,000–200,000

Provenance: A private collection, London purchased from Nicholas Grindley in the 1980s Estimate £15,000–25,000

John Axford

+44 (0)1722 424506 jea@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Freya Yuan-Richards

+44 (0)1722 424589 fyr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Jeremy Morgan

+44 (0)7812 601098 jm@woolleyandwallis.co.uk