SPOTLIGHT by Asian Art in London

ASIAN ART IN LONDON | ISSUE 1 | JUNE 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Introduction 8-9 Aktis Gallery 10 - 11 Eskenazi Limited 12 - 13 Grosvenor Gallery 14 - 15 Hanga Ten 16 - 17 J.A.N. Fine Art 18 - 19 Jacqueline Simcox Ltd. 20 - 21 John Eskenazi Ltd. 22 - 23 Jonathan Hope 24 - 25 Joost van den Bergh 26 - 27 Jorge Welsh Works of Art 28 - 29 Lam & Co Antiquities 30 - 31 Lam & Co UK 32 - 33 Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art

34 - 35 Marchant 36 - 37 Mayor Gallery 38 - 39 Michael Goedhuis 40 - 41 Mingei Japanese Arts 42 - 43 Peter Finer 44 - 45 Priestley & Ferraro 46 - 47 Rob Dean Art 48 - 49 Runjeet Singh 50 - 51 Shahnaz Gallery 52 - 53 Shapero Rare Books 54 - 55 Simon Pilling 56 - 57 Sue Ollemans 58 - 59 Susan Page Chinese Snuff Bottles

The description and attribution of pieces advertised are the sole responsibility of participants.

SPOTLIGHT | ISSUE #1 | JUNE 2021 Welcome to ‘Spotlight’! Asian Art in London is proud to present the first in a series of digital magazines featuring carefully curated pieces submitted by our 2021 participants. Each piece is available for sale at the marked price by application directly to the dealer presenting it. Produced to the highest standards of photography and design, this unique new format is an exciting extension to the Asian Art in London family of services. It will allow our clients to have access to works of art across the Asian art spectrum and over a wide range of price points throughout the year. We will aim to produce ‘Spotlight’ approximately bimonthly and it will be sent only to those of you who have signed up to the Asian Art in London website mailing list. The current issue contains 52 entries, from 26 participant galleries and dealers, ranging from the 2nd century BCE to 2021 in date and representing the cultures of half the world’s population; almost every material imaginable is used and almost every use is a possibility represented. We hope you will find it an enjoyable experience and that you will be inspired to make an immediate purchase! All of the participants look forward to hearing from you.

Henry Howard-Sneyd, Chair of Asian Art in London

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The London Original Print Fair (LOPF) has modified its operations to suit the current restrictions and plans a Print Week in dealers’ galleries next month, writes Laura Chesters. Prior to the pandemic, the annual event focusing on historic and Contemporary prints took place at The Royal Academy, its home for 36 years, but was held as an online edition last year. This year – while an indoor multi-exhibitor event is still prohibited – the reopening of shops in England allows dealers to hold

A representative from the Vaults tenancy association committee said: “Our leases end at the end of March and tenants are currently negotiating new leases. “It was a totally different situation with the previous landlord when we were in danger. We now have a new landlord who will be doing work to the upper building but are happy to keep the vaults. It will be business as usual when we can reopen.” However, Koopman Rare Art, which operates from the ground floor gallery above the vaults as well as renting vaults in the basement, has decided to leave the area and will open a new gallery in Dover Street, Mayfair, later this year. Koopman has been in Chancery Lane since the late 1950s.

Bought for just $35 at a yard sale in Connecticut last year, this small Yongle (1403-24) blue and white ‘lotus bud’ bowl proved one of the star lots of Asia Week New York. Given an estimate of $300,000-500,000 at Sotheby’s on March 17, it sold at $580,000/£412,000 ($721,800 including buyer’s premium). Shortly after making the purchase near New Haven, the buyer sent photographs of the 6¼in (16cm) bowl to Sotheby’s Asian art department. “We instinctively had a very, very good feeling about it,” said Angela McAteer, head of Sotheby’s Chinese art department in New York. It was later confirmed as one of only a handful of companion pieces known, including examples in the British Museum and the V&A. Another was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2007 for HK$700,000 (£70,000). The Yongle court brought a very distinctive style to the

Pick of the week

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$35 yard sale find stars in Asia Week New York

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Left: the Yongle period blue and white lotus bud bowl sold for $580,000 (£412,000) at Sotheby’s New York on March 17.

known portrait of an African The future of The London Silver Vaults figure in Persian on artChancery and Lane is secure thanks to one of the earliest artistic a new landlord but long-time resident Koopman Rare Art is leaving for records of the African community that Mayfair. is still Flexible office space provider The Office present in the Gulf region. Group (TOG) bought the building around On the market18for the ago. months Unlike at the previous owner (Aviva), the first time in half a century group plans to significantly refurbish and Bonhams’ Islamic & Indian redevelop the 150,000 sq ft block rather Art sale on March 30,pull it the building down. This means the than of The London Silver Vaults – sold at £300,000tenants (estimate around 40 dealers – can remain. £100,000-150,000).

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THE ART M AR KET WEEKLY

Among the highlights of last week’s Islamic and Indian art sales in London was this late Safavid portrait of a mercenary in the Persian army painted in the cosmopolitan city of Isfahan c.1680-90. Laura Chesters It could be thebyearliest

Print fair morphs into Print Week

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Silver Vaults to remain but Koopman plans Mayfair move

The record for a British coin has been broken again with the sale at Heritage in Dallas of an Edward VIII proof pattern £5 for $1.9m (£1.39m). The largest denomination from the fabled 1937 ‘abdication’ sets almost doubled the previous high for a British issue set just six months ago in Monaco. Despite extensive preparations for an Edward VIII coinage (records at the Royal Mint suggest that more than 200 dies for coins, medals and seals were prepared), the plans for general circulation in January 1938 were cut short by the events of December 1937. Only a handful of trial proofs survive.

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newly built porcelain kilns of Jingdezhen – perfecting a smooth porcelain body, an unctuous silky glaze and a recipe for deep blue cobalt decoration. The shape known as lotus bud (lianzi) or chicken heart (jixin) would seem to be purely Chinese. Alongside lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and pomegranate, blossoms are trefoil motifs borrowed from earlier Khorasan metalwork – the result of regular contact with the Islamic world. McAteer added: “The result epitomises the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime discovery stories that we dream about as specialists in the Chinese art field... it is a reminder that precious works of art remain hidden in plain sight just waiting to be found.” See Pick of the Week on page 6 for more highlights from Asia Week New York. Roland Arkell

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Asian Art Previews

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Asian Art International previews

Schedules for all sorts of auction series have been shaken up by pandemic restrictions, and the Asian art sales reflect this – but plenty is still on offer. By Roland Arkell and Anne Crane

Tibetan Buddha

May sale held by Christie’s or indeed at Woolley & Wallis – the Salisbury firm choosing to sell Chinese and Japanese art in July instead. Pictured here are some highlights from MayJune sales in the UK plus upcoming lots from events in Germany and France.n

Screen scene This 18th century Chinese lacquer table screen applied to both sides with a carved ivory scene of a mountainous landscape is housed in a stand carved with taotie masks and stylised phoenix. Measuring 22 x 8in (55 x 20cm), it comes for sale at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet on May 14 from a vendor whose grandfather owned it for many years. Estimate £800-1200. sworder.co.uk

Final slice of Roger Keverne stock Bonhams is to auction the remaining stock of the long-established London Chinese art dealership Roger Keverne. Two dedicated sales will disperse over 800 lots without reserve – the first on May 11, where this 9th or 10th century polychromed limestone figure of a luohan is guided at £30,000-50,000. The second takes place in June. Keverne, who was head of Spink’s Asian departments at the age of only 28, started his own business in 1992 with Miranda Clarke, his wife and business partner. He traded for many years from his gallery at 16 Clifford St, Mayfair, which closed its doors last June. bonhams.com

