Buddhism and Hinduism Fine Asian Art
TWO-DAY AUCTION
16-17 October 2025, at 11 am CET
DAY 1
Flagship Live Auction I Lots 1-269 Thursday, 16 October 2025, at 11 am CET
DAY 2
Live Auction Online Catalog I Lots 270-677 Friday, 17 October 2025, at 11 am CET
EXHIBITION
6-15 October, Monday – Friday 10 am – 6 pm as well as by appointment
GALERIE ZACKE
Zelinkagasse 6 . 1010 Vienna Austria
Tel +43 1 532 04 52 E-mail office@zacke.at
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CATALOG FAS1025
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Auction lots will be exhibited for viewing prior to the auction, thus offering all interested customers the opportunity to examine the quality and condition of the works exhibited. The catalog illustrations are intended to assist customers during such preview. In illustrations, printed colors do not correspond exactly to the originals. The printed catalog images are not representative for the condition of the illustrated pieces. Hidden flaws and damages are indicated in the condition report. The illustrations in our online catalogs can be strongly magnified, so that most damages and restorations are well recognizable.
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All items starting above EUR 2,000 have been checked by the Art Loss register.
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Buddhism and
FAS1025 ON DATE 16-17 October 2025
PLEASE RAISE MY BID BY ONE BIDDING INCREMENT (ca. 10%) IF NECESSARY PLEASE CALL ME WHEN A HIGHER BID THAN MINE
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GALERIE ZACKE
Zelinkagasse 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Email: office@zacke.at
Tel: +43-1-532 04 52
Fax: +43-1-532 04 52 20
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Whenever making a bid, whether personally or via an agent, in writing, online, telephone, or in any other way, the bidder fully and unconditionally accepts the Terms of Auction, the ‘Important Information’ section in the auction catalog, the Terms and Conditions (AGB) of Galerie Zacke, §1-48, the Fee Tariff, and the Bidding Increments table, all as published on www.zacke.at on the day of the auction.
1
A LARGE PARCEL-GILT IRON VAJRA, TIBET, 12TH-13TH CENTURY
The eight-pronged vajra with a central knob of compressed globular form, flanked by fierce-looking masks and rows of petals, the decoration highlighted in neatly applied gold foil as well as gold and black lacquer, a loose ring attached to the interior central pole to either end of the vajra, and the prongs terminating in pointed finials.
Provenance: The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art. Alain Presencer (b. 1939) is a renowned Tibetologist, collector, musician, and long-standing Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear from centuries of handling and worship, minor nicks, light scratches, rubbing to the gilt and lacquer, pitting, and casting irregularities. Both the black lacquer and gilt may have been partially renewed at some point in time. Faint traces of iron rust scattered across the piece.
Weight: 688 g
Dimensions: Length 25.3 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 9 March 2023, lot 166
Price: EUR 26,000 or approx. EUR 28,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large parcel-gilt iron vajra, Tibet, 12th-13th century
Expert remark: Compare the mask decorations to the handle, the loose rings, the gilt highlights, and the size (25.4 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2014, lot 58
Price: USD 52,500 or approx. EUR 61,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An iron vajra with gold inlay Expert remark: Compare the related form, parcel gilt decoration, and size (25.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
Alain Presencer in Tibet
AN IRON RITUAL STAFF, KHATVANGA, TIBET, 15TH CENTURY OR EARLIER
Expert’s note: The present khatvanga, radiating a fierce and primal energy, distinguishes itself from comparable examples through its unique interpretation of the three-heads motif. Traditionally, this motif comprises a freshly severed head, a decomposing head, and a skull, symbolizing the stages of mortality. In this instance, however, the heads belong to guardian deities, rendered in two progressive stages of wrath, imbuing the staff with a distinctly divine and protective character. This, along with the lack of any damascening, indicates this staff predates the famous 15th-century khatvangas associated with the Yongle court (see literature comparison). Also see a bronze and iron trishula with a human and a wrathful head, dated circa 14th century, 55 cm long, sold at Christie’s Paris, 11 December 2013, lot 217, for EUR 12,500.
The long shaft of decagonal section, boldly incised with a wave pattern, rising to a biconical section formed by two confronted bands of lotus petals framed by beaded rims, surmounted by two heads of wrathful protectors portrayed in stages of ferocity, the lower fiercer head with a skull crown and fletched teeth, both with bulging eyes and loose earrings, below a skull with deep eye sockets, and terminating at both ends in half-vajras.
Provenance: The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art. Alain Presencer (b. 1939) is a renowned Tibetologist, collector, musician, and long-standing Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, manufacturing irregularities, surface corrosion, encrustations, few small nicks.
Weight: 717 g
Dimensions: Length 33.3 cm
The present staff is one that is rendered in many Tibetan paintings wherein it is typically wielded by wrathful deities in the crook of the left arm, meant to take the place of the wrathful deity’s consort and to symbolize the union of wisdom and emptiness. The severed heads are intended to represent the violent destruction of the three root poisons (ignorance, attachment, and anger).
Standalone khatvangas such as the present lot are typically used in empowerment rituals. Larger ones could also be placed on an altar and worshiped as sacred images. See Michael Henss, Buddhist Ritual Art of Tibet, 2020, p. 182.
Literature comparison: Compare a Ming-dynasty damascened iron khatvanga, 44 cm long, with a Yongle reign mark and of the period, in the British Museum, registration number 1981,0207.1.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Paris, 15 December 2022, lot 127
Price: EUR 38,175 or approx. EUR 41,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver damascened iron ritual staff (khatvanga), Eastern Tibet, Derge, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the form of the shaft and vajra finials, as well as the iron material. Note the size (44 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 March 2014, lot 23
Price: USD 10,000 or approx. EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An iron Vajrakila purbhua, Tibet, circa 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the related workmanship, material, and decoration with similar beading, wrathful faces, and loose earrings. Note the similar size (35.6 cm) and different form.
Estimate EUR 1,500
Starting price EUR 700
3 A SILVER, CORAL AND TURQUOISE CEREMONIAL CONCH SHELL TRUMPET, DUNG-DKAR, 19TH CENTURY
Tibet, 19th century. Of typical form, the ivory-white shell encased in a silver mount, its surface intricately chased to depict two ferocious sinuous dragons and a phoenix centered by a flaming jewel surrounded by scrolling foliage and framed by bands of waves, petals, overlapping trefoils, and leafy scroll, all above two confronted deer and further decorative bands, and below a spiraling band with mythical and zodiac animals, divided by minutely beaded borders, further with four coral and six turquoise insets as well as a coral finial.
Provenance: From a private collection in the United States, approximately acquired in the early to mid-2000s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, traces of use, and manufacturing irregularities. Little tarnish to silver and expected wear to the inlaid gemstones, of which some are possibly renewed.
Weight: 775.7 g
Dimensions: Length 19.1 cm
The conch shell (Tibetan: dung), a symbol of the voice of the Buddha, represents the transmission of Buddhist teachings. This conch trumpet is both an auspicious symbol and a ritual implement in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. During ritual performances, it is used as a musical instrument and as a container for water. The elaborate decoration of real conch shells, such as the present example, became prominent in the seventeenth century.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related ritual conch shell trumpet (Dung-Dkar), Tibet, dated to the 19th century, 22 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2022.302.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Koller Zürich, 29 October 2014, lot 140
Price: CHF 3,000 or approx. EUR 4,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver-mounted conch shell (Shanka), Tibet or India, 19th-20th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of chasing, and decorative style with turquoise and coral inlays. Note the size (20.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 1,500
Starting price EUR 700
4
A RITUAL CONCH SHELL DEPICTING VISHNU AND GARUDA, NEPAL, 11TH CENTURY
The present lot at Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 178, estimate HKD 150,000 or approx. EUR 19,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Expert’s note: The interior of the shell bears an old inscribed paper label, proposing a theory concerning the subject of the piece. ‘Conchhorn, 11th cent. Nepal: Jibe by Bon or Orthodox Buddhist monks at the expense of the Hindu religion, showing obscenity!’ This suggests the carving may represent a sectarian jibe, produced by Bon or Orthodox Buddhist monks to mock Hinduism through the rare ithyphallic depiction of Vishnu. While such interpretations reflect earlier scholarship, it is equally possible that the imagery was intended symbolically, emphasizing divine potency rather than obscenity.
The white shell is deeply carved with a depiction of the four-armed Vishnu, shown standing beside another image of the god mounted on his vahana Garuda. Both forms hold the conch shell, battle club, lotus bud, and war discus. The present work is distinguished by the rare ithyphallic representation of Vishnu alongside his mounted form. As the conch is one of Vishnu’s principal attributes, its presence on this shell renders the subject particularly fitting.
The shell is further carved with various inscriptions in Newari and Nagari scripts.
Provenance: The Benny Rustenberg Collection, Amsterdam, 1970s. The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art, acquired from the above. Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 178, estimate HKD 150,000 or approx. EUR 19,000 and dated to circa 16th/17th century. Alain Presencer (b. 1939) is a renowned Tibetologist, collector, musician, and longstanding Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. By gaining access to remote monasteries, he amassed a comprehensive collection of Tibetan Buddhist artifacts. He also produced a popular recording of his own performances, introducing this musical genre to a global audience with his album ‘The Singing Bowls of Tibet’, which has sold over a million copies to date. Significant pieces from his collection were sold at his personal sale at Bonhams Hong Kong on 2 October 2018.
Published: Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 61700.
Condition: Good condition with significant old wear, largely from ritual handling and worship, as expected for a Buddhist object of nearly one millennium in age. Traces of use and natural imperfections are present, including age cracks and fissures, rubbing, a few small losses, scattered minute chips to the edges, as well as occasional light nicks and surface scratches. The shell retains a naturally developed, lustrous patina. The stand with old wear, minor dents and nicks, and a fine dark patina overall.
Weight: 165.8 g (excl. stand), 276.3 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 11.4 cm
With an ancient bronze stand. (2)
Conch shells are often used as trumpets at the start and end of Hindu and Buddhist rituals. The object is sanctified with imagery and blessings, thus the sound passing through it demarcates sacred space and time, which a ritual is conducted in. Its blessed sound is also believed to shield from harmful spirits, and so is also blown at dusk. Carved ritual conch shells survive as far back as the Pala period, as evidenced by two 11th12th century examples, one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1986.501.6 (fig. 1), the other depicting Vishnu and Garuda in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, accession number 2012-106-1 (fig. 2)
Estimate EUR 4,000 Starting price EUR 2,000
fig. 1
fig. 2
Alain Presencer in Tibet
5
A RETICULATED GILT-DAMASCENED IRON PEN CASE, TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The design of this piece is created using the wanjin technique. This intricate process begins by incising the iron surface with a slanted blade to roughen it. A thin sheet or line of gold is then laid over the metal and carefully hammered, causing the gold to embed deeply into the carved lines. Once the surface is smoothed and polished, the result is a refined, gleaming gold decoration seamlessly integrated into the metal.
Of cylindrical form and masterfully worked with a pair of sinuous dragons amid dense scrollwork issuing lingzhi, lined by a geometric border below a band of lingzhi, and terminating in a lotus bud. The design repeated to the cover with a third dragon. The pieces joined by two lugs suspending a cord.
Weight: 394.4 g Dimensions: Length 37.8 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Tibetan gilt iron pen case, dated 15th-16th century, 37.5 cm long, formerly in the collection of Marilynn B. Alsdorf and now in the Chicago Institute of Art, reference number 2012.685a.
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Provenance: From the collection of Paul Atkinson, acquired between 1970 and 2007. Paul Atkinson is a passionate and wide-ranging collector whose career has spanned over five decades. Known for his boundless curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit, Atkinson began his journey in the antiques trade during the 1970s, sourcing pieces from regional sales and eventually opening his first shop in Matlock, Derbyshire. At one of his first auctions as a 20-year-old in 1970, a veteran dealer came over to Atkinson at a farm sale and said, “You think that you have joined a business, don’t you?” Atkinson responded, “Well, this isn’t a business – it’s an illness from which you never recover”. His eye for the unique and rare quickly led him to the international stage, exporting English furniture to the United States and Europe. His reputation was solidified with the opening of a gallery in the Louvre des Antiquaires in Paris, and later through his restoration of Sydnope Hall, once the home of Charles Darwin’s family. Together with his wife Vivien, an experienced art market professional, Atkinson later relocated to Mallorca, where they opened a major gallery catering to a distinguished international clientele.
Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear, some rubbing to the gilt, and casting irregularities including minor pitting. Overall exceptionally well preserved, commensurate with usage and age.
Paul Atkinson and his wife Vivien
A FINE RETICULATED GILT-DAMASCENED IRON PEN HOLDER, TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The design of this piece is created using the wanjin technique. This intricate process begins by incising the iron surface with a slanted blade to roughen it. A thin sheet or line of gold is then laid over the metal and carefully hammered, causing the gold to embed deeply into the carved lines. Once the surface is smoothed and polished, the result is a refined, gleaming gold decoration seamlessly integrated into the metal.
Of cylindrical form, superbly worked with dense scrollwork issuing blossoms, framed by a band of lingzhi, and terminating in a lotus bud. The design repeated to the cover with a third dragon. The pieces joined by two lugs.
Provenance: Collection of Paul Atkinson.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, rubbing to the gilt, and minor casting irregularities including pitting. Overall, remarkably well preserved given its age and the extensive use typical for this type of object.
Weight: 259.5 g
Dimensions: Length 31.6 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 8 November 2023, lot 359
Price: GBP 12,065 or approx. EUR 15,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A reticulated gilt-damascened iron pen holder, Tibet, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and damascening technique. Note the size (41.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A GEM- AND
HARDSTONE-INLAID
GOLD ‘VISHNU ON GARUDA’ DEITY EARRING, NEPAL, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
The leaf-shaped pendant is meticulously inlaid with green-backed rock crystal, lapis lazuli, rubies, corals, turquoises, sapphires, and pearls to depict Vishnu riding Garuda, flanked by two dancing female attendants, the reverse with delicate filigree work surrounding a central floral spray formed from similar inlays, and a tiny gold mounted ruby suspended from the lower corner, all framed by richly beaded rims, the ends connected with a gilt-metal fitting terminating in two inset rubies and suspended from a chain with small repoussé conchform links.
Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 16 February 1981, lot 672. Acquired from the above by an important private collector in Southern Germany. A copy of the collector’s personal notes, confirming the provenance, accompanies the lot. The notes record a purchase price of DEM 2,500 (approx. €4,000 today, adjusted for inflation) and assign a 19th-century date. Condition: Good condition with minor wear, minor losses to inlays with some possibly renewed or reattached, light surface scratches, minor fissures to some stones, the left attendant figure with an old repair to the raised arm and loss to the hand.
Weight: 58.7 g
Dimensions: Length 8 cm (excl. chain), 12.5 cm (incl. chain)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
These monumental earrings were originally intended to adorn a deity statue within a Nepalese temple, serving both a ritual and symbolic function. A closely related pair, each measuring 9.5 cm in height, can be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art, along with a matching pendant. Both are dated to the 17th–18th century. They were formerly part of the esteemed collection of Jeptha Homer Wade II. The museum accession numbers are 1915.338 (earrings, fig. 1) and 1915.341 (pendant). Compare also a related gilt metal and precious stone inlaid stele depicting the same subject, sold at Sotheby’s New York in September 1999 and illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 11583.
1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 September 1999, lot 105
Price: USD 12,650 or approx. EUR 21,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gold charm box, gau, Tibet, 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the related inlay and filigree work as well as the figural subject. Note the size (6 cm) and the much later dating.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
fig.
A LARGE GILT-COPPER REPOUSSÉ PLAQUE OF AMITABHA, TIBET, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
Finely worked in repoussé to depict the crowned Amitabha seated in dhyanasana on a lotus base, dressed in a short dhoti with uniform pleats, his body adorned in beaded jewelry and a floral tiara. The face with a serene expression and downcast eyes flanked by elongated earlobes suspending circular earrings, all within a flaming mandorla framed by two Bodhisattvas to each side below an arch issuing from makaras and surmounted by Garuda. The upper section with two further Bodhisattvas and the lower section with an ornate throne supported by two lions.
Weight: 2.7 kg
Dimensions: Size 55.1 x 38.1 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2009, lot 1376
Price: USD 10,625 or approx. EUR 14,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Dr. John Ross Jr. (19282019), a pioneering cardiologist and previous owner of the present lot
Provenance: The collection of Dr. John Ross Sr., thence by descent to his son and thence by further direct descent. Dr. John Ross Sr. was an American physician and art collector. He passed down his collection and passion for collecting to his son Dr. John Ross Jr. (1928-2019). Dr. Ross was a renowned collector and passionate advocate of Asian and ethnographic art. He played a central role in the Ethnic Arts Council (EAC) of Los Angeles. His influence extended to academic institutions such as UCLA and USC. Internationally, he contributed through organizations like the Ethnic Arts Foundation and the Mithila Arts Institute in India. Part of the collection was donated to the World Cultures Art Collection of Mesa College, San Diego.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, small dents, few nicks, light scratches, minor malachite encrustations, few tiny holes and cracks, minor rubbing to the gilt, and manufacturing irregularities.
Description: A large gilt copper repousse figure of Kinnara, Tibet, 17th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related repoussé work, gilding, material, style and dating. Note the smaller size (41 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 March 2022, lot 425
Price: USD 13,860 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-copper repousse plaque of Vaishravana, Tibet, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related repoussé work, gilding, material, style and dating. Note the much smaller size (25.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A COPPER-ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, TIBET, 12TH-13TH CENTURY
The figure seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus base with a thickly beaded lower rim, wearing a loose-fitting robe with the hems richly detailed with zig-zag lines and falling in a U-shape at the feet. His face with downcast eyes below gently arched brows centered by an urna, flanked by pendulous earlobes, the hair arranged in tight curls over the ushnisha topped by a bud-shaped jewel.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States; acquired through a private sale in the 1990s.
Condition: Good condition with expected age-related wear, primarily from ritual handling within the culture. Minor casting irregularities, rubbing, small dents, and light nicks throughout. Traces of ancient pigment remain. The base has been resealed, showing old soldering marks. The surface has worn to a smooth patina, indicating long-term devotional use and reverence over multiple generations.
Weight: 198 g
Dimensions: Height 9.7 cm
The current bronze depicts Shakyamuni Buddha in ultimate serenity at the moment of his enlightenment. He sits with his right hand in bhumisparsha mudra, the gesture of calling upon the earth as the witness of his enlightenment. His left hand is gently placed in the meditation posture atop his lap. The Buddha’s general proportions, such as the relatively short neck and large head, reflect the stylistic traits associated with the image of Buddha in the Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya.
EXPERT’S NOTE
This early Tibetan bronze’s style evokes Buddhism’s Indian origins, imitating the 10th-12th century Pala style. Compare a related Eastern Indian bronze figure of Buddha, dated to the 12th century, 8.1 cm high, sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 120, for EUR 30,240
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 31
Estimate: HKD 200,000 or approx. EUR 24,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A copper alloy figure of Shakyamuni, Tibet, circa 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related Pala-inspired style and early Tibetan casting manner with similar smooth patina and size (9 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF TARA, EARLY MALLA PERIOD, 1100 – 1382 AD
Nepal, 13th-14th century. Finely cast standing in graceful tribhanga with her right hand lowered and held in vitarka mudra, the left hand raised holding a scroll, the deity wearing a long dhoti falling elegantly in richly detailed folds, the body adorned with beaded jewelry inlaid with coral and turquoise, and the face with a serene expression, surmounted by a tall crown inlaid with glass beads in imitation of turquoise and coral.
The lower back of the robe with a rectangular aperture retaining its original seal, probably holding sacred contents within.
Provenance: From a Japanese private collection.
Condition: Good condition with ancient wear, casting irregularities, few small nicks, some inlays lost and others replaced, abrasions and flaking to gilt. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with cuprite and malachite encrustations.
Weight: 78 g (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 10 cm (excl. stand), 22.1 cm (incl. stand)
With an acrylic stand. (2)
Literature comparison: Compare a related, slightly earlier gilt-bronze figure of Tara dated to the 13th century, 18.5 cm, from the Berti Aschmann Foundation and now in the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, inventory number BA 84.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2016, lot 201
Price: USD 23,750 or approx. EUR 27,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of a standing Tara, Nepal, 14th century Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar pose and expression. Note the base and the size (13.3 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2007, lot 312
Price: USD 14,400 or approx. EUR 19,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Tara, Nepal, 14th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar pose and expression. Note the size (12.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
AN IMPORTANT PARCEL-GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, TIBET, 13TH-14TH CENTURY
Published & Exhibited: Andrea Loiseries-Leick, Kunst aus dem Himalaya, Teppich-Haus Reinisch, Graz, 11 June-15 July 1988, p. 14 and p. 53, no. P/3 (dated 14th-16th century).
Superbly cast seated in vajrasana atop a beaded double-lotus base, his right hand lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and the right held in dhyana mudra above the lap. The folds of his robe drape naturally around his lithe body and gather in a fan-shaped pleat, the hems delicately incised with double lines and geometric patterns. The face exquisitely modeled in a serene expression marked by sinuously lidded downcast silver-inlaid eyes below similarly curved brows centered by a raised square urna, aquiline nose, and red-painted bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by elongated earlobes. The blue hair arranged in tight curls over the tall ushnisha topped by a bud-shaped finial.
The base re-sealed with a wood plate, containing various sacred contents and textiles within.
Provenance: Collection of Dr. Andrea LoseriesLeick, Austria. Teppich-Haus Reinisch, Graz, Austria, 1988. The collection of Dr. Ferdinand and Dr. Gudrun Thaler-Szulyovsky, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the same family. Dr. Andrea Seabury Loseries (née Leick) studied Tibetology, Buddhist studies, art history, museology, and ethnology in Paris, West Bengal, and Vienna. In addition to regular specialist publications and lectures at international conferences, she works as a Tibetan interpreter and translator, and as an expert on Asian studies. Dr. Andrea curated several exhibitions on Tibetan art and initiated the Dalai Lama’s first visit to Graz. Every year, she produces expert descriptions for the Tibetan thangka calendar. Dr. Ferdinand and Dr. Gudrun Thaler-Szulyovsky, who had both been practicing law, met in 1967 through their mutual passion for art. Together they built a substantial and diverse art collection over many decades. Condition: Overall good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, light warping, few dents, minute nicks, minor shallow cracks, few minuscule losses, signs of fire damage, losses to gilding, remnants of varnish, old soldering marks.
Weight: 5.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 38.8 cm
PUBLISHED
The gilding at the face is applied in the ‘cold gold’ technique, which could involve the direct application of gold leaf to the surface, or more commonly in Tibet, the blending of gold dust or gold leaf with a binder into a ubiquitous lacquer solution, and then painting the amalgam onto the surface. This technique is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Tibetan metalworking of that time and region. The heavy application of gold to the face, and the traces of gold elsewhere on the body, indicate the importance of the present statue in Buddhist ritual.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Tibetan copper alloy figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, dated to the 15th century, 31 cm high, in the Rubin Museum of Art, object number C2001.13.3. Compare a closely related brass figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, dated 13th-14th century, supported on an altar probably of later date, illustrated in the Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum, Buddhist Statues of Tibet, vol. 60, 1998, p. 160-161, no. 153.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 December 2020, lot 1009
Price: HKD 752,500 or approx. EUR 89,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver and copper inlaid copper alloy figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Tibet, 13th century
The present image of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is a paragon of the Tibetan sculptural tradition. The Buddha is seated in vajrasana, the classical diamond posture, recalling the seminal moment when he attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree in Bodhgaya where the Mahabodhi Temple now stands. With his right hand, he touches the ground in the gesture of bhumisparsha mudra, asking the earth to bear witness to the truth of his teachings. His elongated earlobes, weighed down by the heavy earrings of his former princely life, represent his rejection of worldly goods. His simple robe, stitched from a patchwork of scraps, leaves his right shoulder bare, the custom of Buddhist monks in South and Southeast Asia when paying respect to a venerated holy site.
The appealing proportions of the chest and head are complemented by a skillfully modeled lotus bud rising from the ushnisha. These features, combined with the distinctive base, point to a close relationship with the Pala style. These similarities with Indian traditions suggest the figure was made in Tibet during or shortly after the period when contact with Indian artists was the principal source of inspiration for Tibetan sculpture and painting. Tibetan bronzes after the fourteenth century are increasingly modeled and gilded in the Nepalese manner.
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of casting. Note the much smaller size (31.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 49
Price: EUR 315,000 or approx. EUR 340,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important silver and copper inlaid copper-alloy figure of Shakyamuni Buddha Tibet, circa 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of casting, with similar facial features, earlobes, and bud finial. Note the much larger size (64.8 cm).
Estimate EUR 50,000
Starting price EUR 25,000
Dr. Andrea LoseriesLeick
Jeff Watt & Walter Arader, Embodying Enlightenment: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas, 2015, p. 7, no. 4.
AN INCSCRIBED GILT-COPPER FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, NEPAL, LATE 13TH-EARLY 14TH CENTURY
The present lot at Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 122, estimate of HKD 250,000 or EUR 31,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Finely cast seated in dhyanasana on a lotus base, the hands in bhumisparsha mudra, dressed in a tightly fitted robe, a sash arranged over the left shoulder, and the pleaded folds neatly assembled before the feet. The face with a serene expression, downcast eyes centered by an urna, the hair in tight curls, surmounted by an ushnisha, and flanked by elongated earlobes. The upper front of the base with a short inscription.
The interior with an ancient sutra roll, covered in an inscribed textile, and organic material inside the head.
Inscriptions: To the base, ‘K Buddha [34 or 39]’
Provenance: Collection of Kees van der Ploeg. Christie’s Amsterdam, 16 June 1992, lot 55, estimate of NLG 10,000-15,000. The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art, acquired from the above. Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 122, estimate of HKD 250,000 or EUR 31,000, erroneously dated as 18th century. The interior with two old labels, inscribed ‘Buddhit [sic] Nepal. 12th c.’ and ‘Inscribed on base’.
Published: Himalayan Art Resources, item number 61618.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, small nicks, few light scratches, rubbing to the gilt, and an old fill to the right elbow. The base unsealed.
Weight: 2 kg
Dimensions: Height 24.7 cm
Literature comparison: Compare an earlier gilt copper figure of Shakyamuni, dated to the 11th century, Nepal, illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, p. 325, no. 84C.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 15 March 2016, lot 242
Price: USD 32,500 or approx. EUR 37,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Amitabha, Nepal, 14th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar pose, broad shoulders, facial expression, and draping of the robe. Note the size (13 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Kees van der Ploeg in Den Haag, 1966
A LARGE (56 CM) AND IMPORTANT BRONZE FIGURE OF SHADAKSHARI LOKESHVARA, CENTRAL TIBET, CIRCA 14TH CENTURY
Superbly cast seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus pedestal with the principal hands held together before the chest in anjali mudra, the secondary hands clutching a rosary and lotus stem. Richly adorned in beaded jewelry, the deity is dressed in a diaphanous dhoti falling in voluminous folds before the ankles, the cold-gilded face with an authoritative expression of arresting calm, detailed with downcast eyes below gently arched brows, centered by an urna, flanked by elongated earlobes suspending two circular earrings, the hair tied in a high chignon topped by a foliate finial behind the similarly paneled crown.
Provenance: A noted private collection France and thence by descent. Sotheby’s Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 131, sold for EUR 138,600 or approx. EUR 150,000. A private collection in France, acquired from the above. Condition: Good overall condition with wear and casting irregularities consistent with age, including small gaps and holes, the largest measuring approx. 2.8 x 4.5 cm to the back of the base. Minor dents and dings throughout, with rubbing and flaking to the gilt, as well as small losses to attributes and remnants of pigment. Few stress cracks are visible to the neck and at the wrist of the lower right hand. Evidence of old lacquer restoration is present on the underside of the legs. The two tiara panels and the tip of the left crown tie are later replacements; a stabilized stress crack is visible at the base of the crown. Distinct remnants of ancient lacquer gilding are still apparent on the face and other areas, though most have naturally worn away over centuries. The surface bears a deep chocolate-brown patina with a lustrous shine— characteristic of a bronze sculpture dating back 600–700 years.
Weight: 8.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 56.2 cm
Often thought to have a western Tibetan origin, this type of early Tibetan sculpture is more likely to be from the central regions where the primary stylistic influence was the art of eastern India during the Pala period between the 8th and 12th centuries. Features in the Pala idiom include the tall crown panels, the necklace of pendant gems with an elaborate central jewel setting, and the fishtail scarf-ends of the crown- and belt-ties: compare the tall crown panels and necklace type of a ca. 12th century eastern Indian standing Buddha from Kurkihar, illustrated by Susan L. Huntington, The Pala-Sena Schools of Sculpture, Leiden, 1984, pl. 185.
The Pala influenced style seems to have been popular in Tibet from around the twelfth through the fourteenth century, about the same time period that strong eastern Indian influence is seen in central Tibetan painting. The bronzes in this style are mostly un-gilded, like their Indian antecedents. Central Tibetan sculpture after the fourteenth century is increasingly gilded in the Nepalese manner. The tall crown leaves, same type of necklace with large central element and gem-set pendants, and arm bands with beaded swags, all so typical of this early central Tibetan sculptural group, can be seen in a fourteenth century Vairochana formerly in the Berti Aschmann Collection and illustrated by Helmut Uhlig, On the Path to Enlightenment, Zürich, 1995, p. 65, cat. 25 (see literature comparison).
Shadakshari Lokeshvara, one of the thirty-one forms of Avalokiteshvara according to the Sadhanamala, is often regarded as the patron of Tibet and the progenitor of the Dalai Lama lineage. He is personified by the six syllable mantra of the Buddhists, ‘Om mani padme hum’.
The present lot at Sotheby’s Paris, 16 June 2022, lot 131, sold for EUR 138,600 or approx. EUR 150,000 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related figure of Shadakshari Lokeshvara with the face painted in cold gold, Tibet, dated to the 14th century, 40.3 cm high, illustrated in Ulrich Von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, Tibet & China, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 1180, fig. 317C. Compare a closely related figure of Vairocana, dated to the 14th century, ca. 51 cm high, formerly in the Berti Aschmann Collection and now in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number BA 25.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 9 June 2021, lot 60
Price: EUR 200,000 or approx. EUR 228,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Shadakshari Lokeshvara, Tibet, circa 15th century
Expert remark: This figure of later date and related size (59 cm) depicts the same subject and shows a number of similar albeit slightly simplified features, such as the beading, petal, and foliate designs. The lacquer-gilt and painting to the face of this statue are most likely of a more recent date.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 3 October 2017, lot 18
Price: HKD 1,125,000 or approx. EUR 143,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A copper inlaid brass alloy figure of Avalokiteshvara Shadakshari, Tibet, circa 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject with similar expression, jewelry, and base. Note the much smaller size (35 cm).
Estimate EUR 50,000
Starting price EUR 25,000
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA AKSHOBHYA, PROBABLY JONANG LINEAGE, TIBET, 14TH-15TH CENTURY
Superbly cast seated in dhyanasana atop a lotus pedestal raised on a waisted plinth draped with a cloth flanked by addorsed elephants, all richly beaded and supported on three short scroll-form feet. His right hand is lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and the left held above the lap, the deity is clad in a voluminous dhoti pooling elegantly at the feet and a billowing celestial scarf framing the shoulders and arms, his lithe body generously adorned with minutely beaded jewelry.
The finely cold-painted face bearing a serene expression marked by sinuously lidded eyes, gently arched brows, and red-painted lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by long pendulous lobes suspending circular floral earrings. The blue hair pulled up into a high chignon topped by a foliate finial behind the five-leaf tiara, which along with the jewelry and drape over the base is skillfully inlaid with turquoise and coral.
Provenance: From a noted private collection in Pully, Vaud, Switzerland. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, few minuscule nicks and small dings, light surface scratches, rubbing and minor losses to gilding, minor losses to inlays with some possibly renewed.
Weight: 1,810 g
Dimensions: Height 23 cm
This richly gilded bronze figure depicts Akshobhya Buddha in the sambhogakaya or enjoyment-body form. The Transcendental Buddha Akshobhya, meaning He Who is Unshakeable, is recognizable by his peaceful, bodhisattva-like appearance, the right hand in earth-touching gesture, and the left palm upturned holding a vajra. While most vajras on similar sculptural works were lost, the current work is distinguished for retaining the vajra in the left hand. Akshobhya Buddha is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, a product of the Adibuddha, who represents consciousness as an aspect of reality. Akshobhya is associated with the eastern direction and is Lord of the second of the Five Buddha Families described in the tantras; he is also featured in the corpus of Mahayana sacred literature, most notably the Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra. The great Tibetan yogi, Milarepa, and the important scholar, Sakya Pandita, are known to have achieved complete Buddhahood in Abhirati, the Pure Land governed by Akshobhya.
Expert’s note: The sculpture’s combination of a lotus pedestal and a waisted plinth underneath Akshobhya was a popular device in Central Tibet between the 13th and 15th centuries, certainly used at least by the Kagyu order and most gloriously repeated in the sculptures of Densatil Monastery. Compare two related 14th-century bronzes with similar arrangements published by Ulrich von Schroeder, in Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, 1981, p.188, no.38B, and in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. II, 2003, pp. 1036-1037, no. 258C. Meanwhile, the iconography also draws on a much longer tradition in Nepal, as evidenced by examples dated to the 10th and 11th centuries, published by von Schroeder in Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, Vol. I, 2003, p. 470, no. 146A-B, and Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, p. 326, no. 85A-B. This convergence becomes all the more interesting considering that Newari artists were employed by the Kagyu to build their tashi gomang stupas.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related gilt-bronze figure depicting the same subject, with a small figure of a consort in front, dated to the 15th century, in the collection of the Dzamtang Tsangwa Monastery in southern Amdo, illustrated by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 8485, where the author notes this sculpture belongs to the Jonang lineage, a tradition of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen (1292-1361). It is sometimes considered an offshoot of the Sakya tradition. The Jonang emphasize the teachings of the Kalachakra Tantra, and are known for a unique interpretation of the doctrine of emptiness, which holds that all human concepts are empty of inherent nature, but the true substance of the universe is pure, radiant Buddhahood. The Jonang were suppressed by the Fifth Dalai Lama in the mid-seventeenth century in central Tibet, but the tradition survives in the Dzamtang region of Amdo in eastern Tibet.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2011, lot 378
Price: USD 98,500 or approx. EUR 121,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Buddha, Tibet, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar facial features, expression, and combination of lotus base and waisted plinth. Note the similar size (24.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 16 March 2016, lot 712
Estimate: USD 150,000 or approx. EUR 175,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze figure depicting a six-armed yidam, Tibet, 14th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar beading, jewelry, inlays, and combination of lotus base and waisted plinth.
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
A GILT COPPER-ALLOY FIGURE OF VAJRADHARA, TIBET, CIRCA 15TH CENTURY
Seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus base with beaded upper rim, the hands held in vajrahumkara mudra before the chest, representing vajra and ghanta, the two symbols of wisdom and compassion supported on lotus blossoms issuing from his elbows. The Adi-Buddha is dressed in a dhoti with minutely incised floral hems, and decorated in various beaded necklaces, turquoise-inlaid ear loops, armlets, and bangles.
The face sensitively modeled with a serene expression marked by sinuously lidded downcast eyes, arched brows, and slender bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, the hair tied in a tall chignon terminating in a flame behind the openworked tiara crown. The base sealed, the sealplate neatly punched with a double-vajra.
Provenance: Peter Fussel, London, 1973. The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art, acquired from the above. Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 130, estimate of HKD 350,000 or EUR 43,500. Two labels to the base, inscribed ‘Vajradhara’ and ‘Tibet 15th C’. Alain Presencer (b. 1939) is a renowned Tibetologist, collector, musician, and long-standing Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. He began studying Buddhism at age 13, later training under Professor Mathera Sadhatissa at the University of Toronto in 1961-1962, before relocating to the UK in the 1970s to immerse himself in Tibetan culture. Over the past 60 years, Alain brought to the West his knowledge of the Himalayan region. By gaining access to remote monasteries, he amassed a comprehensive collection of Tibetan Buddhist artifacts, encompassing thangkas, ritual implements, statues, mandala plaques, and singing bowls. He also produced a popular recording of his own performances, introducing this musical genre to a global audience with his album ‘The Singing Bowls of Tibet’, which has sold over a million copies to date. Significant pieces from his collection were sold at his personal sale at Bonhams Hong Kong on 2 October 2018. Subsequently, Alain Presencer wrote a book on his lifelong field of study, titled Tibetan Buddhist Art and published in 2019, featuring images of several objects from his collection. Published: Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 61634.
Condition: Overall good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, scattered small nicks and light surface scratches, the gilding with expected rubbing and losses to common areas of tactile worship such as the nose, chin, and base. The back of the base with few minuscule fissures, the neck with a stress crack and associated old repair, the ears and earrings also with minor old repairs. Losses to inlays. Small dents and encrustations to the base. Remnants of ancient varnish.
Weight: 1.6 kg
Dimensions: Height 21.1 cm
This image of the primordial buddha Vajradhara is characteristic of Tibetan sculpture during the fifteenth century, especially the Yongle and Xuande periods. The long and slim proportions of the torso, the delicate physiognomy, the gentle sway of the upper body, and the slender hands are typical for this type. The scarf draped over the shoulders passing over the arms with loops extending at the elbow is a feature often seen in Xuande period sculpture. Furthermore, the lotuses at the shoulders, and the fine elongated lotus petals of the pedestal, are clearly inspired by these early Ming masterpieces. The use of turquoise to embellish the heavier jewelry, on the other hand, denotes the Tibetan taste.
The present lot at Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 130, estimate of HKD 350,000 or EUR 43,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
From metaphysical debates on the multiplicity and unity of Buddhas, arises the notion of an Adi-Buddha: a primordial source of enlightenment pervading the universe, from which all things come and into which all enlightened beings dissolve. Vajradhara represents the Adi-Buddha in most Tibetan Buddhist schools. He crosses Vajrayana’s ubiquitous symbols, the vajra and ghanta, before his chest in the vajrahumkara mudra. However in this charismatic sculpture, these symbols for Wisdom and Compassion blossom from his activity on lotuses by his shoulders. To represent Vajradhara is paradoxical, given the Adi-Buddha is formless, however it allows the practitioner to reference an ineffable, underlying reality.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare two related Tibetan gilt bronze figures of Vajradhara with similar lotus blossoms at the shoulders, one dated 15th16th century, 28 cm tall, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, accession number 南購銅000039N000000000 (fig. 1), and the other dated to the 16th century, 30.5 cm high, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60B165, and illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, IndoTibetan Bronzes, 1981, p. 442-443, no. 119G.
Compare a related larger Tibetan gilt bronze figure of Vajradhara, with similar loop-form celestial scarf, dated to the 15th century, 47.6 cm high, in the Newark Museum of Art, object number 70.5A.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 27 November 2024, lot 1018
Price: HKD 256,000 or approx. EUR 28,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of Tara, Tibet, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar lotus base, gentle sway, and size (21 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 1
Alain Presencer in Tibet
AN INLAID GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRADHARA, NEPAL, MALLA PERIOD, 15TH CENTURY
Superbly cast, seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus pedestal with beaded rims, both arms crossed forming the vajrahumkara mudra in front of his chest, the hands holding long lotus stems coming to full bloom at the shoulder and terminating in small vajras, clad in a tightfitting dhoti gathering in a fan-shaped fold below his ankles, and richly adorned with beaded jewelry inlaid in turquoise, coral, and glass.
The face finely modeled in a serene expression with sinuously lidded eyes, elegantly arched brows, rectangular urna, aquiline nose, and slender lips forming a subtle smile. His blue hair is arranged in a high chignon topped by a lotus finial behind the ribboned foliate crown.
Provenance: Koller Zurich, 8 June 1974, lot 27 (attributed to Tibet and dated to the 17th century). An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. Condition: Good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, light warping, small dents, minuscule nicks, light surface scratches, rubbing to gilt, minor losses to inlays with some possibly renewed, the right lotus with an old repair, losses to attributes, remnants of pigment, the base resealed.
Weight: 1.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 20.5 cm
This sensuously modeled sculpture of Vajradhara exemplifies the iconic craftsmanship and aesthetic dynamism of the Newar atelier. Hallmarks of this tradition are evident in the low hairline and broad forehead, the rectangular urna adorning the square face, the aquiline nose reminiscent of earlier Pala imagery, the short neck and broad, powerful shoulders, and the lavish use of semi-precious stone inlay. The thick casting and the broad, layered lotus petals are features closely associated with works from the Densatil monastery. The Newar people, creators of the most refined forms of Nepalese material culture, were patronized primarily by the royal courts and the highest ranks of the religious elite. Positioned between India to the south and Tibet and China beyond the Himalayan range to the north, the Kathmandu Valley occupied a unique geographic setting that encouraged the flourishing and dissemination of its distinctive artistic practices.
Vajradhara, the Adi-Buddha, is revered as the primordial source from which all wisdom and compassion arise. The Sarma schools of Tibetan Buddhism regard him as the precursor of all spiritual lineages. In his calm and composed form, Vajradhara embodies the blissful state that follows the realization of the dharma, presenting his body both as a focus for meditative contemplation and as an object of devotional appreciation. The Nyingma school sees Vajradhara as an emanation of Buddha Samantabhadra, while other major Tibetan Buddhist schools regard him as the secret form of Shakyamuni Buddha and the combined essence of all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times. From Vajradhara emanate some of the most important meditational deities, including Guhyasamaja, Shri Hevajra, and Chakrasamvara.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 September 2014, lot 1
Price: USD 81,250 or approx. EUR 94,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of Manjushri Namasangiti, Nepal, 15th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar facial features, expression, beaded and inlaid decoration, base, and size (21.5 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 November 2022, lot 1010
Price: HKD 1,011,000 or approx. EUR 121,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of Manjushri, Nepal or Tibet, circa 15th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar facial features, expression, beaded and inlaid decoration, and base. Note the size (23.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
AN INLAID GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AKSHOBHYA, TIBET, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus base with beaded rims, the right hand in bhumisparsha mudra, and the left hand held above the lap with the palm upturned supporting a vajra. The lithe body dressed in a long dhoti tied with beaded bands around the waist, adorned with necklaces and armlets, inlaid in coral and turquoise, and the shoulders framed by flowing sashes. The face with a serene expression, almondshaped eyes centered by a large round urna above the gently arched brows, flanked by long earlobes suspending circular earrings, surmounted by a floral crown, and the hair covered in blue pigments.
The seal plate to the base incised with a double vajra.
Provenance: Koller, 14 June 2017, lot 124, sold for CHF 31,700 or approx. EUR 42,800. A private collection in the United States, acquired from the above. Note that Koller dated the present lot as 17th-18th century.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities, expected minor losses to inlays with some possibly renewed, few light dents, small surface scratches, little rubbing to gilt. When sold at Koller, the face showed later added cold gilt and pigments, which were subsequently removed to reveal the superb and well-preserved fire gilding underneath.
Weight: 1.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 21 cm
Akshobhya’s name literally means ‘Immovable One’. As each Transcendental Buddha adopts one of the canonical hand gestures (mudras) referring to a key moment in Shakyamuni’s life, it is apt that Akshobhya should recall Shakyamuni’s unshakeable determination against the armies and temptations of Mara. In mandalas relating to his ‘vajra’ clan, and the Unexcelled Yoga tantras (Anuttarayoga), he occupies the center, but in the earliest tantric mandalas where the Five Transcendental Buddhas first appear, he is the Lord of the eastern quadrant, and represents the transmutation of anger into wisdom.
Expert’s note: The flowing ribbons and jeweled adornments on this figure closely anticipate the stylistic features of gilt-bronze Amitayus sculptures commissioned by the Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors to mark their birthdays, see a figure of Amitayus dated to the 18th century in the Welt Museum, Vienna, inventory number 26955. In contrast, the exuberant lotus petals on the base recall an earlier aesthetic, evocative of 15th century Ming bronzes, compare a Zhengtong-period figure of Akshobhya dated 1439, 25.6 cm high, at Sotheby’s Paris, 10 December 2019, lot 18, from which the vajra is now absent. The present example is further distinguished by the rare survival of the vajra held in the left hand
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 September 2013, lot 310
Price: USD 111,750 or approx. EUR 132,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Amitayus, Tibet, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar facial features, crown, robe, and inlays.
Note the larger size (26.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
The present lot at Koller, 14 June 2017, lot 124, sold for CHF 31,700 or approx. EUR 42,800 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
18
A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF PADMASAMBHAVA, TIBET, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus base with beaded rims, his hands held before his chest holding a vajra and skull cup, clad in heavy robes, the upper garment to right shoulder with foliate-shaped hem and neatly incised with blossoms, the folds billowing over his knees, his chest adorned with a beaded necklace suspending a foliate pendant.
The face with piercing gaze marked by round eyes and furrowed brows, flanked by pendulous earlobes, the head surmounted by a vulture-feather-topped hat and centered by a floral emblem. The jewelry, cap, and skull cup are finely inlaid in turquoise and glass.
The base sealed with a copper plate incised with a double vajra.
Provenance: From a Hungarian private collection.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities, few minuscule nicks, light surface scratches, minor losses to inlays with some possibly renewed, light rubbing and minor losses to gilding, the staff lost.
Weight: 922 g
Dimensions: Height 19.6 cm
Padmasambhava (literally ‘lotus-born’ in Sanskrit), also known as Guru Rinpoche among Tibetans, is believed to be one of the principal masters to bring Buddhism to Tibet and to teach the tantras in the 8th century. He is depicted in numerous forms with different names representing outer, inner and secret aspects of his spiritual being, with the change of names following the chronology of his life story. In the 5th century BC, Buddha Shakyamuni arrived as the founder of Buddhism. His teachings were subsumed by the Sutrayana and the Tantryana. In the 8th century, Padmasambhava personified the guru principle, the ritualistic path of Buddhism and the
heart of Vajrayana Buddhism. They are exemplified in its flourishing after it was introduced into Tibet and the Himalayas between the 7th and 11th centuries. Because of Padmasambhava’s teachings and contribution, he is known as the ‘Second Buddha.’
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s 16 September 2014, lot 258
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 35,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Padmasambhava, Tibet, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar facial features and base. Note the smaller size (14 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 8 June 2010, lot 355
Price: EUR 46,600 or approx. EUR 60,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-copper figure of Padmasambhava, Tibet, 16th/17th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding, with similar headwear and earrings. Note the larger size (25.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF SHADAKSHARI LOKESHVARA, TIBETAN-CHINESE, 15TH CENTURY
Provenance: From the personal Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York, USA. The back with an old label inscribed ‘Chin[…] $20,000’.
PUBLISHED & EXHIBITED
1. E & J Frankel, High Elevation Pt. II. Himalayan Art 1200-1800, New York, 6 March-1 April 2000.
2. E & J Frankel, Four Decades: Fortieth Anniversary Retrospect, New York, 2007, p. 130-131, plate 29.
Seated in dhyanasana on a lotus base, the primary hands folded in anjali mudra in front of the chest and the secondary hands held in vitarka mudra. The deity dressed in a diaphanous dhoti and sash with foliate incised hems, adorned with beaded jewelry, his serene face is characterized by sinuously lidded eyes and slender lips parted in a subtle smile showing the upper teeth above the prominent rounded chin. The hair is arranged in a tall chignon topped by a foliate finial and secured behind a pierced five-leaf crown.
E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, scattered light nicks and small surface scratches, tiny dings, minor losses and bending to fingers, remnants of cold-gilt and ancient pigment. The figure is affixed to the base with two nails which are probably inherent to the manufacture. The base unsealed.
Weight: 3,723 g
Dimensions: Height 22.8 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Paris, 12 June 2023, lot 6
Price: EUR 51,200 or approx. EUR 53,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver inlaid brass figure of Shadakshari Lokeshvara, Central Tibet, Tsang Province, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject as well as the related modeling. Note the size (27 cm). Note the silver-inlaid eyes and inscription to the base.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
20
A FINELY CARVED BLACK STONE FIGURE OF JAMBHALA, TIBET, 15TH-17TH CENTURY
Finely carved, seated in lalitasana atop a double-lotus base with a beaded rim, his extended right leg resting on a conch raised on a blossom issuing from the base, holding a mongoose in his left and a tama-jewel in his right hand, dressed in a loose-fitting dhoti with neatly incised pleats, and richly adorned with beaded and foliate jewelry, a sinuous snake partially wrapped around his torso. The mustachioed face with a stern expression marked by wide bulging eyes below furrowed brows, and pursed lips forming a tight smile, flanked by ears suspending large foliate earrings. The hair pulled up into an elaborate high chignon topped by a bud-shaped finial behind the five-leaf tiara.
Provenance: From a private collection in Hungary.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, traces of weathering, encrustations, remnants of pigment, few minute nicks and small surface scratches, some areas with light rubbing. The stone with a naturally grown, lustrous dark patina as well as a fine polish, rendering an unctuous feel overall.
Weight: 796.3 g
Dimensions: Height 14.8 cm
This figure depicts the Buddhist wealth deity Jambhala. Often confused with the Hindu god Kubera or the Buddhist Guardian King, Vaishravana, Jambhala’s unusual appearance descends from ancient Indian yaksha figures. In visual iconography, the Hindu god Kubera, also a wealth deity, and Jambhala are essentially identical, while Vaishravana can be easily distinguished by the presence of armor, among other things. In many representations of Kubera, Vaishravana, and Jambhala, including in the present lot, the mongoose that the deity clutches spews jewels, exemplifying the wealth-granting powers of all three deities.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Tibetan painted black stone figure of Jambhala, dated to the 15th century, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 9004, and further published and exhibited by John Eskenazi, Images of Faith: Buddhist Art, Inaugural Exhibition, London, 25 May-23 June 1995, and the Albuquerque Museum in association with Pratapaditya Pal, Tibet: Tradition and Change, 18 October 199724 May 1998.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 12 September 2018, lot 375
Price: USD 18,750 or approx. EUR 20,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilded and painted black-stone stele of Jambhala, Tibet, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject as well as the related modeling and manner of carving. Note the size (20.5 cm), arch, and strongly worn gilding.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
21
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF NILAMBARA VAJRAPANI, TIBET, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Heavily cast, the figure strides in alidhasana atop a separately cast lotus base flanked by two prostrate figures. His right hand is raised holding a vajra, while the left arm extends downward in karana mudra. He is clad in an elephant skin and a garland of six severed heads, and richly adorned with beaded and serpent-shaped jewelry, as well as a dharmachakra centered at the belly.
The face in a wrathful expression with bulging eyes, furrowed brows below the third eye, and the mouth open revealing fletched teeth and fangs. The long wavy hair swept back and secured by a five-skull crown. The tiara and the jewelry are finely inlaid with turquoises and one lapis lazuli.
The lower back with a rectangular aperture retaining its original seal, possibly still holding sacred contents within.
Provenance: Galerie Koller, Zurich, 5 November 1980, lot 53. At the time, the piece was valued at CHF 9,800 (excluding any commissions) or EUR 20,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing, and dated 16th-17th century. It should be noted that the Koller Asian art department at the time was led by Berti Aschmann, one of the foremost experts in Tibetan art in the world. A private collection in Germany, acquired from the above and thence by descent in the family.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, few minute nicks, small surface scratches, minor losses to inlays, extensive remnants of pigment. The base with losses to the back and areas of corrosion mostly to the interior.
Weight: 1,077 g (excl. base), 1,755 g (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 19 cm (excl. base), 22.5 cm (incl. base)
Literature comparison: Compare a related smaller Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Yamantaka, 12.7 cm high, dated c. 16th century, formerly in the Berti Aschmann Collection and now in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number BA 222.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 September 2007, lot 192
Price: USD 37,000 or approx. EUR 49,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Vajrapani, Tibet, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject. Note the similar size (22 cm) and the missing base.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A WOOD MASK DEPICTING BHAIRAVA, NEPAL, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Carved to depict the fierce manifestation of Shiva, the deity with large bulging eyes beneath furled brows, the forehead centered by a third eye, and the mouth pierced. The deity’s flaming curls are pulled away from the face and backed by a skull-and-naga tiara centered by a head of Shiva.
Provenance: From an old private collection in France, acquired in Kathmandu in the 1960s-1970s and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, minor age cracks, signs of weathering, minor signs of insect activity, obvious losses, remnants of pigment. The wood with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 2,151 g
Dimensions: Height 30.5 cm
Masks like the present lot were not the kind worn but kept on display and used for special annual festivals dedicated to Indra. On the third night of the Indrajata chang, a local beer or spirit, was poured through a spout placed through the mouth of the mask for revelers who would imbibe the liquid under the auspices of receiving a divine blessing.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 13 September 2011, lot 1008
Price: USD 22,500 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A wood Bhairava mask, Nepal, 16th/17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the size (81.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF YAMA DHARMARAJA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The casting and incision work on this piece are of remarkably high quality, characteristic of imperial workshops from the late 17th to mid-18th century. Particularly noteworthy is the extensive use of inlaid gemstones - including coral, turquoise, and malachite— which appear not only on the front but also on the reverse. Such lavish decoration on the back, an area usually left plain or minimally finished, highlights the extraordinary level of care and resources devoted to this piece, marking it as a work of exceptional prestige.
Tibetan-Chinese. The buffalo-headed deity stands in alidhasana atop a separately cast, recumbent, caparisoned bull, which itself rests on a prostrate figure on a finely incised lotus base. The deity raises his hands in vitarkamudra and wears a tiger-skin loincloth, adorned with fine turquoise and coral inlaid jewelry, a large Dharmachakra pendant, and billowing scarves. His fierce expression bears eyes, furrowed brows, two horns, while his flaming hair is secured by a skull tiara. The figure also displays an erect member, further emphasizing his primal, powerful nature. The base sealed with an oval plate incised with a double-vajra.
Provenance: The Cyrus and Mildred Churchill Collection, Concordia House, Illinois, and thence by direct descent to their son Daniel Churchill. Jackson’s, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 18th July 2017, lot 763 (dated 18th-19th century), sold for USD 28,320 or approximately EUR 32,000 A private collection in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, acquired from the above. Cyrus (1903-1999) and Mildred (1903-1997) Churchill had bought Chinese jades, archaic bronzes, ceramics and paintings throughout their 65-year marriage and displayed them in their home, a former bowling alley, named Concordia House. In 1938, the adventurous couple took a four-month trip around the world, traveling by freighter, bus and train to Italy, Egypt, India, Burma, Singapore, China, and Japan. They bought objects as they went, storing them in large shipping trunks. “They had to leave Shanghai because a war was going on,” their son Daniel Churchill once told the New York Times. “They had several close calls. They had to leave Japan in a Japanese cargo freighter that was going to British Columbia in order to get home.” They continued buying Chinese art in Chicago, New York and London, trading up as they went. “Father was into jade, Mother into ceramics,” Mr. Churchill said. “It was a very personal collection, and mother kept careful, annotated ledgers.” In March 2007, Sotheby’s New York held a sale of the Concordia House Collection with 167 lots, a highly successful sale that brought in USD 5.14 million, more than twice the cumulative low estimate.
Condition: Overall good condition with wear and casting irregularities. Small nicks, light scratches, losses to inlays, and remnants of ancient pigments. Small repairs to the base, buffalo’s leg and human’s arm. A fine, naturally grown, smooth patina and minute malachite encrustations.
Weight: 4,095 g
Dimensions: Height 29.2 cm
Yama Dharmaraja is a Tantric Buddhist wisdom deity, protector of the Anuttaryoga Tantra specifically used by those engaged in the practices of the Vajrabhairava Tantra. As one of the three principle religious protectors of the Gelukpa tradition, Yama Dharmaraja was held in high esteem at the Qing court.
The present lot at Jackson’s, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 18th July 2017, lot 763 (dated 18th-19th century), sold for USD 28,320 or approximately EUR 32,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related gilt-bronze figure of Yama, dated to the 18th century, 23.5 cm high, from the Folker Collection and illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pl. 157E. For a Qianlong reign-marked parcel-gilt figure of Yama Dharmaraja from the Qing Court Collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Buddhist Statues of Tibet, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 205.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 20 September 2022, lot 132
Price: USD 151,200 or approx. EUR 142,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large giltbronze figure of Yama Dharmaraja, Qing dynasty, 17th / 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and inlays. Note the related size (32.5 cm)
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS, TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
Finely cast seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus base with beaded rims, cradling the overflowing kalasa in his lap, adorned with abundant jewelry inlaid with turquoise glass, his lower body clad in a smoothly fitted dhoti secured with a beaded belt, the serene face with downcast eyes beneath sloping brows, straight nose, and pursed lips, the forehead centered by an urna, and crowned with a foliate tiara.
Provenance: Eskenazi, Milan, Italy, 1990s. A private collection in Milan, Italy, acquired from the above in the 1990s. The interior with an old label from ‘Eskenazi Milano’. Eskenazi was established in Milan in 1923 by the banker Vittorio Carmona. In 1926 it was managed by his nephew, Vittorio Eskenazi (1906-1987), who incorporated the business under his own name. Due to the growing importance of London in the international art market, Vittorio’s cousin Isaac Eskenazi (1913-1967) opened a branch in London and was later joined by his son Guiseppe Eskenazi (b. 1939) who has also worked at his uncle’s gallery in Milan. In the following years the company opened several more galleries and gained an impeccable reputation in the market.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, losses to inlays, small nicks, remnants of pigment to hair and lacquergilding to neck, rubbing and losses to gilding, the copper beneath with a warm patina, most likely resulting from centuries of tactile worship. The base unsealed.
Weight: 372 g
Dimensions: Height 13 cm
Expert’s note: This fine gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus is an example of Newar influence on China and the autonomously-ruled Southeastern
regions of Tibet under the Yuan and early Ming dynasties. The floral earrings and crown point to this influence, while the wide features of the face point to the place of production being Eastern Tibet. Compare a Yuandynasty gilt copper-alloy figure of Manjushri, dated 1305, 18.1 cm high, in the Qing Palace Collection, published Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum, 60: Buddhist Statues of Tibet, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 220, no. 209.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 12 September 2018, lot 308
Price: USD 16,250 or approx. EUR 14,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus, Tibet, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, subject, and size (12.4 cm). Note the lack of inlays.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 12 July 2022, lot 750 Price: EUR 10,710 or approx. EUR 11,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus, Tibet, 15th-16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, inlays, and subject. Note the size (16.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Giuseppe Eskenazi with his son Daniel
25
A RARE GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF MILAREPA, TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
The sage seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus with beaded rim covered by a deer hide, wearing a loose robe with his upper body exposed, the hems meticulously incised with blossoms amid scrolls, with a lively face framed by neatly combed hair flowing down his back, his left hand on the lap, and the right hand raised to the right ear in the listening position.
The base sealed with a copper plate neatly incised with a double vajra.
Provenance: From a notable private collection in Monaco. Condition: Overall good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, small nicks, light scratches, minor rubbing to the gilt, the kapala and a mounting to the back lost, the right hand, ear, and one finger on the left hand with old repairs. The back of the base with a small aperture. The base with the original sealing.
Weight: 1.6 kg
Dimensions: Height 15.7 cm
Expert’s note: The figure is meticulously inlaid with few gilt copper plaques of circular shape, often referred to as casting patches, most noticeably on the base. Some of these plaques may have once served a ritual purpose and are frequently observed in Buddhist sculptures.
Milarepa (1040-1123) is sometimes thought of as the first ordinary Tibetan to become a perfect Buddha in one lifetime. As a young man he successfully mastered black magic to take revenge on a wicked uncle wrongfully claiming his inheritance. He then repented to practice Buddhism with his teacher Marpa, who put him through terrible ordeals of constructing and reconstructing a nine-story tower four times over before agreeing to teach him. Profoundly gifted as a singer and poet, he communicated Buddhism through song and poetry and is credited with numerous popular Tibetan folk songs.
Milarepa is often depicted with a hand raised to his ear in a listening gesture. The listening gesture symbolizes his way of teaching the Buddhist wisdom through songs. The skull cap or kapala that once was in his left hand serves as a constant reminder of death and impermanence, the ephemeral transience of life that engenders renunciation.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Tibetan gilt bronze figure of Milarepa, dated c. 18th century, in the LindenMuseum, Stuttgart, accession number SA 39477 L.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 14 March 2017, lot 3221
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 43,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy figure of Milarepa, Tibet, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, gilding, and size (16 cm) as well as the related modeling, manner of casting, and decoration with similar incision work. Note the different base and hair.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF ROLPAI DORJE, THE THIRD CHANGKYA HUTUKTU, QIANLONG PERIOD
Tibetan-Chinese, 1736-1795. Superbly cast seated with legs crossed and concealed under a smooth robe, the eyes with a piercing gaze beneath a high peaked monk’s cap, the right hand held in front of the chest in vitarka mudra, the left hand resting open in the lap, and dressed in neatly arranged monk robes with foliate hems. The figure raised on a plinth formed from two cushions meticulously incised with floral and scroll designs, covered by a rug with stylized blossoms framed by a border of lozenges.
The base sealed with a rectangular plate richly incised with a double vajra.
Provenance: Ernest Ohly, Berkeley Galleries, London, 1972. The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art, acquired from the above. Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 147, estimate of HKD 150,000 or EUR 18,500 Published: Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 61656.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, casting irregularities, few small nicks and light surface scratches, minor rubbing to gilt, some areas covered in an old varnish showing some flaking and dark soiling.
William Ohly at the Abbey Art Center and Museum, c. 1950-55
The present lot at Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 147, estimate of HKD 150,000 or EUR 18,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Lama Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen or one of the regents of Mongolia, Jetsun Dampa, but this author remains unconvinced by these theories as similar examples to prove them (which can be easily produced for Rolpai Dorje, see comparisons) are nowhere to be found.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2024, lot 2930
Weight: 1.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 16.6 cm
Expert’s note: The distinctive lotus hat, with the double flaps at the front and flat disc top, was favored by the Gelugpa and most prominently by the Panchen Lamas. In addition, it is characteristic of the Third Changkya Hutuktu, Rolpai Dorje. Although the oft-touted distinctive bump on the right cheek is not present here, the figure shows the same hand gestures, robes, and hat that typify sculptures of this important teacher. Bonhams Hong Kong, in their sale of The Presencer Collection of Buddhist Art, suggested the present figure could also depict either the fourth Panchen
Price: HKD 151,200 or approx. EUR 17,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-copper figure of Changkya Rolpai Dorje, Tibet, 18th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject with similar pose, robe, hat, and size (16.8 cm)
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
27
AN IMPORTANT GILT
COPPER
ALLOY FIGURE OF A ROYAL DONOR, NEPAL, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
Finely modeled seated with the hands folded in anjali mudra before the chest, wearing long flowing robes detailed with neatly incised lines at the arms, the neck adorned with two beaded necklaces, a cape framing his back, the sash between his knees detailed with geometric bands above stylized flowers, the face with almond-shaped eyes, elegantly arched brows, large raised tika, prominent nose, and slender lips, flanked by pierced lobes, the head surmounted by a voluminous turban.
Observe the Indian katar dagger tucked into the donor’s belt.
Provenance: From a Belgian private collection.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, light scratches, some rubbing to the gilt, two tiny cracks to the underside of the dress, tiny nicks, manufacturing irregularities, and obvious losses. Fine, naturally grown patina, the interior with cuprite and malachite encrustation.
Weight: 758 g
Dimensions: Height 17.7 cm
There is a long tradition of acknowledging the role of donors as patrons of Indian religious art. It initially took the form of donor inscriptions that recorded their philanthropy and meritorious intentions. Later, donor portraits appeared. Such portraits have been part of Nepalese art since the Licchavi period, about 300-800 AD.
Donor portraits like the present lot can be found at several important temples in Nepal, such as the great Vaishnava temple of Changu Narayan, located on a hilltop of Changu (also called Dolagiri) in the eastern Kathmandu Valley; and Kwa Baha, The Golden Temple of Nepal, situated in Patan.
This figure’s Rajput-style dress was popular in court circles in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Nepal. It most likely formed part of an ensemble, together with his wife, revering an image of the deity they had donated.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Nepalese giltcopper alloy figure of a lamp bearer, “Presumed Portrait of a Nobleman”, dated by inscription to 1698, 25.4 cm tall, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2020.288.1 (fig. 1). Compare a related Nepalese gilt copper repoussé figure of a female donor, dated 1790-1810, 33 cm tall, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IM.371-1914.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 15 September 2015, lot 46
Price: USD 60,000 or approx. EUR 70,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of donor, Nepal, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the identical subject and rich gilding, with similar sash between the legs. Note the size (14.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 1
28
A TWO-TONE GILT
COPPER-ALLOY FIGURE OF GUANYIN, KANGXI-YONGZHENG PERIOD
Expert’s note: This superb bronze features gilding in both yellow and rose gold. The rose gold, evident on the face, robe, and jewelry, is characterized by its faint reddish hue and natural flaking, due to the copper content in the alloy. In contrast, the yellow gold, found on the base, earrings, and chest, has a higher gold concentration, making it more resistant to wear and discoloration. Two-tone gilding was reserved for only the finest and most exquisite statues due to the complexity of its execution.
China, 1662-1735. Finely cast seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus throne with beaded rims, the left hand lowered in dhyana mudra above the lap and the right raised in abhaya mudra, dressed in loosefitting robes richly decorated with floral hems and cascading in skillfully carved folds, the feet and hands adorned with beaded braces, and the robe open at the chest to reveal an elaborate necklace.
The face with a serene expression marked by sinuously lidded downcast eyes above bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by circular earrings suspending leafy tassels, the hair arranged in a tall chignon and wavy tresses behind an elaborate pierced foliate headdress.
Provenance: Koller, Zurich, 18 May 1990, Lot 343. An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above. A copy of the catalog description of Galerie Koller, Zurich, Auction 75/3, 18-19 May 1990, lot 343, confirming the provenance and dating above, accompanies the lot.
Condition: Very good condition with some agerelated wear and expected casting irregularities. A few tiny nicks, light scratches to the back, and minor losses. Earrings slightly loose. The base has been resealed. Some rubbing and minor losses to the gilding, revealing a warm coppery tone beneath. Overall with a rich, naturally developed dark patina.
Weight: 2.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 21.2 cm
The present figure is remarkable for the refined level of detailing, noted in the meticulous beading and scrollwork decorating the pedestal and the hem of the dhoti, capturing a sense of majesty associated with the Goddess of Mercy.
According to the Lotus Sutra, the deity could take the form of any type of God, Buddha, King, and Heavenly Guardian, and could appear in both male and female form, showing the bodhisattva’s limitless transcendence beyond gender, in order to teach the Dharma to sentient beings. During the Ming dynasty, it was common belief that, in accordance with descriptions in the ‘Avalokiteshvara’ chapter of the Lotus Sutra and ‘The 25 Great Ones’ chapter of the Surangama Sutra, Guanyin could transform at will and appear in more than thirty human forms to expound Buddhist teaching. The compassion of the bodhisattva is expressed in the subtle gestures of this elegant figure, the mudras signifying the bestowal of charity and reassurance.
The figure is meticulously inlaid with gilt copper plaques of circular and rectangular shape, often referred to as casting patches, most noticeably on the back of the base. Some of these plaques may have once served a ritual purpose and are frequently observed in Buddhist sculptures.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 15 May 2014, lot 327
Price: GBP 37,500 or approx. EUR 69,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large parcel-gilt bronze figure of Guanyin, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the parcel gilding and the slightly larger size (26.3 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 26 November 2019, lot 20
Price: HKD 475,625 or approx. EUR 58,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject with similar pose, expression, robe, jewelry, and base. Note the much larger size (33 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A FINELY INLAID GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AMITAYUS, EARLY QING DYNASTY
Tibetan-Chinese, circa 1680-1750. Finely cast seated in dhyanasana on a double-lotus base with beaded edges, the hands lowered in dhyanamudra and supporting an amrita vase above his lap. Richly adorned in coral and turquoise-inlaid jewelry, the deity is dressed in a dhoti gathering at the base, a streaming sash strewn across the shoulders.
The face with a serene expression marked by downcast eyes, and slender lips pursed to form a gentle smile, the hair neatly arranged in a tall chignon topped by a jewel-form finial behind the elaborate foliate tiara.
Provenance: The private collection of Birgitta Berg, a Swedish flight attendant who purchased the present lot in Hong Kong during the 1960s, and thence by descent in the family. The interior lacquered with an old inventory number, ‘01891-223’.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities, including rivets to the interior of the lotus base. Minute nicks, light dings, small surface scratches, rubbing and losses to gilt, few losses to inlays with some possibly renewed. The base unsealed.
Weight: 646.6 g
Dimensions: Height 18.5 cm
Amitayus, a form of the Buddha Amitabha in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, is associated with longevity, wisdom, and immortality. He is typically depicted wearing an ornate crown and holding a vase of Amrita, the nectar of immortality. In Tibetan and Nepalese Buddhist art, Amitayus plays a central role in longevity rituals, revered for overcoming karmic obstacles. His image is widely represented in sculptures and temple decorations, symbolizing enlightenment and the aspiration for a long, spiritually fulfilled life.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 September 2013, lot 329
Price: USD 25,000 or approx. EUR 29,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Amitayus, Tibeto-Chinese, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject, with similar pose, features, crown, and wear to gilt.
Note the size (26.8 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF MAITREYA, TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
Finely cast, seated in dhyanasana on a beaded double-lotus base, his right hand lowered in varada mudra and his left raised in abhaya mudra, each holding a lotus stem coming to full bloom at the shoulder. Dressed in a voluminous dhoti with neatly incised hems and secured with a belt suspending beaded festoons.
The deity is richly adorned in minutely beaded foliate jewelry with inlays of turquois and lapis lazuli, including a crown framing the forehead, securing his high chignon with its lotus blossom finial and finely incised hair falling down the sides of his shoulders. The elaborate necklaces are secured to the back by a sash and fall elegantly down the contours of his chest.
His face with a serene expression marked by sinuously lidded downcast eyes, a raised urna, and bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by ears suspending large foliate earrings. The base sealed and the plate incised with a double-vajra.
Provenance: From a private collection in Hungary.
Condition: Very good condition overall, with expected wear and casting irregularities, slight warping, minor dents, scattered minute nicks, and light surface scratches. Some rubbing and minor losses to the gilt, as well as expected small losses to the inlays, a few possibly renewed or reattached. Overall displaying a fine, naturally grown patina.
Weight: 558.7 g
Dimensions: Height 14.3 cm
Maitreya is here presented as a princely bodhisattva residing in Tushita heaven. The gentle face, characterized by a serene expression and downward gaze, is imbued with compassion, the essential quality a bodhisattva must possess. The flowers gracefully held by both hands represent the flowers from the naga-puspa, the tree beneath which Maitreya is believed to sit for his teachings on earth in a future eon.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2011, lot 310
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 36,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze figure of Tara, Tibet, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, decoration, and manner of casting with similar inlays, facial expression, and adornments. Note the size (19.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A LARGE (111 CM) AND MASSIVELY CAST BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, NEPAL, 18TH CENTURY
Finely cast seated in padmasana on a separately cast lotus base, the right hand lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and the left held above the lap in dhyana mudra, wearing loosely draped monastic robes with minutely incised foliate hems over an undergarment secured above the waist.
His serene face with heavy-lidded eyes finely painted with dark pupils below gently arched brows, centered by a turquoise-inlaid urna, red-painted bow-shaped lips forming a calm smile, flanked by pendulous earlobes. His hair is arranged in tight curls over the high ushnisha topped by a bud-shaped finial.
All backed by a separately and sumptuously cast flaming mandorla. The base sealed with a copper plate, neatly engraved with a double vajra. (3)
Provenance: With Algemene Ethnografica en Kunsthandel Aalderink, Amsterdam, 1970. Collection of A. J. T. Schoormans, Netherlands, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of an invoice from Algemene Ethnografica en Kunsthandel Aalderink, addressed to A. J. T. Schoormans, dated 12 August 1970, confirming the dating above, and stating a purchase price of NLG 4,500 or approx. EUR 12,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), the verso inscribed ‘Drs. K. Lim, Rijksmuseum, afd. Aziatische Kunst, […], A’dam’ and with an affixed old inventory label, ‘Br A 34, Nepal, 18 eeuw, 4500-, 1960’, accompanies this lot. Algemene Ethnografica en Kunsthandel Aalderink was established in 1929 by former teacher Jaques Aalderink, who developed a passion for non-European art during a time when such objects were readily available due to the Netherlands’ colonial history. A pioneer in the field, he specialized in a wide range of art from across the world including sculptures, bronzes, ceramics, lacquerware, weaponry, and textiles from the Far East, the Pacific, and Africa. He also founded the renowned Old Art and Antique Fair in Delft and hosted numerous exhibitions. Aalderink’s shop at the Spiegelgracht gained an excellent reputation and attracted an international clientele seeking unique and exotic pieces. Around 50 years ago it was taken over by W. E. Bouwman who since then has proudly carried on Aalderink’s work.
Condition: Very good condition with wear and casting irregularities. Nicks, scattered scratches, small dents, little warping, and surface abrasion to the back. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina with areas of malachite encrustations, especially to the copper seal plate. Fine and original painting to the eyes, mouth, and ears.
Weight: 60.4 kg
Dimensions: Height 111.5 cm
Displaying tremendous power and presence, this impressive figure of Buddha Shakyamuni is notable for the crisp casting and the meticulous attention to detail which is echoed in the gentle folds of the elegant monastic robes, finely embellished with foliate scroll.
The figure of Shakyamuni is one of the most widely represented subjects in Buddhist art. Modeled in the earth-touching gesture or bhumisparsha mudra, the Buddha recalls the moment of his Enlightenment, in which he called upon the earth as his witness of his battle against the temptations and attacks of Mara and his demons. The serene countenance conveyed by the gentle facial features, with the eyes depicted half-closed in meditation and the elongated earlobes symbolizing long life, follows the standard rules for the depiction of Buddha to ensure the deity was shown embodying maximum power.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
The present lot takes inspiration from large-scale bronzes of earlier date. Compare a closely related Pala bronze statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, 74 cm high, dated to the 11th century, in the Bihar Museum, Patna, museum number 10542, illustrated in the Virtual Museum of Images & Sounds, accession number 37588. Compare a closely related TibetanChinese bronze figure of Buddha, dated to the Ming dynasty, 74.5 cm high, in the Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba.
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
Aalderink in the early years
A LARGE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF VAJRAPANI, TIBET, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Finely cast standing in alidhasana on a beaded double-lotus base with a central petaled disk, his raised right hand brandishing a vajra, the left held to the chest clutching a noose, wearing a tiger skin around his waist, a scarf draped across his broad shoulders, and adorned with snake ornaments. The bearded face with a wrathful expression marked by wide almond-shaped eyes, wavy furrowed brows, and long sharp teeth framed by a mustache and chin beard, flanked by elongated earlobes. The hair pulled up into a high chignon behind the foliate tiara.
The base sealed with an oval plate incised with a double-vajra.
Provenance: Nagel, Stuttgart, 16 May 1998, lot 2208 (attributed to Nepal and dated 18th century or earlier), estimate DEM 12,000 or approx. EUR 15,000. A private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities. Small losses, light warping, scattered minuscule nicks and light surface scratches. The base with minor old repairs, few dings, and small losses. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 5,462 g
Dimensions: Height 35 cm
The present lot at Nagel, Stuttgart, 16 May 1998, lot 2208 (attributed to Nepal and dated 18th century or earlier), estimate DEM 12,000 or approx. EUR 15,000 (including buyer’s premium, converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 15 May 2014, lot 274 Price: GBP 12,500 or approx. EUR 23,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze figure of Vajrapani, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject. Note the much smaller size (14.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
33
A KAPALA (SKULL CUP) WITH SEPARATE COPPER ALLOY COVER AND STAND, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
The sacrificial vessel is fashioned from the upper portion of a human skull, its interior and rim lined with copper.
The cranium rests on a triangular copper stand, symbolizing the burning of the three poisons of the mind—greed, hatred, and pride. Each corner of the base is adorned with a sculpted human head, inlaid with turquoise and encircled by double-lotus bands and openwork flames.
The skull is surmounted by a domed lid, decorated with four dakinis and Lantsa characters amid a stylized landscape of lotus blossoms, and crowned with a five-pronged vajra. (3)
Provenance: An old private collection in Germany, acquired in China during the Boxer Rebellion and thence by descent in the same family. Nagel Stuttgart, 17 May 2006, lot 1580. A private collection in Germany, acquired from the above and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, traces of use, and casting irregularities. Sparse minute nicks, light surface scratches, and few small dents. Minor losses to inlays, some possibly renewed. The vajra handle slightly loose. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 2,790 g
Dimensions: Height 26.2 cm
This ritual vessel, fashioned from the upper portion of a human skull, is used in tantric Buddhist traditions of Tibet and the Himalayan regions. It symbolizes impermanence and the transformation of death into wisdom and emptiness, central concepts in Buddhist philosophy. In practice, the skull cup holds consecrated offerings—such as alcohol, tea, or symbolic substitutes—that are ritually transformed into nectar (amrita), embodying enlightened bliss. The elaborate metalwork of its cover and stand complements the practitioner’s internal visualizations, in which substances are purified and transmuted through sacred syllables, fire imagery, and the presence of deities.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related kapala dated 18th19th century, 30.4 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, accession number 54.1630. Compare a closely related kapala dated to the 19th century, 28.2 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1931,1124.1.a.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 11 December 2013, lot 37
Price: EUR 17,500 or approx. EUR 18,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Kapala shaped with a skull, its lid and a gilt bronze base, Tibet, 19th century or earlier
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration. Note the similar size (29.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
A SILVER FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA SAHASRABHUJA EKADASAMUKHA
Tibet, 18th-19th century. Finely cast standing in regal poise upon a double-lotus dais set on a pierced stepped pedestal with stylized lion heads. The bodhisattva’s principal hands are joined in anjali mudra before the chest, while the remaining arms radiate symmetrically around the body, each grasping one of his traditional attributes. Flowing ribbons fall gracefully from the shoulders, he is clad in a long pleated dhoti, and richly adorned with beaded jewelry. His eleven serene heads are arranged in ascending tiers, each with downcast eyes and gentle smile, and surmounted by an elaborate foliate tiara.
The figure is framed by a separately cast lotus-petal mandorla rising to a pointed flame nimbus, inset by two loops at the back of the base, while the radiating arms are also cast independently and secured by a tang at the reverse.
The base is sealed with a silver plate finely engraved with a double vajra.
Provenance: An important private collection in southern Germany assembled since 1956, and thence by descent. A copy of the previous owner’s personal collection card for this piece, no. 91, with an old photograph of the present lot as well as a lengthy typewritten description and literature references confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear and casting irregularities, light tarnish, few small surface scratches, few tiny dents.
Weight: 394.4 g
Dimensions: Height 15.6 cm
In both Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, Avalokiteshvara appears in the form of Sahasrabhuja Ekadasamukha, the Thousand-armed and Eleven-headed Bodhisattva of Compassion. The eleven heads signify his ability to perceive the cries of beings across all realms, while the thousand arms express his limitless power to respond to suffering. Revered as a savior who aids devotees in dispelling delusion and escaping the cycle of rebirth, Avalokiteshvara is among the most venerated figures in Himalayan Buddhism. Cast silver images of this form are especially rare, owing to the scarcity of the metal in the region and its frequent use as currency, making such sculptures particularly precious.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s, New York, 20 September 2021, lot 352
Price: USD 13,860 or approx. EUR 13,300 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Silver Figure of Kurukulla, Tibet, 19th Century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of casting, subject, and smaller size (11.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
35
A GILT-LACQUERED AND PAINTED SILVER FIGURE OF SUPERSECRET HAYAGRIVA AND CONSORT, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: Not only is this work exceptionally modeled with tremendous attention to detail, but the use of silver, a rare metal in Himalayan production, establishes it as a highly important commission. Supersecret Hayagriva is a rare form of Hayagriva found in lineage and practice only in the Sakya Tradition and the Sera monastery of the Gelug tradition, where they are known as Padma Ishvara and Tamdrin Yang Sang (‘Very Secret’), respectively. The deity Begtse Chen is regarded as the special protector deity associated with Padma Ishvara.
This meditational deity is possibly derived from the Nyingma Kama or Terma traditions, suggested by the following excerpt from a Nyingma liturgical text:
“To the Dharma body of all conquerors of the Lotus Lineage, Vajra body of the Dharma Lord Amitabha, In a raging great form, emanating from Avalokiteshvara; Homage to Hayagriva, neighing like a horse.”
(See Himalayan Art Resources, item number 23571)
Finely and heavily cast, the winged, four-legged, six-armed wrathful deity striding in alidhasana in union with his consort atop prostrate figures on an oval lotus base with beaded rims, his primary arms holding a kartika and kapala, the upper secondary hands grasping the hind paws of the tiger-skin wrapped around his back and tied around his waist, while the lower hands are each held in karana mudra, his body further adorned with a garland of severed heads, both with beaded jewelry and festoons.
His three skillfully modeled faces are richly gilt and painted, each displaying a wrathful expression marked by bulging eyes, furrowed brows centered by a third eye, fletched teeth, and fiery beard, the flaming hair rising upward and issuing the characteristic horse head below a skull tiara. The base sealed with a copper plate incised with a vishvavajra.
Provenance: Galerie Koller, Zurich, 25 June 1993, lot 68 (attributed to Nepal and dated ca. 19th century). An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities, light tarnish, the wings slightly loose, few minuscule losses to base and back, the figure affixed to the separately cast base with remnants of adhesive, rubbing and losses to gilt and pigments.
Weight: 988.4 g
Dimensions: Height 12.8 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams New York, 16 March 2015, lot 52
Price: USD 43,750 or approx. EUR 51,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver figure of Mahakala and Yamari, Tibet, circa 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and decoration. Note the size (10.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A RARE SILVER FIGURE OF BUDDHA AMITABHA, TIBET OR MONGOLIA, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: Previously, this unusually large and exceptionally fine silver figure was identified as depicting a lama or teacher, most likely because of the stylized crown somewhat resembling the mitre-style cap of a Panchen lama. However, there is more than ample evidence to support a different attribution, namely to the Buddha Amitabha, some more obvious than others. First of all, the pose and hand gestures are typical of this deity. More importantly, the ushnisha (visible from above) and the urna are both characteristic features of the Buddha which are not found in lama sculptures. Furthermore, the back of the base is inscribed ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’, which can be seen as a further hint. While this mantra is commonly associated with Avalokiteshvara, it first appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra, where Shakyamuni Buddha states, “This is the most beneficial mantra. Even I made this aspiration to all the million Buddhas and subsequently received this teaching from Buddha Amitabha.” Of course, Amitabha is most commonly depicted in Tibet and Mongolia as the bodhisattva Amitayus, while his representation as one of the Five Dhyani Buddhasas seen in the current lot - is quite rare.
Finely cast seated in dhyanasana on a lotus base with his hands lowered in dhyana mudra, dressed in elaborately incised and chased monastic robes decorated with foliate scroll and key-fret. His serene face with downcast eyes, elegantly arched brows, a recessed circular urna, and bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by elongated earlobes. The head is surmounted by a tall crown obscuring the high ushnisha topped by a jewel finial. The base sealed with an oval plate incised with a double-vajra and pierced with a central aperture.
Inscriptions: The back of the base is neatly incised with the mantra ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’.
Provenance: From a private collection in Belgium.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities. Small nicks, light scratches and miniature warping. A fine, naturally grown, smooth patina and malachite encrustations.
Weight: 1,484 g
Dimensions: Height 20.3 cm
The Buddha wears exceptionally detailed robes. The underrobe is knotted at the chest with a folded band, its edges finely incised with scrolling cloud motifs that continue across the back in angular segments divided by stylized shou symbols. Over the shoulders, two additional hems are decorated with a key-fret pattern, which reappears along the sleeves and U-shaped hems. This pattern encircles a blooming lotus flower positioned between the crossed legs. The arms are richly chased with scrolling vine patterns, which extend around to the reverse.
Literature comparison: Compare three related Mongolian silver figures, dated to the 19th century, in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 13 September 2011, lot 1057
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 45,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A parcel-gilt silver, cast and repoussé figure of Padmasambhava, Tibet or Mongolia 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting. Note the different base and size (48.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A SILK APPLIQUÉ THANGKA DEPICTING CHITIPATI (SHMASHANA ADHIPATI), MONGOLIA, EARLY 19TH CENTURY
The enlightened couple in appearance of two identical skeletons, the Father balances one foot on a conch shell and the Mother on a cowrie, the other foot bent at the knee, all atop a flat sun disc and multicolored lotus seat surrounded by the flames of pristine awareness. The hands of the deities raised and clasped around a skullstick, skull-cup, pouch, and quill.
Dressed in simple skirts with a billowing scarf draped around their shoulders, the deities with wrathful expressions, bulging eyes below furrowed brows, centered by a third eye, the mouth agape and revealing a full set of teeth and a curling tongue. A diminutive sun and moon to either side of the composition.
Inscriptions: To the back, ‘Om Ah Hum’.
Provenance: From the Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York, USA, and thence by descent in the family. E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear. The frame with expected wear and signs of use.
Dimensions: Image size 42 x 32 cm, Size incl. frame 45 x 36 cm
Set within a finely painted wood frame with faux-bois and ruyi decoration, dating from the same period, behind glass. (2)
PUBLISHED & EXHIBITED
E & J Frankel Ltd., Steppes: Forward and Back. 17th & 18th Century Buddhist Bronzes Thankas and Sakhui, New York, 18 September-18 October 2008, p. 26, pl. 17.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams Paris, 15 December 2022, lot 161
Price: EUR 15,300 or approx. EUR 14,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silk applique thangka of Chitipati, Mongolia, 19th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related motif, design, and technique. Note the size (72.5 X 58 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
AN EXTREMELY RARE THANGKA OF SHASTRADHARA (‘WEAPON-HOLDING’) HEVAJRA, TIBET, 15TH-16TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The present lot depicts Shastradhara Hevajra, a deity that is already very rarely seen, in a variation that is not recorded in any public or private collections. The stacked arrangement of the eight heads, rather than the more familiar scheme with a single upper head surmounting the other seven, is one distinguishing feature which in addition to the deity’s solitary presence, depicted without his consort, makes this thangka possibly unique, marking it as an exceptional witness to a specialized visualization lineage.
Inscriptions: To the reverse, ‘Om Ah Hum’ in Lantsa script.
This author highly recommends that interested bidders watch a video by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources’ YouTube channel titled ‘Hevajra: Unusual Forms’, published on 21 July 2023. With its single-figure composition and plain vermilion background, the current painting could plausibly have served as a panel within a larger initiation set or as a segment from a monumental wall thangka; however, the clean borders and lack of any truncated or partial elements suggest it was conceived as a self-contained work. For a link to the YouTube video, please see the online listing.
Distemper and gold on linen. Superbly painted, the four-legged deity dancing atop intertwined nagas over a multi-colored lotus base, holding a vajra and a kapala in his primary hands and an array of implements including a sword, conch, and trident in his other fourteen hands. Hevajra is clad in a tiger skin secured by a serpent belt as well as a finely patterned billowing scarf, and richly adorned with beaded festoons and gem-set gold jewelry. Seven of his eight faces are fierce with three large bulging eyes, flame-like beards and brows, and bared fangs, all below a head of Buddha Akshobhya.
Provenance: A French private collection. Zacke, Vienna, 25 April 2020, lot 384 (dated 17th-18th century or earlier and erroneously described as Chaturmukha Mahakala), sold for EUR 37,920 or approx. EUR 48,500
A Nepalese private collection, acquired from the above.
Condition: Extensive old wear and pigment losses, creases and minor tears, some areas with small old touchups. In general, the condition is consistent with the age of this work.
Dimensions: 72 x 62 cm
Hevajra appears here in his Shastradhara (‘weapon-holding’) aspect: blue-skinned, eight-faced, sixteen-armed, and four-legged, he dances as he subdues nagas, each hand brandishing a distinct implement in place of the sixteen kapalas known from the Hevajra-Tantra type. A small Akshobhya at the crown confirms his Vajra-family affiliation. This presentation is described in the Samputa Tantra, with Abhayakaragupta’s Vajravali as the principal ritual source. Tibetan tradition holds that Marpa Chökyi Lodrö (1012–1096) especially practiced this Shastradhara form, which circulated in Tibet even before the thirteenth-century adoption of the Vajravali.
The present lot at Zacke, Vienna, 25 April 2020, lot 384 (dated 17th18th century or earlier) sold for EUR 37,920 or approx. EUR 48,500 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare two related thangkas depicting Shastradhara Hevajra, each in the more common form with a row of seven heads surmounted by one, one dated to the 15th century, illustrated by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 21049, and the other a Sakya School mandala dated to the 16th century in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1982.225. Compare a related thangka of Mahakala as Protector of the Tent, particularly the similar treatment of the eyes, nose, and beard, dated ca. 1500, 162.6 x 134.6 cm, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2012.444.4 (fig. 1)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2012, lot 771
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 68,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka of Chaturmukha Mahakala, Tibet, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the related manner of painting with similar expression, eyes, nose, and beard. Note the size (52 x 47.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
fig. 1
A PAUBHA OF ACHALA AND VISHVAVAJRI, LATE MALLA PERIOD, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
Nepal. Distemper and gold on cloth. Superbly painted in vibrant pigments to depict Acala (Chandamaharoshana) kneeling in bhumavarudhajanukun, the right foot over Brahma and Shiva, while the left knee crushes the deities Indra and Vishnu, in a demonstration of the superiority of Buddhism. The light-blue deity holds a pasha (noose) in his left hand, while brandishing an upraised khadga (sword) in his right; wearing a skull-crown, bone jewelry, a garland of severed heads, and a bone apron over a tiger skin dhoti. He is joined in union (yab yum) with his consort Vishvavajri who holds a kapala and kartika aloft. She is naked but for bone jewelry, garland of skulls, and a skulltiara which is flanked by flag-shaped motifs that came to be attached to crowns of deities from the seventeenth century onwards.
All above a lotus pedestal within a flaming aureole before a simple dark landscape with the sun and moon in the sky above. At each of the four corners of the painting is depicted an emanation of Acala, while his spiritual father, the Buddha Akshobhya, is placed at the top of the flaming aureole.
PUBLISHED
1. Hugo Kreijger, Kathmandu Valley Painting: The Jucker Collection, Boston, 1999, p. 64, no. 19.
2. Wisdom Publications, Tibetan Art Calendar, 1988, no. 11.
3. Himalayan Art Resources, item number 77038.
4. Himalayan Art Resources, item number 89057.
Provenance: The Jucker Collection, Ettingen, Switzerland. Sotheby’s New York, 28 March 2006, lot 25. The Richard C. Blum and Senator Dianne Feinstein Collection of Himalayan Art, acquired from the above. Bonhams New York, 24 March 2024, lot 737, estimate of USD 80,000 or approx. EUR 71,000 The Jucker Collection, put together lovingly over a period of forty-two years by Angela Jucker-Grunauer (1936-2017) and Dr. Ernst ‘Mischa’ Jucker (1918-2013) was perhaps the most formidable collection of paintings from the Himalayas that was unmatched for its breadth as well as depth, before it was sold in New York in 2006. Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, who knew the Juckers and their collection well, observed, “[w]hat is even more admirable is that when the Juckers began collecting, they had no paradigm to follow, especially for Newar paintings. Yet the instant bond that formed between this professional chemist and the religious paintings of Nepal and Tibet, clearly impinges on the mystical.” The late U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (19332023) and her husband Richard C. Blum (1935-2022) were married in 1980 and are widely known for their illustrious careers in politics and finance. Feinstein was the first female mayor of San Francisco and a United States Senator from 1992 until her death in 2023. Blum was an American private-equity investor and the Chairman and President of Blum Capital. A longtime advocate for human rights in the Himalayas, he founded the American Himalayan Foundation in 1981 and the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley. He also served as Co-Chairman of the World Conference on Religion and Peace. The couple were held in great esteem for their philanthropy as well as their close connection and support for the Tibetan diaspora which was particularly informative when establishing their collection.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, minor creasing, light soiling, expected minor flaking to pigments with associated small losses, the vibrant colors extremely well-preserved, possibly minuscule touch-ups, tiny losses at the margins, the frame with traces of use.
Dimensions: Image size 71 x 56.5 cm, Size incl. frame 122 x 109 cm
Mounted and framed behind glass.
The present lot at Bonhams New York, 24 March 2024, lot 737, estimate of USD 80,000 or approx. EUR 71,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Emblazoned against a halo of red and orange flames is Achala, who is illustrated in highest Yoga Tantras (anuttarayoga tantra). As such, Achala is also known as Chandamaharoshana and is regarded as the enlightened embodiment of truth, answering questions posed by his consort in the course of their sexual union. This same tantra also describes a host of retinue deities, four of whom are located at the corners of this painting: Yellow Achala of the South, Red Achala of the West, Green Achala of the North, and White Achala of the East. Furthermore, Achala’s appellation as the Immovable One forms a connection with the Cosmic Buddha Akshobya, who is located at the apex of the mandorla. Although Achala’s name as Chandamaharoshana reflects his terrifying nature as the Remover of Obstacles and the Destroyer of all Evils, he is portrayed here with relaxed brows and softened eyes in emphasis of his benevolent role.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related, earlier painting of Achala with his consort Vishvavajri, Kathmandu Valley, dated c. 1525-1550, formerly in the Zimmerman Family Collection, and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2012.456 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related, earlier painting of Achala Chandamaharoshana, Nepal, dated to the 16th century, in the Walters Art Museum, accession number F.138, illustrated by Pratapaditya Pal, Desire and Devotion. Art from India, Nepal, and Tibet in the John and Berthe Ford Collection, p. 223, no. 129. fig. 1
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
Senator Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, in 1978
A THANGKA DEPICTING VAJRABHAIRAVA AND VAJRAVETALI, TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
Distemper and gold on cloth. Exquisitely painted to depict Vajrabhairava, the furious emanation of Manjushri, holding his blue-bodied consort Vajravetali at the center. His thirty-six arms are radiating around his body, his principal hands embracing his consort and holding kartika and kapala, his nine predominantly fierce heads include the bull head and the head of Manjushri, each crowned with a skull-tiara.
All below a sun disc and multicolored lotus, enveloped by the orange and red flames of pristine awareness. In front of the lotus seat is a skull cup filled with various offerings. The retinue comprises, clockwise from top left, Nilamahakala, Tsongkhapa, Shadbhuja Mahakala, Palden Lhamo, and Bahyasadhana Dharmaraja.
Provenance: From the Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York, United States. E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967. Run by Edith (1939-2012) and Joel Frankel (1937-2018), it was one of the oldest galleries in the United States focusing exclusively on Asian art. Leaders in their field, the Frankels traveled the world in search of Asian art treasures and educated the general public about their shared passion. Their gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City became a local institution, best known for its regular schedule of innovative thematic exhibitions, and frequently visited by the biggest names in the field, such as Eskenazi, Ellsworth, Junkunc, and the Alsdorfs.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, soiling, minor creasing, and little flaking to pigments. Possibly minute touchups.
Dimensions: Image size 35 x 26 cm, Size incl. frame 77.5 x 61 cm
Framed behind glass.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related thangka depicting the same subject, dated c. 1750-1800, 38.5 x 15.2 cm, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IS.13-1969. Compare a closely related thangka depicting the same subject, dated to the 19th century, 61 x 40.6 cm, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B72D58.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 September 2014, lot 34
Estimate: USD 15,000 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka of Vajrabhairava, Tibet, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and manner of painting. Note the different size (66 x 47 cm).
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
A RARE THANGKA OF DHARMATALA, ATTENDANT TO THE SIXTEEN GREAT ARHATS, 18TH CENTURY
Tibetan-Chinese. Gold and distemper on cloth. Finely painted to depict Mahasiddha seated on a throne, sheltered by a large umbrella above, one hand holding a fly whisk and the other clutching the base of a vase. Dressed in voluminous garments, the deity with a serene expression marked by sinuous eyes and pursed lips forming a gentle smile, all set within a verdant mountainous landscape, a tiger to his feet, and a diminutive image of red Amitabha Buddha in the scrolling clouds above.
All framed by richly painted clouds and shou roundels on the brownground border in imitation of a silk brocade frame.
Provenance: From a private estate in New England, United States.
Condition: Fine original condition, commensurate with age, showing expected wear, creasing, flaking and minor losses to pigments, the borders with few minor tears and small losses as well as rubbing to pigments particularly on the left side, but not affecting the image. The frame with minor traces of wear and use.
Dimensions: Image size 60 x 43 cm (excl. borders) and 83 x 57.5 cm (incl. borders), Size incl. frame 102 x 76.5 cm
Matted and framed behind glass. (2)
The present thangka once belonged to a set depicting Buddha Shakyamuni accompanied by the Sixteen Arhats, his original followers. The full group comprises twenty-five figures: the Buddha Shakyamuni,
his two foremost disciples Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, the Sixteen Arhats, Dharmatala, the patron Hvashang, and the Four Guardian Kings Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Dritarashtra, and Virudhaka. As a late addition, Dharmatala was attached to the group of Arhats during the later Tang dynasty in the 9th or 10th century).
The set of paintings to which this work belongs was almost certainly based on an earlier set of Chinese Imperial workshop paintings dating from the Yongle period (1403-1425) depicting the same subject (see J. Simonet, Splendor of Yongle Painting: Portraits of Nine Luohan, 2002, p. 29, cat. no. 4), although the iconography is based on even earlier sutras. Later Tibetan artists likely created numerous sets of arhat paintings based on the Yongle period-paintings. One such set in the Imperial Palace Museum collection, dated to the 18th century, is published on Himalayan Art Resources, for the painting depicting Dharmatala see item number 34888.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams San Francisco, 20 December 2011, lot 8426
Price: USD 110,500 or approx. EUR 136,000 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Two Sino-Tibetan thangkas of Arhats, 18th-19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting and subject. Note the larger size (101.5 x 59.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A THANGKA DEPICTING SHADAKSHARI LOKESHVARA IN HIS POTALA PURE LAND, 18TH CENTURY
Tibet. Distemper and gold on cloth. Finely painted with the fourarmed deity within a palace in his pure land on the island of Potalaka. Seated in dhyanasana atop a lotus cushion raised on a draped lion throne before a bowl of offerings surrounded by worshipers, monks, attendants, Bardo deities, and bodhisattvas, some of whom can also be found in the extended pavilions, Shadakshari’s primary hands are held in dharmachakra mudra at the chest while the secondary arms are raised at the shoulders, his body richly adorned with fine silks and gold jewelry, below an image of Buddha Amitabha.
Provenance: From an English private collection.
Condition: Overall good condition with expected wear, soiling, minor creasing and light flaking with associated minute losses to pigments, and small areas of touchup. The frame with signs of use and minor repairs.
Dimensions: Image size 68 x 50 cm, Size incl. frame 135 x 85 cm
The painting is mounted as a hanging scroll with a fine silk brocade frame dating from the same period or slightly later, intricately woven with double gourds enclosing the Eight Treasures (babao) and borne on leafy scrolling vines against grounds of blue, yellow, and orange, centered below the image by a square panel decorated with a dragon roundel.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Nagel, Stuttgart, 6 December 2022, lot 53
Price: EUR 14,575 or approx. EUR 15,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Potalaka - The “Pure Land of Avalokiteshvara” Tibet, Kham, 18th c
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject as well as the similar manner of painting and composition. Note the size (76.2 x 53.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
AN IMPORTANT AND WELL-PRESERVED THANGKA OF TSONGKHAPA AND HIS LIFE STORY, TIBET, 18TH CENTURY
Distemper and gold paint on cloth, mounted on a silk frame. Finely painted with Tsongkhapa featured prominently center left, seated on a cushion and holding a hat in his hands, dressed in loose-fitting monastic robes, surrounded by numerous scenes from his life scattered within a unifying landscape separated by clouds, trees, mountains, and valleys. The upper margin with a central roundel enclosing numerous Buddhas next to a nine-deity mandala.
The events depicted include:
1. Tsongkhapa traveling to central Tibet, studying at major monastic universities like Sakya, Drikung, and Nartang which are represented as temple complexes populated with monks.
2. The dream Tsongkhapa had while in retreat where he saw great Indian scholars, one of them, Buddhapalita (470-540 AD), blessed him with an Indian volume, thus confirming that Tsongkhapa’s philosophical understanding was correct.
3. Tsongkhapa writing his famous treatise The Great Presentation on the Graduate Stages of the Path.
4. The Red Fort of Songtsen Gampo.
5. The establishment of the Great Prayer Festival at Jokhang, the main cathedral of Lhasa, when Tsongkhapa made an offering of a gold crown to the main image of Buddha Shakyamuni.
Provenance: From an old private collection in France.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear, the vibrant colors extremely well preserved, with expected minor flaking to pigments, and little creasing. The mounting with few losses and scattered tears.
Dimensions: Image size 78.5 x 53.5 cm, Size incl. frame 129 x 78 cm
The painting is mounted as a hanging scroll with a silk frame centered below the image by a small square panel woven with lotus and chrysanthemum against a key-fret brocade ground.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related painting depicting the same subject, dated to the 18th century, 92.3 x 68.5 cm, formerly in the collection of Navin Kumar and now in the Rubin Museum of Art, object number C2009.2.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A MONUMENTAL THANGKA OF ASANGA, ONE OF THE SIX ORNAMENTS AND TWO EXCELLENT ONES FROM THE SOUTHERN CONTINENT,
EASTERN TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Published: Jeff Watt, Himalayan Art Resources, item number 10819 (identified as Asanga).
Distemper and gold on cloth, mounted within a frame. Finely rendered, the monk seated in ardhapadmasana atop a radiant sun disc and a multicolored lotus pedestal, a bejeweled reliquary to one side. His right hand is raised in abhaya mudra, while the left rests above the lap in dhyana mudra. He is dressed in voluminous monastic garments and wears a high-peaked pandita hat, its lappets cascading over his shoulders. His serene expression is characterized by sinuously lidded eyes and softly pursed lips forming a calm, contemplative smile. The figure is attended by a donor and his collared dog, all set against a dramatic mountainous landscape with cloud-capped peaks.
Provenance:
Sotheby’s New York, 19 September 1996, lot 63. The Richard C. Blum and Senator Dianne Feinstein Collection of Himalayan Art, acquired from the above. Bonhams New York, 24 March 2024, lot 711, upper estimate USD 50,000 or approx. EUR
44,000 The late
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (1933-2023) and her husband Richard C. Blum (1935-2022) were married in 1980 and are widely known for their illustrious careers in politics and finance. Feinstein was the first female mayor of San Francisco and a United States Senator from 1992 until her death in 2023. Blum was an American private-equity investor and the Chairman and President of Blum Capital. A longtime advocate for human rights in the Himalayas, he founded the American Himalayan Foundation in 1981 and the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley. He also served as Co-Chairman of the World Conference on Religion and Peace. The couple were held in great esteem for their philanthropy as well as their close connection and support for the Tibetan diaspora which was particularly informative when establishing their collection.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, minor creasing, light soiling, little flaking to pigments, small areas with old touchups.
Dimensions: Image size 196 x 215 cm, Size incl. frame 243 x 222 cm
Mounted and framed.
Asanga was one of the most important spiritual figures of Mahayana Buddhism and the founder of the Yogachara school. Along with his halfbrother Vasubandhu, he is traditionally regarded as a major classical Indian Sanskrit exponent of Mahayana Abhidharma, Vijnanavada thought, and the Mahayana bodhisattva path. In his record of travels through India, the Chinese monk Xuanzang (fl. c. 602–664) wrote that Asanga began as a Mahishasaka monk but soon turned toward Mahayana teachings. After years of intensive meditation and study under various teachers, Asanga, according to the 6th-century monk Paramartha, remained unsatisfied. Paramartha recounts that Asanga used his meditative powers (siddhis) to travel to Tushita Heaven, where Maitreya instructed him on emptiness, and that he continued to receive teachings from Maitreya on the Mahayana sutras. Xuanzang, who journeyed to India to study the Yogachara tradition founded by Asanga, recorded a similar account: “At night he went up to the place of Maitreya Bodhisattva in Tusita Heaven to learn the YogacarabhumiSastra, the Mahayana-Sutra-Alamkara-Sastra, the Madhyanta-VibhagaSastra, etc.; in the daytime, he lectured on the marvelous principles to a great audience” (see Li Rongxi, The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions, Berkeley, 1996, p. 153).
The present lot at Bonhams New York, 24 March 2024, lot 711, upper estimate USD 50,000 or approx. EUR 44,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Modern scholars disagree on whether the Maitreya of these accounts was Asanga’s human teacher or a visionary experience in meditation. Whatever the case, his experiences led him to travel widely across India to propagate the Mahayana teachings. According to Taranatha’s History of Buddhism in India, he founded 25 Mahayana monasteries, including the renowned Veluvana in the Magadha region of what is now Bihar. There, he personally selected eight disciples, each of whom would become notable in their own right and help spread the Mahayana. Asanga went on to compose key treatises (shastras) of the Yogachara school. Over time, many works came to be attributed to him—or to Maitreya, with Asanga as transmitter.
This large thangka probably originates from Amdo in eastern Tibet, where paintings of this scale were conventional. It is from a set depicting the Six Ornaments and Two Excellent Ones of the Southern Continent, a name given to the most important Indian Buddhist scholars of the Mahayana tradition according to a Tibetan Buddhist assessment. All eight figures are also included in the group known as the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas. The two foremost are Nagarjuna, founder of the Madyamaka Tradition, and Asanga, founder of the Yogachara tradition. Their two principal students were Aryadeva and Vasubhandu respectively, followed by Dharmakirti and Dignaga. These six constitute the Six Ornaments. The Two Excellent Ones are Gunaprabha and Shakyaprabha. The Southern Continent refers to India, or the human continent of Jambudvipa in the Buddhist cosmological system where there are four continents that surround the central mountain (Sumeru) of a small world system.
LITERATURE
COMPARISON
Compare two closely related large thangkas from the same series, dated 18th-19th century, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 1997, lot 87, and illustrated by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources, item numbers 10974 (fig. 1) and 10973 (fig. 2). Interestingly, the Sotheby’s catalog mentions the present lot and notes it is “from the same series” as these two thangka. Compare a related smaller eastern Tibetan thangka of an Indian teacher, dated ca. 1800, 64.1 x 49.5 cm, in the Art Institute of Chicago, object number 1996.84, illustrated by Pratapaditya Pal, Tibet: Tradition and Change, 1997, p. 15, no. 7.
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
fig. 2 fig. 1
Senator Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India, in 1978
A THANGKA OF THE VASUDHARA MANDALA, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Tibet or Nepal. Gold and distemper on cloth. Finely painted and richly detailed, Vasudhara at the center seated in lalitasana on a lotus throne, radiating petals enclosing the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, and a square palace enclosure with four gates surrounded by a circular band of lotuses and a ring of multicolored flames, all filled with numerous auspicious objects.
From top to bottom, her left arms bear the Prajnaparamita sutra, rice stems, and a kalasha; and her right arms are holding prayer beads and a staff, and the lowest held in varada mudra. The background is dotted with Buddha, teachers, and bodhisattvas seated within individual shrines accompanied by devotees and monks, all set within a verdant landscape with lush green grass on rolling hills. The upper margin with Samantabhadra in union with his consort, flanked by Amitabha and Vairocana, each above two attendant bodhisattvas.
Provenance: From a French private collection.
Condition: Superb condition with only expected minor wear, light creasing, minimal soiling, slight color fading, and a few minuscule pigment flakes. The mounting shows minor losses and scattered tears. Overall exceptionally well-preserved, with the gilt remarkably intact— rare!
Dimensions: Image size 58.5 x 41 cm, Size incl. frame 119 x 62 cm
The painting is mounted as a hanging scroll with a silk frame richly woven with five-clawed sinuous dragons, and fitted with incised copper handles.
Standing at the center of this mandala is the golden image of Vasudhara (‘stream of gems’), a Buddhist goddess of wealth and abundance especially popular in Nepal, who also embodies the pursuit of learning and the totality of Mahayana ideology as symbolized by the Perfection of Wisdom sutra that she holds in her upraised left hand.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 14 September 2010, lot 150
Price: USD 18,750 or approx. EUR 24,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka of black Vajravarahi Mandala, Tibet, 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting and composition. Note the size (54.6 x 40.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A THANGKA DEPICTING THE VASUDHARA MANDALA, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Gold and distemper on cloth. Finely painted and richly detailed, Vasudhara at the center seated in lalitasana on a lotus throne, radiating petals enclosing the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, and a square palace enclosure with four gates surrounded by a circular band of lotuses and a ring of multicolored flames, all filled with numerous auspicious objects.
From top to bottom, her left arms bear the Prajnaparamita sutra, rice stems, and a kalasha; and her right arms are holding prayer beads and a staff, and the lowest held in varada mudra. The background is dotted with Buddha, teachers, and bodhisattvas seated within individual shrines accompanied by devotees and monks, all set within a verdant landscape with lush green grass on rolling hills. The upper margin with Samantabhadra in union with his consort, flanked by Amitabha and Vairocana, each above two attendant bodhisattvas.
Provenance: From a French private collection.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear, little creasing, light soiling, and minimal flaking to pigments which are extremely wellpreserved. The mounting with few losses and scattered tears.
Dimensions: Image size 76.5 x 53 cm, Size incl. frame 125 x 83 cm
Standing at the center of this mandala is the golden image of Vasudhara (‘stream of gems’), a Buddhist goddess of wealth and abundance especially popular in Nepal, who also embodies the pursuit of learning and the totality of Mahayana ideology as symbolized by the Perfection of Wisdom sutra that she holds in her upraised left hand.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 18 June 2020, lot 26
Price: EUR 13,750 or approx. EUR 17,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka depicting a Vajrasana mandala, Tibet, 18th-19th century
Expert remark: Compare the related manner of painting and composition. Note the size (89 x 55.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A PAINTING OF MAHOTTARA HERUKA (CHEMCHOG) SURROUNDED BY BARDO DEITIES, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Distemper and gold on cloth. The three-headed Chemchog Heruka standing atop figures of Rudra, each face with a wrathful expression heightened by flaming eyebrows, bulging eyes, and gaping mouth, in yab-yum with his blue consort. The primary hands holding a vajra and ghanta to the chest and the radiating secondary arms clasped around a drum, katvanga, skull-cup, and intestine lasso, all framed by his large outstretched wings, against the aureole of flames of pristine awareness.
The central deity is surrounded by five Heruka’s (clockwise, from top-left): Ratna Heruka, Padma Heruka, Karma Heruka, Buddha Heruka, and Vajra Heruka; and a host of retinue figures including Bardo deities, all amidst vaporous clouds.
Provenance: An old private collection in the United States. The collection of a private college in the northeastern United States, gifted from the above before 1990, and subsequently deaccessed.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, little creasing, light soiling, minor fading and expected flaking to pigments, minuscule losses. Minuscule touchups are possible. The frame with traces of use.
Dimensions: Image size 78 x 53.5 cm, Size incl. frame 111 x 85.5 cm
Mounted and framed behind glass. (2)
Literature comparison: The treatment of the flames and the facial features of the deities of the present thangka compare with a thangka of Shri Heruka, dated to the 19th century, from the Rubin Museum of Art, accession number F1997.12.2, illustrated by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 194.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 17 March 2014, lot 37
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 67,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka of Mahottara Heruka, Eastern Tibet, Palpung, 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting, composition, and subject. Note the size (70.6 x 45.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
AN IMPRESSIVE THANGKA OF BEGTSE CHEN, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Distemper and gold paint on cloth, mounted on silk brocade. The protector, in his red form of Mahakala, looking ferocious, wearing elaborate armor, various adornments, and thick boots, a garland of severed heads and a skull crown before flaming hair, brandishing a sword in his right hand and the heart of an enemy in his left, while cradling a spear with a pendant, bow and arrows in the bend of the elbow, treading on a horse and a human corpse.
To the bottom register, on the left of the composition, his son, the Lord of Life, holds a lasso and a spear atop a wolf, to the right, his red-faced and blue-bodied consort, the Goddess of Life, holds a sword in her right hand and a purbha in her left, while riding a bear with a miniature corpse clutched between its teeth.
Provenance: Property from a Belgian private collection.
Condition: Fine condition with expected wear, minor soiling, creasing, and flaking with associated small losses, recently and sensitively retouched. These restorations barely affect the main figure. For a photograph of the present lot prior to this professional restoration, please contact our customer service department.
Dimensions: Image size 43 x 29 cm, Size incl. frame 83 x 50 cm
Begtse Chen is one of the main protectors of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. He is highly revered in Mongolia and is the main protective deity associated with the Hayagriva cycle of Tantric meditation practices. Popularized by Marpa Lotsawa (1012-1096) and Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158) respectively, the founders of the Kagyu and Sakya traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. He is also known as the Red Mahakala and highly revered within the Sakya pantheon of protective deities, and later incorporated in the Gelug School of Tsongkhapa.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related thangka of Begtse Chen dated to the 18th century, from a private collection and illustrated by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 7642.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 11 May 2017, lot 47
Price: GBP 18,750 or approx. EUR 32,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A thangka of Begste [sic!] Chen, Tibet, 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, manner of painting, and composition. Note the size (53.5 x 37.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
49 A RARE PAIR OF THANGKAS DEPICTING THE FOUR GUARDIAN KINGS, TIBET, PROBABLY GELUG ORDER, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: These thangka’s rare horizontal format follows compositions commonly painted on walls in monastic chapels and was quite popular within the Gelug order since at least the 18th century. The format was possibly inspired by the imperial Qing workshops, producing examples which are held in the Palace Museum, Beijing (Wang [ed.], Zangchuan Fojiao Tangka, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 262-285, nos. 240-263).
Distemper and gold on cloth. Each exquisitely painted to depict two of the Four Guardian Kings amid fiery flames and swirling clouds in a rocky green landscape above a gushing river with sacred jewels and other auspicious offerings.
The first shows the red-skinned Virupaksha, guarding the West, holding a miniature stupa and a serpent, standing above a mermaid inside the river, as well as Vaishravana, representing the North, with a tall victory banner and a mongoose, further accompanied by an attendant.
The second depicts the blue-skinned Virudhaka, presiding over the South, with a long sword in his hands and Dhritarashtra, the Guardian King of the East, with a lute, the central background with an anthropomorphic water creature holding a quiver of arrows. (2)
Provenance: A private collection in Silicon Valley, California, United States, circa 2005. A private collection in southern California, United States acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, minor soiling, minimal creasing, light flaking with few minuscule losses to pigments. Old varnish which has browned significantly over time. Traces of soiling, usage and wear, mostly to backsides.
Weight: 366 g
Dimensions: Image sizes 57.6 x 79 cm and 59.4 x 79.5 cm
The Four Guardian Kings, or Lokapalas, are protector deities who serve as the celestial guardians of the four cardinal directions in Buddhist cosmology. Their origins trace back to early Buddhist scriptures and became more fully developed in the Mahayana tradition, where they are revered across all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Each king resides on one side of Mount Meru, the mythic axis of the Buddhist universe, and is responsible for safeguarding the Dharma and those who practice it.
Vaishravana, Guardian of the North and king of the Yakshas, is the most prominent of the four and is sometimes depicted seated in a jeweled palace with a banner of victory or a mongoose spitting jewels. Dhritarashtra, Guardian of the East, is king of the Gandharvas and celestial musicians.
Dwelling on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, he is often depicted with a lute or sword, symbolizing his role as a protector through both harmony and force. Virudhaka, Guardian of the South, rules over the Kumbhanda spirits and is shown wielding a sword, as a symbol of subjugating hatred and protecting practitioners from harm. Virupaksha, Guardian of the West and leader of the Nagas, is associated with serpentine beings and often appears holding a stupa, symbolizing the protection of sacred Buddhist relics and the power of spiritual insight.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related thangka depicting Virupaksha, 96.5 x 69.8 cm, dated to the 18th century, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60D48 (fig. 1). Compare a related earlier thangka depicting Vaishravana, 81.3 x 73.9 cm, dated to the 15th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2021.290.
fig. 1
AUCTION
RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 24 March 2018, lot 1648
Price: USD 30,000 or approx.
EUR 34,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Two Thangkas depicting the Guardian King Dhritarashtra and the Arhat Ajita, Tibet, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the similar subject and manner of painting. Note the different format and smaller size (44.5 x 22.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
50 A SET OF SIX FINELY
PAINTED INNER COVER PANELS FROM THE 1794 QIANLONG KANGYUR IN MANCHU SCRIPT
The Qianlong 1794 Kangyur fragments in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, are preliminarily classified as National Treasures. The present lot belongs to this corpus.
External Expert Authentication: This lot was authenticated and dated by Anthony M. Lee, confirming the dating stated above. Lee has written an essay for this exceptional group, titled ‘By Imperial Command’, which is reproduced verbatim in its entirety further below, along with supplementary images selected by us.
Anthony M. Lee is an art consultant, gallery owner, and collector based in Toronto, Canada, with over 40 years of experience. He developed Asian art departments for several auction houses and has worked with almost every major museum collection of Asian art in North America. He is the author of two books on Zen Buddhism and one on the Japanese tea ceremony.
China. Distemper on card with silk brocade covers, framed in card covered in brocade, and with three silk coverlets each. The panels each painted with five arches separated by multi-colored clouds, the support pillars emanating from sacred vases (khumba) and dotted with blue and green jewels, enclosing a fantastic array of peaceful and wrathful protectors, yidam, and wealth deities, backed by vivid flames, and flanked by yellow cartouches with gold inscriptions in Manchu script identifying each deity:
Provenance: From the Dr. Theos Casimir Bernard Collection.
Dr. Theos Casimir Hamati Bernard practicing baddha padmasana, 1943
Sotheby’s New York, 28 March 1996, lot 23 (part-lot). A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above. The backs with remnants of old labels. Dr. Theos Casimir Bernard (1908-1947) was an American scholar, and practitioner of yoga and Tibetan Buddhism. He is perhaps best remembered for his pioneering journey to Tibet in the 1930s, an endeavor that was rare at the time, which he documented in his book Penthouse of the Gods (1939). During his travels, Bernard amassed a substantial collection of Tibetan texts, manuscripts, and ritual objects, which he hoped to use to establish a center for Tibetan studies in the West.
Condition: Overall good condition with expected wear, minimal rubbing to pigments, light soiling, few minor surface scratches, traces of insect activity with few associated minute losses to three folios. One folio with few minor tears to the short edges and one figure with further tears. The silk coverlets with few small losses, light tears, and little soiling. The brocade with few loose threads, fading, and losses.
Weight: 5,402 g (total)
Dimensions: each ca.16.5 x 58.4 cm (excl. mounting) and 23.2 x 72.4 cm (incl. mounting)
Literature comparison: Compare a related canon of Tibetan Buddhism translated into Manchu script, dated to Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, in the Palace Museum.
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
1. Five forms of Mahakala
2. Five forms of Dakini
3. Five benign forms of Bhairava, Skanda and 3 Ratna deities
4. Vaishravana and the Four Guardian Kings
5. Benign forms of Vajradhara, Yama, Parnashavari, Sitatapatra, and Kurukulla
6. Kubera, Brahma, Vaishravana, Indra, and Bhairava
By Imperial Command
By Anthony M. Lee
This set of six manuscript covers for Buddhist texts (sutras) are among an exceedingly rare group of artifacts surviving from a Qing imperial tradition meant to honour both Mongol and Tibetan monasticism.
As early as the 9th century, Chinese Buddhist texts were commonly accordion bound, the standard of government and scholarly texts. Many imperial sutras survive from the Ming dynasty, often prefaced by fine painted images of Buddha, the most luxurious commissions written on azure blue paper in gold (fig. 1). For reading Chinese this was easiest as the characters were arranged in vertical rows reading right to left. The earliest Buddhist scriptures of South and Southeast Asia, however, were written on palm leaves with horizontal lines of text on stacked pages. This format even after the development of paper required that the delicate and loose pages be protected and flattened with top and bottom wood board covers. Mongol and Tibetan Buddhist traditions followed this older, southern tradition.
An Imperial Xuande-period illuminated wisdom sutra from a lot comprising two sets of five leporello albums sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 April 2018, lot 101, for HKD 238,807,500 or approx. EUR 29,804,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing)
The second Ming Emperor, Yongle (1402-1424) was a fervent supporter of Tibetan Buddhism, wishing to renew the relationship that the preceding Mongol rulers had with the Lamaist lineages. In 1410 he commissioned a complete printed set of the 108 volumes of the Tibetan canon, Kangyur (BKa-gyur), in large format (73 x 27 cm) that was distinctly Imperial in style. The few covers which have survived in museum and other collections are wood with vermillion lacquer and gold designs (fig. 2), painted with Eight Buddhist treasures on the exterior, the interior of the top covers with a mandorla cartouche inscribed in Tibetan Lanca script and the Chinese title and numbering or volume of the text. Other examples from the same set are lacquered red with a single auspicious Buddhist symbol (fig. 3). Originally housed at Pusading Temple, Wutaishan (fig. 4), a temple he had extensively rebuilt and expanded, it is unknown how many of these volumes survive intact with their original covers. The Wanli emperor (1572-1620) also commissioned a printed Kangyur to be housed at Pusading.
2:
For the succeeding Qing dynasty, Pusading remained an important connection to Tibetan Buddhism; the Shunzhi emperor (1644-1661) extensively renovated the temple complex and gave it Imperial protection, and both the Kangxi (1662-1722) and Qianlong (17361795) emperors patronized and stayed there on several occasions. In 1669, supported by the Mongol nobility among his mother’s relations, the second Qing Emperor, Kangxi did his Ming predecessors one better by ordering a sumptuous edition of the Kangyur (fig. 5) in 108 volumes comprising red lacquered wood covers, gold on black framed interior covers, text handwritten on lacquer prepared card, in addition to silk bags, wrappings and cordage. The addition of interior covers follows a more Mongol tradition of having a painting of tutelary or protective deities inside the volume, separate from the exterior cover itself. A century later, in 1770, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned another Kangyur (fig. 6) in a similar format to the Kangxi edition, and a further print edition in Manchu script in 1794 (fig. 7) in similar format of 108 volumes. The present six interior covers appear to be part of this 1794 corpus.
Fig. 4: The main gate at Pusa Ding temple on Mount Wutai. Both the Kangxi and Qianlong Emperors stayed at this monastery during their numerous visits to Wutaishan
Fig. 5: Two inner covers from the Tibetan Dragon Buddhist Canon or Kangxi Kangyur, commissioned by the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and made between 1667 and 1669, now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei
Fig. 6: A volume of the 1770 Qianlong Kangyur in Tibetan Script, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei
Fig.
Two Yongle-period sutra covers in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2015.500.1.52
Fig. 3: Two Yongle-period sutra covers at Christie’s New York, 26 March 2025, lot 530
Fig.1:
Early Buddhist manuscripts on palm leaf had wood covers ‘sandwiching’ the text, possibly plain, possibly lightly decorated. By the 11th century, Buddhist texts followed the example of Jain texts and the first few pages interspersed text with gouache Buddhist images, leading eventually to lacquer decorated interior covers. Early Tibetan covers would continue this form, often with less sacred decorative elements on the exteriors while protecting the images of the Buddha on the interiors (fig. 8). In time, Tibetan covers would show Buddhist images in carved relief on both the exterior and at times the interior. The Mongol tradition added in a frontispiece as a separate interior cover, often thicker and with a Buddha image and at times a cloth covering protecting the image. These interior covers added a further protective layer for the delicate pages, as well as a more spiritual aspect to the complete volume in keeping with the symbolism of Buddhist cosmology (fig. 9). Take as an example any Buddhist stupa, the structure’s five parts—base, dome, spire, capitol, and parasol finial—reflect the five parts of the Buddha’s body—legs, body, heart, head, and nothingness—which correspond also to five elements, chakras, and states of being. Tibetan thangka (mandala) follow the architectural form in two dimensions, and Kangxi’s Imperial Kangyur volumes would reflect the same. The ‘book’ when spread out becomes a spiritual representation of a Buddha body and a graphic representation of a mandala.
The 1669 Kangxi Kangyur interior leading covers (fig. 10) were of wood lacquered black and painted in gold, the reverse with three composite mantras in Lanca script, the obverses with dense scrolling vine with repetition of the Eight Buddhist Emblems, the inset paintings on prepared ground with gilt metal mountings and jewels.
The lower interior covers were painted with three double vajras on the reverse, the obverse showed arrangements of five protective deities or guardians, in one case depicting Brahma flanked by the Four Guardian Kings (fig. 11)
Fig. 9: The elements of a sutra manuscript as they relate to Buddhist symbols and cosmology
Buddha Stupa Elements Mandala Sutra
Nirvana Finial Void Silk Cover Parasol Top cover
Head Capitol Wind Buddhas/Teachers Guiding Buddhas/Teachers
Heart Spire Fire Central Figure Text
Body Dome Water Protective Deities Protective Deities
Legs Base Earth Silk Panels Bottom Cover
Note in the above image (fig. 9) of the 1770 Qianlong Kangyur, the top and bottom covers are red, and the text is black. The correct order should be:
1. Red cover
2. Painted cover
3. Black text
4. Painted cover
5. Red cover
Fig. 11: A pair of sutra covers from the Kangxi Kangyur at Sotheby’s New York, 18 September 2023, lot 132, estimate USD 100,000 or approx. EUR 90,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Note the gilt metal mandorla mounts and jewels have been stripped from this example
The Qianlong 1770 Kangyur copied the format and design of the interior covers almost exactly from the 1669 version, with only a slight difference in the proportions of the lacquered wood framing around the painted sections. Initiated in 1771, with all translation works completed in 1790, the 1794 Qianlong Kangyur in Manchu script (fig. 7) followed a different design and reduced the size slightly, opting for silk brocade wrapped interior covers with painted mandorlas and jewels instead of gilt metal and real jewels. The painted area was framed in a wave form dental of gold on vermillion gouache, the figures flanked vertically by blue ground lozenges inscribed in Manchu, Chinese, and Lanca.
The matching dimensions, proportions, paint palette, style of painting, borders, and use of gold and silver brocades (though not perfectly matching), clearly connect the six present lower interior covers with the Qianlong 1794 Kangyur corpus, though separated from their texts and the inscriptions in blue lozenges incomplete or worn. According to the National Palace Museum, only one complete Kangyur from the 12 Imperial sets in Manchu script commissioned in 1790 remains intact and is housed in the Potala Palace, Lhasa, while a second complete set is split between the National Palace Museum Taipei (32 cases) and the Palace Museum Beijing (76 cases). The whereabouts of the remaining 10 sets originally housed in temples, palaces, or Imperial libraries is unknown and they are assumed dispersed or possibly destroyed.
Fig. 10: An interior leading cover from the 1669 Kangxi Kangyur
Fig. 7: A volume of the 1794 Qianlong Kangyur in Manchu script, the set to which the present group belongs, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei
Fig. 8: The upper and lower covers from a Tibetan manuscript, circa twelfth century, illustrated and exhibited by Rossi & Rossi, Guardians of the Sacred Word, Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, 18 September-19 October 1996, no. 1
A
RICHLY INLAID
GILT COPPER VAJRACHARYA PRIEST’S ORACLE CROWN, NEPAL, LATE 19TH CENTURY
Exceptionally worked, the tall crown of rounded conical form worked with five bone chitipati heads with eyes inlaid in amethyst and gilt teeth baring, issuing flaring tendrils in coral and turquoise with silver beaded embellishments, each head balancing a large teardrop turquoise medallion decorated with turquoise, coral, amethyst, and lapis lazuli cabochons, and silver and gilt lappets and beading respectively, all above a band of similarly worked roundels. The center of the brim applied with a raised band edged with lapis lazuli and centered by a bed of rubies, separated by gilt beading, and further adorned with turquoise sprigs.
The body of the crown further applied with silvered filigree bands adorned with cabochons of coral, lapis, turquoise, and imitation crystals. Surmounted by a tiered finial with bands of lapis lazuli and coral, separated by gilt beaded bands, and compressed sections of filigree adorned with inlaid cabochons, all terminating in a coral and lapis four-prong half vajra.
Provenance: C. P. Ching Fine Oriental Art Ltd., Hong Kong, 26 February 1999. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. A copy of a certificate from C. O. Ching, confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot. C. P. Ching Fine Oriental Art was established in Hong Kong in 1980. The gallery was known for their collection of fine Buddhist art primarily from Tibet and Southeast Asia, as well as Japanese and Chinese textiles and Tibetan furniture. Their clients included museums, interior designers, and private collectors. In the summer of 2002, after 22 years, the gallery closed its doors, after its director Annie C. P. Ching and her family chose to embark on a new venture in Shanghai, China. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities. Scattered light nicks and small surface scratches, minute dings, rubbing, minor losses to inlays.
Weight: 5,603 g Dimensions: Height 44.5 cm, Diameter 28 cm
Elaborate crowns such as the present lot were worn by Vajracharya priests, the highest rank in the Nepalese Buddhist community. The conical crown is unique to Newari Buddhism and embodies a memory of older and now lost Indian Buddhist practices. The term Vajracharya denotes both a caste and a family name, and the designation entitles its holders to perform reserved priestly functions, analogous to the privileges held by Brahmans in Hinduism. This crown is exceptional in its complexity: It is dominated by a series of inlaid plaques and inlaid bone chitipatti heads. All is surmounted by a four-pronged thunderbolt scepter, or vajra.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related crown headdress with semi-precious inlays, Nepal, dated to the 19th century, 24.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1961,1214.1 (fig. 1). Compare a related gilt metal headdress with semiprecious stones, Tibet, dated to the 20th century, 28.5 cm high, in the Norton Simon Museum, accession number P.2006.02.05. Compare a related, earlier Vajracharya priest’s crown, Nepal, 13thearly 14th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2016.408. fig. 1
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
52
A GILT AND LACQUERED ‘DRAGON’ CHEST, TIBET, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
The large wooden chest finely painted in gilt and polychrome pigments on a cotton ground with a central cartouche enclosing a front-facing dragon with piercing eyes, and Buddhist emblems including a conch, the eternal knot, and a kalasha amid flowers and lingzhi-shape clouds, all backed by interlocking sets of foliage framed by foliate scrolls outlined in gesso, all within a band of lobed circles centered by stylized flowerheads continuing onto the side of the cover.
Provenance: Spink, London, 13 June 1995. Collection of Nicholas Squire, Suffolk, United Kingdom, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of the receipt from Spink, London, dated 13 June 1995, and stating a purchase price of GBP 7,200 or approx. EUR 22,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. Nicholas John Squire (1949-2024) was a British solicitor who assembled a fine collection Buddhist and Himalayan art, acquired in the 1990s through Spink & Son and Ashencaen & Leonov. Condition: Overall good condition with expected wear, traces of use, light soiling and minor water stains, minor touchups to lacquer, small repairs to the iron fittings and wood, surface scratches, small nicks, one narrow side with remnants of adhesive. Overall displaying exceptionally well.
Dimensions: Size 141.3 x 72.5 x 47.2 cm
PUBLISHED
Spink, The Mirror of Mind, Art of Vajrayana Buddhism, 1995, p. 90, item 57.
small side sections, with the main decoration on the front panel continuing on to the front part of the lid.” During the time of stability within Tibet under the rule of the Fifth Dalai Lama (late 17th century), trade and relations with the Manchu rulers of China flourished, “[g]ifts flowed in from Mongol and Manchu patrons, and Chinese brocades became the predominant source of inspiration for the design vocabulary of the boxes, which were in turn used to store the same brocades” (ibid., p. 51). This design layout, resembling a carpet, is a fundamental approach to decoration in Central Asia (in the widest sense), although the design elements of the textile pattern and borders are based immediately on Chinese models.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 13 September 2011, lot 1020
Price: USD 12,500 or approx. EUR 15,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
The narrow sides covered in cotton and painted with shou characters and the top covered in black lacquer with scrolling clouds and shou-symbols showing through the surface. The corners and lock mounted with iron fittings.
As noted by Luca and Camilla Corona (Wooden Wonders: Tibetan Furniture in Secular and Religious Life, Chicago, 2004, p. 48), “[t]hese storage boxes are cuboids, with straight sides, lids of which are attached to
Description: A storage chest, Tibet, 16th/17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of painting with similar dragon cartouche to the front. Note the size (113 x 40.6 x 55.9 cm) and earlier dating.
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A RARE HUANGHUALI SIDE TABLE, QING DYNASTY
China, 1644-1914. Finely carved, of rectangular form, standing on four cabriole legs terminating in outward-curving horse-hoof feet, joined by shaped aprons and spandrels intricately carved in high relief with scrolling tendrils and leafy stems. The waist is decorated with delicate linear ornamentation, while the edge of the tabletop is embellished with a continuous band of carved petals. The surface of the table is slightly recessed within the raised rim.
The wood displaying a particularly attractive grain and warm tone.
Provenance: From the collection of the Finnish attaché Harry Arvid Uggeldahl (1931-1991), who was based in Beijing between 1963 and 1965, and thence by descent within the family.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, manufacturing irregularities, and natural imperfections. Traces of use, light surface scratches, few small age cracks, few minute losses, some joints possibly reinforced.
Weight: 16.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 63.5 cm, Length 79.5 cm, Depth 48 cm
It is uncommon to encounter a table of this model and scale with legs of this form. Curved cabriole legs, such as those found on the present lot, are more typically associated with smaller furniture forms, such as incense stands, kang tables, and stools, as noted by Sarah Handler in her article where she traces the evolution of the cabriole leg in traditional Chinese applied arts, which extends as far back as the S-curved legs seen in ritual
bronze vessels of the Shang dynasty. See Sarah Handler, ‘The Incense Stand and the Scholar’s Mystical State’, Journal of the Classical Chinese furniture society, issue 4, 1990, p. 4-10.
The present table also features unusually low-relief decoration imitating English giltwood designs of the period, typically carved in gesso. This detail reflects the intensity of commercial exchange between China and Europe, and the particular fascination among European, especially British, clients with Chinese craftsmanship during that era. Similar carvings can notably be observed on Chinese export chairs of comparable design, as illustrated in Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, 1991, p. 231, pl. 83.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2015, lot 1238
Price: USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 147,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Chinese export Huanghuali side table, c. 1750
Expert remark: Compare the related form and manner of carving with gently curved legs and similarly decorated aprons. Note the size (71 x 101.5 x 72.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A RARE CARVED BAMBOO ‘SCHOLARS POINTING AT THE SUN’ BRUSH POT, SIGNED ZHU SANSONG (ACTIVE CA. 1573-1621)
China, early 17th century. Finely carved and incised, the cylindrical body supported on three short bracket feet, the exterior cleverly combining high and low reliefs, to depict three scholars engaged in a deep discussion over the rising sun subtly carved below the rim, accompanied by two attendants, one peering mischievously from behind a tree trunk, all set within a mountainous landscape dotted with pine, wutong trees, and rockwork.
Inscriptions: Incised to a tree trunk in seal script, ‘Zhu Sansong zhi’ (‘made by Zhu Sansong’).
Provenance: From the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Hawthorn, London, United Kingdom. Gerard Hawthorn joined Sydney L. Moss Ltd in 1963 and later became an independent art dealer, assisting the world’s leading collectors and museums in acquiring rare Chinese antiques. Additionally, he formed his own collection of Chinese art, especially Yixing stoneware.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and natural imperfections including expected age cracks. Few tiny nicks and light surface scratches. The wood with a beautiful patina, naturally grown into a fine golden-brown hue. The bitong with an unctuous feel and elegant shine overall.
Weight: 397.6 g
Dimensions: Height 15.8 cm
The scholarly scene depicted by this brush pot can be interpreted as a gentleman gesturing toward the sun, with daylight evoked by the pale background.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related bamboo brush holder by Zhu Sansong, carved with a woman reading a letter, in the Palace Museum, Taipei, accession number 故雕000013N000000000.
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A SMALL JICHIMU SCHOLAR’S DESK CABINET, 18-19TH CENTURY
China. Of rectangular form, the front with two hinged and paneled doors fitted with teardrop metal handles, the panels replicated to the sides, the interior with two short drawers on top and one long drawer at the bottom. The wood of a rich dark tone with strong graining.
Provenance: Christie’s London, 8 November 2011, lot 277, sold for GBP 2,500 or approx. EUR 4,900. A private collector, acquired from the above and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, few light scratches, tiny nicks, fine natural age cracks, few splits, minor repairs to the larger drawer, remnants of red stains to the interior, some of the elements reattached with remnants of adhesive.
Weight: 4.4 kg
Dimensions: Size 34 x 31.9 x 22.1 cm
Jichimu, literally translated as ‘chickenwing wood’, describes a wood whose deep brown and gray patterns when cut resemble the patterns of bird feathers. It is indigenous to Southern China, and is valued for its beauty, durability, and the visual appeal of its unique grain.
The present lot at Christie’s London, 8 November 2011, lot 277, sold for GBP 2,500 or approx. EUR 4,900 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 10 September 2018, lot 93
Price: USD 4,000 or approx. EUR 4,400 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jichimu portable scholar’s chest, Tixiang, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related rectangular form as well as the grain and color of the wood. Note the earlier dating and smaller size (20.2 x 28 x 18.9 cm).
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
A BAMBOO ‘PINE AND SQUIRRELS’ INK-STONE BOX AND COVER, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
China. Of rectangular form with a flush-fitting cover, exquisitely and intricately carved in deep undercut-relief around the top and sides with clusters of pine-needles issuing from delicate meandering branches, the cover with four playful squirrels perched upon the pine, the surface of the pine trees scattered with scales to stimulate the bark of the tree.
The interior of the box carved with a typical recess for use as an ink-stone and with a two-character inscription in black ink.
Inscriptions: To the interior, ‘[…] 玉 (jade)’.
Provenance: Douglas Wright, London, United Kingdom, 1970s. The collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Hawthorn, London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2341 (label to interior), net upper estimate of HKD $300,000 or EUR 51,000 Gerard Hawthorn joined Sydney L. Moss Ltd in 1963 and later became an independent art dealer, assisting the world’s leading collectors and museums in acquiring rare Chinese antiques. Additionally, he formed his own collection of Chinese art, especially Yixing stoneware, which before their sale in November 2011 was regarded as one of the world’s greatest and most distinguished collection of Yixing wares by a single owner. Gerard Hawthorn is also the author of the catalog series ‘Oriental Works of Art’, which features fine works of art from China, Japan, and Korea.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, natural imperfections, small nibbles to extremities, scattered light nicks and small surface scratches, a small loss to the cover.
Weight: 101.1 g
Dimensions: Size 11.3 x 8 x 4 cm
Carvings from materials of vegetal origin, like bamboo, wood, or gourd, represent one of the most elaborate and refined crafts in China. The pine tree (song) is a potent symbol of longevity, resilience, and steadfastness. Revered for its ability to endure harsh winter conditions, the pine often thrives in rocky, barren landscapes, growing even in the face of extreme weather and adversity. This enduring strength makes the pine tree a powerful metaphor for perseverance, integrity, and unwavering determination. It is frequently associated with the ideal qualities of a scholar or gentleman in Confucian thought, symbolizing an individual who remains upright and unyielding despite external pressures, much like the pine tree’s resilience in the most challenging environments. The symbolism of the pine tree is further enriched when paired with the squirrel (songshu; literally ‘pine mouse’), which is often depicted in Chinese art and folklore.
The present lot at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2341 (label to interior), net upper estimate of HKD $300,000 or EUR 51,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
The squirrel, a common companion to the pine tree, represents vitality, agility, and cleverness. Together, the pine and squirrel embody the virtues of perseverance and intelligence, often evoking the idea of maintaining one’s integrity and resourcefulness in the face of life’s challenges.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bamboo box and cover, dated to the Qing dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, accession number 新00091957. Compare a related bamboo box and cover signed Deng Fujia, dated c. 1720-1750, 11.5 cm wide, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number W.338&A-1910.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 18 March 2008, lot 37
Price: USD 103,000 or approx. EUR 133,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very fine oval bamboo box and cover, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration and similar playful motif.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
57 AN EMBELLISHED HUANGHUALI ‘FIVE FISH’ BOX AND COVER, QING DYNASTY, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
China. The wood displays a natural luster and characteristic ghost eyes typical of huanghuali. Finely carved into a rectangular box with an inset compartment, it is fitted with a cover featuring sloping edges that frame a pond scene. Five goldfish, four of which are inlaid in varied tones of mother-of-pearl with minuscule inset horn eyes, swim amid aquatic plants of stained bone. Above them, a blossoming pomegranate branch bearing fruit is intricately inlaid. The interior is finished in black lacquer.
The inlays are composed of mother-of-pearl, agate, soapstone, wood, coral, amber, stained bone, and possibly tortoiseshell.
Provenance: Collection of General Paul Victor Jamin, Paris, France, and thence by descent in the family. General Paul Victor Jamin (1807-1868), born in Montmédy to General Jean-Baptiste Jamin, entered the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr, was later appointed lieutenant, and served under the Duc d’Aumale in Algeria. Under the orders of General Cousin-Montauban, he took part in the China expedition (1860-1861), where he was promoted to divisional general. During his expedition, he assembled many Chinese artworks, including porcelains, jades, and bronzes. Some of his objects were donated to the British Museum
Condition: Good condition overall, with minor wear and light surface scratches to the base. The base and corners show a few natural age cracks. Expected minor losses to inlays, with very few possibly renewed. One narrow side of the cover bears an old repair, and there are a few minuscule losses. The piece displays exceptionally well.
Weight: 1.2 kg
Dimensions: Size 25.4 x 15.1 x 9.8 cm
This superbly crafted box exemplifies the baibao qian or ‘Hundred Treasure Inlay’ technique, in which various precious materials, including coral, amber, agate, malachite, and mother-of-pearl, are set into prized woods like huanghuali or zitan. The result is a richly textured and colorful decorative effect. Due to the use of rare materials and the level of craftsmanship involved, such objects were particularly expensive and highly valued at the time.
Such embellished boxes have been attributed to the famed Ming dynasty master craftsman, Zhou Zhu, celebrated for his invention of the technique of inlaying a wide variety of semi-precious stones and other materials onto wood and lacquer, and recorded in the writing of Ming and Qing literati as working in Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province during the Jiajing reign. For further discussion on the work of Zhou Zhu, see Chi Jo-Hsin, ‘Chou Chu and the craftsmanship of Chou Chih works’, Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Chinese Art History, Palace Museum, Taipei, 1991, Antiquities, p. 657.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 21 September 2021, lot 122
Price: USD 52,920 or approx. EUR 52,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An embellished ‘huanghuali’ box and cover, Qing dynasty, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration as well as the similar color and grain of the wood. Note the size (27 x 16.5 x 10.2 cm).
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2024, lot 2958
Price: HKD 2,142,000 or approx. EUR 238,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A hardstone and mother-of-pearl inlaid huanghuali ‘bird and flowers’ box and cover, Qing dynasty, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and wood of similar grain and color. Note the different size (9.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
General Paul Victor Jamin (1807-1868)
A LARGE (43 CM) AND FINELY CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER OCTAGONAL BOX AND COVER, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
China. The top of the lobed cover is deeply carved within an octafoil panel to depict the rocky landscape of the Daoist paradise populated by the Eight Immortals (baxian), with He Xiangu holding a lingzhi while crossing a bridge, followed by Han Xiangzi carrying a branch of peaches. The other six immortals are shown transversing a bridge in the background with Lan Caihe and his flower basket in the lead.
The landscape is characterized by large pines, detailed with rugged mountains, misty clouds, cranes and wutong trees and terraces. The sides of the box and cover are each decorated with eight cartouches depicting a different auspicious flower growing from rocks, separated by a floral spray borne on dense leaves.
Provenance: Bernheimer, Munich, 14. Westdeutsche Kunst- und Antiquitätenmesse, 24 February 1983. A private collection in Niederrhein, Germany, acquired from the above.
The Bernheimer business was started by Lehmann Bernheimer (1841-1918) in 1864 with a tiny market stall in Munich, Germany, and swiftly grew into the most illustrious antique and interior decoration emporium in the world. Lehmann’s son Otto (1877-1960) took over after his father’s death in 1918. With his two brothers, Max and Ernst, Otto traveled to many European countries in search of fine art. Bernheimer’s customers were European aristocrats, financiers, diplomats, and artists. They included the Krupp family and William Randolph Hearst. During the Nazi regime, the Bernheimer family emigrated across the whole world. In 1945, Otto Bernheimer returned to Munich, rebuilt his company and fought for the restitution of the family property. Konrad Bernheimer took over in 1977, aged 26, and has moved the business to Old Master Paintings.
The Bernheimer Collection counts among the finest art collections in the world, reflecting the erudite quest of four generations to discover the very best of ancient art.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, expected age cracks with associated minor flaking to the lacquer, small scattered touchups to lacquer around the walls and rims, tiny nicks and few bruises mostly to the interior, and few minuscule chips to the base.
Weight: 3 kg
Dimensions: Diameter 43 cm
This box stands out for its impressive size and exceptional craftsmanship, evident in the richly detailed scene, thickly applied lacquer, and precise carving. It belongs to a rare group of large lobed boxes from the mid-Qing dynasty, all characterized by a central shaped panel featuring a landscape, surrounded by eight lobed cartouches adorned with floral and rock motifs.
PUBLISHED
Weltkunst, Kunst und Technik, Munich, 15 February 1983, vol. 53, no. 4, p. 329 (Bernheimer advertisement, see provenance below).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 15 September 2017, lot 999
Price: USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 139,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A finely carved cinnabar lacquer octafoil box and cover, Qianlong period (1736-1795)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related octafoil form, the landscape with immortals, the finely executed carving and lacquerwork, and size (32.4 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 May 2021, lot 3031
Price: HKD 1,500,000 or approx. EUR 175,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An exceptionally well carved large cinnabar lacquer octagonal lobed box and cover, Qianlong six-character mark and of the period (1736-1795)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related octafoil form, the landscape with immortals, the finely executed carving and lacquerwork, and size (43.4 cm). Note the Qianlong mark.
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
Otto Bernheimer (1877-1960)
AN IMPERIAL CINNABAR LACQUER ‘TREASURE’ BOX AND COVER, QIANLONG PERIOD
Expert’s note: The superb craftsmanship required to produce the present cinnabar lacquer ‘treasure’ box and stand represents not only the Qianlong Emperor’s appreciation of the works of art that would have been contained in the box, but also his all-encompassing yet detailed approach making the packing into an art form which merited treasuring and appreciation itself.
China, 1736-1795. Of square form, the top of the cover centered by a shou roundel enclosed within a larger key-fret design forming a stylized wan character. The interior of this angular motif crisply carved to depict fruiting peach sprays alternating with flying bats on a swirling wave ground. The interstitial areas decorated with a finely incised hexagonal pattern enclosing chrysanthemum blossoms and additional wan characters.
The sides of the cover distinguished by rectangular panels containing the Eight Daoist Symbols amidst swirling clouds, set against a minutely carved ground with diagonal squares and framed by a further squared pattern filled with repeated wan characters. The box raised on four ruyi-shaped feet at the corners and encircled by key-fret and petaled bands. The interior and underside lacquered black.
Inscriptions: The underside of the cover bearing an old label inscribed ‘Number 98’ and ‘Number [...]135’. The base with an additional label inscribed ‘12’ and the painted character ‘jing’ (calm).
Provenance: From an old private collection in Croatia.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities. Minor nicks, occasional light scratches, scattered minute chips, and small losses to lacquer with associated touchups. One obvious crack running through the base.
Weight: 1,225 g Dimensions: Length 20.6 cm
At the height of the Qianlong Emperor’s collecting activities, he had amassed more than a million precious art objects. They filled imperial halls and palaces, while smaller objects such as snuff bottles and handling pieces were ordered and stored in so-called “hundred treasure boxes”. These presentation boxes for the Imperial collections were often art forms in themselves.
The present box is a quintessential example of the intricately layered surfaces that characterize carved lacquerware from eighteenth-century China, as well as the auspicious symbolism often embedded in such works.
The ‘wan’ character appears as a dominant and recurring decorative motif on this box, underscoring its rich symbolic and imperial connotations. The swastika is an ancient symbol found across numerous cultures throughout the Eurasian continent. In China, it dates back to the painted pottery of the Neolithic Majiayao culture, which flourished between approximately 3300 and 2000 BC in the upper Yellow River region.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 3124
Price: HKD 1,180,000 or approx. EUR 158,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A two-tiered carved cinnabar lacquer box, cover and stand, Qianlong period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of carving and motifs. Note the size (18.8 cm) and slightly different form.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A MAGNIFICENT ROOTWOOD ‘SCHOLAR’S ROCK’, QING DYNASTY
Published: Strange Stones and Stranger Beasts, Rasti Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 2017, no. 31.
China, 1644-1912. The natural swirls and knots of the brown and amber-toned wood mimicking the form of a perforated vertical scholar’s rock, with numerous perforations and knobby outcroppings, the ‘strange stone’ evocative of an immortal beneath an overhanging cliff, the sinuous body of a coiled dragon with a twisted neck turned downward.
Provenance: An Asian private collection, acquired in April 2016. Rasti Chinese Art, Hong Kong, by 2017. A private collector, acquired from the above. Nader Rasti joined Christie’s London in 1986 and became an auctioneer and the Director of the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art department, before establishing Knapton Rasti Asian Art in London with Christopher Knapton in 2000. The gallery was first located on Kensington Church Street before relocating to Duke Street, St. James’s. In response to an increasing number of Asian clients, Nader founded Rasti Chinese Art in 2013 situated on Hong Kong’s famed Hollywood Road. The gallery is especially renowned for dealing in Chinese jade, hardstone carvings, and sculpture.
Condition: Very good condition with wear and natural imperfections. Expected minor losses, small chips, and age cracks. The foot is glued to the base.
Weight: 3,357 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 46.5 cm (excl. stand), 57 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a fitted Hongmu stand imitating lingzhi growing from a rocky ground, supported on four cabriole legs. (2)
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19
September
2014, lot 1051
Price: USD 7,500 or approx. EUR 8,600
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A boxwood ‘scholar’s rock’, Qing dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and similar size (43 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
61
A FINE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE INCENSE POWDER BOX AND COVER, MING DYNASTY
China, 16th-17th century. Heavily cast, supported on a short, straight foot and rising to gently rounded shoulders with a circular mouth and a thick-lipped rim, fitted with a slightly domed cover. The exterior richly decorated in high relief with an array of auspicious motifs taken from the babao, anbaxian, and bajixiang, all richly gilt and set against an exquisitely punched ground of interlacing diaper patterns. The rims, foot, and interior mouth gilt.
Provenance: Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, 2017. A copy of the original invoice from Ben Janssens, dated 15 March 2017, confirming the dating above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of EUR 19,000 or approx. EUR 23,000, accompanies this lot. Ben Janssens opened his eponymous gallery in 1996 in London, specializing in early Chinese art. Previously he had been a director at Spink & Son. He also served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of TEFAF Maastricht. A private collection in Switzerland, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, traces of use, casting irregularities, expected rubbing and minor losses to gilt, few minuscule nicks. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, mellow patina. The gilt is well-preserved.
Weight: 410 g
Dimensions: Diameter 7.4 cm
The items depicted include a fan, a flower basket and a fish drum, the attributes of Han Zhongli, Lan Caihe, and Zhang Guolao respectively, who are among the Eight Daoist Immortals. There is also a conch and a parasol, two of the Buddhist auspicious symbols; some of the Eight Treasures including a wish-granting pearl, a stone chime, a pair of rhinoceros horns, a coin, an ingot, and a wish-granting scepter; and scholar’s items such as an
The present lot at Ben Janssens Oriental Art, London, 2017, with a purchase price of EUR 19,000 or approx. EUR 23,000 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
archaic ding, scrolls, and an inkstone. The box has a prominent incurving inner rim on the inside of the lower section, and this is also gilded on its exterior.
As can be deducted from the unusual design of the extended inner mouth on the lower section, this box has been used as a container for incense powders, the incurving rim keeping the incense from blowing away when the cover is removed. The combination of various Daoist and Buddhist auspicious items and scholar’s objects was popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is known as the ‘Hundred Antiques’ (baigutu) motif.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 17 May 2018, lot 210
Price: GBP 27,500 or approx. EUR 46,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A parcel-gilt bronze incense box and cover, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, exquisite casting work and gilt decoration. Note the similar size (8.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
Ben Janssens
A CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL AND GILT-BRONZE TRIPOD CENSER, MING DYNASTY
China, 1368-1644. The gently compressed globular body raised on three gilt-bronze cabriole legs fronted by stylized lion masks and surmounted by a broad galleried rim. Finely decorated in bright enamels around the sides with six large lotus blossoms borne on leafy meandering stems further issuing stylized conch-like blooms, all against a rich turquoise ground, below a narrow band of flowerheads with similar vines against a deep blue ground.
Provenance: French trade, acquired from a private estate in Paris.
Condition: Overall good condition with old wear, manufacturing irregularities, and traces of use, small dents and light nicks to enamels with associated minor losses and expected old fills and touchups.
Weight: 791.1 g
Dimensions: Height 10.1 cm, Diameter 12.9 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams San Francisco, 20 December 2011, lot 8216
Price: USD 12,500 or approx. EUR 15,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A cloisonné enamel enameled metal footed censer, Ming dynasty, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration, lotus scroll, contrasting grounds, and size (11 cm). Note the different form.
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A LARGE (46 CM) ARCHAISTIC CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL VASE, FANGGU, KANGXI-QIANLONG PERIOD
China, late 17th to mid-18th century. The vase is cast with a trumpet neck, a tapering mid-section, and a spreading foot, each applied with four evenly spaced gilt notched flanges. The mid-section is finely enameled on each side with a stylized shou roundel set amidst blossoming vines and archaistic scrolls. The neck and foot are further adorned with archaistic scrolls arranged in petal-like formations, framed by floral motifs, all set against a rich turquoise ground. The flanges are neatly incised with key-fret patterns, while the interior is decorated with lotus scrolls. Each of the central rectangular sections features a dramatic and fierce taotie mask.
Provenance: From an old private collection in southern Germany, assembled from 1970 onwards. According to family tradition, the present piece was acquired from the Stuttgart-based art dealer and scholar Tseng Tung-fa (d. 1992), who was known for his deep expertise in Asian art and maintained close ties with several major European collectors and institutions.
Condition: Good condition, especially notable given the impressive size and many exposed areas. With age-appropriate wear and typical manufacturing irregularities. Minor losses to the enamels with a few associated old fills; some minuscule nicks and light surface scratches throughout. Several flanges are slightly loose, with a few showing areas of old repair. One top corner with a minor, stable restoration.
Weight: 6.8 kg
Dimensions: Height 46.5 cm
Expert’s note: The form and design of this cloisonné fanggu are a result of the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Emperors’ wishes for craftsmen to take inspiration from antiquity, reinstating the intrinsic qualities of simplicity, sincerity and happy exuberance of the ancient cultures. For this purpose, the Qianlong Emperor instructed the Court to collect drawings of antiquities, such as the ‘Catalogue of Xiqing Antiquities’ (Xi Qing Gu Jian), which served as sources of designs for the production of vessels. Compare three related archaistic cloisonné enamel and gilt-bronze vases, fang gu, Qianlong mark and of the period, illustrated ibid., plates 143, 146, and 147.
Literature comparison: Compare a related cloisonné enamel vase, fang gu, dated to the Qianlong period, 55 cm tall, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, inventory number 故琺000137N000000000. Compare a closely related cloisonné enamel vase, fang gu, dated to the Qing dynasty, 37.7 cm tall, also in the National Palace Museum, inventory number 故琺 000737N000000000.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 15 October 2021, lot 4
Price: EUR 48,032 or approx. EUR 59,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze cloisonné enamel vase, fang gu, Yongzheng to Qianlong period Expert remark: Compare the related form and decoration. Note the size (33 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 14 June 2023, lot 67
Price: EUR 37,800 or approx. EUR 39,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large cloisonné enamel vase, gu, China, Qing dynasty, late 17th century Expert remark: Compare the related form and decoration. Note the size (53.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
‘TRIBUTE BEARERS’, YUAN-MING DYNASTY
China, 1279-1644. Ink, gilt, and watercolors on silk. Finely painted with four foreign tribute bearers in ceremonial procession, the work presents a striking array of exotic figures and treasures. At the left, an attendant in long robes clasps an ivory tusk, while beside him another leads a green horse dappled with yellow spots, its back laden with a lotus pedestal supporting a vase of auspicious emblems. Behind, one figure balances an enormous conch shell filled with coral and pearls upon his head, followed by another advancing with a monumental vase held to his chest.
Provenance: From an old Bavarian private collection, assembled since the early 1960s.
Condition: Good condition overall, with expected wear. The colors are well preserved, particularly the red, commensurate with age. The silk shows small tears, some abrasions, a few minute associated losses, and small repairs. The narrow brocade frame may have been trimmed. The glass has a minor loss to one corner. This painting was possibly once part of a larger composition.
Weight: 6 kg
Dimensions: Image size 52 x 68 cm (excl. passepartout), 70 x 100 cm (incl. passepartout)
Mounted in a frame behind glass. (2)
This painting belongs to the illustrious tradition, begun in the Tang dynasty, of depicting foreign tribute bearers laden with exotic gifts for the Chinese court.
This celebrated genre was codified in the lost masterpiece Tribute Bearers by Yan Liben (ca. 600-673), preserved today only through a Song dynasty copy in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. There, envoys from distant lands appear with sharply differentiated features—high-bridged noses, deep-set eyes, and curling beards—carrying treasures such as coral branches, ivory tusks, vessels of precious metal, and rare animals. More than a record of a diplomatic procession, such imagery proclaimed the Empire’s grandeur and its role as the axis of the known world.
LITERATURE
COMPARISON
Compare a related silk handscroll titled Central Asians Presenting Tribute Horses, 31 x 192.8 cm, traditionally attributed to Han Gan (ca. 715–after 781) but dated early to mid-15th century, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1915.16 (fig. 1). Compare a related scroll painting depicting a tribute bearer with a giraffe, dated to the Ming dynasty, 90.4 x 45, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (fig. 2)
Compare a related silk handscroll depicting tribute bearers, attributed to Ren Bowen (act. 1300-1350), Yuan dynasty, 34.8 cm × 221.6 cm, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60D100.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
1 fig. 2
fig.
Tribute Bearers, Song copy of the lost original by Yan Liben likely commemorating a tribute mission sent to Emperor Taizong’s court in 631, National Palace Museum, Taipei
65
A HAND-COLORED ENGRAVING AFTER CASTIGLIONE ET AL. DEPICTING THE BATTLE OF YESIL-KOR-NOR, QIANLONG PERIOD, CHINA, 1769-1774
Hand-colored and copper-engraved on paper. Part of a set of sixteen engravings commissioned by Emperor Qianlong to depict the largescale military battle scene in a rugged mountainous landscape. Cavalry units in lines of troops and wearing elaborate uniforms including helmets, tunics and sitting on horses are spread across the landscape, creating a highly dynamic scene.
Provenance:
Christie’s New York, 22 September 1995, lot 508, offered with an upper estimate of USD $6,000 or approx. EUR 11,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Collection of B. Strongin, United States, acquired from the above, and thence by descent in the family. A copy of the invoice from Christie’s addressed to Ms. B. Strongin accompanies the present lot.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, light soiling, minor foxing, little creasing, few tiny losses.
Weight: 9.2 kg
Dimensions: Image size 51.4 x 88.9 cm, Size incl. frame 78.7 x 116.8 cm Framed behind glass. (2)
This print depicts the 1758 Battle of Yesil-Kol-Nor, one of the key military engagements during the Qing dynasty’s campaigns to pacify the Xinjiang region under the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. Fought near the
lake of Yesil-Kol-Nor (known today as Sayram Lake), the battle marked a decisive moment in the Emperor’s efforts to suppress the Dzungar Khanate and consolidate Qing control over China’s western frontier.
The present lot belongs to a remarkable series of sixteen military engravings commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor to commemorate his military campaigns across China’s interior and frontier regions. Among the most ambitious visual projects of the Qing court, these works were intended not merely as records of military triumph, but as grand visual statements celebrating Imperial authority, strategic command, and territorial expansion. The original designs were created in Beijing by European missionary artists at the Qing court, including the renowned Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), along with Jean-Denis Attiret, Ignatius Sichelbarth, and Giovanni Damasceno Salusti (also known as Jean Damascene Sallusti) and then sent to Paris, where they were engraved by leading European craftsmen and printed under the supervision of Charles-Nicolas Cochin of the Académie Royale at the Court of Louis XVI and the individual engravers include Le Bas, Aliamet, Prevot, Saint-Aubin, Masquelier, Choffard, and Launay. The present engraving was originally created by Giovanni Damasceno Salusti.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 17 March 2015, lot 224
Price: USD 42,500 or approx. EUR 49,500 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Two copper-plate engravings of Emperor Qianlong’s conquest dated 1769
Expert remark: These similarly colored engravings from the same group as the present lot depict the Receiving of the Surrender of the Ili and the Battle of Oroi-Jalatu.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
66
A HAND-COLORED ENGRAVING AFTER CASTIGLIONE ET AL. DEPICTING THE BATTLE OF KHURUNGUI, QIANLONG PERIOD,
CHINA, 1769-1774
Hand-colored and copper-engraved on paper. Part of a set of sixteen engravings commissioned by Emperor Qianlong to depict the largescale military battle set in a mountainous landscape. The foreground shows cavalry units wearing elaborate uniforms including helmets and sitting on horses as well as tents on the right side of the print.
Provenance: Christie’s New York, 22 September 1995, lot 509, offered with an upper estimate of USD $6,000 or approx. EUR 11,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Collection of B. Strongin, United States, acquired from the above, and thence by descent in the family. A copy of the invoice from Christie’s addressed to Ms. B. Strongin accompanies the present lot.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, minor soiling, some foxing to upper area, little creasing, the central fold with a small associated tear, few tiny losses.
Weight: 9.2 kg
Dimensions: Image size 51.4 x 88.9 cm, Size incl. frame 78.7 x 116.8 cm
Framed behind glass. (2)
This print depicts the 1758 Battle of Khurungui, showing Chinese troops led by Zhaohui and his lieutenants attacking Amursana’s supporters who, after their defeat at Khorgos, went to Mount Khurungui, located north of the river Ili.
The prints exemplify the fusion of Eastern and Western representational styles fostered within the Qing Imperial painting academy. The European technique of chiaroscuro – the modeling of forms through the use of light and shading – has been visibly tempered, as has the use of one-point perspective. Instead, the scenes present panoramic views and strongly up-tilt ground planes. At the same time, however, they reflect European preferences for anatomical accuracy, a single light source, and the mathematically correct reduction of scale to create the illusion of recession.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related etching depicting the same scene and an imperial poem, dated to c. 1765-74 and 1766, in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1998.103.5. Compare a closely related colored etching depicting the same scene and an imperial poem, dated to 1765-1769, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, accession number 故00006336-12/1. Compare a closely related engraving depicting the same scene, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 45.100.5.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 13 September 2017, lot 171
Price: USD 40,000 or approx. EUR 44,500 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Two colored copper-plate engravings of the conquests of the Qianlong Emperor dated 1769
Expert remark: These similarly colored engravings from the same group as the present lot depict the Receiving of the Surrender of the Ili and the Storming of the Camp at Mount Gadan.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
67 A VERY RARE LIMESTONE STELE DEPICTING A BUDDHIST TRIAD WITH MILE PUSA (MAITREYA), NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY
China, 386-535. Finely carved within a recessed niche, the Future Buddha seated in a relaxed pose with legs pendent and crossed at the ankles atop a throne flanked by two lions, the hands folded asymmetrically at the chest in a variation of anjali mudra (hezhang, lit. ‘hand clasp’). Maitreya is dressed in a voluminous robe cascading in meticulously incised, parallel U-shaped folds, flanked by a pair of similarly clad attendant bodhisattvas, surrounded by four diminutive niches enclosing Buddha seated in meditation, all below the flaming foliate arch surmounted by a pair of pensive bodhisattvas amid large lotus buds borne on thick meandering vines.
Provenance: A Swiss collection, circa 1980s. Thence with a London gallery, United Kingdom. Thence in the private collection of Mr. R. Unger. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, obvious losses, natural imperfections including fissures and age cracks, nicks, chips, scratches.
Weight: 79.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Size 61 x 41.5 cm (excl. stand), 70 x 47.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated metal stand. (2)
The Northern Wei dynasty was a period of political turbulence and profound social and cultural transformation. In this context, the messianic figure of Maitreya (Mile Pusa) was especially revered. Believed to descend to earth once the teachings of the historical Buddha had been forgotten, Maitreya would preach the dharma anew and inaugurate an era of peace. His popularity among Buddhist patrons inspired striking images in several distinctive poses. The best-known is the so-called ‘pensive bodhisattva,’ seated with the right leg crossed over the left knee, the right arm raised, and the fingers gently touching the cheek of a head tilted slightly in the same direction. Another important format shows Maitreya with both legs pendent, crossed at the ankles, and the head inclined slightly downward, as in the present lot. In this pose, the hand gestures vary, and the unusual anjali mudra displayed by the current stele—with the hands folded asymmetrically—appears to be unique.
Representations of Maitreya with legs crossed at the ankles are generally dated to the late fifth or sixth century. By the later sixth century, the alternative pose with the left leg pendant and the right ankle resting on the left knee had become standard. This depiction of Maitreya is directly related to carvings at the Longmen caves, located outside the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang in Henan province. Sculptural activity at Longmen began shortly after 493 and continued until about 750. The same pendant-legs pose is also found in Mogao Cave 275 at Dunhuang, one of the earliest surviving Mogao caves, constructed earlier under the Northern Liang dynasty (397-439). Cave 275 predates Longmen by some fifty years. By the time the Northern Wei commenced work at Longmen, Dunhuang had already developed sophisticated cave shrines, and its role as a Silk Road hub meant that artists, monks, and patrons transmitted visual and doctrinal models eastward into the Northern Wei heartlands.
The cross-ankled Maitreya statue in a niche of Guyang Cave, Longmen Grottoes. This image is typical of the Northern Wei style as it developed at the Longmen cave complex during the fifth and sixth centuries. Located outside the Wei capital of Luoyang in Henan province, sculptural activities at Longmen lasted from approximately 500 to 750.
Statues of Maitreya and other bodhisattvas in similar cross-ankled pose in Mogao Cave 275, Dunhuang
Literature comparison: Compare a related Northern Wei limestone stele with a Buddhist triad, dated to the 6th century, in the Nezu Museum, Minato, Japan.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2008, lot 207
Price: USD 116,500 or approx. EUR 148,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare limestone Buddhist stele, Northern Wei dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar subject and material. Note the smaller size (45.1 cm).
Note also that the central figure is misidentified as Buddha Shakaymuni at the top of the Sotheby’s description, and later as “bodhisattva Maitreya, depicted seated with ankles crossed and flanked by two guardian lions […] inspired by carvings found in the Longmen caves.”
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A FRAGMENTARY LIMESTONE BUST OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, LATE NORTHERN WEI DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of the late Northern Wei period. A copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, dated April 6, 2010, accompanies this lot.
Dr.
Chang Qing
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
China, 500-534. Finely caved, the slender figure wearing long, layered robes cast with crisp parallel folds, the garment open at the chest revealing the knotted tie of the undergarment underneath. The face with a serene expression detailed with heavy-lidded downcast eyes, and full bow-shaped lips forming a calm smile. The hair is arranged in neatly incised whorl-like curls over the domed ushnisha.
Provenance: A private collection in Hong Kong. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above in 2006. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, obvious losses, structural cracks and fissures, some with associated old fills, chips, nicks, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Weight: 60.6 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 75 cm (excl. stand), 94 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated metal stand. (2)
Buddhist stone sculpture experienced one of its greatest moments in the Northern Wei period, when it was strongly patronized by the Imperial court. As the ruling family gradually adopted a more Chinese lifestyle, a stylistic change also took place in Buddhist sculpture during this period. Buddhist images with foreign-looking features, which had been adopted from Indian and Central Asian prototypes, when the religion was first introduced to China, gradually disappeared and were replaced by more Chinese-looking Buddha figures. One of the most enchanting styles appeared in the late Northern Wei, as represented by the present figure, when faces with fine and noble features were depicted with a faint smile, signaling enlightenment as much as benevolence. That the deities thus appeared more approachable undoubtedly helped the rapid propagation of the religion at that time.
Related sculptures of the sixth century were discovered among many hoards of Buddhist stone sculptures discovered in Shandong province, the best known and best-researched of which is the find from the site of Longxing Temple, Qingzhou, where hundreds of Buddhist images had been ritually buried, perhaps as a meritorious deed in the Northern Song dynasty after having been partially destroyed during some earlier anti-Buddhist movement. The present sculpture has much in common with sculptures found at Qingzhou, in particular the enchanting other-worldly expression of the delicately featured face with its faint smile, as well as the stylized rendering of the hair through a dense, regular array of bosses.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related limestone head of Buddha in the Shandong Provincial Museum, Jinan (fig. 1). Compare a full figure of Buddha with a similar head, dated Northern/Eastern Wei dynasty, at Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 2015, lot 422, estimated at USD $800,000 -$1,200.000.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 1 November 2023, lot 114
Price: GBP 127,000 or approx. EUR 158,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large carved limestone figure of a Buddha, Northern Qi-Eastern Wei dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of carving with similar robe. Note the larger size (125 cm) and the state of preservation.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 1
A LIMESTONE FIGURE OF THE PENSIVE BODHISATTVA MAITREYA, NORTHERN QI DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics similar to Bodhisattva images found in Northern Qi dynasty. A notarized copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, dated 12 May 2012, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
China, 550-577. Superbly carved, the bodhisattva seated on a lotus throne supported on a pedestal carved to the front with a sinuous dragon. The body draped in loose robes falling elegantly over the throne and adorned with fine jewelry. His right leg crossed over the left knee with the left hand resting on his foot, leaning forward with downcast eyes, the hair tied behind a tall headdress.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, nicks, structural cracks, chips, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, and old repairs.
Weight: 10,818 g
Dimensions: Height 48.5 cm
This sculpture of a bodhisattva represents the Buddha of the Future (Maitreya) while he was waiting to be reborn into the world as a Buddha. Here, Maitreya can be identified by his ‘pensive pose’, where he is shown with his legs crossed and the arms resting on his legs. This depiction of Maitreya was a popular subject of Buddhist art and spread from India to China, and subsequently to Korea and Japan. Especially with the beginning of the Northern Qi dynasty this pose was increasingly used to portray Maitreya. In this position he is contemplating his impending final reincarnation and future enlightenment.
Buddhism flourished during the Northern Qi dynasty, which saw a great increase in the production of statues and a proliferation of styles. The Qi aristocracy, headed by a military class of nomadic origin, was not only hostile to Chinese influence, but it also had a predilection for the foreign and exotic, especially in art. Hence, a style influenced by the Gupta art of India acquired pre-eminence soon after the Northern Qi dynasty came to power. Northern Qi figures are generally clad in thin, clinging robes, with an emphasis on portraying the solidity of the body rather than decorative drapery, which was characteristic of figures during the preceding Wei dynasty. This emphasis on the body went hand in hand with increased three-dimensionality. Thus, while Wei dynasty Buddhist figures form a relief with their body nimbuses, Northern Qi sculptures often stand free of their backgrounds.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related limestone figure of a bodhisattva, dated to the Northern Qi dynasty, in the collection of the Qingzhou Museum, illustrated by Likuei Chien, “The Transmission of Buddhist
fig. 1 fig. 2
Iconography and Artistic Styles Around the Yellow Sea Circuit in the Sixth Century: Pensive Bodhisattva Images from Hebei, Shandong, and Korea”, in East Asian History, no. 43, 2019, fig. 1. Compare a closely related stone figure of Maitreya, dated to the Northern and Southern dynasties, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated by Wan-go Weng and Yang Boda, The Palace Museum: Peking, Treasures of the Forbidden City, New York, 1982, p. 236, no. 131 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related figure of a bodhisattva, Northern Qi dynasty, in the Poly Art Museum, Beijing (fig. 2)
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A SUPERB LIMESTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA, NORTHERN QI DYNASTY
Published & Exhibited: Throckmorton Fine Art, Incarnations. The Spiritual Development of Buddhist Sculpture, Northern Wei to Song Dynasty, 386-1279, New York, 3 March-7 May 2022.
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of images from the Northern Qi period. A signed copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
China, 550-577. Exemplifying the classic, almost stoic elegance typical of Northern Qi sculpture, this piece is finely carved from exceptionally high-quality stone. The round face exudes a gently smiling, benevolent expression, with well-defined features such as heavy-lidded eyes beneath neatly incised eyebrows, a flattened nose, bow-shaped lips, and a prominent chin, all flanked by elongated earlobes. The head is surmounted by an ushnisha adorned with large, neatly incised whorllike curls, further emphasizing the Buddha’s calm and dignified aura.
Provenance: A private collection in Hong Kong. A noted private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above in 2019. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, obvious losses, traces of weathering and erosion, encrustations, light scratches, small chips, remnants of ancient pigment, the left earlobe with an old repair.
Weight: 19.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 28.7 cm (excl. stand), 42.7 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated stand. (2)
The brief Northern Qi dynasty witnessed tremendous changes in Chinese art and material culture. In fact, many researchers have described it as one of the most pivotal periods in all of Chinese history, forming the roots of the cosmopolitan culture that matured during the later Sui and Tang dynasties.
The Northern Qi style is an indirect interpretation of the Indian Gupta style, particularly the Sarnath school, introduced to China via Central Asian trade routes. This adoption of foreign aesthetics reflects the socio-political shifts at the beginning of the Northern Qi period, when its rulers embraced non-Han stylistic traditions, in contrast to the Sinicization efforts of the Northern Wei rulers. Key characteristics of the Northern Qi style include the small mouth, thin nose, large, elongated ears with flat, unpierced lobes, and distinctive whorl-like curls.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related limestone head of Buddha, dated to the Northern Qi dynasty, 24.1 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2001.422 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related larger limestone head of Buddha, dated to the Northern Qi dynasty, 39.4 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 57.176.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s London, 11 May 2010, lot 183
Price: GBP 43,250 or approx. EUR 90,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white marble head of Buddha, Northern Qi dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar features, expression, domed ushnisha, whorl-like curls, and size (28 cm). Note the different material.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 1
AN IMPORTANT GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF THE WILLOW BRANCH GUANYIN, SUI DYNASTY
China, 581-618. Finely cast standing in tribhanga atop a hollow doublelotus base raised on an octagonal plinth, holding a willow branch in the left hand and in the right hand a water vessel. The slender body draped in a long robe with a trailing shawl, a sash-tied dhoti, and adorned with a long beaded necklace draping across the bare chest suspending a double-pendant and then extending in two cords down the torso and legs, the body further embellished with bracelets, armbands, earrings, and a multi-part diadem surrounding the high chignon.
Provenance: A private collection in Japan, acquired in the 1990s, and thence by descent. European private collection, acquired from the above.
Condition: Excellent condition with expected wear from centuries of worship and handling. Some minor casting irregularities, rubbing and minute losses to gilt, traces of weathering, encrustations, small areas of corrosion, scattered light nicks and small surface scratches. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown patina.
Weight: 290.2 g
Dimensions: Height 15.5 cm
The majority of China’s early depictions of favored Buddhist subjects and deities included works centering on Shakyamuni and Maitreya, however in the Sui and Tang periods, Avalokiteshvara and Amitabha were painted and carved in greater numbers. According to Marsha Weidner, Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850-1850, Lawrence, 1994, p. 152, a list of statues at Luoyang after the early Tang period included 222 of Amitabha, 197 of Avalokiteshvara, 94 of Shakyamuni, and 62 of Maitreya.
The willow branch iconography can be traced to the complex Sinicization of Avalokiteshvara in relation to the developments in Chinese worship of the deity. The willow branch attribute is not seen in Indian and Tibetan depictions of the bodhisattva, and can possibly be connected to the importance placed on the intense recitation of the Dharani Sutra of Invoking Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara to Dissipate and Subdue Poison and Harm (Qing Guanshiyin Pusa xiaofu duhai tuoluoni zhoujing), first translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by Zhu Nanti of the Eastern Jin dynasty, in which Buddha directs ailing disciples to offer Avalokiteshvara willow branches and clean water in order to receive his great mercy.
The graceful, slightly swayed stance and style of the clothing and adornment seen on this figure are typical of the depiction of bodhisattvas during the Sui period. Capelets like on the present figure, worn crossed in front of the body with the ends draped across opposing arms, with an additional sash joining the draping on the lower arm, were a common feature of the late 6th century.
Literature comparison: Compare a related larger gilt-bronze figure, Sui dynasty, dated to the late 6th century, 43.8 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 12.161a–c, and illustrated by Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, pp. 86-87, no. 12, where the authors note that the willow branch, an attribute that first appeared in the late sixth century, helps to identify the figure as Avalokiteshvara.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 14 September 2017, lot 817
Price: USD 300,000 or approx. EUR 336,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze standing figure of a bodhisattva, Sui dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding. Note the size (19.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2025, lot 158,
Estimate: USD 250,000 or approx. EUR 214,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A magnificent and finely cast gilt-bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Sui dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject, with similar expression, adornments, and double lotus base. Note the similar size (16.8 cm) and that this lot was previously sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2048, for USD 100,000 or approx. EUR 118,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2013, lot 1512
Price: USD 159,750 or approx. EUR 189,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva, Sui dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and gilding. Note the size (18.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE PENSIVE BODHISATTVA MAITREYA, LATE THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD, CIRCA 7TH CENTURY
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of Maitreya images found in Three Kingdoms period Korea, especially from the region of the original Silla kingdom in present-day southeast Korea. A notarized copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
Expert’s note: The compassion and wisdom of Maitreya are exquisitely conveyed in the figure comprising the present lot. His serenity is reflected in the sublime features of his face, such as the gently downcast eyes, and in the understated contours of his upper body. His enduring engagement with the world is subtly expressed through the delicate movement of his fingers, the gracefully upturned toes of his right foot, and the dynamic yet harmonious folds of his drapery.
Korea, probably Silla Kingdom. Finely cast, the future Buddha seated upon a tapering lotus-shaped pedestal with an octagonal base. His right leg crossed over the left knee, with his left arm resting comfortably on the crossed leg, and his right hand raised near his right cheek. The figure leaning slightly forward, draped in a long robe that folds delicately around his bare feet, and embellished with a long-beaded necklace hanging from his neck. The meditative facial expression of the Bodhisattva distinguished by heavy-lidded, downcast eyes, a prominent nose, and full lips curved into a serene smile, all flanked by elongated ears, adorned with tasseled earrings that rest upon his shoulders, and topped with distinctive headgear.
Provenance: The collection of Nik Douglas, acquired in the 1970s and thence by descent to his wife Christi Douglas, New York, United States. Nicholas ‘Nik’ Douglas (1944-2012) was a renowned author, curator, and Asian art expert. Between 1966 and 1974, he traveled through South and Southeast Asia visiting remote areas of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand, and Indonesia, building up his knowledge of the customs, beliefs, and spiritual practices of Hindus and Buddhists. He researched Oriental medicine, alchemy, art, sculpture, and mysticism, studying with Hindu yogis, Buddhist lamas, and doctors. The Buckingham Collection was built by Nik Douglas, his mother, and his grandfather, as well as further collectors in the family. Part of the collection was exhibited in 2010 by The Tibet House, New York, The Buddha Image: Out of Uddiyana.
The present image depicts the bodhisattva Maitreya, the Future Buddha, conveying a moment of meditative stillness as he awaits his final reincarnation and ultimate enlightenment. Seated with legs gracefully crossed and arms resting upon them, the figure embodies the distinctive ‘pensive pose’, a pan-Asian iconography that originated in India and later spread across China, Korea, and Japan. From the onset of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty during the sixth century, this posture became increasingly associated with images of Maitreya, gaining prominence throughout Buddhist visual culture.
Buddhism reached the Korean peninsula in the late fourth century through proselytizers from northern China and Central Asia. Over time, Korean practitioners developed distinctive ritual practices and philosophical frameworks while maintaining active exchange with their counterparts in China. Religious texts and sacred imagery circulated widely, and devotional icons were frequently exchanged among rulers, monks, and merchants across East Asia. This continuous dialogue fostered a high degree of stylistic and spiritual interconnection among the cultures of China, Korea, and Japan.
Small-scale bronze icons such as the present example, likely intended for worship on domestic altars, exemplify that shared artistic language. Though produced in Korea, the work resonates with visual characteristics seen in contemporaneous Chinese and Japanese sculptures. Its intimate size and portable nature made it an ideal medium for private devotion as well as for facilitating intercultural transmission of Buddhist thought and aesthetics.
LITERATURE
COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Silla bronze figure of a pensive Maitreya, dated 57 BC668 AD, 28.2 cm high, in the National Museum of Korea, accession number Deoksu2327 (fig. 1)
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear and casting irregularities. Traces of weathering and signs of abrasion, with minor nicks and small dents. The bronze exhibiting a rich, naturally grown patina with some areas of soil and malachite encrustations.
Weight: 1,265 g
Dimensions: Height 25 cm
Compare a closely related bronze figure of a pensive Maitreya, dated late 6th-early 7th century, “probably Silla Kingdom”, 15.1 cm high, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.56.1. fig. 1
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Nik Douglas, c. 2010
A
MONUMENTAL SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA,
TANG DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as similar of the Tang dynasty. A notarized copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
China, c. 700. Exemplifying the classical elegance of Tang sculpture, this piece is finely carved from exceptionally high-quality stone. The round face conveys a serene demeanor, with heavy-lidded, downcast eyes beneath arched brows, a broad nose, and a sharply defined mouth with bow-shaped lips and a finely pronounced philtrum. The large ears with pendulous lobes frame the face, while the hair is neatly arranged into a domed ushnisha.
Provenance: A private collection in the United States, acquired in Tianjin in 1914, and thence by descent in the family. Sotheby’s New York, 17 September 2016, lot 1133. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, chips, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations. The nose appears to have two small iron pins embedded within, possibly from an old repair; the Sotheby’s description from 2016 for this lot mentions that “old photographs show that the nose was thus in 1914” (these photographs are not available).
Weight: 130.8 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 58 cm (excl. stand), 96 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2016, lot 2814
Price: HKD 625,000 or approx. EUR 81,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large ‘Yungang’ sandstone head of Buddha, Northern Wei dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and similar hairstyle and expression. Note the smaller size (43 cm) and earlier date.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
Dr. Chang Qing
74
A RARE AND IMPORTANT WHITE MARBLE BUDDHIST
TRIAD STELE OF MANJUSHRI, TANG DYNASTY
China, 618-907. Of rectangular form, carved within an arched niche in deep relief with Manjushri (Wenshu) seated in royal ease above a tall lotus socle, flanked by a pair of ferocious lions guarding his pedestal, one hand raised in abhaya mudra and the other resting on her left knee, the serene face with heavy-lidded eyes and full lips, the hair arranged in a high chignon, and crowned with a foliate tiara. The deity is attended by Samantabhadra (Puxian) and Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), each standing on a lotus pedestal, backed by worshipers, the surrounding surface richly incised with linework evoking flames.
Provenance: From the Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York, USA, and thence by descent in the family. The wooden base with an old price tag, stating $25,000 or c. EUR 45,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing, assuming that this was taken into the gallery inventory before 2005). E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967. Run by Edith (1939-2012) and Joel Frankel (1937-2018), it was one of the oldest galleries in the United States focusing exclusively on Asian art. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, natural imperfections, scattered scratches and nicks, encrustations, chips, small losses, signs of weathering and erosion, the lower section with old repairs.
Dimensions: Size 46 x 43 cm (excl. stand), 51 x 47 cm (incl. stand)
With a fitted hardwood stand, dating from the first half of the 20th century. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related limestone stele depicting Manjushri and Samantabhadra atop their mounts, 43.2 x 54.6 cm, dated 742, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number AC1998.83.1 (fig. 1). Compare a related larger stone niche of a Buddha triad, dated to the Tang dynasty, 8th century, 105.7 cm high, from the Baoqing Temple, Xi’an, and now in the Kyushu National Museum. See also a marble statue of Manjushri dated to the Tang dynasty in the Beilin Museum, Xi’an.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1 April 2019, lot 3015
Estimate: HKD 500,000 or approx. EUR 60,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare limestone ‘Buddhist triad’ stele, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar arched niche and draped lotus socle. Note the much smaller size (26.4 cm) and different stone.
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
fig. 1
75
A WHITE MARBLE TORSO OF A BODHISATTVA, FIVE DYNASTIES TO EARLY NORTHERN SONG PERIOD
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of images from the Five dynasties or early Northern Song period. A signed copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
China, probably Quyang, c. 10th-early 11th century. Superbly carved standing in samabhanga, the slender figure is clad in a clinging diaphanous skirt falling in graceful folds and scarves tied diagonally around the torso, crossing at the back, and cascading from the shoulders, and lavishly adorned with elaborate jewelry including beaded necklaces, pendant ornaments of floral design, and hanging tassels.
In the subsequent periods the Northern Song dynasty, this conception evolved into a more restrained and essential formal language. Proportions became more elongated, surfaces more refined, and compositional gestures increasingly subtle. This tendency toward simplification does not suggest impoverishment, but rather a refinement of the sculptural vocabulary, where lines assume greater prominence, forms become more stylized, and ornamental elements are subordinated to the whole.
Peter Tillou, recipient of the Antiques Dealers of America 2013 Award of Merit
Provenance: Collection of Peter Tillou, New York, United States, acquired in 2011 and thence by descent. Peter Tillou (19322025) was an esteemed American educator, collector, and dealer of fine art, antiques, and furniture. A native of Buffalo, New York, Tillou demonstrated a precocious passion for collecting, acquiring coins by the age of eight and, by twelve, expanding his interests to antique firearms and edged weapons, encouraged by his parents. While a student at Ohio Wesleyan University, he embarked on frequent trips to Europe and beyond in pursuit of rare objects, simultaneously managing a business dealing in classic automobiles and antique arms. Following his graduation, and during his service in the United States Air Force, Tillou shifted his focus to Early American furniture and folk painting, establishing a gallery in his hometown of Buffalo. Over the course of more than five decades, he became internationally recognized as one of the leading authorities and dealers in early American art, antiques, and furniture. He also developed an interest in ancient art from around the world, collecting and trading pre-Columbian gold, Greek and Roman antiquities, as well as Chinese works of art.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, structural fissures, scattered nicks and chips, remnants of ancient pigment. The creamy-white marble exhibiting a superb, naturally grown patina overall.
Weight: 44.3 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 60.6 cm (excl. stand), 72.3 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated stand. (2)
The evolution of Chinese Buddhist sculpture from archaic and columnar to fleshy and sensuous reached its culmination in the Tang dynasty, by which time Chinese Buddhist sculpture in the round shows a masterful adaptation of foreign Indian style to indigenous traditions. The finest Tang sculptures are voluptuous and tactile, their sumptuous garments carved to accentuate the contours of the body, with flowing scarves and clinging ropes of beads to emphasize its curves.
Expert’s note: This torso, adorned with a simple skirt, a chest scarf, and an elaborate long necklace, represents a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who has chosen to postpone final nirvana in order to assist humanity on the path to enlightenment. The symmetrical pose, the fleshy, voluminous rendering of the body, and the delicate drapery reflect the enduring influence of Indian aesthetics, particularly prominent during the Tang dynasty and persisting in later Chinese Buddhist sculpture. The skirt, or dhoti, gathered and loosely knotted at the waist, is sculpted with graceful folds and naturalistic curves that subtly suggest movement within the otherwise static figure. The necklace, crossing the chest and looping to the back, is finely carved with detailed beads and adorned with medallions. The torso is notable for its substantial, rounded form when viewed in profile and for the crisp precision of its carving throughout.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related earlier limestone figure of a standing bodhisattva, excavated from the Fengxiansi Temple Site by the Longmen Caves Research Institute, dated to the Tang dynasty, 48.4 cm high, in the Miho Museum, accession number H-48.4 (fig. 1). Compare a related earlier stone torso of a standing bodhisattva, dated Tang dynasty, 775-800, in the Kimbell Art Museum, accession number AP 1987.01.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke Vienna, 11 October 2013, lot
171
Price: EUR 42,900 or approx. EUR 45,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A limestone torso of a bodhisattva, Tang dynasty, China, early 8th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of carving with similar clinging robes and beaded jewelry. Note the size (67.4 cm) and earlier dating.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
fig. 1
A LARGE FRESCO DEPICTING A PAIR OF CELESTIAL MUSICIANS, YUAN-MING DYNASTY
China, 13th-16th century. Finely painted in polychrome pigments on stucco with details neatly picked out in gesso relief. Depicting a pair of musicians standing amongst wispy clouds, their fine green and blue robes and red ribbons billowing naturalistically in the wind, their serene faces accentuated by finely arranged hair, bound by a ribbon and a phoenix-form pin; one maiden raising her tasseled flute, a dizi, to her lips.
Set inside a hardwood frame, behind glass. (2)
Provenance: Collection of Gottfried Henrich Crone, Amsterdam, and thence by descent in the family. Gottfried Henrich Crone (18841961) was born to Eduard Henrich Crone (1852-1918) and Helena Rebecca Ernestine Muller (1862-1945). His father was a prominent merchant, working for the firm HG Th. Crone, a trading company that imported agricultural products from the Dutch East Indies and exported luxury goods. A love of art was instilled in him from an early age. His parents were active art collectors, with an emphasis on the Hague School of painting.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, traces of weathering, encrustations, cracks, fading to pigment, few losses, light scratches, some flaking with associated touchups, all as expected.
Dimensions: Image size 125.5 x 55.5 cm, Size incl. frame 141.5 x 72.5 cm
The painting belongs to an important group of Buddhist stucco works dating from the Late Yuan to Early Ming dynasties, featuring ‘Court’ and ‘Paradise’ scenes from monasteries that date from the 12th to 13th centuries, containing a painting repertoire favored during the Tang dynasty. The style of painting in this fresco is reminiscent of the Tang dynasty painter Wu Daozi (c. 685–758) and was ideal for painting religious figures. Unlike earlier modes stressing precise contours, the whirling spiritual energy of this brushwork gives the impression of qi, or inner life.
The style of the present fresco is inspired by the late Tang dynasty temple painting style. This is evident in the treatment of the roundness of the ‘melon-seed’-shaped faces and the billowing robes, giving a dynamism to the work, which was popular amongst builders and decorators of Buddhist temples of the time and continued throughout the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. Ming painters of Buddhist subjects sought to mimic the style of the Tang dynasty artist Wu Daozi, considered a master of Buddhist mural paintings. Examples of Ming paintings executed in the tradition of Wu are discussed in ‘Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism 8501850’ by Helen Foresman, Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, 1995, pages 55 and 446. Followers also studied and adhered to Wu’s Eight Classes of Supernatural Beings (Tian Long Ba Bu Zhen Ji), whose classification included ‘celestial beings, musical demigods, and mythical bird-gods’.
The dizi is a traditional Chinese transverse flute used in many genres of Chinese folk music, Chinese opera, as well as the modern Chinese orchestra. Traditionally a dizi is made from a single piece of bamboo. On traditional dizi the finger holes are spaced equidistant, which produces a temperament of mixed whole-tone and three-quarter-tone intervals.
Literature comparison: Compare the sculpture and murals in Cave 57 of the Mogao grottos at Dunhuang, illustrated in Roderick Whitfield et. al., Cave Temples of Mogao, Art and History on the Silk Road, Los Angeles, 2000, p. 37, as well as the murals of bodhisattva in caves 172 and 199, illustrated in Chang Shuhong, The Art Treasures of Dunhuang, Hong Kong and New York, 1981, paying close attention to the garments and ornamentation of the figures.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1771
Price: USD 62,500 or approx. EUR 68,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare large polychrome fresco, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting, composition, and motifs. Note the larger size (145x99 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 11 September 2019, lot 816
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 40,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A polychrome stucco fresco fragment, Yuan / Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of painting and techniques. Note the smaller size (77.5 x 45.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Gottfried Henrich Crone (1884-1961)
77 A MAGNIFICENT AND HIGHLY IMPORTANT GILTBRONZE FIGURE OF THE WATER MOON GUANYIN, SOUTHERN SONG-EARLY MING DYNASTY
China, circa 13th-14th century. Superbly cast seated in rajalilasana, with the right leg raised and the arms crossed before the chest, the head gently resting on the right hand in a deeply pensive expression heightened by the crisply delineated facial features like the heavylidded downcast eyes centered by a raised circular urna and rosebud lips forming a subtle smile above the rounded chin.
The deity is clad in long flowing robes cascading in naturalistic folds, the hems neatly incised with foliate scroll and minutely punched with swirling clouds, and adorned with a necklace suspending a beaded ruyi pendant and a pair of bracelets. The meticulously incised hair is braided in an elaborate chignon with two thin strands wrapping around the ears.
a dense blue-and-green paradise, with coral and treasures, a moon above that often serves as a mandorla, and a pond below in which the moon is reflected. Even when sculptures lack their bases and surrounds, the two types are easily distinguished: the White Robed Guanyin is always veiled, as in a gilt-bronze sculpture dated 900–1100 in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1984.7 (fig. 1). The present figure, by contrast, wears standard bodhisattva robes and jewelry, with a topknot and often a crown. It further distinguishes itself with its pensive gesture, a motif later adopted by the Imperial workshops, as exemplified by a Yongle-period gilt-bronze Avalokiteshvara, 21.5 cm high, in the Potala Palace, Lhasa (fig. 2)
Provenance: The collection of Count Federico Zichy Thyssen, Paraguay, and thence by descent in the family. A private South American collection, acquired directly from the above. A copy of a provenance statement written and signed by the present owner, dated 18 July 2025, and confirming the above, accompanies this lot. Count Federico Augusto Zichy-Thyssen (1937-2014) was raised in Argentina. He made his mark as a celebrated breeder of Arabian horses, showcasing his equine talent on the international stage. Beyond equestrian pursuits, Zichy-Thyssen was an avid art collector, particularly fine Chinese ceramics and works of art. For example, a yellow and green enameled dragon vase with a Jiaqing mark and of the period from Zichy-Thyssen’s collection was sold at Christie’s New York, 24 September 2021, lot 874, for USD 200,000. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities including few small circular casting patches, few light nicks and small dents, occasional light scratches, expected rubbing and minor losses to gilt, one finger lost, few old soldering marks to interior.
Weight: 2.4 kg (excl. stand), 3.8 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 30.7 cm (excl. stand), 34.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an acrylic stand. (2)
This figure represents the Water Moon Guanyin, a subject frequently depicted in Buddhist paintings of the Song, Yuan, and Ming periods but only rarely portrayed in sculpture. The royal ease pose conveys tranquility and withdrawal from the world, and was a popular sculptural formula between the 10th and 14th centuries. When seated in this pose, Guanyin is usually shown either as the White Robed Guanyin or the Water Moon Guanyin. In paintings, the White Robed Guanyin wears a simple robe with a scarf or shawl covering the head—often concealing the crown or topknot—and appears in a subdued landscape with a waterfall. The Water Moon Guanyin, by contrast, wears the conventional robes of a bodhisattva, adorned with jewels, and is set in
An early gilt bronze Water Moon Guanyin in the Harvard Art Museums, dated 9th–10th century, object number 1943.53.60, typifies the Five Dynasties to early Northern Song style and established the appearance for subsequent gilt bronze representations of this subject. In like manner, the Cleveland gilt-bronze (fig. 1) is among the earliest sculptural depictions of the White Robed Guanyin. As the Harvard sculpture set the model for Water Moon figures, so the Cleveland example did for White Robed depictions. Seated in royal ease, the Harvard figure shows the oval face, bare chest with beaded necklace, capelet across the shoulders, and voluminous dhoti covering the body from waist to ankles—all features that became hallmarks of later Yuan and Ming gilt bronze Water Moon Guanyin figures in Chinese style.
The Water Moon manifestation is not described in the sutras but derives from the story of Sudhana—Shancai Tongzi in Chinese—who visits Guanyin in his mountain paradise. Sudhana, at the behest of Bodhisattva Manjushri, embarked on a pilgrimage to fifty-three teachers and bodhisattvas before attaining enlightenment. The twenty-eighth master he visited was Avalokiteshvara, or Guanyin, encountered in his residence atop Mount Potalaka, identified in China with Mount Putuo in the East China Sea. This encounter provided the textual source for the Water Moon iconography. In China, devotion to Guanyin spread through sutras, miracle tales, and legends, which linked the deity to water and the moon, evoking impermanence, reflection, and transformation.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin, 28.7 cm high, dated 13th-14th century, in the British Museum, registration number 1947,0712.392. Compare a related gilt-bronze figure of Guanyin, 34 cm high, dated approx. 1300-1400, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B60S566 (fig. 3)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 September 2020, lot 810
Price: USD 942,000 or approx. EUR 920,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare gilt-bronze figure of white-robed Guanyin, 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject. Note the similar ruyi emblem at the chest. Also note the much smaller size (20.3 cm) and slightly later dating.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
fig. 3
Count Federico Zichy Thyssen
fig. 1
fig. 2
78
AN IMPERIAL AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, YONGLE MARK AND PERIOD
China, 1403-1424. Meticulously cast and richly detailed, standing in slight tribhanga on a circular double-lotus base with minutely beaded rims, his left hand raised in vitarka mudra and the right lowered in varada mudra, each holding a lotus stem coming to full bloom at the shoulders framed by a long billowing scarf, the body adorned with fine beaded necklaces and festoons covering the dhoti cascading in naturalistic folds.
The face superbly modeled in a serene expression with sinuously lidded downcast eyes and bow-shaped lips forming a benevolent smile, the hair pulled up into a high chignon topped by a gold jewel behind the ribboned foliate tiara. The back with a sealed rectangular aperture and the base sealed with a gilt-bronze circular plate which is minutely engraved with a double vajra.
The top of the base is neatly incised to the front with a six-character reign mark, written from left to right according to the reading orientation of the Tibetan language, da Ming Yongle nianzhi, or ‘Bestowed in the Yongle era of the Great Ming’.
Provenance: From a private collection in Italy.
Condition: Excellent condition with only minor wear. Remnants of ancient varnish throughout, as typical for Imperial Buddhist sculptures from the Yongle period. A minuscule rectangular plaque is inset and sealed to the back, likely containing original sacred contents or relics. Only a few microscopic nicks and light scratches. The base is also sealed, with traces of cinnabar pigment, again consistent with the period. The figure bears a fine patina, possibly the result of centuries of exposure to candle soot in temple settings. Given the small size and the complexity of the casting, this exceptional state of preservation must be regarded as exceedingly rare
Weight: 73.3 g
Dimensions: Height 8.5 cm
The present example belongs to a very rare group of smaller sized, standing Buddhist images from the Ming dynasty Yongle period that are finely and skillfully cast. Buddhist images from the first half of the fifteenth century were greatly influenced by the art of Tibet. In the preceding century under the Yuan dynasty, the authority of Mongol rulers had become closely associated with Tibetan Buddhist or Lamaist rituals. The tradition of Lamaist art continued into the Ming period and prevailed in works of art such as the present sculpture.
Avalokiteshvara, the Lord who looks upon the World, is the bodhisattva of compassion, and one of the principal deities in Mahayana Buddhism. Although he has attained enlightenment like the Buddha, the bodhisattva forgoes his escape from the suffering of rebirth to act as a guide to all living beings until they themselves have achieved nirvana. Worshiped in many guises, here he is depicted as Padmapani, the Lotus Bearer. Like the lotus, which rises from its murky bed below the water to blossom in the pristine air, Padmapani has detached himself from the grounding pain and impurities of the material world and is enlightened in body, speech, and mind.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related, much larger gilt bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara with a Yongle-period inscription in Chinese, Tibetan, and Sanskrit on the base, 145 cm high, in the Qinghai Provincial Museum.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2000, lot 56
Price: USD 58,750 or approx. EUR 94,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small gilt bronze figure of Mahakala, Tibeto-Chinese, Yongle mark and period (1403-24)
Expert remark: Compare the present example’s similarly small size of 7 cm, meticulous casting, and rich gilding, as well as the rectangular seal plate to the back and the six-character Yongle mark to the top of the base.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Poly Auction, Hong Kong, 2 October 2017, lot 3201
Price: HKD 4,720,000 or approx. EUR 594,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine and rare gilt-bronze figure of Green Tara, mark and period of Yongle
Expert remark: Compare the similarly small size of 6.3 cm, meticulous casting, rich gilding, and the six-character Yongle mark inscribed to the top of the lotus base. Note this lot was previously sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 April 2006, lot 1803, for HKD 2,360,000 or approx. EUR 418,000
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
79 A
LARGE SILVERED BRONZE
FIGURE OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, TIBETO-CHINESE, 15TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY IMPERIAL WORKSHOPS BEIJING
Expert’s note: Superbly cast with gently sloping shoulders and a full, breath-filled chest, this impressively scaled figure of Buddha Shakyamuni exemplifies the synthesis of Tibetan and Nepalese aesthetics characteristic of early 15th-century Tibeto-Chinese Buddhist sculpture. Hallmarks such as the beak-like nose, conjoined brows, and finely incised hems reflect the legacy of the Nepalese ateliers, while the rounded face, long pendulous earlobes, and neatly curled hair already recall later Tibetan preferences. Elemental analysis confirms a high-zinc brass alloy of the type employed in the Imperial workshops of the Yongle and Xuande periods. This undoubtedly links the present figure either to production in Beijing for Tibetan patrons, or to a Tibetan commission executed under supervision and cooperation with the Imperial court workshops in Beijing.
Compare a closely related Tibetan brass figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, dated to the 13th century and measuring 49.8 cm in height, preserved in the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, and illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet, vol. II: Tibetan & Chinese, pp. 1188–1189, pl. 321F.
Brass figures of this very group are also recorded in the Imperial Palace Museum, Beijing, where they are regarded by some scholars as prototypes for the Imperial workshops active during the Yongle and Xuande reigns.
Seated in dhyanasana on a separately and meticulously cast doublelotus base with a beaded rim, the right hand lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and the left held above the lap in dhyana mudra, the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are incised with lotus blossoms within circular medallions. He is clad in loosely draped monastic robes with minutely incised foliate hems.
The serene face, with heavy-lidded downcast eyes beneath arched brows and centered by an urna, is gently smiling with softly pursed lips, flanked by angular pendulous earlobes. The hair is arranged in precisely modeled, tightly coiled snail-shell curls over the high ushnisha, surmounted by a bud-shaped jewel. The underside is sealed with a copper plate finely engraved with a double vajra, while the base of the lotus pedestal is richly incised with a large flower head, each petal enclosing one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems (bajixiang).
Provenance: Peter Kienzle-Hardt (b. 1946), Radevormwald, Germany. Acquired during extensive travels in Asia, the first of which occurred during a formative world tour in 1973. Throughout his storied career, Peter Kienzle-Hardt organized countless exhibitions and participated in major international art fairs.
Condition: Very good condition, with expected old wear and casting irregularities, rubbing and losses to the silvering, remnants of ancient polychromies, traces of weathering, and encrustations. With a few scattered minute dents and light surface scratches, mostly to the back. The three tangs to the underside of the figure have been removed to allow it to fit onto the base, and the cut areas remain clearly visible. The base is associated and dates to an earlier period, namely the 13th–14th century. Both seal plates are possibly of later date.
Metallurgy:
Elemental analysis reveals a brass alloy composed predominantly of copper (82.5%), zinc (16.8%), and tin (0.6%), consistent with alloys used in high-quality Tibeto-Chinese Buddhist metalwork from the early 15th century (Yongle–Xuande periods) and later. Trace amounts of selenium, present within zinc sulfide inclusions, indicate the use of naturally occurring, unrefined zinc ores. The surface shows evidence of tin enrichment, possibly due to intentional plating or surface segregation during casting, serving both protective and aesthetic purposes. Additionally, remnants of silver, likely applied through a mercury amalgam technique, are present. In this process, silver is dissolved in mercury and brushed onto the surface; upon heating, the mercury volatilizes, leaving behind a thin, lustrous silver layer. While fire-gilding was more common, fire-silvering of this kind is also documented, particularly in high-status ritual sculpture, and examples are known from both Nepalese and Tibetan-Chinese workshops. Corrosion appears natural, atmospheric in origin, and relatively undeveloped, indicating favorable preservation conditions and minimal post-depositional alteration. The alloy composition aligns in part with the traditional ashtadhatu (eight-metal) formulation associated with Tibetan-Nepalese Buddhist art. Of the eight canonical metals—copper, zinc, tin, silver, mercury, gold, lead, and iron—five have been positively identified. Gold, often present only in minute quantities, may have worn away entirely over time. The technical sophistication evident in the alloy composition and layered surface treatments reflects the high standards of Buddhist workshops active in the Tibeto-Chinese sphere during the 15th century.
Weight: 23.9 kg (the figure) and 8.4 kg (the base)
Dimensions: Height 66.7 cm (incl. base)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 15 March 2017, lot 212
Price: USD 432,500 or approx. EUR 491,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large and rare bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni inlaid with silver and copper, Tibet, 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject, with similar pose, robe, and base. Note the earlier dating.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2013, lot 342
Price: USD 303,750 or approx. EUR 361,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large gilt bronze figure of Buddha, Tibet, 13th/14th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject, with similar pose, features, and expression. Note the related size (55.1 cm) and slightly earlier dating.
Estimate EUR 50,000
Starting price EUR 25,000
Peter Hardt and his wife Hong Li-Hardt in the garden of their Museum für Asiatische Kunst in Sieplenbusch, Radevormwald
80 AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE FORM OF BUDAI AS MAITREYA, INSCRIBED AND LACQUERED BRONZE, DATED 1513
Expert’s note: The inscription to the back of the base identifies the deity as Maitreya, although figures of this type are more commonly known as Budai, a nickname given to the historical Chinese monk Qieci in the Later Liang dynasty. A recovered death note dated to 28 March 917, which the monk himself wrote, claims that he is an incarnation of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, and he is often identified with and venerated as Maitreya in Chan Buddhism and Buddhist scripture.
China. Heavily cast, the laughing Buddha seated in rajalilasana atop a blue-painted lotus pedestal with three tiers of overlapping petals. His right hand rests on his knee in a lowered karana mudra while holding a strand of prayer beads, and his left hand holds a scepter. He is clad in loose-fitting monastic garments that fall from the shoulders and open at the chest, revealing his rotund belly. The plump face displaying a jovial expression with the mouth open in a cheerful laugh.
Inscriptions: To the back of the base, dated ‘In the fifth month of the eighth year of the Zhengde era (1513) […]’, and inscribed ‘A golden statue of Maitreya was created to worship him’, and ‘the lay follower and devout man Zhao Zhongliang’.
Weight: 4,354 g
Dimensions: Height 24.2 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related gilt-bronze figure of Budai, China, 23 cm high, in the Linden-Museum Stuttgart, inventory number 071894.
Provenance: From the private collection of Dr. Émile Robin, thence by descent. Dr. Émile Robin (1884-1971) was a prominent figure in the medical corps of the French Navy in the early 20th century. Born in Lorient, he was the son of Joseph Victor Émile Robin, Chief Commissioner of the Navy.
Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear and casting irregularities typical of the period, minuscule nicks, few light dents. Extensive losses to polychromies and lacquer gilding, the latter well-preserved to the back with few remnants elsewhere. Remnants of old varnish.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 13 June 2007, lot 79
Price: EUR 38,400 or approx. EUR 56,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure Budai, Ming dynasty, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject as well as the related modeling and manner of casting with similar pose, polychrome lacquer, and lotus base composed of overlapping tiers. Note the different size (41.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Dr. Émile Robin with his wife and daughter, c. 1910
A GILT-LACQUERED WOOD FIGURE OF WENCHANG WANG, MING DYNASTY, MID-15TH TO 16TH CENTURY
Scientific Analysis Report:
The result of a radiocarbon dating test (C14) conducted by Re. S. Artes, no. R 145840A-2, 28 July 2025, based on one sample taken from the left edge of the robe, is consistent with the dating of this lot. The report states two intervals of dates between 1458 and 1624, with a combined probability of 95.4 %
Expert’s note: The back of the figure features a rectangular hollow, a characteristic commonly found in temple figures. These cavities were traditionally used to house sacred objects, such as Buddhist scriptures, relics, or other devotional items. The presence of such a hollow indicates the figure’s likely use in religious practices, where these hidden treasures would imbue the statue with spiritual significance and serve as a tangible connection to the divine.
China. Finely modeled, the God of Literature standing atop a craggy rock with thrashing waves below, the hands folded in front of his chest, wearing layered robes that fall in ample folds over his arms, cascading over his legs and feet, revealing the tips of his pointed shoes, the underside of the garment lacquered red.
The head gently bowed and the face with heavy-lidded eyes, a broad nose, and red-lacquered smiling lips, framed by thick pendulous earlobes, crowned with a tall cap centered by a tablet against crashing waves.
The back is excavated with a rectangular hollow fitted with a flush trapezoidal cover, while a circular aperture is drilled into the base, indicating that the piece was once mounted in a temple or altar.
Provenance: From a private estate in the United Kingdom. The art collection, comprising over 100 fine and eclectic Asian works of art, including pieces from China, Japan, and other regions, was formed primarily around 20-30 years ago.
Condition: Overall good condition and displaying exceptionally well. Old wear, flaking and losses to lacquer with associated touchups, expected age cracks, minor losses, chips. One hole to the left edge of the robe from sample-taking. The aperture to the back has been resealed, probably centuries ago, with a trapezoidal wooden plate with remnants of lacquer gilding.
Weight: 3,329 g
Dimensions: Height 58.3 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 7 November 2019, lot 23
Price: GBP 75,062.50 or approx. EUR 121,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and large giltlacquered wood figure of Wenchang, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and lacquer gilding. Note the different size (90 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A LARGE POLYCHROME WOOD FIGURE OF GUANYIN, MING DYNASTY
Expert’s note: The back of the figure features a rectangular hollow, a characteristic commonly found in temple figures. These cavities were traditionally used to house sacred objects, such as Buddhist scriptures, relics, or other devotional items. The presence of such a hollow indicates the figure’s likely use in religious practices, where these hidden treasures would imbue the statue with spiritual significance and serve as a tangible connection to the divine.
China, 1368-1644. Finely carved, seated in dhyanasana, the right hand held in shuni mudra and the left held open above the lap, wearing voluminous robes with finely detailed folds tied at the waist by a sash, opening at the chest to reveal an ornate necklace. The serene face with downcast eyes, bow-shaped lips, and gently arched brows beneath neatly incised hair falling in braids along the shoulders, secured by an ornate crown decorated with cloud scroll centered by a figure of the Buddha Amitabha.
Provenance: The private collection of Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above in 2016. Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt is a German-born physician turned prominent philanthropist and collector of Asian art. Her passion for Eastern artifacts ignited at a young age when her father, a German-Jewish doctor who embraced Buddhism during World War II, bequeathed her a bronze Ming Buddha. Encouraged by his teachings in meditation and resilience, she later practiced medicine in Germany for two decades before emigrating to Sarasota, Florida in the 1980s. Retiring from clinical practice, she founded the Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1993 and later the East–West College of Natural Medicine, where she promoted ancient Chinese healing traditions. Throughout her life, Dr. Wall-Apelt amassed a distinguished collection of Chinese works of art, as well as Southeast Asian bronzes and Cambodian stone sculptures, guided by a philosophy anchored in tranquility and a search for truth rather than financial gain.
Condition: Good condition with expected old wear and natural imperfections including age cracks and splits as well as signs of insect activity, weathering, flaking and losses to pigments with few associated small touchups. The cover to the aperture on the back lost. Possibly some elements of the wooden structure with later enforcements and/or replacements. Overall presenting splendidly.
Weight: 31.7 kg
Dimensions: Height 99.5 cm
This finely carved figure of Guanyin retains all of the grace, robust power, and majesty seen in earlier examples of Tang, Song, and Jin dynasty date. Wooden sculptures of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, which experienced a peak of popularity in and shortly after the Song period, are among the most enchanting Chinese sculptures. The present figure exemplifies the aesthetic sensitivity of this period, when the deity, despite being depicted genderless, was radiating feminine grace. Without losing anything of their divine aura, sculptures of Buddhist deities in this period acquired a more approachable presence, and sculptors were able to display the excellence of their craft in rendering emotions through features and poses.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2023, lot 2891
Price: HKD 1,890,000 or approx. EUR 217,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large polychrome wood figure of Water Moon Guanyin, 18th century or later
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, polychromy, and size (96 cm). Note the later dating, contradicting the Yuandynasty dating of this figure when it was previously sold at Christie’s Paris, 15 June 2005, lot 319.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 September 2021, lot 778
Price: USD 193,750 or approx. EUR 215,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large polychrome wood figure of Guanyin, Ming dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar pose and expression. Note the slightly larger size (115 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Dr. Helga Wall-Apelt
A RARE AND LARGE PARCEL-GILT FIGURE OF THE WILLOW LEAF GUANYIN, MING DYNASTY
China, 16th century. Well cast seated in dhyanasana atop a separately cast circular lotus throne composed of five rows of neatly incised petals, raised on a columnar support emerging from crashing waves on a hexagonal balustraded base.
The deity holds a willow stem in the raised right hand and a cup in the lowered left hand, wearing loose-fitting robes with richly incised floral hems, tied at the waist and opening at the chest adorned with minutely beaded floral jewelry.
The face with a serene expression, marked by downcast eyes and pursed lips forming a gentle smile. The neatly incised hair falling elegantly in tresses over the shoulders and pulled up into a high chignon behind the openworked foliate crown centered by a diminutive image of the Amitabha Buddha. (2)
Provenance: From an old private collection in Antwerp, Belgium, acquired before 1985, and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, light warping to base, light rubbing and minor losses to gilt, remnants of pigment, scattered minute nicks, small surface scratches, minor encrustations. The base with remnants of gilt.
Weight: 16.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 64 cm
According to the Lotus Sutra, Avalokiteshvara can take any form necessary to save sentient beings. Thirty-three manifestations of Avalokiteshvara are mentioned and are known to have been very popular in Chinese Buddhism as early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The present lot depicts the bodhisattva in a manifestation known as Bhaisajyaraja Avalokiteshvara, or the ‘Willow Leaf’ Guanyin in Chinese. In this form, the bodhisattva holds a vial or bowl of elixir in the left and a stalk of willow leaves in the right. The willow has evil dispelling properties and is used to sprinkle the elixir over devotees, which is believed to cure all physical and spiritual illnesses. This iconographic form was popular among devotees wishing for good health.
Buddhist gilt-bronze figures were produced almost from the beginning when Buddhism was embraced by various courts of China’s division after the Han dynasty. Until the Tang dynasty, however, they remained very small. One of the earliest developments away from small votive images took place in the Khitan Liao dynasty, when statues not only became bigger but also developed stylistically towards a more sculptural aesthetic. During the early Ming period the court took complete control of their production, and a distinct classic style was devised that would determine the design of all future Buddhist gilt-bronze images, including the present lot.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2011, lot 3055
Price: HKD 644,000 or approx. EUR 103,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A parcel-gilt bronze figure of a seated Guanyin, Ming dynasty, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, parcel-gilding, and subject, with similar expression, features, robe, crown, and wear to the gilt. Note the smaller size (59 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 22 June 2016, lot 411
Price: EUR 55,500 or approx. EUR 67,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-and-red lacquered gilt bronze figure of Guanyin, China, Ming dynasty, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting, with similar pose, robes, jewelry, hexagonal fence. Note the smaller size (58 cm) and the lacquer gilding.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A RARE GILT-LACQUERED BRONZE
FIGURE OF AMITABHA BUDDHA, LATE MING TO EARLY QING DYNASTY
Expert’s note: The present bronze is entirely coated with a fine layer of lacquer applied above the underlying fire gilding, a technique only seldomly encountered, for example on the most exquisite Yongle bronzes, see an example sold in these rooms, 17 October 2024, lot 47. This lacquer gilding, made using mercury, shows a rather unique luster and shine, giving the statue a precious appearance. Even after centuries of worship and handling, it retains an unctuous, almost velvety feel. In some areas where the lacquer has worn off, such as the large toe of the Buddha’s right foot, the underlying fire gilding is clearly visible.
China, 16th-17th century. Finely cast seated in dhyanasana with the hands folded in dhyana mudra, the eyes with heavy lids that are neatly incised and downcast with a serene expression, the bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by elongated earlobes suspending ornate earrings, all beneath blue-painted snail-shell curls surrounded by a tall openworked crown with five foliate panels enclosing the Five Dhyani Buddhas, and issuing ribbons falling over the shoulders. The elegantly flowing robes revealing a plain chest centered by a wan emblem.
Provenance: French trade. Acquired from an old private estate. Condition: Good condition with expected old wear, some flaking and rubbing to lacquer, light surface scratches, few cracks extending over the lower section of the back with minor associated losses to the lacquer, obvious losses to the crown.
Weight: 9.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 40.5 cm
This magnificent gilt-bronze of Amitabha is an exceptional example of its type, exhibiting refined casting and meticulous detail. Amitabha, known as the Buddha of Infinite Light, embodies boundless compassion and is associated with the western direction in the mandala of the Five Dhyani Buddhas, or Five Wisdom Tathagatas. In Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, Amitabha presides over the western Pure Land of Sukhavati, where devotees aspire to be reborn through sincere devotion and meditative practice.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bronze figure of Amitabha dated to the 18th century, 52.5 cm tall, in the Linden Museum, Stuttgart, inventory number 071760.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams London, 10 November 2016, lot 107 Price: GBP 155,000 or approx. EUR 272,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and large giltbronze figure of Vairocana, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar expression, robe, and crown. Note the size (47 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
THE CONTEMPLATING WISDOM BUDDHA, GUAN CHA HUI FO, QIANLONG INCISED SEVEN-CHARACTER MARK AND PERIOD
Expert’s note: This magnificent bronze belongs to a large group of Buddhas specially commissioned by the Imperial Court during the celebrated reign of the Qianlong Emperor. Each of these figures is given a different name, although all are seated in meditation with the right hand touching the earth, a gesture only Akshobhya and Shakyamuni are typically depicted in. The bases are inscribed in multiple languages including Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Manchu. Two buddhas from the same group, named Duan E and Wubian Yin, were sold in these rooms, 11 April 2024, lots 57 and 58, see auction result comparison.
China, 1736-1795. Well modeled seated in dhyanasana on a waisted double-lotus base with a beaded rim, his right hand lowered in bhumisparsha mudra and the left gently lowered above his lap, the shoulders covered with a shawl, the long robes opening at the chest and tied at the midriff, richly detailed with naturalistic folds.
His rounded face in a serene expression with piercing eyes and bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by enlongated earlobes. His hair arranged in tight spiked curls over the high ushnisha topped by a bud-shaped jewel.
The front edge of the base incised with a central seven-character mark da Qing Qianlong nian jingzao and of the period.
Inscriptions: The lotus pedestal is incised to the top with a three-syllable Tibetan inscription rendered in Uchen script, ‘Shi de jha’ (peace). The front side along the base’s rim with a Chinese inscription, ‘Respectfully made during the Qianlong reign’, flanked by another Chinese inscription on the left reading ‘Guan cha hui Fo’ (Contemplating Wisdom Buddha), and another Tibetan inscription on the right reading, ‘Phel Ghi Tsizeh’ (radiant beauty). The two narrow sides are further inscribed with Manchu and Mongolian script, respectively.
Provenance: From a private collection in Australia, acquired in Thailand during the 1970s and thence by descent. The interior of the base inscribed in black lacquer, ‘Shen gong fa wan’ (Collection of Mr. Shen). Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities, few tiny gaps probably inherent to the manufacture, some rubbing and minor losses to gilt, few small tears to the lower edge of the base, minor dents, few minuscule nicks and small surface scratches, remnants of pigment. The base unsealed. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, warm patina.
Weight: 2 kg
Dimensions: Height 32.2 cm
The Contemplating Wisdom Buddha (Guan cha hui Fo) is mentioned in Book 39 of the Avatamsaka Sutra, in a long list of nearly two hundred buddha names recited by Queen Maya, who vows to mother them all. See Bhikshu Dharmamitra, The Flower Adornment Sutra. An Annotated Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. With a Commentarial Synopsis of the Flower Adornment Sutra, Volume Three, 2022, p. 2119. In his translation of a Tang-dynasty edition of the Avatamsaka, Bhikshu Dharmamitra (ordination name Heng Shou) reads ‘Guan cha hui’ as ‘Contemplating Wisdom’, while the original Sanskrit term is Vipassana, a Buddhist concept that refers to a wisdom that penetrates the essence of all phenomena and recognizes the ultimate truth. It is a central method in Buddhist practice: through mindful observation and analysis, delusions are dispelled, and true insight is gained.
Titled ‘Entering the Dharmarealm’ in Chinese and also known as the Gandavyuha Sutra, Book 39 is the longest in the Avatamsaka and depicts one of the world’s most celebrated spiritual pilgrimages. It contains the story of the bodhisattva Sudhana’s spiritual career. Sudhana is a young man who hears Manjushri teaching and is inspired to seek awakening. Manjushri sends him to his first teacher, and this begins Sudhana’s quest, which leads him to study under a series of teachers of all types, including great bodhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara, until his journey reaches full circle and he awakens to teachings of the Buddha.
This elegant and fluidly rendered figure represents the Qianlong Emperor’s devotion to Tibetan Buddhism. After the Qing dynasty established their capital at Beijing, during the process of consolidating their rule Tibetan Buddhism was adopted to assist in the collaboration of the Mongols and Tibetans to unify China. Thus, Buddhist figures and ritual implements of the Qing period were often an amalgam of Tibetan and Palace styles, as exemplified in the present piece. A stele in the Yonghe Palace, Beijing, records the words of the Qianlong emperor, ‘If one sufficiently promulgates Tibetan Buddhism the Mongols will not rise up. This is a very important thing’.
The polyglot inscriptions on the present lot are perhaps indicative of the role that Vajrayana Buddhism played for the court in consolidating control over the Han, Manchu, Mongol, and Tibetan subjects of the Qing realm. In addition, the specific identification of this figure belies an emphasis on iconography that was of paramount importance to the Qianlong Emperor. Patricia Berger discusses both of these issues at length in her Empire of Emptiness: Buddhist Art and Political Authority in Qing China, 2003, passim.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related gilt-bronze figure of a seated Buddha, similarly inscribed in Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Sanskrit, and also with a Qianlong mark and of the period, 30.2 cm high, in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, accession number 479.1996.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 9 July 2020, lot 2710
Price: HKD 500,000 or approx. EUR 59,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze repoussé figure of Velama buddha, Qianlong incised sevencharacter mark and of the period (1736-1795)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, repoussé work, sevencharacter Qianlong mark, and inscriptions in Chinese, Tibetan, and Manchu. Note the similar size (30.5 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 11 April 2024, lot 57
Price: EUR 91,000 or approx. EUR 94,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze repoussé figure of Buddha Duan E, Qianlong incised sevencharacter mark and period
Expert remark: Duan E (literally ‘Breaker of Evil’) likely refers to the Buddha’s teaching on the ultimate destruction of evil at the end of the world in the Sattasuriya sutta (Sermon of the Seven Suns).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
A GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF THE MEDICINE BUDDHA (BHAISAJYAGURU), ZANABAZAR SCHOOL
Expert’s note: The present lot was last offered at Christie’s in 2015, but remained unsold. While Christie’s firmly dated the piece to the 17th–18th century, we take into consideration that the Zanabazar school was frequently copied in Qing dynasty China—one notable example currently being on view at the Palace Museum in Hong Kong. Such copies continued to be produced well into the Qing and even the Republic period, making precise dating rather challenging. For this reason, we have chosen to date the present lot as 17th–18th century or later, a consideration reflected in the current estimate.
Seated in dhyanasana on a stepped double lotus base with crisply cast beaded rims, his right hand lowered in varada mudra and the left resting above his lap, clad in a closely-fitting sanghati with a patterned hem, the folds elegantly draped over the right shoulder and fanning below the ankles. The serene face sensitively modeled depicting downcast eyes with sinuous lids below gently arched brows centered by a raised urna, an aquiline nose above bow-shaped lips, and the hair in fine tight curls over the prominent ushnisha.
Provenance: A private collection in Denmark. Christie’s New York, 15 March 2015, lot 3210, estimate USD 80,000 or approx. EUR 94,000 Dated by Christie’s in their 2015 catalogue as 17th-18th century. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities. Little rubbing to gilt, few tiny nicks, minuscule dents, and light surface scratches, remnants of pigment. The alms bowl and myrobalan fruit lost. The base unsealed.
Weight: 3,312 g
Dimensions: Height 27.5 cm
This heavily cast and finely gilt bronze belongs to the Zanabazar artistic school of Mongolia, founded in the 17th century by Jetsun Lobzong Tenpai Gyaltsen (1635-1723). He was an important Mongolian religious figure and personal guru to the Kangxi Emperor. Zanabazar was at an early age recognized by both the Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the Tibetan Lama, Taranatha (1575-1634), and proclaimed the First Jetsundamba, an honorific title. He traveled to Tibet to continue his religious instruction before returning to Mongolia in 1651, bringing fifty sculptors and painters with him in an attempt to establish the Geluk order amongst the Mongols.
Zanabazar bronze sculptures exhibit a cohesive style testament to the vision of the great leader, characterized by richly gilt surfaces overall, finely modeled and smoothly sloping contours with embellishments limited to borders, full figures standing or seated on an elevated double-lotus base, and a minimalist aesthetic that endows the figures with a sense of stability.
The present lot at Christie’s New York, 15 March 2015, lot 3210, estimate USD 80,000 or approx. EUR 94,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
During his time as a religious leader of the Khalkha Mongols, Zanabazar oversaw a proliferation of Buddhist art in the region. He is especially known for his visualization and design of gilt-bronze sculpture, subsequently carried out by Nepalese bronze casters, which are widely recognized as some of the finest Buddhist gilt-bronze sculptures created. Zanabazar was inspired by early art from India and Nepal that was revered throughout the Himalayas as treasure from the motherland of Buddhism. The influence is manifest in the sensuous modeling of the human form in the Nepalese manner, and the characteristic tiered pedestal of eastern Indian Pala period ateliers.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 13 June 2013, lot 292
Price: EUR 265,500 or approx. EUR 324,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine gilt-bronze figure of Bhaisajyaguru, Mongolia, School of Zanabazar, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, and subject. Note the size (27 cm).
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
87
A BRONZE FOOD VESSEL, GUI, MID-WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 9TH-8TH CENTURY BC
China. Finely cast with a compressed globular body raised on a spreading foot supported on four paw supports issuing from bovine heads. The body is horizontally grooved below a band of sinuous design evocative of dissolved dragons, the shoulder set with a pair of bovine-form handles, all above the foot decorated with a band of scroll.
Provenance: The collection of Howard Phipps, Erchless, Old Westbury, and thence by direct descent to his son Howard Phipps, Jr. Howard Phipps (1881-1981) was the son of Henry Phipps, Jr. (1839-1930), the Gilded Age entrepreneur and philanthropist who made a fortune as a partner in Carnegie Steel with his childhood friend and neighbor, Andrew Carnegie. Together with his wife Harriet Dyer Price Phipps (1901-1981), Howard built Erchless in 1936. Erchless, the Georgian colonial residence named in honor of the Scottish castle frequented by the family, boasted an exceptional collection of Georgian, Irish, and Continental furniture. Like his contemporaries Carnegie, Rockefeller and Morgan, the Phipps decorated their elegant home with fine Chinese works of art, acquiring rare dynastic treasures to display within Erchless’ grand halls.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities. Scattered nicks and scratches, expected encrustations and corrosion, and signs of weathering and erosion, all as expected. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina with areas of malachite and cuprite encrustation.
Weight: 2,577 g (excl. stand), 3,618 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Width 25.8 cm, Height 14 cm (excl. stand), 19.7 cm (incl. stand)
With an carved wood stand dating from the Qing dynasty. (2)
Literature comparison: Elevated on four legs and decorated with horizontal grooves, this vessel represents one of the archetypal examples of gui produced during the late Western Zhou period. Compare a related bronze vessel, dated to 1100-900 BC, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number LTS1985.1.332.1. Compare a closely related bronze gui, dated to the Western Zhou dynasty, 27.5 cm wide, in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number RCH 34.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 15-16 March 2015, lot 3182
Price: USD 93,750 or approx. EUR 110,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze tripod food vessel and cover, Gui, mid-Western Zhou dynasty, 9th-8th century BC Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, and decoration. Note the size (28 cm) and cover.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 13 September 2016, lot 11
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 65,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic bronze ritual food vessel, gui, late Western Zhou Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, and decoration.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Howard Phipps, Jr. and his wife Mary Stone Phipps
A
CAST, IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE BRONZE ‘TAOTIE’ HELMET, EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
China, circa 770-221 BC. Of typical form, the helmet with a central peak above the brow ridge and decorated to the center with a meticulously incised taotie mask cast in low relief, the sides further adorned with a pair of stylized birds reserved within a trapezoidal panel against geometric ground, above two lugs on either side.
Provenance: Collection of Kate Kemper, Switzerland, 1950s-1960s. Collection R.W.B., Haiku, Hawaii, 1980s-2013. Collection of L. Kalina FA. A private collection in London, 2013. Ariadne Galleries, New York and London. A distinguished American private collection, acquired from the above on 9 November 2017. A copy of a certificate from Ariadne Galleries, confirming the provenance above, accompanies this lot. Kate Kemper (1908-2004) was a notable collector who formed an important collection of ceramics and textiles of Andean art after visiting Peru. Her comprehensive collection was assembled in Europe and exhibited in various museums including Ancient Peruvian Art, at the Arts Council, London in 1962, and Alt Peru in 1972 at the Landesmuseum, Muenster. Founded in 1972, Ariadne Galleries has established a reputation as one of the world’s leading dealers in the field of ancient art. With a prominent gallery in New York’s upper East side for many years, in 2014 Ariadne opened its second gallery in London’s historic art district, Mayfair. With nearly fifty years in the industry, Ariadne boasts of several important private collectors and foundations among its clients, as well as some of the world’s most celebrated museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University Art Museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Condition: Very good condition with age-appropriate wear. Casting irregularities, areas of corrosion, and extensive soil encrustations are present, along with small losses. Traces of ancient silk and possibly leather remain inside, suggesting the piece was once wrapped. The bronze has developed a naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite and azurite encrustations.
Weight: 1,621 g
Dimensions: Height 21.5 cm
The earliest bronze helmets in China date back to the Shang dynasty and covered the neck and ears and were often decorated with taotie masks and animal faces to make the warrior appear fearsome. For two examples found in Anyang, see Cheng Dong and Zhong Shao-yi, Ancient Chinese Weapons—A Collection of Pictures, Beijing, 1990, p. 40. A related bronze helmet dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty is illustrated ibid., pl. 12, no. 4-157. See also a late Shang-dynasty bronze helmet with taotie design, excavated in 1989 from Dayangzhou (the second richest burial site known after the Fu Hao’s tomb) and now in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum (fig. 1)
Expert’s note: The helmet is in fine condition, with a dark green patina and rich low-relief decoration. A striking taotie motif adorns the front, while the sides feature composite representations of birds, all framed by uniformly incised meanders. Two small holes on either side of the brim once held cords to secure the helmet to the wearer’s head. As with other ancient helmets, its design likely reflects both military tradition and battlefield tactics. The principal weapons of the period—the ge (dagger-axe) and the crossbow—were widely used during the Eastern Zhou dynasty, particularly in the Spring and Autumn Period (770–475 BC) and, to a lesser extent, during the Warring States Period (474–221 BC). In close combat, emphasis was placed on frontal visibility and protection from overhead blows, a function clearly reflected in the form of this helmet. Dagger-axes, ranging from 2.75 to 5.5 meters in length, served as medium-range weapons. As a result, shields were largely absent from Chinese warfare during this era, with warriors relying instead on sturdy armor, typically of leather or bronze. Tellingly, the renowned Terracotta Army of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), numbering over 8,000 figures, does not include a single warrior bearing a shield.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related bronze helmet, dated later Western Zhou to Spring and Autumn period, Upper Xiaiadian culture, dated 877-476 BC, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 19 January 2023, lot 3053
Price: HKD 252,000 or approx. EUR 28,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic bronze helmet, Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period
Expert remark: Compare the related form and manner of casting with similar patina. Note the size (22 cm) and that this helmet lacks any kind of decoration
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Kate Kemper (1908-2004)
fig. 1
A RARE ARCHAIC BRONZE OWL-HEADED RITUAL WINE VESSEL, HU, EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, 8TH-3RD CENTURY BC
China. Finely cast, the pear-shaped supported on a spreading foot with recessed base and rising to a gently flaring neck surmounted by the cover boldly modeled as the head of an owl distinguished by a pair of bulging eyes, prominently raised ears, and a pronounced curved beak.
The neck and lower body fitted with two studs from which a handle with dragon-head terminals is suspended by loose rings.
Provenance: Galerie 41, Monte Carlo, 2005. A private collection in Monaco, acquired from the above. A copy of the original signed invoice from Galerie 41, dated 1 January 2005, dating the vessel to the Han dynasty, and stating a purchase price for the present lot (together with a Tang-dynasty ‘Fat Lady’) of EUR 20,000 or approx. EUR 30,500 (adjusted to inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, signs of burial and traces of weathering, corrosion, soil encrustations, few small losses, casting irregularities, surface scratches. The bronze is covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with extensive malachite encrustation.
Weight: 836.6 g
Dimensions: Height 18.4 cm
Expert’s note: Bronze vessels of owl shape were first made during the Shang dynasty, in two different types: those covered overall with dense decoration and those of a more austere, simplified design, akin to the minimalism of the present lot. One famous example of the ornate type is an owl-shaped zun discovered in 1976 in the Tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu, present-day Anyang in Henan province. Inscribed along the interior rim of that vessel are archaic characters identifying Fu Hao, the wife of King Wu Ding of the Shang dynasty. Revered both as a warrior and a high priestess, Fu Hao participated in major military campaigns, presided over sacrificial rites, and played an active role in state affairs, remaining as a legendary figure in Chinese history. Other objects from Fu Hao’s tomb also feature owl imagery, including a double ‘fangyi’, a ‘guang’, and six pendants. Artistic and archaeological evidence suggests that the owl may have served as a totemic symbol for the Shang dynasty. Its presence on elite burial artifacts indicates the bird’s symbolic significance during this period.
Literature comparison: Compare two related owl-form earthenware covered jars, one similarly potted as a hu with an owl head-shaped stopper, dated to the Warring States period, early 4th century BC, 29.6 cm high, and the other modeled entirely as an owl, dated Zhou dynasty, 11th-3rd century BC, 27 cm high, both in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession numbers 50.1860 and 50.1819. Compare a related Shang bronze zun in the form of an owl with dragons, dated 11th century BC, 16.3 cm high, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1987.1a-b.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 December 2021, lot 836
Price: HKD 302,400 or approx. EUR 36,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare archaic bronze bird-headed ritual wine vessel, hu, Eastern Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of casting with similar hushaped body and owl-form cover. Note the different size (34.5 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 18 March 2014, lot 18
Estimate: USD 4,000,000 or approx. EUR 4,500,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare and important bronze owl-headed ritual wine vessel (hu), early Eastern Zhou dynasty, 8th-7th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of casting with similar (albeit ribbed) hu-shaped body and owl-form cover. Note the earlier dating, the larger size, and the substantial provenance record of this vessel.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A SILVER-INLAID BRONZE ‘BIRD’ WINE VESSEL AND COVER, WARRING STATES PERIOD
China, circa 475 BC to 221 BC. Finely cast, the globular body is raised on a splayed foot and fitted with a domed cover surmounted by a ring finial. The vessel is flanked by an upright bird head with bulging eyes and curved beak opposite a gracefully arched tail.
The exterior is neatly inlaid in silver with horizontal bands of dragon interlace, continuing onto the foot and cover. The bird’s head and neck are similarly decorated with scale-like patterns suggesting plumage, while the tail is enriched with additional geometric ornament.
Provenance: A private collection in Scotland, by family repute bought back from East Asia before 1950 and thence by descent. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired form the above in 1998 via the local trade.
Condition: Condition commensurate with age, with ancient wear, casting irregularities, weathering, areas of deeper corrosion, rubbing and losses to the inlays, as well as scattered minute nicks, light surface scratches, and small dents. Possibly with small old fills. The bronze displays a rich, naturally grown patina with malachite encrustation.
Weight: 1,829 g
Dimensions: Height 22.3 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a related bronze lidded ritual food server (dou) with similar inlaid decoration (albeit in gold), 15.2 cm high, dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty, c. late 5th-early 4th century BC, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1939.41a-b. Compare a related bronze duck-form zun, 39.5 cm long, dated “Anterior to 3rd century B.C.”, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 160-1876, where the curators note “[t]his, or a similar vessel, was in the Museum of the Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century.”
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 10 November 2015, lot 24
Price: GBP 13,750 or approx. EUR 25,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze ‘bird’ wine ewer, he, Eastern Zhou, Spring and Autumn period (8th-5th century BC)
Expert remark: Compare the related manner of casting and birdinspired design. Note the size (17.2 cm), as well as the different form and lack of inlays.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 10 September 2019, lot 257
Estimate: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 32,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze peacockform vessel, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related manner of casting and birdinspired design. Note the size (12.8 cm), later dating, and the different form and lack of inlays.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A RARE TURQUOISE-INLAID GILT-BRONZE ‘BEAR’ SUPPORT FITTING, HAN DYNASTY
China, 206 BC-220 AD. The heavy support is hollow cast in the shape of a seated bear with right forepaw raised, the left resting on its thigh, and the mouth open. There is a D-shaped opening on the back of the head and a circular opening to the base. The fur is suggested by small linear markings and the eyes and navel are finely inlaid with turquoises.
Provenance: Ngai Tile Wave, Hong Kong, 2006. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. A copy of the invoice from Ngai Tile Wave, dated 19 March 2006, accompanies the lot.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, rubbing and minor losses to gilding, light surface scratches, the inlays possibly renewed, the bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with areas of malachite and cuprite encrustation.
Weight: 76.5 g
Dimensions: Height 3.7 cm
The present fitting exemplifies the centrality of naturalistic animal forms in Han visual culture, where depictions of bears, as symbols of strength, enjoyed popularity in this period such that it was never equaled in subsequent ages. These types of fittings served as feet for the legs of small furniture and vessels usually made of bronze, lacquer, and ceramic. Beyond gilt bronze fittings, bears were also cast as bronze sculptural mat-weights, molded as ceramic tiles, in textiles, and as carved jade and hardstone figures. For an example of a Han vessel with crouching bear feet, see the lian vessel in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1987.341a-b.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 September 2021, lot 43
Price: USD 13,860 or approx. EUR 14,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A turquoise-inlaid gilt-bronze ‘bear’ fitting, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, decoration, and subject. Note the size (4.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 16 March 2015, lot 2004
Price: USD 52,500 or approx. EUR 62,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt bronze support fitting, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the size (6.6 cm) and missing inlays.
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
AN EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-PRESERVED GLASS- AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE GARMENT HOOK, DAIGOU
China. Warring States to Western Han Dynasty, 4th-1st century BC. The slender rounded shaft is intricately inlaid with silver sheet, wire, and stippling, forming overlapping scrolls evocative of intertwined beasts punctuated with spiral designs, and a geometric pattern, framed by horizontal lines, all below the finely modeled and similarly decorated hook in the form of a dragon’s head with neatly inlaid black glass eyes, the underside with a circular button.
Provenance: Robert Kuo, RenLu Collection, Los Angeles, United States. Robert Kuo is a wellknown designer who works with timeless motifs from the Han and Ming dynasties, often combining them with deco and nouveau influences as well as nature.
Assembled over 25 years, acquiring one special object at a time, his private collection (named the RenLu Collection) encompasses scholarly works of art, furniture, sculpture, and jewelry. Born in Beijing, Robert Kuo moved with his family to Taiwan in 1947. In 1973, he immigrated to the United States and opened a studio for cloisonné in Beverly Hills. He began experimenting with new shapes, textures, and finishes, and soon developed a unique artistic vocabulary that harmonized Eastern and Western influences. His innovations were quickly recognized and began appearing in high-profile collections, including the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery acquiring his “Goldfish Bowl”. By the mid-1980s, Kuo had expanded his repertoire beyond cloisonné, mastering repoussé, a technique of hammering decorative relief onto metal surfaces. He worked with artisans in China, learning and refining ancient metalworking techniques that he would later adapt into his own designs. Over time, his expertise grew to include lacquer, hard stone, and Peking glass. His pieces are found in prestigious spaces such as the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, the Ritz-Carlton Beijing, and the MGM Grand Villas in Las Vegas, as well as in the homes of celebrities such as Beyoncé, Will Smith, and Jennifer Lopez.
Condition: Magnificent condition, commensurate with age. Wear, casting irregularities, traces of use, signs of burial, encrustations, expected tarnish and minor losses to inlays. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina with scattered malachite encrustation.
Weight: 126.7 g
Dimensions: Height 16 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 March 2017, lot 873
Price: USD 20,000 or approx. EUR 25,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver and gold-inlaid bronze garment hook, Warring States period-Western Han dynasty, 3rd century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related curved cylindrical form, decoration, and motifs with similar spirals, dots, and bars. Note the gold inlay and the related size (18.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Robert Kuo
AN INCISED GILT-BRONZE ‘ANIMALS AND MYTHICAL BEASTS’ WINE VESSEL, HU, WESTERN HAN DYNASTY
China, 206 BC-8 AD. Finely cast, the pear-shaped body supported on a tall spreading foot with recessed base and rising to a waisted neck, the shoulder set with a pair of taotie mask handles. Boldly incised around the body with two friezes, the upper with paired winged and horned bixie and bixi with long tail and small carapace amid swirling clouds and the lower depicting tigers and leopards leaping across turbulent waters with birds in flight. The neck is similarly decorated with a narrow band of scroll, while the foot is encircled by two bands of addorsed stiff leaves.
Provenance: From a private collection in London, United Kingdom. Condition: Superb condition, with expected ancient wear and casting irregularities. Signs of prolonged burial and weathering include deep encrustations, corrosion, surface scratches, and small nicks. The gilding is markedly well preserved. One nick to the foot from sample-taking, with associated fill. The bronze exhibits an exceptionally rich, naturally grown patina with distinct malachite encrustations.
Material Analysis: The bronze alloy is composed of copper, tin, lead, and arsenic. The inclusions are primarily composed of calcium, silicon, and phosphorus. Corrosion products correspond to copper salts (oxides and chlorides) that have penetrated the material. Areas with elevated concentrations of tin were also observed. These findings are consistent with natural weathering of the object over time.
The alloy composition—copper, tin, lead, and arsenic—is typical for Han dynasty bronzes, with lead improving castability and arsenic often present as a natural impurity. The inclusions of calcium, silicon, and phosphorus reflect long-term burial in mineral-rich soils. Corrosion products such as copper oxides and chlorides, along with elevated tin concentrations, are consistent with natural aging and decuprification. Altogether, these features are highly characteristic of ancient Han bronzes.
Weight: 1,815 g
Dimensions: Height 22.3 cm
This rare hu vessel exemplifies the highly skilled gilding and incising techniques developed in the Han dynasty. Research on this special group of archaic bronzes with elaborate pictorial decoration incised after casting which were produced in Southern China during the Han dynasty is summarized by Fontein and Wu, Unearthing China’s Past, Boston, 1973, pp. 118-124, with illustrations of examples in museums and American private collections as well as archaeological evidence from Chinese excavation
reports. Related hu vases with elaborate decoration were found in tombs with inscriptions that showed they belonged to the Zhen (甄氏), a princely family from the Han dynasty. See Mancheng Han mu fajue baogao, 1980, Beijing, pp. 41 and 43.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related parcel-gilt and incised bronze hu decorated with dragons, 46 cm high, dated to the Western Han dynasty, in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1927.315. Compare a closely related parcel-gilt bronze fanghu with taotie mask handles and incised animals, dated to the early Western Han dynasty, late 3rd-early 2nd century BC, in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, record number BATEA : 244. Compare two related bronze vessels with similar incised decoration, illustrated and exhibited by J. J. Lally, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, New York, 19 March-9 April 2011, nos. 9 and 10.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 17 September 2013, lot 26
Price: USD 149,000 or approx. EUR 176,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare miniature silver and gilt-bronze tripod vessel (hu), Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of casting, and decoration with similar incision work. Note the much smaller size (5.6 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 23 March 2022, lot 249
Price: USD 63,000 or approx. EUR 60,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare incised gilt-bronze ‘phoenix’ vessel and cover (Bianhu), Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of casting, gilding, and decoration with similar incision work and taotie handles. Note the size (31.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
AN UNUSUAL GILT-COPPER OVERLAY BRONZE MIRROR, TANG DYNASTY
Expert’s remark: Bronze mirrors with reticulated overlay such as the present lot are extremely rare. There are several examples of gilt-metal overlay on mirrors of the Tang-Yuan dynasties, but none show the pieced and reticulated openwork of the present lot. See for example a gilt-metal overlay bronze mirror (erroneously described in the title as “gold”), 20.8 cm, dated 9th-13th century, at Bonhams New York, 9 September 2019, lot 838.
China, 618-907. Of circular form, finely cast with a central domed knop, finely overlaid below the raised rim with a reticulated gilt-copper repoussé plaque depicting four prancing lions amid scrolling vines bearing blossoms and leaves, enclosed within a petal band. The details and outlines finely chased and subtly incised in the classic manner of the Tang dynasty.
Provenance: From an important private collection in southern Germany, assembled since 1950. Probably acquired from Nagel auctions in Stuttgart, Germany, circa in the late 1990s to early 2000s, according to an old Nagel label on the backside.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities, scattered light nicks and small surface scratches, traces of weathering, nibbling to edges, minuscule losses, light warping to overlay. One nick from sample-taking to the outer edge.
Material Analysis: The bronze alloy is composed of copper, tin, and lead. Inclusions are primarily composed of copper sulfides. No modern elements such as aluminum, manganese, or chromium were detected. Corrosion products consist mainly of copper salts (oxides and chlorides), with localized areas showing elevated concentrations of tin. Additionally, lead globules—primarily situated within the eutectoid phase—remain unaffected by the corrosion processes. These observations and analytical results are consistent with natural weathering processes and are typical of ancient Tang dynasty bronzes.
Weight: 811.4 g
Dimensions: Diameter 22.1 cm
The lion, a prominent motif in Buddhist art of the Tang dynasty, symbolized the powerful dissemination of the Buddhist scriptures through its roar and often appeared as a guardian figure, whether lining the spirit roads to Imperial tombs or in pairs protecting sacred spaces such as the underground hoard of relics at the Famen Temple. While the exact origin of the lion in Chinese art is unclear, the motif traveled along the Silk Route from India and Central Asia, with strong influences from Sasanian Persia. By the Six Dynasties period (420–589 CE), lions had become a popular subject in China, appearing in stone sculpture for both Buddhist and Zoroastrian contexts, as well as on stoneware and textiles, making them a key decorative and symbolic element in Chinese art.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 12 September 2019, lot 526
Price: USD 62,500 or approx. EUR 67,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A very rare goldinlaid iron mirror, late Eastern Han dynasty-early Six Dynasties period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and reticulated overlay. Note the size (18 cm), different materials, and earlier date.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
95
A FINELY ENGRAVED GILT-BRONZE STEM CUP, TANG
DYNASTY
China, late 7th-early 8th century. The deep sides of the cup are neatly decorated with a meticulously detailed band of leafy grapevine scroll reserved on a ring-punched ground between narrow bands of similar decoration, all above leafy scroll encircling the spreading foot, richly gilded inside and out.
Provenance: From a noted private collection in Hong Kong.
Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear, manufacturing irregularities, minuscule nicks, small surface scratches, traces of weathering, encrustations, light warping, tiny dents. The thick gilding is well preserved. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown patina with malachite and cuprite encrustation.
Weight: 112.1 g
Dimensions: Height 7.1 cm
With a padded storage box. (2)
This superbly engraved stem cup exemplifies the refinement of Tang dynasty metalwork. A cup of this form decorated with scrolling vines and grape leaves was unearthed from the reliquary chamber of the pagoda at the Qingshan Temple in Lindongxian, Shaanxi province. The construction of the temple was begun in 736, and in 740 the reliquary was placed in the subterranean chamber of the pagoda along with other objects of gold, silver, bronze, and ceramic.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related gilt-bronze cup, 6 cm high, dated late 7th to early 8th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1998.312.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 March 2018, lot 916
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 62,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small finely engraved gilt-bronze stem cup, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, motifs, and gilding. Note the related size (6.3 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 25 March 2022, lot 756
Price: USD 37,800 or approx. EUR 36,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small finely engraved gilt-bronze stem cup, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, motifs, gilding, and size (6.8 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
96
A PARCEL-GILT SILVER COSMETIC BOX AND COVER, TANG DYNASTY
China, 618-907. The hinged box is realistically formed as a clam shell, with a pair of geese finely engraved to both sides, each pair flying amidst flowering, leafy stems within a plain outer border. The hinge mounts in form of teardrops. All the decoration is highlighted in gilding and reserved on the fine ring-matte ground.
Provenance: From a Swedish private collection.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, expected tarnish and few small areas of oxidization, the interior with sparse small spots of malachite encrustation. Light scratches, minor rubbing to the gilt, and few minuscule nicks. The hinge renewed.
Weight: 98.6 g
Dimensions: Length 6.4 cm
Silver boxes in the form of clam shells were an innovation of the Tang dynasty and were used to hold cosmetic powder.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Similar parcel-gilt silver boxes of clam shape have been published, several of which include pairs of birds in the decoration. One from Xi’an, Shaanxi province, illustrated in National Treasure Collection of Rare Cultural Relics of Shaanxi Province, Shaanxi, 1998, pp. 100-1, is decorated with a pair of ducks on one half and a pair of geese with entwined necks on the other half. This same box, along with another of miniature size, also from Xi’an, decorated with a pair of ducks holding a knotted cord between them in their beaks, is illustrated by Han Wei and Christian Deydier, Ancient Chinese Gold, Paris, 2001, p. 147, pls. 359-63. Two others decorated with a pair of ducks include one illustrated in Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels, Gilt Bronzes and Early Ceramics, Eskenazi, London, June - July 1973, no. 27; and one (3.2 cm.) illustrated by Hugh Scott, The Golden Age of Chinese Art, Vermont/Tokyo, 1966, pl. 11 (bottom), and later illustrated again in Chinesisches Gold und Silber: The Pierre Uldry Collection, Zurich, 1994, p. 168, no. 161. Compare also a closely related smaller parcel-gilt shellshaped silver box, dated to the Tang dynasty, 3.7 cm wide, exhibited by Eskenazi, Tang: Ceramics, Metalwork and Sculpture, London, 21 October-6 November 2021 (fig. 1)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2013, lot 1465
Price: USD 27,500 or approx. EUR 32,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare miniature parcelgilt silver shell-form box and cover, Tang dynasty (ad 618-907)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and motifs. Note the much smaller size (3.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
fig. 1
A PAIR OF TURQUOISE-INLAID GOLD ‘DRAGON-FISH’ EARRINGS, LIAO DYNASTY
China, 907-1125. Each hollow-cast in two parts and joined at a longitudinal seam, the body in the form of a leaping fish with crested dragon’s head and raised fan-shaped tail, with a ‘pearl of wisdom’ attached beneath the chin, applied with numerous irregular apertures inlaid with turquoise on both sides and along the belly, against finely engraved linear lines and ring-punched ground. A C-shaped long wire hook emerging from the jaws to allow for suspension from the ear.
Weight: 16.4 g and 16.8 g
Dimensions: Height 5 cm (each)
Provenance: Robert Kuo, RenLu Collection, Los Angeles, United States. Robert Kuo is a well-known designer who works with timeless motifs from the Han and Ming dynasties, often combining them with deco and nouveau influences as well as nature. Assembled over 25 years, acquiring one special object at a time, his private collection (named the RenLu Collection) encompasses scholarly works of art, furniture, sculpture, and jewelry. Born in Beijing, Robert Kuo moved with his family to Taiwan in 1947. In 1973, he immigrated to the United States and opened a studio for cloisonné in Beverly Hills. He began experimenting with new shapes, textures, and finishes, and soon developed a unique artistic vocabulary that harmonized Eastern and Western influences. His innovations were quickly recognized and began appearing in high-profile collections, including the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery acquiring his “Goldfish Bowl”. By the mid-1980s, Kuo had expanded his repertoire beyond cloisonné, mastering repoussé, a technique of hammering decorative relief onto metal surfaces. He worked with artisans in China, learning and refining ancient metalworking techniques that he would later adapt into his own designs. Over time, his expertise grew to include lacquer, hard stone, and Peking glass. His pieces are found in prestigious spaces such as the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, the Ritz-Carlton Beijing, and the MGM Grand Villas in Las Vegas, as well as in the homes of celebrities such as Beyoncé, Will Smith, and Jennifer Lopez.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, manufacturing irregularities, small losses, little rubbing, and light warping. One earring with three inlays missing. The inlays with expected minuscule losses, some possibly renewed.
U-shaped earrings were a signature body ornament of the Khitan Similar earrings have been excavated from a number of Khitan tombs. Their unusual shape may be linked to ancient Etruscan and late Byzantine prototypes. Their popularity among the Khitan reflects the long-distance ties of the Liao empire with West Asia (see adornments discovered in the Kargaly Treasure, dated 2nd century BC-1st century AD, Kyrgyzstan).
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related gold “seagoat shaped” ear pendant inlaid with turquoise, dated to the Liao dynasty, 5.2 cm wide, in the Shanghai Museum. Compare a closely related pair of gold dragon-fish earrings, dated to the Liao dynasty, 4.8 cm high, in James J. Lally, Silver and Gold in Ancient China, New York: J. J. Lally & Co, 2012, no. 42 (fig. 1)
Compare a closely related gold openwork dragon-fish earring inset with turquoise, from the tomb of Yelü Yuzhi, dated by epitaph to the fourth year of the Huitong reign of the Liao dynasty (941 AD), excavated in 1992 at Alukeerqin Banner, Inner Mongolia, included in the exhibition Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China’s Liao Empire (907-1125), Asia Society, 2006-2007, p. 150-151, no. 25. Compare a closely related pair of turquoise-inlaid gold earrings, believed to have belonged to a sister of Yelyu Abaoji, founder of the Liao Dynasty, exhibited in the Suzhou Museum, La Bella in the Northern Land.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
1
fig.
Robert Kuo
98 A RARE AND INSCRIBED GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, LATER HAN DYNASTY (947-951), FIVE DYNASTIES, DATED 949
China. Finely cast, seated in meditation atop a lotus throne flanked by craggy rocks, his hands and feet enveloped in the loose-fitting robe cascading in thickly carved folds, opening at the chest, the undergarment tied at the waist. The face rendered with a serene expression and marked by sinuously lidded eyes, gently arched brows, and subtly smiling lips, the hair left plain over the domed ushnisha topped by a bud-shaped jewel. The back incised with a donor inscription including a date. The underside with an oblong groove, probably for securing the figure in an altar.
Inscription: To the back, ‘Devotee Gu Sanniang sacrificed her entire fortune for the casting [of this Buddha figure] on an auspicious day in the second year of the Qianyou era [corresponding to 949].’
Provenance: From an old private collection in France.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, signs of tactile worship, light surface scratches, minuscule nicks, tiny dents, minor losses to back. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina with malachite encrustation.
Weight: 186 g (excl. stand), 229 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 7.1 cm (excl. stand), 10 cm (incl. stand)
With a fitted carved wood double-lotus stand dating from the early 20th century. (2)
This bronze votive object bears an inscription dated to the second year of the Qianyou era, which corresponds to 949, firmly placing it within the reign of Liu Chengyou. That the inscription also records the name of the donor and the year of its commission makes this a particularly rare and significant survival from a period of deep political instability and rapid dynastic change. Furthermore, such inscriptions are extremely rare among small bronzes of the period.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2020, lot 3006
Price: HKD 187,500 or approx. EUR 22,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt-bronze standing figure of Guanyin, Five Dynasties period
Expert remark: Note the size (12 cm) and that this figure is not inscribed
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 14 September 2017, lot 834
Price: USD 11,250 or approx. EUR 12,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small gilt-bronze seated figure of Buddha, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of casting, gilding, subject, and size (8.2 cm). Note the slightly earlier dating and that this figure is not inscribed
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
99
A RARE AND FINE SILVER REPOUSSÉ GOOSE-FORM VESSEL, SONG DYNASTY OR EARLIER
Scientific Analysis Report: The present lot was analyzed by Dr. Peter Northover, formerly Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Materials, University of Oxford, and a specialist with over forty years of research in archaeological and historical metallurgy. In his report, he concludes that the “state of corrosion and the composition of the goose bowl are consistent with the proposed origin [Song dynasty]”. A copy of the examination report, no. R5769/86, accompanies the lot.
China, 960-1279 or earlier. Exquisitely modeled as a goose arching its long slender neck backward as it opens its beak to reach for the richly chased bowl balancing on its feathery tail, the plumage neatly incised, the wing feathers terminating in scroll tips, the lower body decorated with large flowerheads surrounded by floral scroll above a band of lotus petals encircling the oval foot, the bowl decorated with similar scroll against a minutely ring-punched ground.
Provenance: The Ben Essex Collection of Chinese Art, London, United Kingdom. Dr. Ben Essex is a noted English collector of ancient Chinese works of art. He inherited an impressive collection from his grandfather Max Lowenson, and has been expanding it with great verve and passion for decades. Today, pieces from Dr. Essex’s collection are housed in the National Museum of Wales. