ASIAN ART IN LONDON | ISSUE 4 | DECEMBER 2021
SPOTLIGHT by Asian Art in London
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Introduction 22 - 23 Aktis Gallery (U.K.) Ltd. 24 - 25 Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Fine Art 12 - 13 Rob Dean Art 28 - 29 Eskenazi Limited 26 - 27 Martyn Gregory 50 - 51 Michael Goedhuis 34 - 35 Hanga Ten 52 - 53 Jonathan Hope 38 - 39 J.A.N. Fine Art
28 - 29 Marchant 32 - 33 Martindale Chinese Art 42 - 43 The Mayor Gallery 8-9 Galerie Mingei 48 - 49 Sue Ollemans 40 - 41 Kevin Page Oriental Art 16 - 17 Susan Page Chinese Snuff Bottles 14 - 15 Simon Pilling 44 - 45 Priestley & Ferraro 6-7 Shahnaz Gallery 18 - 19 Shapero Rare Books The description and attribution of pieces advertised are the sole responsibility of participants.
SPOTLIGHT | ISSUE #4 | DECEMBER 2021 ‘Variety is the spice of life’ an idiom deriving, perhaps from the 18th Century writer William Cowper (‘Variety is the very spice of life,…’), or even as early as the extraordinary female Restoration dramatist, Aphra Behn (‘Variety is the soul of pleasure.’), is one that we celebrate at Asian Art in London. Many collectors globally seem to agree, as most, today, collect art from more than one culture and in more than one form. As 2021 draws to a close, I am delighted that, at Asian Art in London, we are inspired by this idiom and our participant dealers offer herewith, once again, an extraordinary range of art from Asian cultures across the millennia. The festive season is upon us, and perhaps on leafing through this document, you will find something as a gift for a loved one, or even for yourself. Please do take the time to enjoy what we offer and feel free to contact any of the galleries represented. A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year of 2022 from all of us! Henry Howard-Sneyd, Chair of Asian Art in London
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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 Indian art, the gallery is globally renowned for rare and important acquisitions. Shahnaz Gallery pride themselves on their reputation for in-depth knowledge and expertise in the field. This bowl of fine and elegant form with foot is of a known type throughout the Islamic world, from the eleventh-fifteenth century. Usually the covers of such bowls are missing. Our bowl has retained its original cover, with an elegant finial on the top with some ornamentation. The bowl itself has a silver inlaid calligraphic band of benedictory phrases around the whole of the rim. These rare tent pegs were most likely made for royalty due to their material and subject matter. Both Central Asian tribes and the Middle Eastern tribes were tent dwellers in their settlements, and in the Mamluk and Ayyubid periods ‘tent pegging’, i.e. the removal of tent pegs was a normal equestrian skill in the sports of Furusiyya. Considering this, hardly any tent pegs survive, as they were probably largely made of wood. This surviving pair appear to be of the Bahri Mamluk period of the thirteenth century. The lower section was probably embedded around a metal or wood insert and the tent rope attached to the ring, after which the ensemble was screwed together. These are the only surviving pair known.
CONTACT
Shahnaz Mohamed Phone: +447903022669 Email: info@shahnazgallery.com
A Khorasan Bowl and Lid, with Calligraphy Inlaid in Silver
Twelfth century Bronze, silver Height: 22 cm x Diameter: 16 cm
A Pair of Rare Bahri Mamluk Tent Pegs Thirteenth century Bronze Height: 31.2 cm Width: 7.5 cm
GALERIE MINGEI
5, Rue Visconti, Paris, 75006, France Mingei Gallery, located in the antiques district in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, specialises 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 catalogues. The Mingei Gallery is managed by Philippe Boudin and his daughter Zoé Niang.
Tsujimura Shiro (b. 1947) Shiro Tsujimura was born in Gose, in Nara Prefecture, in 1947. In the course of his studies in Tokyo, he became well versed in oil painting techniques. During a 1965 visit he made to the Mingeikan (Japanese Folk Crafts Museum), founded by philosopher Soetsu Yanagi, he was awestruck by the beauty of a Korean tea bowl. This 16th century Ido chawan would change his life. Tsujimura became an internationally recognized artist, who took satisfaction in reiterating that he had had no mentor, and that he had no apprentices. Asked to recognize the influence of a master, he chose to identify the field of tea ceramics (chadogu) itself as his guiding light. His fertile work is abundantly inspired by this art, and finds its sources and strength in the Japanese archipelago’s medieval period, and the pottery from the famous “six kilns” (Rokkoyō). This storage jar (tsubo) was created using several centuries old techniques, and is made from the extraordinary orange clay from the floor of Lake Biwa.
CONTACT
Philippe Boudin Phone: +33609766068 Email: mingei.arts.gallery@gmail.com Website: http://mingei.gallery
Tsubo, 1990
Tsujimura Shiro, Shigaraki-yaki, stoneware with natural ash glaze 49 (h) x 48 x 48 cm
Hanakago
Sansai ca. 1950 Bamboo and lacquer 36 (h) x 27 x 27 cm
LAM & CO UK
4 Masons Yard, St James’s, London
Lam & Co UK specialises in Chinese works of art, with a particular emphasis on early ceramics, paintings, terracotta figurines, Buddhist sculpture, and Ming/Qing scholars’ objects.
CONTACT
Rex Lam Phone: +447754970153 Email: gallery@lamcouk.com Website: https://www.lamcouk.com
A Rare Glazed PortoPorcelain Jar
Warring States Period (475-221 BC) Porcelain Height: 24cm 18.7 x 16.3 cm
PROVENANCE Chinese Porcelain Company, New York FEATURED LITERATURE A similar piece is found in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Vol. 1, item 132, by Regina Krahl.
A Rare Yaozhou Celadon Lobed Dish Five Dynasties (AD 907960) Ceramic Diameter: 14.3cm
PROVENANCE Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26-27 May 2021, lot 462
ROB DEAN ART
1 The Street, Woolpit, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP30 9SA Rob Dean specialises in Indian and South Asian Art and has worked in the field since 1998 . Rob has previously 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 Modern Indian Art Auctions for over 20 years. Benodebehari Mukherjee (1904-1980) is generally considered as one of the pioneers of Modernism in India. Both landscapes offered here come from the Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation. Born in Calcutta, West Bengal, in 1904, Benodebehari Mukherjee was blind in one eye and myopic in the other. Fortunately his family encouraged him to paint. In 1919, Benodebehari became one of the first students admitted to Kala Bhavana, the newly created arts faculty run by Nandalal Bose at Santiniketan. In 1925, after finishing his studies, Mukherjee joined the faculty living and teaching there until 1948. Alongside his mentor, Nandalal Bose, Mukherjee became a key figure in creating an indigenous art movement in India that Sivakumar terms Contextual Modernism, stating “artists did not believe that to be indigenous one has to be historicist either in theme or in style, and similarly to be modern one has to adopt a particular transnational formal language or technique. Modernism was to them neither a style nor a form of internationalism.” (R. Sivakumar, ‘All the shared experiences of the lived world II,’ reprinted by Christies) While Mukherjee was at Santiniketan, Kala Bhavana developed a symbiotic exchange with several artists from the Far East, the artistic innovations introduced there by Japanese and Chinese visitors were a notable influence on Mukherjee’s work. He adopted the scroll format and the calligraphic brush technique, and worked primarily on paper, sometimes in a large format often using a monochromatic palette, developing a personal visual language. These influences can be seen in both the works presented here.
CONTACT
Rob Dean Phone: +447764942306 Email: rob@robdeanart.com Website: https://www.robdeanart.com
RAJGIR LANDSCAPE, 1946 BENODEBEHARI MUKHERJEE (1904 - 1980) Watercolour on rice paper 55.9 x 71.1 cm.
PROVENANCE The Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation
UNTITLED 1940s
BENODEBEHARI MUKHERJEE (1904 1980) Ink on paper 34.3 x 17.8 cm.
PROVENANCE The Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation
SIMON PILLING
PO Box 834 Rickmansworth WD3 0RA 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. Strutting majestically on disproportionately large feet, owning the ground on which it stands, and with its head turning to survey all around, this stylized phoenix is emblematic of deco design. Free-flowing curves define the body – an effect that would have been heightened by incense smoke swirling around the tail feathers. The phoenix Buddhist motif developed in Japanese iconography to represent Imperial authority. Looking at this piece it is hard to separate Japan’s international confidence of the time from the physical power that this work projects. Beautiful clean sculptural lines sweep through this stylised rendition of a lion, shishi, baying at the moon, and through whose open mouth would waft its fiery breath, symbolised in columns of incense smoke. The imagery seems timeless, encapsulating 1930s design, but also resonating with 2nd century BCE Chinese bronze sculpture of the Han dynasty. The archaic reference is reinforced by the use of black lacquer rubbed into the gold surface suggesting an ageing process.
CONTACT
Simon Pilling Phone: +447946577303 Email: simon@simonpilling.co.uk Website: http://www.simonpilling.co.uk
INCENSE BURNER, Showa period, 1936 HACHII Koji (1905-67) White bronze, hakudo, 47 x 15 x 32 cm
Hachii Koji graduated from the metal casting department of the Tokyo Fine Arts School in 1929, having already, in 1928, had his work accepted into the Teiten. Thereafter he was a regular exhibitor through the 1930s.
INCENSE BURNER
NAKAGAWA Tamenobu (1904-67) Early Showa period, 1930s Gilt bronze 24.5 x 14 x 26 (h) cm.
A graduate of the Tokyo Fine Arts School, Tokyo Bijitsu Gakko, in 1933, Nakagawa was a frequent exhibitor at the Teiten, Bunten and Nitten, his work first selected while he was still a student in 1932.
SUSAN PAGE - CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES Green Park House, 15 Stratton Street, London, W1J 8LQ
Susan Page grew up six miles away from Burghley House, the home of the Marquess of Exeter’s wonderful collection of snuff bottles. Susan gained a Master of Arts in the History of Art from St Andrews University, and then worked for leading snuff bottle dealer Robert Hall before setting up on her own early in 2018. Susan is currently a board member of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society and also contributes to the society Journal. The glass bottle, blown into a mould and then skilfully carved has a marvellous image of the cowherd and the spinning maid with its story of love and on the other side of Liu Hai and his three legged-toad in search of cash (symbolizing wealth). So this item would make a perfect wedding gift and would carry with it superb meaning. The plain nephrite bottle feels glorious in the hand and would make a wonderful bottle to carry around and handle.
CONTACT
Susan Page Phone: +442030360044 Email: susan@snuffbottlepages.com Website: https://snuffbottlepages.com
Glass imitating realgar, the deep red outer layer carved on one side with the cowherd on his ox below the line of the heavenly river with magpies flying above, and the weaver girl to the top right corner; the other side carved through with Liu Hai, enticing the three-legged toad with his string of cash. Beijing Palace Glass works 1720-1840 Height: 5.4 cm
PROVENANCE Charles R. Johnson, Toledo, Ohio
Nephrite, of pebble form, extremely well hollowed. 1750-1820 Jade Height: 6 cm PROVENANCE Private Collection, England
SHAPERO RARE BOOKS
106 New Bond Street (1st floor), London, W1S 1DN Shapero Rare Books is an internationally renowned dealer in antiquarian & rare books and works on paper. Our specialists have over 250 years of experience between them, 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, works of Russian interest, and Islamica & Near Eastern books & manuscripts. Shapero Rare Books have prepared two fine Safavid manuscripts for this issue of Spotlight. These are both copied by royal scribes and demonstrate the finesse of early nasta’liq calligraphy at the height of manuscript production from this period in Persian history.
CONTACT
Roxana Kashani Phone: +442074930876 Email: rarebooks@shapero.com Website: https://shapero.com
An Anthology of Poetry
Muhammad Hussayn al-Tabrizi (scribe) Mid-sixteenth century Illuminated manuscript on Persian marbled paper 175 by 115 mm An illuminated Divan of poetry copied by Muhammad Husayn al-Tabrizi (d. 1577 AD); leading calligrapher of nasta’liq script and official scribe in the Safavid court of Shah Isma’il II (r. 1576-1577).
Guy U Chawng [The Ball and Polo-Mallett] ‘Arifi. Dated 942 AH (1535-36 AD) Illuminated manuscript on gold speckled paper, 190 by 130 mm From the library of John M. Schiff £8,500
The text, also known as the Halnama of ‘Arifi, uses the ball and mallet from the game of polo as allegorical representations of mystical love. This example of the text was copied by the master of naskh calligraphy Muhammad Ali b. Mahmoud al-Munajjim, calligrapher in the court of Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524-1576).
LAM & CO ANTIQUITIES
2/F 151 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong Lam & Co Antiquities, established in 1998, is one of the respected dealers of Chinese antiques worldwide. We specialise in early ceramics, tomb sculptures, and Buddhist art, with an emphasis on rarity, quality and aesthetics.
CONTACT
Addy Lam Phone: +85225438877 Email: gallery@lamcoantiquities.com Website: https://www.lamcoantiquities.com
A Junyao ‘Lotus Bud’ Waterpot, Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) Ceramic, Height: 10.7cm
PROVENANCE Sotheby’s London, 10 November 1959, lot 58 Bluett & Sons, London Collection of Dr. and Mrs. William L. Corbin, California Christie’s New York, 13 September 2018, lot 1316 Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26-27 May 2021, lot 461 FEATURED LITERATURE Portland Art Museum, Portland, on Loan, 2006-2010 Portland Art Museum, ‘Selections from the William and Winifred Corbin Collection of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain’, 1964, cat. no. 12
Celadon Bowl with Cover Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279) Ceramic Height: 8cm
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. His art is “like Western paintings when looking from afar, but when examined closely, they look like Chinese paintings” Wu Guanzhong, who studied alongside Chu Teh-Chun. “The artist absorbs what he sees in nature and refines in his mind” said Chu Teh-Chun, “and it is the power of the artists imagination, his sensibility, and his inner character that are revealed on canvas. This is where the concepts behind Chinese painting and abstract painting very neatly come together”.
CONTACT
Anna Chalova Phone: +442076296531 Email: anna@aktis-gallery.co.uk Website: https://aktis-gallery.co.uk
Untitled, 2004
Chu Teh-Chun Signed and dated lower left Oil on canvas 26 x 22 cm
PROVENANCE Private Collection, France Certificate of authenticity by Madame Ching-Chao Chu The work will be reproduced in the catalogue raisonné currently in preparation
Crépescule / Dawn, 1973
Chu Teh-Chun Signed and dated lower right, vertically Signed, dated, and titled on the reverse Oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm
PROVENANCE Private Collection, France Certificate of authenticity by Madame Ching-Chao Chu The work will be reproduced in the catalogue raisonné currently in preparation
RAQUELLE AZRAN VIETNAMESE FINE ART 320 East 57th Street New York NY 10022, USA A leading specialist in Vietnamese Fine Art since 1997, Raquelle Azran is an international collector, museum curator and dealer. Based in Hanoi since 1991, her personal access to Vietnamese artists has enabled over 100 exhibitions - in Asia, Europe and the United States - of the most exciting modern and contemporary Vietnamese paintings. “I believe that artwork must be experienced viscerally. The conversation between viewer and artwork is a very personal moment, which I am delighted to offer to aficionados of Vietnamese fine art as well as to those for whom the delight of discovery lies ahead.” Featured here are two works by Nguyen Tu Nghiem (1922–2016), recognised as one of the four pillars of Vietnamese modern painting. Nghiem has been described by the art critic Nguyen Quan as “a historic consciousness in terms of painting”. A master painter, Nghiem resurrected ancient village artistic traditions and recreated them in a uniquely Vietnamese contemporary sensibility. Combining a naive aesthetic of Primitive Art with technical mastery of medium and form, in the spirit of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Picasso, Nghiem has created a simplicity so multi-layered yet so universal that his art speaks with the beauty and integrity of truth.
CONTACT
Raquelle Azran Phone: +12127150565 +972503018889 Email: raquelle.azran@gmail.com Website: https://www.artnet.com/razran.html
Cats, 1986
Nguyen Tu Nghiem Watercolour and pastel on paper 36 x 54 cm
PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist in Hanoi in 1997
Year of The Tiger, 1998
Nguyen Tu Nghiem Gouache on newspaper 41 x 29 cm
PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist in Hanoi, 1998
MARTYN GREGORY 34 Bury Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6AU
With a gallery spanning two floors of the building at No. 34, Martyn Gregory has been a mainstay of Bury Street since 1974, having been in St James’s for more than fifty years. One of the world’s leading specialists in ‘China Trade’ paintings, the gallery also deals in topographical paintings and drawings of India and the Far East by western artists—notably George Chinnery (1774–1852), who spent his career in India and the south China coast. Martyn Gregory holds an annual exhibition in Hong Kong and participates in fairs around the world. Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman (1811 - 1880) commonly known as Raden Saleh, was a pioneering Indonesian painter of Arab-Javanese heritage. Considered the first ‘modern’ painter from Indonesia, Saleh worked in Romantic style that mirrored the popular European movement. George Chinnery (1774 - 1852) lived and worked in Macau from 1825 until his death, having arrived in China to escape mounting debts in India. Alongside gamblers, barbers and food-stalls, depictions of blacksmiths at work are one of Chinnery’s favoured subjects on the south China coast.
CONTACT
Martyn Gregory Phone: +442078393731 Email: info@martyngregory.com Website: https://www.martyngregory.com
Portrait of Jan Peter Lodeivijk Albert Geselschap (1811 - 1878) Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman 1835 Oil on panel 35.5 cm x 30.5 cm
Macau: a Chinese blacksmith stall George Chinery c.1840 Oil on Canvas 17.1 x 22.8 cm
PROVENANCE with Spink & Son; private collection, London
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. The material the gallery handles includes bronze, ceramic, sculpture, lacquer, works of art and contemporary ink painting. The company holds regular themed exhibitions and has placed objects in private collections and in over seventy international institutions. Both objects are highlights from our recent exhibition, Tang: ceramics, metalwork and sculpture, which showcased a range of works of art and ceramics from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
CONTACT
Daniel Eskenazi Phone: +442074935464 Email: daniel@eskenazi.co.uk Website: https://www.eskenazi.co.uk/
Small Amber-glazed Marbled Earthenware Pillow Tang dynasty, 618 - 907 Glazed earthenware Length: 12.4cm; width: 8.4cm; height: 6.2cm
PROVENANCE Langdon Warner (1881 - 1955), Boston. Sigisbert Chretien ‘Gijs’ Bosch Reitz (1860 - 1938), New York. Thence by descent to his nephew. Marchant, London. EXHIBITED Boston, 12 July - 19 November, 1915, Museum of Fine Arts.
Blue-glazed Earthenware Rabbit
Tang dynasty, 618 - 907, Glazed earthenware Length: 11.5cm
S. A. FINE ARTS
54 Purely Avenue, London NW2 1SB S.A. Fine Arts, London was established in 2005 in the UK to promote modern and contemporary art from India and other Asian countries to a European audience. S A Fine Arts has held several exhibitions in London promoting artworks from Masters to Contemporary artists from India at prestigious venues like the V&A Museum (TATVA Show, showcasing Masters of Contemporary Indian Art) and at Royal College of Arts (Emerging India), 54 Emerging artist from India and Santiniketan Show- 55 artists including the founders like Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Benode Bihari Mukherjee to alumni of Santiniketan. The mission of the company is to create a platform in London and other parts of Europe to exhibit both established and upcoming artists to art lovers and collectors from around the world. To promote art with a purpose - bringing joy to both art lovers and collectors, by expanding the reach art has across generations and communities. We promote a collaborative relationship with our artists, valuing their creative perspective. RISING OF KUNDALINI Bronze Sculpture by Seema Kohli The bronze sculpture Rising Of Kundalini is reflective of the opening of the inner channels and merging with the nature around us. The dance of final liberation, which is not only happening inside but also continuing with the rhythm around us. The energy rising from below the spine and reaching the Sahastra (crown chakra) or top of the head uniting the body soul and universe. The thousand petal lotus opens not only within us but all around us. There is no other and we experience the supreme consciousness residing not only within us but all around us. KAMDHENU Fibreglass Sculpture by Seema Kohli “My sculptural painting Kaamdhenu set me thinking as I work on the concept of gender in the realm of pure consciousness. This work has been inspired by the Indian mythological form of Aradhnareshwar-Shiva and Shakti. It is representational of an amalgamation of pure consciousness and energy. In my sculptural painting, the hump is the bull and the udders of a cow. Every being I feel is an amalgamation of both yin and yang, positive and negative, man and woman. Hence crossing all genders. There is no conflict of gender here, it crosses all barriers.”
CONTACT
Ms. Sangeeta Ahuja Phone: +447985078670 Email: sangeeta.ahuja@safinearts.com Website: https://www.safinearts.com
Rising of Kundalini, 2019 Bronze Sculpture H. 115 x L. 64 x W. 43 cm
PROVENANCE Acquired directly from artist Seema Kohli. Currently exhibiting with S. A. Fine Arts Virtual Gallery. Online catalogue: https://online.fliphtml5.com/tppan/ ynox/#p=20
Kamdhenu, 2016
Seema Kohli Fibreglass sculpture, H. 33 x L.43 x W. 13 cm
PROVENANCE Acquired directly from artist Seema Kohli. Currently exhibiting with S. A. Fine Arts VIrtual Gallery. Online catalogue: https://online.fliphtml5.com/tppan/ynox/#p=20
MARTINDALE CHINESE ART
34 South Molton Street, London, W1K 5RG Martindale Chinese art was founded in 2018 after William graduated from the Postgraduate Chinese Art course at SOAS. William is a London based dealer specialising in Chinese ceramics and works of art with a particular focus on later Chinese jade carvings. He is currently in the process of refurbishing a new office and gallery space a stone’s throw from the iconic New Bond Street. A RARE MOTTLED JADE FIGURE OF STANDING GARUDA Garuda is depicted in a standing position with his bird-like body, humanoid head and bulging globular eyes. Particular attention has been payed towards the delicate details of the tail feathers. His bird like muscular legs with a cross- hatched design resembling scales. A pair of naive rounded wings cover the back of the upper body with his long hair tied in a bow and terminating in an upward scrolling curl. A WHITE JADE AND RUSSET BIXIE The beast is depicted with a large bulbous body, short and stout legs with rounded paws and inward curling claws. Its large head with oval eyes and upward curling brows. At the back of its head a long horn reaches down along its spine. The underside with finely engraved scrolling archaistic designs. The stone of white tone with russet inclusions.
CONTACT
William Martindale Phone: +447581228572 Email: info@martindalechineseart.com Website: https://www.martindalechineseart.com
A RARE MOTTLED JADE FIGURE OF STANDING GARUDA
17th century, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Measurement: 6.5 cm in height
A WHITE JADE AND RUSSET BIXIE Qing dynasty, 18th century Measurement: 6.5 cm in length
HANGA TEN
PO BOX 67812, London, SW7 9BL, (by appointment only) 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 pleased to introduce mid-winter images by two contemporary artists based in Japan. The first is “Snow in Sasayama”, an early watercolour by Daniel Kelly, painted in 1989. Sasayama is an old castle town in Hyogo Prefecture, not far from Kyoto where Kelly has resided for over forty years. Kelly studied woodblock printmaking under the thirteenth-generation print artist Tomikichiro Tokuriki, and Kelly’s early works are reminiscent of classical Japanese prints and paintings depicting traditional scenery of which this is a beautifully executed piece. The other winter image is “Japanese Garden Winter, Portland”, a woodblock print by Ray Morimura. The artist’s works are multi-coloured relief prints, each carefully printed by hand, and unlike most Japanese woodblock artists who use water-based pigments, Morimura uses oil-based inks. His origins in abstract geometric paintings has influenced his woodblock prints, which while depicting traditional Japanese landscapes are almost always infused with unique geometric patterns.
CONTACT
Chiko Nara Phone: +447788458201 Email: japaneseprints@hangaten.com Website: http://hangaten.com
Snow in Sasayama, 1989, Daniel Kelly (b. 1947)
Watercolour on Arches hot press paper, Image 29 x 76cm; Frame 37 x 84cm
PROVENANCE Direct from the artist Kelly is represented in the permanent collections of the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY and MOMA, NY among others
Japanese Garden Winter, Portland, 2017 Ray Morimura (b. 1948) Woodblock on washi paper Image 44 x 30 cm Sheet 58 x 42 cm PROVENANCE Direct from artist Morimura’s works are represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Israel; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford UK among others
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. Chinese imperial porcelain famille verte, wucai saucer dish thinly potted with upright rim, painted with a standing lady with one arm tucked into her elegant ruyi-cloud patterned robes, beside a table with censer, bowl, books and a vase with two peacock feathers, with an iron-red openwork stool at her side. Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai baluster vase of tapered form, with a lady in a sedan chair amongst all her attendants with a warrior and scholar, meeting two kneeling soldiers, one holding a sword by the scabbard, the other holding a banner with a character, ling, ‘order’, with a castle wall in the distance, beneath the sun and clouds in a continuous landscape scene with pine, wutong and rockwork, the shoulder with bamboo reserves on a chrysanthemum flowerhead, leaf and green scroll ground, the gently flaring neck painted with a continuous mountain river landscape scene, with a fisherman beneath the sun, the base glazed white.
CONTACT
Stuart Marchant Phone: +442072295319 Email: gallery@marchantasianart.com Website: http://marchantasianart.com
Chinese imperial porcelain famille verte, wucai saucer dish
The base with a six-character mark of Kangxi within a double ring in underglaze blue and of the period Kangxi, 1662-1722 Porcelain Height: 15.2 cm diameter
PROVENANCE • From the collection of H. M. Knight. • Exhibited at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in their exhibition of Oosterse Schatten, 1954, no. 352. • Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 28th/29th November 1979, lot 149, pp. 130/1, purchased by Spink & Son Ltd., London. • Sold by Christie’s Hong Kong in their auction of Fine Chinese Ceramics, 20th March 1990, lot 685, p. 186. • Ed Chan, Galerius Collection, Marion, Massachusetts, 1999. • From the collection of Jeffrey P. Stamen, The Jie Rui Tang Collection, collection no. 247. • Exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in their exhibition of The Colors of Earth, Kangxi Era Porcelain from the Stamen Collection, 2002, no. 16. • Sold by Sotheby’s New York in their auction of Kangxi, The Jie Rui Tang Collection, Part II, 19th March 2019, lot 350, p. 72. • Very few Kangxi marked examples appear published. A related unmarked saucer dish of similar size is illustrated by Wang Liying in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 38, no. 101, p. 111.
Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai baluster vase of tapered form Kangxi, 1662-1722 Porcelain, 43.8 cm high
PROVENANCE • Sold by Sotheby’s London, 15th December 1959, lot 38, The Property of a Lady, purchased by Bluett & Son. • Advertised by Bluett & Son in Connoisseur magazine, March 1960. • Sold to Mr W.A. Evill, 5th April 1960. • Sold by Sotheby’s London in their auction of Fine Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art, The Property of the late W. A. Evill, Esq., 30th November 1965, lot 90, p. 33, illustration opposite p. 34. • Salomon Stodel, The Rokin, Amsterdam. • Littleton & Hennessey. • A figural vase of similar form with bamboo on the neck in the Musée Guimet, Paris (G. 5004), is illustrated by Michel Beurdeley and Guy Raindre in Qing Porcelain, Famille Verte, Famille Rose, no. 92, p. 71.
J.A.N. FINE ART
134 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 4BH Established in 1977 by Kikue Shimizu, J.A.N. Fine Art is located on Kensington Church Street, specialising in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Himalayan and South East Asian ceramics, porcelain, paintings and works of art Equestrian figures of this form were most likely part of a hunting group. Figures of this type were popular during the Tang Dynasty and were an essential part of all tomb retinues. Horses were a symbol of power and authority limited to only the wealthy by an edict. With Oxford Authentication TL Testing Haniwa of armoured warriors and horses of the 5th and 6th century A.D. indicate the military power of the ancestors of the imperial line, and show that the horse must have played a major role in the unification struggles and the rise of the Yamato clan.
CONTACT
Adam Shimizu Phone: 07703989724 Email: info@jan-fineart-london.com Website: https://jan-fineart-london.com
FOREIGN HORSE RIDER CHINA, TANG DYNASTY 8TH CENTURY EARTHENWARE, H:37cm x W:33cm PROVENANCE PRIVATE JAPANESE COLLECTION. ACQUIRED IN 1985 KYOTO, JAPAN.
HANIWA MODEL OF A HORSE’S HEAD
JAPAN, KOFUN PERIOD 6TH7TH CENTURY EARTHENWARE H: 22CM W: 42CM
PROVENANCE PRIVATE JAPANESE COLLECTION
KEVIN PAGE ORIENTAL ART 7 Pierrepont Row, London, N1 8EE
Established for over half a century, Kevin Page Oriental Art is one of the most trusted and respected names in Oriental Art. With one of Europe’s leading collections of Japanese Meiji-era (1868 – 1912) Fine Art and Antiques, our Islington galleries also house a broad collection of fine Chinese porcelain ranging from Ming dynasty through to early 20th century. From our “Masters of the Meiji” collection, we are delighted to showcase two especially selected pieces demonstrating the craftsmanship, creativity and imagination of late 19th century Japan. Firstly, a large pair of Bronze vases, (77cm in height) that depict Carp swimming in the shallows and breaking the surface. Bulbous in form with long necks and flare tops, these vases are of a rich, black patination. Secondly, a beautifully carved Box wood Okimono depicting Ryujin, God of the Sea. A Dragon wraps itself around the Deity as Ryujin holds aloft the sacred Tide Jewel.
CONTACT
Kevin Page Phone: +442072268558 Email: info@kevinpage.co.uk Website: https://kevinpage.co.uk
A very large pair of Japanese, Bronze vases depicting carp Bronze Circa 1880 Height: 77 cm
A beautiful wood carving Okimono of Ryujin, God of the Sea c. 1880 Box wood Height: 27 cm
THE MAYOR GALLERY/JAMES MAYOR 21 Cork Street, First Floor, London, W1S 3LZ
The first gallery to open in Cork Street in 1925; with nearly 100 years in the art trade, The Mayor Gallery is internationally renowned today for being London’s foremost gallery for exhibiting artists from the Zero and international Concrete movements, particularly 1950s and 60s, and continues to offer works of leading Pop artists as well as Dada, and Surrealism. Shinkichi Tajiri (b. 1923 Los Angeles, USA – d. 2009 Baarlo, The Netherlands) was primarily a sculptor who played with the themes of violence, eroticism and later friendship through metal assemblages and bronze sculptures. Two of his main themes were Knot and Warrior represented here, both dynamic and immediately recognisable, where abstraction and figures reach a perfect equilibrium. Growing up in the US from a first-generation Japanese immigrants, Tajiri fought for the American Army, studied art in Paris and settled in The Netherlands. Highly experimental and multicultural Tajiri was a vibrant avant-garde artist whose works figure prominently in modern art museums, public spaces and a number of private collections.
CONTACT
Christine Hourde Phone: +447766950550 Email: christine@mayorgallery.com Website: https://www.mayorgallery.com
Granny’s Knot, 1995 Shinkichi Tajiri Cast iron 31.5 x 43.5 x 11 cm
PROVENANCE Shinkichi Tajiri Estate FEATURED LITERATURE London, The Mayor Gallery, Shinkichi Tajiri, 16 Feb - 31 Mar 2017, ill. in cat. p. 49
Ronin, 1995
Shinkichi Tajiri Bronze 92 x 24 x 20 cm PROVENANCE Shinkichi Tajiri Estate
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). Vases like the present one, carved in the free and generous Ming style known as “cu da ming”, would have been appreciated by contemporary scholars, embodying as they do the untramelled spirit the scholars sought in their poetry and painting, as well as being very practical. Magnificent large screens of this type have gone by many names in the West, with “Coromandel screen”, after the Coromandel coast in India, an important trading point between East and West, confusingly becoming the favourite. In fact, they were made at various centres in southeast China, and as we know from some – like the present screen – that have inscriptions, were intended as grand gifts, usually to celebrate the birthday or new appointment of venerable officials. Properly they should be described by the Chinese term, as “kuancai” screens, literally “cut out and coloured”. It is a rare feature of the present screen that the main pictorial panel is set above a row of large apertures with ruyi head decoration, lending an airiness to the screen as a whole.
CONTACT
David Priestley, Alice Williamson Phone: +442079306228 Email: gallery@priestleyandferraro.com Website: http://www.priestleyandferraro.com
A celadon jade magnolia-shaped vase Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Nephrite jade, Height: 18 cm
PROVENANCE Christie’s Paris, 13th December 2017, lot 149 Collection of Jean Langlois (1896-1949), acquired in Asia prior to 1950 and thence by descent in the family
An unusual Coromandel lacquer ‘birthday banquet’ screen Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722), Lacquered and painted wood Dimensions: 292 x 47 cm, 115 x 18 ½ inches, each panel
PROVENANCE Christie’s New York, 20th October 2011, lot 564 The estate of George McFadden and McFadden Brothers Partnership; Acquired from Ariane Dandois, Paris, 1991
JOOST VAN DEN BERGH
One Princes Place, Duke Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 6DE 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. The Svarup Mathureshji This painting depicts one of the seven saptanidhis (auspicious images) of the Vallabha sect, the svarup Mathureshji. Iconographically, the svarup is four-armed and made of black stone. It is very similar to the svarup Dwarkadhishji, but the main difference lies in the pithak (stele) included, which in the case of Mathureshji is round. This image of Mathureshji is believed to have been found on the banks of River Yamuna. It passed through various hands, ultimately settling in Kota in 1738, and has resided inside a shrine there ever since. The conventional iconography of Mathureshji depicts him holding a lotus in his upper right hand and a shankh (conch) in his lower right hand; the upper left hand holds a gada (mace) while the lower left hand holds a chakra (disc), which is missing here – instead of the chakra, he makes the mudra (gesture) of blessing. The serene colour palette and the centrally positioned, exquisitely rendered figure of the image with its substantial jewellery creates a delightful image. Mathureshji is adorned in mukut-kachni shringara, the mukut being a large peacockfeathered crown, and the kachni being a skirt-like garment. The artist has kept the lower area pristine by using a vibrant white. Two small bolsters stand out against this, either side of the figure, and below these are a jhari (water jug) on the right and a banta (a silver box with offerings of sugar or dried fruits) on the left. The backdrop consists of a silver-work pichhwai (temple hanging) depicting cows, a popular motif in Nathdwara art. This might be a hint that the occasion is Gopashtami, an important festival of the Vallabha sect, commemorating Krishna’s coming of age, when he became a full-fledged cowherd from a young herder. KANOU MICHIO Kanou Michio was born in Kyoto in 1948. He is a prominent ceramist, also renowned outside Japan. His work was on display in 2006 at an exhibition in the Musée National de Céramique de Sèvres (France). Until 2014 he also was a teacher at the Art Academy in Kyoto. Michio is a regular member at the Nitten and a director of the Kyoto Traditional KOGEI Artists Society. Kanou Michio exhibited at the Nitten exhibition in 1970 for the first time and exhibited regularly since. In 1974 he won the GrandPrix d’Honneur at the 4th. International Ceramic Biennale; Vallauris, France. In 1979 he participated at the Firenze (Florence) International Ceramic Exhibition in Italy, in the same year he won the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ Prize at chunichi International Ceramic Exhibition. In 2000 he exhibited at the Memorial One Man Show of the succession of Kano Shoukoku III, and in 2015 he participated at the ‘Anniversary of 400 years of Living Rimpa in Kyoto Today’. Also in 2015 he won the ‘Kyoto Prefecture Prize’ for contribution to culture. Michio’s work can be found in several museum collections, such as: The Vallauris Art Museum, France; The National Museum of Modern Arts, Kyoto; The Kyoto National Guest House, Kyoto; The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Saga Prefectural Museum of Ceramic, Saga; The Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto; The Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto.
CONTACT Joost van den Bergh Phone: +442078398200 Email: post@joostvandenbergh.com Website: https://www.joostvandenbergh.com
The Svarup Mathureshji
Nathdwara, Rajasthan, circa 1900 Opaque watercolour and gold on paper Dimensions: 30.5 cm x 20 cm
Ceramic vase, circa 1985 Kano Michio (Kyoto 1948) Height: 50 cm Width: 22 cm Diameter: 20 cm
With the original tomobako, inscribed and signed by the artist.
SUE OLLEMANS
8 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4JU
Sue Ollemans has been selling Ancient Asian Jewellery for more than 40 years. Most items are sourced from Private Collections from Europe and the United States of America. The pieces come from all over Asia and are found in their original state. Two beautiful examples of traditional jewellery from South India. A GOLD TALI PENDANT The Chettiars were former salt merchants belonging to the caste of rich merchants who were once settled on the Coromandel Coast and later migrated inland.
CONTACT
Sue Ollemans Phone: +447775566356 Email: sue@ollemans.com Website: https://www.ollemans.com
A GOLD TALI PENDANT Inset with rubies and red stones. Part of a Kali Thiru (auspicious necklace)
Chettiars Nattukottai Tamil Nadu South India 20th century Gold and red stones, possibly rubies 12 cm
PROVENANCE Private Collection London, United Kingdom.
A Coral and Gold Temple Necklace South India 19th century Gold and coral 18 cm
PROVENANCE Private Collection London, United Kingdom.
MICHAEL GOEDHUIS
Flat 3, 61 Cadogan Square, London, SW1X 0HZ Michael Goedhuis has been dealing in Chinese art since the 1980s, after having gained experience in numerous fields within the art world. He initially focused on Chinese later bronzes for which he became world-renowned before broadening his interest to Chinese contemporary Ink painting. Michael was one of the first dealers in the West to deal in Chinese contemporary art, building major art investment companies and organising pioneering exhibitions and auctions. 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. This is a well-preserved Chinese Gilt Bronze Cylindrical Tripod Vessel and Cover from the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD).
CONTACT
Michael Goedhuis Phone: +442078231395 Email: london@michaelgoedhuis.com Website: https://www.michaelgoedhuis.com
Leaving the Rocky Platform in Clouds, 2021 Guan Zhi Ink and colour on paper, 96 x 240 cm
Gilt Bronze Cylindrical Tripod Vessel and Cover
Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) Gilt Bronze, H: 26 cm, D: 22 cm
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 a number of 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 collectors both in the UK and elsewhere. Two examples of traditional Indonesian work reflecting the amazing complexity of the archipelago’s different ethnicities and cultures. The water container or ‘kendi’ was probably made for use in an East Javanese mosque and the engraved figures depict characters from the shadow-puppet or ‘wayang kulit’ dramas, their names etched into the metal in ‘kawi’ script. The exceptional ‘tampan’ or ceremonial textile was woven during the second half of the 19th century by a Paminggir weaver from Lampung in Southern Sumatra. These textiles reveal the extraordinary images from the artists’ imagination only controlled by certain conventions regarding lay-out and colour.
CONTACT
Jonathan Hope Phone: +447711961937 Email: jonathan.glenhope@virginmedia.com
A ‘Kendi’ water container 19th century, 2nd half Brass Height: 22cm
PROVENANCE A private collection in the Netherlands
Tampan, ceremonial weaving 19th century Handspun cotton, natural dyes 80cm X 67cm
PROVENANCE A private collection in Japan FEATURED LITERATURE The Eyes of the Ancestors, the arts of island southeast Asia at the Dallas Museum of Art. Dallas Museum of Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Textiles of Indonesia, the Thomas Murray Collection Prestel
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ASIAN ART IN LONDON 2021
Indian and Islamic Art: 21st – 30th October East Asian Art: 28th October – 6th November
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