Acquired by diplomat grandfather

Chinese, Japanese & South East Asian Art Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers

Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 May, 10am

Satsuma bowl sold by Blow

asian art

Friday 14 May, 10am

Qianlong vase from English collection 15 Cecil Court | London | WC2N 4EZ

of Chinese art on May 12 includes SaturdaySotheby’s 8 andsale Sunday 9 May 10am - 1pm this Qianlong mark and period celadon ground Monday famille 10 - rose Thursday 10am - 4pm decorated 13 bottleMay vase from an English private collection. Made in the 1780s or 90s, towards the end of the Qianlong reign, it is guided at £80,000120,000. sothebys.com antiquestradegazette.com

primroses, apples and porcelain by the Chinese artist Pan Yu Liang (1895-1977). The 18 x 12½in (45 x 32cm) oil on cardboard, which is signed lower right, has an estimate of €80,000-120,000. tajan.com

Sun rises in Berlin

The May 11-14 auction at Adam Partridge will feature the last 40 lots of Meiji period Satsuma from a noted Worcestershire collection. This bowl decorated with a procession from the workshop of Shoko Takebe is signed and inscribed in Katakana Thomas B Blow. Blow was an English dealer who lived in Japan and supplied many European collections with fine works of art including Alfred Baur in Geneva. Estimate £1000-1500. adampartridge.co.uk

On view only at Sworders London Gallery

The sale at Mallams in Cheltenham on June 23-24 includes this pair of Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period blue and white five lobed jardinieres. Decorated with Indian lotus flowers, each vessel has four drainage piercings and is supported on five rue shaped feed with a linear rui head motif. Acquired by the vendor’s grandfather in Beijing around the 1930s while working as a junior diplomat, the 9in (23cm) pair is guided at £20,000-30,000. mallams.co.uk 30 | 8 May 2021

archaic bronzes, Ming and Qing dynasty porcelain, jade carvings, cloisonné enamels, lacquer and classical and modern Chinese paintings. The highlights include this c.15th century Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Buddha Bhaisajyaguru, from a European private collection. Estimate €350,000-550,000. christies.com

This 19th century thangka depicting the Buddhist goddess Tara seated in lalitasana on a lotus growing from a lake a pond, a padma in each hand, was acquired by Oliver Robert Coales in eastern Tibet in 1916-17. Measuring 14½ x 10in (37 x 26cm) in a brocaded silk mount, it is expected to bring £800-1200 at Olympia Auctions on A highlight of the May 26. Asian Art sale to be Matthew Barton’s sale comprises both European held by Tajan in Paris and Asian Works of Art. on June 7 will be this olympiaauctions.com still-life of a pot of

Primroses, apples and porcelain

Traditionally crammed into a couple of weeks in May, this year’s crop of UK Asian art sales will be held across a more leisurely schedule that runs from late spring into the summer. So, while Sotheby’s and Bonhams continue as normal with London sales this month, there is no

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Special 50th anniversary limited edition tea towel

Buddhist goddess takes a lotus position

Chiswick Auctions conducts two sales on June 1-2: the usual Asian Art sale, plus a themed sale called Chinese Art: 100 Stories. The latter features pieces relating tales from Chinese history or literature and others that have interesting provenances or stories, such as this late Ming blue and white elephant and buddha form censer. Produced for the Japanese market between 1620-45, and one of a group of ceramics known as kosometsuke (old blue and white), the form also had particular meaning in China where A number of Paris salerooms will be holding term qixiang (to ride an elephant) also dedicated auctions the of Asian Arts in June. sounds similar to jixiang, Christie’s Paris has a sale on June 9 of meaning good fortune. Estimate £15,000-20,000. works from private European and Asian chiswickauctions.co.uk collections that will feature Buddhist art,

Among the highlights of the Asian Art auction to be held by Koller in Zurich on June 2 is this 2ft 1in x 4ft 6in (62cm x 1.38m) ink and colour scroll painting Sunrise at Mount Tai by Li Keran (1907-89). Li Keran was a long-time student of Qi Baishi and in later years served as vice chairman of the Chinese Artists Association and dean of the Institute of Chinese Painting. He gave this painting to Lothar Bolz, a deputy prime minister of the GDR, during a four-month visit to Berlin in 1957. Bolz and German Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl, accompanied by Xia Yan, the Chinese deputy minister of culture, and Li Keran, had visited Qi Baishi during a visit to China in December 1955. The painting, which is inscribed and signed Keran, has three artist’s seals and one collector’s seal and is dated Berlin 1957, was acquired in 1970 by Jerg Haas, a collector from Wiesbaden. Estimate SFr150,000-250,000. kollerauctions.com

Russian ambassador’s Japanese swords On May 18 Paris auction firm Tessier Sarrou is selling the first part of a collection of Japanese swords. Half a dozen of these were formerly part of the collection of George Petrovitch Bakhmeteff (1847-1928), dispersed in a sale at Drouot in January 1929. Bakhmeteff served as the Russian ambassador to Japan from 1905-08 and then to Washington from 1911-17. After the Russian Revolution he lived in Paris. Among the Bakhmeteff swords in this auction is this wazkizashi from the Muromachi era (1333-1573) signed Munechika. It measures 18in (46cm) in length, has a red lacquer scabbard and mounts and fittings that include a tsuba, fuchi kashira and a kozuka in iron, brass menuki and a gilt copper habaki. Estimate €8000-10,000. tessier-sarrou.com

Bronze with multiple reasons to bid A highlight of the Asian art sale at Nagel in Stuttgart on June 23-25 will be this large 3ft (92cm) high Imperial gilt bronze figure of Varjrabhairava. A rare and large gold and silver-inlaid bronze tapir-form vessel, zun, Yuan/ Ming dynasty, 13th-15th century The multi-headed, multi£50,000-£80,000* limbed figure also known as Yamantaka (the destroyer of death) is one of the revered Scan the QR code to view the auction catalogue meditation deities of the www.roseberys.co.uk Gelug lineage of Buddhism. A notable attraction of Email asian@roseberys.co.uk for more information this piece is the inscription 70/76 Knights Hill, London SE27 0JD | +44 (0) 20 8761 2522 on the lotus pedestal which *Plus Buyer’s Premium +VAT (30% inclusive of VAT) is marked and dated daming 8 May 2021 | 31 chenghua jiu nian shiyi yue chu’er ri anxigong shi, corresponding to the second day of the 11th lunar month, the ninth year of emperor Chenghua’s reign, 1473. The anxigong shi part of the inscription specifies that the bronze figure was bestowed by the Anxi Palace, which Lady Wan Guifei, the favourite imperial consort of Chenghua, later occupied. A silk embroidery of Buddha from the Anxi Palace, in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, bears an inscription similar to the present figure, but for the seventh year of Chenghua’s reign (1471). It was identified by the museum experts as being commissioned by an imperial consort as a birthday gift for the emperor. The figure has come from a European private collection and was acquired through the New York dealer Alan Hartman in 1975. It was last at auction almost 120 years ago, in 1904, when it was sold at Drouot from the Gumpel collection. Estimate €1m-1.5m. auction.de antiquestradegazette.com

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Asian Art Auction

Mallams 1788

23rd & 24th June

A Chinese white jade brush washer, Qianlong period 1736-1795 Estimate £15,000 – 20,000

Mallams Cheltenham www.mallams.co.uk

8 May 2021 | 35

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AKTIS GALLERY (U.K.) LTD.

50 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6LX Aktis Gallery specialises in the post-war lyrical abstraction movement, focusing on some of the most influential Chinese émigré artists of the 20th century, such as the internationally renowned Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun as well as the contemporary Paris-based artist Gao Xingjian and the exceptional contemporary sculptor Wang Keping. In 2015 Aktis Gallery organized a major solo exhibition for Gao Xingjian aimed to celebrate the artistic diversity and complexity of Gao’s multidisciplinary oeuvre. It provided the opportunity to view a variety of Gao’s ink on paper works, his important inks on canvas, as well as his literature, cinematography and poetry. Aktis Gallery held a Q&A session with Gao Xingjian, where the artist’s shared his insights into his work. Since then, Aktis Gallery has continued to collaborate with Gao Xingjian and is delighted to present his works at Asian Art London 2021. Aktis Gallery will further showcase selected watercolours and inks by Zao Wou-Ki, one of the most celebrated 20th century Chinese artists.

CONTACT

Anna Chalova Phone: +442076296531 Email: anna@aktis-gallery.co.uk Website: https://aktis-gallery.co.uk

Under The Moon Gao Xingjian 2016 Ink on Paper 115.5 x 91 cm

Untitled, Zao Wou-Ki, 1973

Watercolour on paper, 28.5 x 38 cm

PROVENANCE Galerie De France Private Collection, France

ESKENAZI LIMITED

10 Clifford Street, London, W1S 2LJ Eskenazi Limited is one of the world’s most respected dealers in Chinese art. Over the past 50 years, the company has built a reputation as the leading player in the field, having sold some of the finest works of art seen on the market during this period and counting over 70 international institutions among their clients. Fahua porcelain vase, meiping, covered with an inky blue glaze with details picked out in turquoise, yellow and aubergine. The central register shows the figure of a scholar and his attendant holding a qin, framed by a gnarled pine tree and bamboo on one side and a building on the other. This painting of a tiger is part of a series depicting the animals of the zodiac, painted by the renowned artist, Li Huayi, in 2011. The Tiger is the third animal of the Chinese zodiac and those born in this year are said to be brave, generous, charming and self-possessed, although they can exhibit a highly authoritarian streak and a tendency to pounce unpredictably. Signed: Li Huayi, with one seal of the artist Huayi.

CONTACT

Daniel Eskenazi Phone: +442074935464 Email: daniel@eskenazi.co.uk Website: https://www.eskenazi.co.uk/

Porcelain Fahua Vase, Meiping Ming dynasty, 1368 - 1644 Height 30cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE The Tournet collection, Paris. Private collection. Hugh Moss Limited, London. Mr and Mrs P. Selinka collection, Ravensburg, Germany. Eskenazi Limited, London. Mr and Mrs S. Feinberg, Boston and by descent. Sotheby’s, London, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, London, 13 March 1973, number 229. Hugh Moss Limited, Chinese Works of Art, London, 1974, page 17. Sotheby’s, London, Fine Chinese and Annamese Ceramics, Bronzes and Works of Art, 13 December 1977, number 456. Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesische Keramik, Meisterwerke aus Privatsammlungen, Cologne, 1988, pages 94 - 95, number 62. Lempertz, Asiatische Kunst, Cologne, 26 - 27 November 2004, number 132. Eskenazi Limited, Room for study: fifty scholars’ objects, London 2019, number 17.

The Tiger

Li Huayi 2011 Ink and colours on silk Height 23.7cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE Eskenazi Limited, London. Mr and Mrs S. Feinberg, Boston and by descent. Eskenazi Limited, The twelve animals of the zodiac by Li Huayi, London, 2011, number 3. Eskenazi Limited, Room for study: fifty scholars’ objects, London 2019, number 44.

GROSVENOR GALLERY

35 Bury Street, London, SW1Y 6AU Grosvenor Gallery was founded in 1960 by the sociologist and writer Eric Estorick who began to collect works of art when he came to live in England after the Second World War. Its first premises was on Davies Street and it was the largest and best equipped gallery in England at the time.The gallery showed important European artists of the time - some for the first time in London such as Magritte, Picasso, Sironi, Chagall. In 2006, the Gallery shifted its focus to specialise in South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art especially the works of mid-20th century Indian modernists such as the Bombay Progressives, as well as Chughtai, Gulgee and Sadequain from Pakistan. The contemporary program includes exhibitions of work by Rasheed Araeen, Faiza Butt, Olivia Fraser and Dhruva Mistry amongst others. Yantra: Yantra depicts the expansion and contraction of the cosmos, emanating and returning again to the primordial centre, the One. Based on the mystical diagrams that originate from the Tantric traditions of India, the geometrical composition grows and contracts through the gold and white gold leaf and natural pigments that form its rhythmic, concentric vibrations. The natural pigments used in this piece are red lead, lapis lazuli, carmine, spinel black and zinc white. Her paints are prepared by hand and together the colours sing. Gold leaf is used in this piece to represent transcendence and spiritual bliss. Golden Lotus: The lotus flower has ancient sacred associations within the art of India. As a flower that blooms out of the mud, it is associated with purity, perfection, resurrection and spiritual growth. The malachite circle, while evidently connected to the physical idea of a lotus leaf, has metaphysical connotations within an Indian context as halos for emperors and maharajas are frequently depicted in this colour.

CONTACT

Conor Macklin, Charles Moore and Kajoli Khanna Phone: +442074847979 Email: art@grosvenorgallery.com Website: http://grosvenorgallery.com

Yantra

Elisabeth Deane 2021 Italian gold leaf, white gold leaf, natural pigments and Arabic gum on handmade Indian hemp paper 37 x 37 cm

The Golden Lotus

Olivia Fraser 2018 Giclée print on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching Paper Signed, titled and numbered from an edition of 100 Image size: 63.5 x 63.5 cm Sheet size 74 x 74 cm

HANGA TEN

PO BOX 67812, London, SW7 9BL Hanga Ten (in Japanese “Shop of Prints”) is a leading specialist of contemporary Japanese prints. Established over twenty years ago in London, Hanga Ten has been instrumental in introducing the works of master print artists from Japan to a worldwide audience of private and institutional collectors. Hanga Ten represents twenty-five artists and exhibits at major art fairs in the UK up to six times a year. Frequent visits to Japan ensure strong and long-term relationships with our artists which our international clientele can confidently rely upon. Hanga Ten is delighted to present works by two masters in their respective fields. First, Makoto OUCHI’s (1929-1989) triptych, “Peacocks” is a rare etching with aquatint and embossing, numbered 1/10, and is one of the largest-sized works created by the artist. A faint embossing of a peacock can be seen on the left panel. Ouchi was an unique artist who developed his own style of printing utilizing colour etching and paper blocks. While his images were inspired by ukiyo-e woodblock prints, he added his own contemporary style through his interpretation of Japanese images such as kabuki actors and nature, the use of soft colours, and the integration of geometric shapes with subtle embossing. Second, Yoshitishi MORI’s (1898-1992) “Kappazuri” Japanese style stencil print “Evening Cosmetics”. Mori is known as the master of “Kappazuri” printing, a method developed over centuries using thin feather-like paper for the stencils. Mori captures the traits and sensibilities of the people of Old Edo (Tokyo), and the human figures are full of passion, and often humour. This rare print is from Mori’s depiction of the Tale of Genji, a tale of court life in eleventh century Japan and depicts a lady courtesan getting ready for the evening socials.

CONTACT

Chiko Nara Phone: +447788458201 Email: japaneseprints@hangaten.com Website: http://hangaten.com

Evening Cosmetics

Yoshitoshi MORI (1898-1992) Japan, 1975 “KAPPAZURI” Japanese stencil printing on washi paper Paper size: 52 x 70 cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE The Mori Family Estate. Mori’s works are included in the permanent collections of the British Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago and MOMA NY among others. Mori Yoshitoshi Kappa-Ban Catalogue Raisonné, 1985, Item Number 134, Page 97.

Peacocks (Triptych)

Makoto OUCHI (1926-1989), Japan, 1985 Etching and aquatint with paper block embossing, Each frame size: 104 x 73 cm PROVENANCE Private family collection bought directly from the artist. Framed by master framer, Kato – Hiroo, Tokyo. The artist’s works are in the Permanent Collections of The British Museum; National Library, Tokyo; Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo; University of Sydney, Australia; Cincinnati Art Museum; Rockefeller Foundation, New York; Fogg Museum, Harvard University; Art Institute of Chicago.

J.A.N. FINE ART

134 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 4BH Established in 1977 and founded by Kikue Shimizu, J.A.N. Fine Art is located on the world renowned “street of antiques”, specialising in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Himalayan and South East Asian ceramics, porcelain, paintings and works of art. This pair of lanterns are in mirror image each with three sections, the base, the body and the lid. The body of hexagonal shape decorated with reticulated openwork designs surrounded by painted depictions of boys playing. Each side displays a central circular medallion surrounded by the open work design, each medallion is decorated with a different landscape scene. Lanterns are a symbol of wealth and status, while the boys playing motif symbolises fertility and longevity. This would have been a suitable gift for a wedding.

CONTACT

Adam Shimizu Phone: +442077920736 Email: info@jan-fineart-london.com Website: https://jan-fineart-london.com

A Rare Pair Of Famille Verte Porcelain Lanterns

Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China, Qing dynasty 18th century, Porcelain, overglaze enamel, H: 30cm D: 24cm

PROVENANCE Deaccessioned from the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada in 1969 Formerly in the George Crofts Collection Private Canadian Collection

Blue and White Double Gourd Sake Tokkuri Arita, Japan Porcelain, underglaze cobalt blue. 1680 21.5cm

PROVENANCE Private Japanese Collection A sake bottle in the form of a double gourd, designed with a landscape scene in underglaze cobalt blue. With Old Japanese wooden box.

JACQUELINE SIMCOX LTD.

54 Linton Street, Islington, London, N1 7AS (By appointment only)

Jacqueline Simcox specialises in Chinese and Himalayan silk textiles, including wall hangings, costumes and furnishings made for the Chinese Imperial palaces, aristocracy and the wealthy; buddhist textiles and other monastic items and decorative silk textiles for the home market and export textiles made specially for the West. The bolt of cream silk, delicately painted with flowers, was made in southern China near Canton for export to the West, including to America after 1776. The silk was used to make dresses for wealthy ladies or waistcoats for gentleman. The pair of rank badges were worn on the chest and back of a Chinese official’s dark blue coat. There were nine ranks of birds for civil officials and a similar number of animals for military officials. Here, the goose gazes upwards at a sun disc, representing the emperor, who was responsible for all appointments. The birds are surrounded by bats for joy and Daoist emblems on a ground of gold scrolls, while below the waves support Buddhist emblems.

CONTACT

Jacqueline Simcox Phone: +447775566388 Email: js@jacquelinesimcox.com Website: http://jacquelinesimcox.com

Chinese export silk, painted for the western market Chinese, circa 1800 Length: 9.5m; Width: 75.3 cm

A pair of silk kesi rank badges of a goose for a 4th rank civil official Chinese, Tongzhi, 1862-1874 30.5 cm square each badge

PROVENANCE The family of a British diplomat, bought in China in the 1930s

JOHN ESKENAZI LTD.

PO Box 55621, London, W9 2XA John Eskenazi is an internationally respected dealer in Indian, Gandharan, Himalayan and Southeast Asian art; he is also a specialist in collectors’ carpets and textiles. In 1997 he was instrumental in cofounding Asian Art in London. John Eskenazi and his wife, Fausta, are available, by appointment only, for consultation and private viewings of select pieces. The works of art featured by John Eskenazi represent two of his favourite fields, the art of Gandhara and the early art of India. The Gandharan sculpture is a serene Buddha head in stucco and the Indian sculpture is an elegant and sophisticated goddess from Bengal. While the former represents the faith that spread from northern India across Asia in the centuries following the life of the Buddha, the latter belongs to the more ancient, but persisting tradition of goddess worship that has existed in rural communities since the earliest historic times.

CONTACT

John Eskenazi Phone: +442074093001 Email: john.eskenazi@john-eskenazi.com Website: http://www.john-eskenazi.com

Head of Buddha 4th/5th century Unfired stucco Height 25cm

PROVENANCE Private collection, Rome, Italy before 1970

Goddess with Bird

2nd century BCE to 1st century CE Fired terracotta Height 33cm

PROVENANCE Private collection, New York, USA, late 1990’s Thermoluminescence Analysis by Oxford Authentication confirms last date of firing was between 1500 and 2400 years ago.

JONATHAN HOPE By appointment only

A specialist in Southeast Asian textiles and ethnographic art, Jonathan Hope has been dealing and collecting since the 1970s. He is a contributing editor of Hali Magazine and has written numerous articles for them on a number of subjects from European silk production in the early 18th century to traditional Javanese batik. He has exhibited at several European art fairs, most recently Parcours des Mondes in Paris and his textiles have been displayed in several non-commercial shows including the exhibition ‘Heirlooms’ at the Edinburgh International festival and ‘Cotton, Global Threads’ at Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery. His clients include several major museums and private collections both in the U.K and elsewhere. 1. A fine cotton chintz ‘dodot’, hip-cloth, made on India’s Coromandel coast for export to Indonesia, most probably Lampung, Southern Sumatra, dating from the second half of the 18th century. 2. A wooden fighting shield from the Garo people found principally in Meghalaya, and Assam in India, also in Bangladesh, many living in villages throughout the Garo hills. A matrilineal society, they are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group and call themselves A’chik or Mande. The name Garo has been given to them by the neighbouring peoples and was adopted by the colonial British.

CONTACT

Jonathan Hope Phone: +447711961937 Email: jonathan.glenhope@virginmedia.com

A fine cotton chintz ‘dodot’

Second half of the 18th century Block printed, mordant and dye painted and resist dyed, 314 X 132 cm

PROVENANCE A private collection in Japan.

A Garo fighting shield

Late 19th or early 20th century Wood, rattan, pigment, 61cm X 39cm at widest point

JOOST VAN DEN BERGH

By appointment in St James’s, London Based in London since 1988, Joost van den Bergh has dealt in Indian and South East Asian art for over 25 years, focussing particularly on Tantra, Jain and Hindu ritual art, as well as other works of art. He also specialises in 20th century modernist Japanese art. We are based in St. James’s, London and are open by appointment only.

CONTACT

Joost van den Bergh Phone: +447768038384 Email: joost@joostvandenbergh.com Website: https://www.joostvandenbergh.com

Shiva Lingam

Vietnam, Champa, 10th–12th century Stone Height: 70 cm Width and depth: 24 cm

PROVENANCE The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (The Ritman Library), Amsterdam

View of the Taj Mahal from the Yamuna River India, Company School, circa 1825–1850 Gouache on paper, 32.5 x 48cm

JORGE WELSH WORKS OF ART

116 Kensington Church St, London, W8 4BH

Jorge Welsh Works of Art, with galleries in London and Lisbon, was founded by Jorge Welsh and Luísa Vinhais. Our expertise is in Chinese porcelain – with an emphasis on export porcelain – and cross-cultural works of art from Africa, India, China, and Japan ranging from the 15th to the 19th century. ‘Tea Packing’ Saucer The saucer belongs to a rare group of porcelains illustrating European merchants inside Chinese tea shops in Canton. One of the merchants watches the Chinese workers packing the tea, while sampling a cup of tea. An overseer controls the packers treading the teas into wooden cases lined with special wrapping. European Subject Plate A European subject scene of musicians decorates the Chinese export plate. The seated man plays a lute and the woman, a triangle with metal rings threaded through the bottom bar, while the other man, holding a pair of castanets, makes advances on her. This scene is taken from a set of four gouaches by Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-1788) called ‘The Four Seasons’. This set was engraved by Johann Philip Koch (1716-1796) in circa 1750-55.

CONTACT

Jorge Welsh Phone: +447831186224 Email: uk@jorgewelsh.com Website: https://www.jorgewelsh.com

European Subject Plate

Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795) Porcelain decorated in overglaze famille rose enamels Ø 23 cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE Conde Collection SARGENT, William R., Chinese Porcelain in the Conde Collection, México, Ediciones El Viso, 2014, p. 226, no. 82

‘Tea Packing’ Saucer

Qing dynasty, Yongzheng/Qianlong period (1723-1795), 1730-1740 Porcelain decorated in overglaze famille rose enamels and gold Ø 12.7 cm

LAM & CO ANTIQUITIES

2/F 151 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong Lam & Co Antiquities, established in 1998, is one of the premier dealers of Chinese antiquities worldwide, including early ceramics, paintings and Buddhist sculpture. We work closely with auction houses and other dealers internationally to help clients and museums develop significant collections. Bronze buckle ornament with turquoise and agate inlay: The shallow round plaque inlaid with a red agate bead in the centre, surrounding by small circular turquoise pieces arranged in a seven-pointed star-shaped formation, the reverse fitted with an angular pointed hook. A Fine Tang Sancai Plate with Cups and Pot: The plate with shallow rounded sides rising to the everted rim, decorated with green, amber and cream spot glaze running over the rim to the exterior, with removable central bowl, two smaller cups and two smaller plates.

CONTACT

Addy Lam / Rex Lam Phone: +85292621179 Email: gallery@lamcoantiquities.com Website: https://www.lamcoantiquities.com

Bronze buckle ornament with turquoise and agate inlay China, Western Han Dynasty Bronze, Turquoise, Agate Diameter: 9.3cm

PROVENANCE The Sammlung Julius Eberhardt Collection - Nagel Auction (02/11/2013)

A Fine Tang Sancai Plate with Cups and Pot China, Tang Dynasty Sancai Glazed, Diameter: 31cm

PROVENANCE Private Hong Kong Collection

LAM & CO UK

4 Masons Yard, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6BU LAM & CO UK offers a variety of Chinese works of art ranging from Neolithic pottery, early ceramics to late Ming/Qing objects. A Rare Pair of Painted Pottery Lokapalas and A Demon: Each shown with mouth open, broad noses and painted beards as they stomp ferociously on a demon struggling to rise from the base. Their hands positioned to hold weapons, ready to stab the demon in the centre that tauntingly sticks out its tongue as if it is about to flee. The figures are completely painted in rich colours with elephant-head knee and gilt to represent the luxurious type of armour accorded individuals of high rank. Many Tang tombs excavated in recent decades around Xi’an and other sites in Shaanxi province have yielded painted earthenware lokapalas standing on bulls, deer, or small demons. A Fine Qingbai Box and cover of porcelain: Octagonal shape with bluish white (Qingbai) glaze. Flat cover bevelled at the edge, glazed inside and outside except under the base on which an inscription is moulded.

CONTACT

Rex Lam Phone: +447754970153 Email: gallery@lamcouk.com Website: https://www.lamcouk.com

Rare Pair of Painted Pottery Figures of Lokapalas and Demon China, Tang Dynasty (618-907) Pottery Height: 61cm

PROVENANCE Christie’s New York (Sept. 2014) Feng Wen Tang Collection

A Fine Octagonal Qingbai Box and Cover China, Song Dynasty (960-1279) Porcelain Diameter: 13cm

PROVENANCE Private Hong Kong Collection

LITTLETON & HENNESSY ASIAN ART 1 Princes Place, Duke Street, St. James’s, London, SW1Y 6DE

Littleton & Hennessy Asian Art is an art advisory group specialising in Asian works of art. We hold several exhibitions a year in our London gallery, in the heart of St. James’s and we have been regular exhibitors at various art fairs in the world. We provide consistent and reliable high quality acquisition and consulting services. We furnish clients with personalised assistance, sourcing pieces to form new collections and to compliment existing collections. We offer our clients the expertise to purchase with confidence pieces that will enhance their collections. For this inaugural edition of Spotlight, we have chosen two excellent works of art in bronze from the late Ming and mid-Qing dynasty. They are part of a larger group of later Chinese bronzes spanning from the Song through the Qing dynasties, presented in our exhibition for Asian Art in London in November 2020. We appreciate not everyone had the chance to visit this exhibition in person due to the Covid-19 restrictions at the time. We therefore want to give you the opportunity again to explore some of the works on show at the time.

CONTACT

Mark Slaats Phone: +447717825828 Email: mark@littletonandhennessy.com Website: https://www.littletonandhennessy.com

A ribbed rectangular bronze censer Xuande mark, 16th/17th century Bronze 12.5cm wide, 11cm height, 9.5cm depth

PROVENANCE A private English collection The central section of the censer cast with vertical ribs below a stepped rim with two upright handles of intertwined shape. The body raised on four short cylindrical legs. The base is cast with an apocryphal Xuande mark.

A miniature archaistic bronze vessel, ‘Gui’ Qing dynasty, 18th century Bronze 9.8cm wide

PROVENANCE Martindale Chinese Art - Summer Exhibition 2016 A private English collection Compare a larger ‘Gui’, dated to the Early Western Zhou Dynasty from the Michael Michaels Collection of Early Chinese Art, Christie’s London, 7 November 2017, lot 176. Compare an archaistic bronze vessel of similar size sold at Bonhams New York, Chinese Works of Art and Paintings, 12 September 2016, lot 8011.

MARCHANT

120 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 4BH The company was founded in 1925 by Samuel Sydney Marchant and is still family-owned and run, now in the fourth-generation. The specialities are Imperial Chinese Ming and Qing porcelain, jades, cloisonné, pottery and works of art. Emphasis is placed on rarity, quality and provenance. The blue and white vase is wonderfully painted with detailed scholars playing weiqi, a qin, with books and letters and attendants close by. The famille verte dish is painted with a vibrant and unusual figural scene painted up to the edge of the dish with no border, a design technique limited to a small number of early Kangxi period pieces, which results in the overall look being more like a painting than a dish.

CONTACT

Stuart Marchant Phone: +442072295319 Email: gallery@marchantasianart.com Website: http://marchantasianart.com

Chinese blue and white porcelain vase of ‘gu’ form Transitional, circa 1635-1640 Porcelain 47.3 cm high

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE From the collection of a titled French family. A similar vase from the Butler Family Collection is illustrated by Sir Michael Butler in Late Ming, Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Collections, Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg, 2008, no. 80, p. 119.

Chinese porcelain famille verte dish Early Kangxi, circa 1680 Porcelain 39 cm diameter

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE Formerly in the Dr. Günter Schäper Collection. Dr. Günter Schäper (1930-2014), had four great passions: medicine (which he studied at three German universities and in which he had his own practice for 30 years in his home town of Recklinghausen), collecting art, hiking and horticulture. His favourite ceramics were Meissen and Qing dynasty porcelain. His collection was sold to benefit two charities, one for the protection of cultural heritage and the other for the protection of nature and animal welfare. Another dish of this unusual subject within an elaborate border is in The Victoria and Albert Museum, gift of Sydney Vacher, collection no. 460-1918. Included by Marchant in their exhibition of Kangxi Famille Verte, 2017, no.3, pp. 14-15.

THE MAYOR GALLERY

21 Cork Street, First Floor, London, W1S 3LZ The first gallery to open its doors on Cork Street, Mayfair, in 1925, The Mayor Gallery is internationally renowned today for being foremost in Zero and International Concrete movements, particularly from the 1950s and 60s. With nearly 100 years in the art trade, the gallery continues to offer works by Dada, Surrealist, Op and Pop artists. Nobuya Abe (1913-1971) was an influential avant-garde artist. Between 1965 and 1966 “The New Japanese Paintings and Sculpture” exhibition, touring American museums, celebrated his international recognition. A Post-War artist living between Tokyo and Rome in the 1960s, Abe was a well-travelled figure in the art scene. His work combined the traditional Japanese pigment use with the simplicity and rigour of abstraction in all his textured works creating compositions based on Matter, Structure and Light.

CONTACT

Christine Hourde Phone: +442077343558 Email: christine@mayorgallery.com Website: https://www.mayorgallery.com

Obscuration (Red) Jiang Dahai 2014 Acrylic on canvas 150 x 150 cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE Acquired from the artist The Mayor Gallery, Jiang Dahai: Diffusion, 3 Nov - 16 Dec 2016, ill. in cat. p.25

Roma

Nobuya Abe, 1962, Pigments and encaustic on plywood board, 97 x 145 cm PROVENANCE The Artist; Tokyo Gallery+BTAP, Japan

MICHAEL GOEDHUIS

Flat 3, 61 Cadogan Square, London, SW1X 0HZ Michael Goedhuis has had vast experience in the art world, since the 1980s he has focused on many different fields before focusing on Chinese art. Initially he focused on Chinese bronzes of the Second Bronze Age and over the last 20 years he has established himself as a pioneer in the field of modern and contemporary Chinese art. Yao Jui-chung is now internationally recognised as one of the most innovative Chinese artists of his generation. His work runs against the current of much of the mainstream avant-garde, in its unabashed delight in producing a visual experience for the viewer that is beautiful as well as intellectually provocative. Guan Zhi, was introduced to Ink painting as a child but initially pursued a career in business before turning to painting. His primary aesthetic commitment is to transforming the classical canon of Chinese Ink painting into works which are meaningful to both Chinese society and the West today.

CONTACT

Michael Goedhuis Phone: +442078231395 Email: london@michaelgoedhuis.com Website: https://www.michaelgoedhuis.com

Good Times: Lion Leopard Lake Yao Jui-chung 2020 Handmade paper, gold leaf and ink 198.5 x 154 cm

Misty & Lofty

Guan Zhi, 2019 Ink and colour on paper, 70 x 124 cm

MINGEI JAPANESE ARTS 5, Rue Visconti, Paris, 75006

Mingei gallery, located in the antiques district in Saint-Germaindes-Prés, is specialised in ancient and contemporary art from Japan, and particularly in Japanese bamboo baskets as a pioneer and leader in Europe. The gallery works with museums and institutions and periodically organises thematic artist exhibitions with catalogs. The Mingei gallery is managed by Philippe Boudin and his daughter Zoé Niang. For this collaboration with Asian Art in London, we selected 2 Japanese bamboo baskets masterpieces which reflected our main specialty. The first basket named “Long Life” (Senju in Japanese) was made by Iizuka Rōkansai (1890-1958) who is considered as the most important bamboo artist in the 20th Century, sometime called the “Picasso of Bamboo”. The second artwork shows how is fascinating the avant-garde of bamboo in Japan. Sugiura Noriyoshi (b.1964), is one of the most important contemporary living artist. His work named “Ancient Creature” (Koseibutsu in Japanese) allows to understand all the creative possibilities offered by this wonderful grass, the bamboo.

CONTACT

Philippe Boudin Phone: +33609766068 Email: mingei.arts.gallery@gmail.com Website: http://mingei.gallery

Hanakago Senju (Long Life)

Iizuka Rōkansai (1890-1958) ca. 1940-1950 Bamboo hōbichiku, chocolate vine (Akebia Quinata) and urushi lacquer 30 (h) x 21 x 19.5 cm

PROVENANCE Private Collection, Tokyo (Japan) Exhibited at the National Museum of Asian Arts-Guimet, Paris (France), Oct.2020-April 2021 Photo Michel Gurfinkel

Koseibutsu (Ancient Creature) Sugiura Noriyoshi (b. 1964) 2019 Bamboo madake & urushi lacquer 34 (h) x 62 x 47 cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE Directly from the artist as his agent in Europe. Exhibited and published in “Ōita, Japanese Bamboo Art from the Ōita area”, 2019, Galerie Mingei - Paris (ISBN 9782956615026) Photo Michel Gurfinkel

PETER FINER

38-39 Duke Street, St James’s, London, SWIY 6DF Peter Finer was established in 1967. Today we are specialists in antique Arms and Armour from cultures worldwide, with a London gallery on historic Duke Street, St James’s. With a hard-earned reputation for handling the rarest and highest-quality pieces of antique Arms and Armour, we help to build superb private and institutional collections. We maintain excellent relationships with museums across the globe, and are honoured to count The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and The Royal Armouries of the United Kingdom among our clients. We have a discerning eye for quality and condition, and work with leading independent scholars and curators in the field to comprehensively research the works of art we handle. We have chosen two items for you that represent two of the most important historically important cultures of the Eastern World: The Ottoman Empire and the Mughul Empire

CONTACT

Redmond Finer Phone: +442078395666 Email: gallery@peterfiner.com Website: https://www.peterfiner.com

An Arm Defence or Dastana

India, Deccan, late 17th or early 18th century Iron, gold, textile Length 31.8 cm Width 9 cm

PROVENANCE Corbin Collection, France

An Ottoman Hunting Trousse

Ottoman, probably Epirus or Montenegro Dated 1892/3 Steel, silver, wood and niello Length 32cm

PROVENANCE Private Collection, Italy

PRIESTLEY & FERRARO

3 Bury Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6AB Priestley & Ferraro specialises in early Chinese art, with a focus on the ceramics of the Song dynasty and the periods immediately before and after. This was an exceptional time in the history of Chinese – and world – ceramics. Innovation was matched only by the perfection of technique, resulting in the proliferation of kilns all over China, each dedicated to a range of beautiful and characteristic wares. It is in this rich and rewarding field that we aim to find the finest pieces for the collector. Although our primary emphasis is on ceramics, we enjoy dealing in many categories of earlier Chinese works of art, including lacquer, both carved and undecorated, jades and cloisonné enamels, and from the pre-Song period, Han and Tang dynasty pottery animals and figures and Buddhist stone carving. The business was established in 1994 by David Priestley and Benedicta Ferraro. David studied Song dynasty ceramics under Mary Tregear at Oxford, before joining Sotheby’s in London where he worked as an expert in the Chinese Department. In 2002 Priestley & Ferraro was joined by Alice Williamson, also formerly of Sotheby’s and a graduate of SOAS. Priestley & Ferraro is a member of the British Antique Dealers Association (BADA).

CONTACT

David Priestley, Alice Williamson Phone: +442079306228 Email: gallery@priestleyandferraro.com Website: http://www.priestleyandferraro.com

A barbed Dingyao white-glazed dish

Late Tang dynasty (618-906) or Five Dynasties period (907-960), 10th century Glazed stoneware Diameter: 16.7cm

The Ding kilns, where this beautiful dish was made, rose to prominence in the later ninth century, becoming the leading white ware kiln in China. Their pioneering interest in floral forms is perfectly expressed in this fine dish, with the bracket lobed petals suggesting a simplified lotus blossom.

A carved ewer and cover Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Nephrite jade Width: 21 cm

PROVENANCE Blair Castle, Blair Atholl, Scotland Ming dynasty jade carvings are noted for the strength and boldness of their designs. They were intended for use, not just for decoration. Here, we can imagine a servant pouring yellow wine from this fine ewer into the cups of a convivial gathering of late Ming scholars.

ROB DEAN ART LTD.

1 The Street, Woolpit, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP30 9SA

Rob Dean has worked in the field of Indian Art since 1998. He has worked as a specialist of Modern and Classical Indian Paintings for both Christie’s and Sotheby’s and now works independently as a gallerist, lecturer, and consultant. In 2011 he co-founded the auction house Pundole’s and has been at the forefront of Indian Art Auctions for the past 18 years. Both works represent an early period in the career of Francis Newton Souza, the Goan artist who was to achieve critical acclaim in London shortly after these two works were created. In 1949 Dr. Hermann Goetz wrote, ‘He [Souza] has shocked many who cannot imagine a green or blue human body...who cannot stand a simplification intended to intensify an experience, or a distortion of proportions suggesting a sense of earthbound heaviness...who cannot face the frank statement of sex which is sublimated not by suppression but by association and interplay with the experience of the soul.’

CONTACT

Rob Dean Phone: +447764942306 Email: rob@robdeanart.com Website: https://www.robdeanart.com

Untitled (Couple)

Francis Newton Souza (1924 - 2002) 1949. Signed and dated on reverse. Pencil, ink and watercolour on paper 31.5 x 19.8 cm

PROVENANCE & LITERATURE Originally acquired from Julian Hartnoll From Miniature to Modern, Rob Dean Art, exhibited London June 2010, illustrated p. 79.

Untitled (Priest and Nude)

Francis Newton Souza (1924 - 2002) 1954 Ink on paper 33 x 19.8 cm

PROVENANCE The Estate of F N Souza.

RUNJEET SINGH

By appointment only, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire Runjeet Singh is a dealer who specialises in Asian antique arms and armour. He welcomes visitors by appointment in Royal Leamington Spa, a town in rural Warwickshire, approximately 80 miles North of London. Regarded by many to be a leading specialist, Runjeet currently sits on the board of directors of Asian Art in London and is a member BADA (British Antique Dealers Association). Most recently, Runjeet’s highly successful participation as a Showcase exhibitor at TEFAF in Maastricht has led to his becoming a full member - a great honour and milestone both personally and professionally. Runjeet enjoys a reputation as a dealer of discerning taste, which has led to close relationships with the most important collectors, museum curators and academics around the world.

CONTACT

Runjeet Singh Phone: +447866424803 Email: info@runjeetsingh.com Website: http://runjeetsingh.com

Pierced Katar

Place of Origin: Punjab, India 19th century Steel, gold, silver, copper Length 310mm

This katar shows several distinguishing features which make it a possibly unique object with exceptional quality and craftsmanship. The thick iron grip is decorated with applied leaved vines in copper, and the entire grip is then heavily silver-gilded. The symmetrical v-shaped scrolling knuckle-bar is cleverly cut to resemble tendrils; two similar katars with similarly arched knucklebars are published in Susan Stronge, ed., The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1999, p. 139, Nos. 156 & 157 (The Board of Trustees of the Armouries (XXVI D62 & 85 respectively)).

Moro Half-Armour

Place of Origin: Mindanao, Philippines 19th century Copper alloy, silver Height of shirt 610mm

The main body of this well-preserved armour comprises brass plates burnished bright and connected by the small mail links. The two larger frontal plates are studded with a symmetrical display of three silver panels depicting the outlines of stylised sea monsters. A burgonet helmet with upturned peak, pierced plume-holder, & ridged central comb completes the armour. The hinged cheek-pieces, are later additions. In similar armours, there are often disappointments: latches or plates may be missing, the present set, however, is especially complete, making it a particularly attractive example.

SHAHNAZ GALLERY

101 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 7LN

Shahnaz Gallery is a second generation gallery and successor to Bashir Mohamed Ltd. founded in 1980 with its first premises on Old Bond Street, London. Specialising predominantly in Islamic and Asian art, they are globally renowned for rare and important acquisitions. Shahnaz Gallery prides themselves on their reputation for in depth knowledge and expertise in the field. This miniature is dated to the early seventeenth century and depicts a Deccani prince seated, smoking a hookah, within a palace precinct. This piyale or drinking vessel is carved in raised and chased silver, depicting confronting birds within a geometric arrangement of an arabesque or palmettes in an Islamic arrangement and is probably Umayyad or early Samanid.

CONTACT

Shahnaz Mohamed Phone: +447903022669 Email: info@shahnazgallery.com

A Deccani Prince Smoking a Hookah India, Early seventeenth century Opaque watercolour heightened with gold on paper Image:12 x 8.3 cm Folio: 31 x 20 cm

Confronting Birds in a Geometric Arrangement Eighth-ninth century AD Silver Diameter: 18 cm

SHAPERO RARE BOOKS

106 New Bond Street (1st floor), London, W1S 1DN Shapero Rare Books is an internationally renowned dealer in antiquarian and rare books, and works on paper. Our specialists have between them over 250 years of experience, with particular expertise in fine illustrated books from the 15th to the 20th century, travel & voyages, natural history, literature (including modern first editions), children’s books, guidebooks, Hebraica & Judaica, Islamic & Near Eastern and works of Russian interest. Shapero Rare books have recently broadened their collections of books to include works from the Arabic, Ottoman, Persian and Indian worlds with the launch of a new dedicated department headed by Roxana Kashani. Roxana’s main areas of expertise are manuscripts from the Near East, ranging from early Andalusian Quran leaves of the 10th century to Qajar Persian illuminated codices of the 19th century, and early printing in the Islamic world, including typeset presses in the West and provincial and early lithography in the Middle East and India.

CONTACT

Roxana Kashani Phone: +442074930876 Email: rarebooks@shapero.com Website: https://shapero.com

Miniature Qur’an in original brass case c. 1900 Lithograph on paper 27 by 19 mm.

David Bryce of Glasgow (1845-1923) was one of the world’s most prolific and successful publishers of miniature books. These ‘Bryce Qur’ans’ were supplied to British-Muslim troops during the First World War, where they were worn as pendants that carried talismanic properties as well as serving as functional Qur’ans with the help of the magnifying glass incorporated into the carrying case.

Leila wa Majnun

NIZAMI, in recension of Maktabi Shirazi and copied by Karam’ali 13 Muharram 1(2)54 (1838-39 AD) Ink and gouache on polished paper, heightened in gold 18 x 11 cm

PROVENANCE From the collection of Mirza Mahmud Khan, Persian charge d’affaires in The Hague, Netherlands, early 20th century. A finely illustrated manuscript copy of the medieval tragic romance of Leila and Majnun, presented here with 26 finely illuminated miniatures heavily influenced by the Qajar portraiture popularized during this period of Persian history under the reign of Fath’Ali Shah Qajar.

SIMON PILLING

PO Box 40062, London, N6 6XB Established in 2005, Simon Pilling offers Japanese works of art. All are sourced directly from Japan and so are fresh to the Western market. A particular focus is on the 20th century – a period of artworks still largely undiscovered in the West – and contemporary works. While carrying pieces in a variety of media – ceramic, metal, wood and graphic – his specialisation is in lacquer – the quintessential, perfect Japanese artform. The dragonfly is traditionally an emblem of martial success. On this work, sixty-eight are crowded around a central stalk of a rice plant. Normally alive with iridescent colour, this rendition is sombre, quiet and lifeless. The rice – the staple of Japan’s survival – provides a sacred focus to the scene, and hope for Japan’s rebirth following its defeat in the Pacific War. “As your viewpoint changes, different patterns are seen and different meanings implied. This reminds us of a central Buddhist concept where perceived reality is considered illusory, not in the sense that it is a fantasy, but in the sense that our perceptions mislead us – being distorted by uniquely personal subconscious fears, hopes and desires.” (Ando Saeko 2016)

CONTACT

Simon Pilling Phone: +447946577303 Email: simon@simonpilling.co.uk Website: http://www.simonpilling.co.uk

Food Container

ASADA Shinsui (1901-82) Showa 21, 1946 Carved coloured lacquers, choshitsu 24.5 (dia.) x 8.5 cm.

PROVENANCE First shown at the Nitten (government-sponsored art exhibition) in autumn 1946, this work was gifted to Japan’s first post-war prime minister Yoshida Shigeru (1878-1967), and then by descent.

Black Hole Moon

Ando Saeko (b. 1968) Heisei 28, 2016 Coloured lacquers on wood panel 50 x 35 x 1.4 cm.

PROVENANCE From the artist.

SUE OLLEMANS

8 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4JU We specialise in ancient jewellery from across Asia, small bronzes and Chinese jades. We have been in business for over 40 years and have worked with many private collections, museums and institutions. The jewellery comes from China, Vietnam, Cambodia,Thailand, Indonesia ,Burma and India. The earliest pieces are from China from the Han dynasty through to the Indian extravagance of the 19th Century. 1000 years apart The Gold Pyu Ring: Burma, 8th-9th century. The bezel is engraved within two lines with the goddess Lakshmi kneeling whilst holding an offering in her upraised hand. She is facing the curved double prow of a vessel.The ring is solid and sober and timeless The Reversible Diamond Fish Earrings: India, 19th century. India 19th CenturyA pair of reversible enamel drop earrings in the form of fish, a symbol of long life and happy marriage. The earrings are decorated in red enamel on the head and the body in green with the scales set with rubies on one side and on the other side the head in green enamel and the body in red with the scales inset with diamonds. The whole form mounted with small seed pearls and green glass.

CONTACT

Sue Ollemans Phone: +447775566356 Email: sue@ollemans.com Website: https://www.ollemans.com

An incised gold ring.

Pyu Dynasty 8th-9th Century 22 carat gold Size: US 7 Weight: 9.5 grams

LITERATURE Van Cutsem A.A World of Rings, Africa, and Asia America. Milan 2000. Page 213 Pl 66

A Pair of reversible diamond and enamel drop earrings 19th Century, Gold Diamonds and Enamel, 7cm

SUSAN PAGE - CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES Green Park House, 15 Stratton Street, London, W1J 8LQ

Susan Page earned her Master of Arts in the History of Art from St Andrews University in Scotland. Growing up near Burghley House, and inspired by the wonderful snuff bottles on display there, she then worked for 31 years with leading Chinese Snuff Bottle Specialist, Robert Hall. Susan set up on her own in 2018 and is on the Board of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society and was closely involved in organising the London ICSBS Convention in November 2017. She works with enthusiasts to curate their collections and enjoys scouring the world in search of fine examples. Chinese snuff bottles, and the powdered tobacco which they contained, were at the heart of a fashion that had no equivalent in China’s long history. Because of the extraordinary variety of styles, techniques and materials found in these small objects, and the exquisite craftsmanship that was lavished upon them, these miniature masterpieces became one of the most important representations of the applied arts during the Qing Dynasty. Tobacco, introduced into China from Europe towards the end of the 16th Century, was at first smoked in pipes. Its use as snuff began only after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644. At that time, smoking of tobacco was forbidden but, paradoxically, the use of snuff was acceptable because it was valued for its medicinal qualities (it cured colds, headaches, stomach disorders and many other illnesses). The powdered tobacco was dispensed in bottles, as were most other medicines in China, rather than in boxes as was the European custom. At first confined to the elite of the new dynastic house, the popularity of snuff taking was established in and around the court at Beijing by the end of the 17th Century. The custom appears to have remained concentrated there for most of the 18th century, and the use of snuff became a social ritual of the upper classes. The containers upon which much art, taste and money had been expended became the subject of active acquisition. Snuff bottles also became the new currency for the purchase of favours, positions and advancement in government. Spreading slowly and gradually to the rest of the country, snuff-taking and the collecting of snuff bottles had become a nationwide habit among all social classes by the end of the 18th century. It was common courtesy to offer friends a pinch of snuff upon meeting them in the street or at home, and great status accrued to the owner of the most unusual or finest bottle. Made in every material known to the Chinese -- glass, porcelain, jade and other hard stones, ivory, coral, lacquer, amber, wood, etc.-- snuff bottles were then produced in enormous quantities and of varying quality to supply the increased demand. Although the high point in the manufacture of most types of bottles was the 18th century, a great many fine bottles continued to be made throughout the 19th century. The popularity of snuff and snuff bottles rose and fell with the fate of the Qing dynasty. After the revolution and the establishment of the Republic in 1912, the fashion of snuffing died away. Today, however, there is a rapidly growing number of collectors throughout the world who are fascinated by these small, exquisite objects and attracted by their aesthetic and tactile qualities.

CONTACT

Susan Page Phone: +442030360044 Email: susan@snuffbottlepages.com Website: https://snuffbottlepages.com

Agate, honey colour with natural darker inclusions ingeniously fashioned and minimally carved to reveal the silhouette of a bearded behatted scholar inscribing onto rockwork, his full sleeves balancing the poised brush. China, 1780-1850 Agate Height: 6.4 cm

Glass, blue overlay carved with a crane with a counter in its beak flying beside a pavilion, which is emitted from the mouth of a carp, with a bat above, the reverse with two cranes and rock work with lingzhi and circling bats. Chinese, 1730-1800 Height: 6.5cm

PROVENANCE Kobacker Collection, Florida

Object-based study of the arts of China, Japan & Korea, India, Southeast Asia and the Islamic world including access to the reserve collections in the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum

Online courses available Contact Us: asianart@soas.ac.uk SOAS University of London Thornhaugh Street Russell Square London WC1H OXG

www.AsianArtDiploma.co.uk

SOAS University of London

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SPOTLIGHT by Asian Art in London | Issue #1 | June 2021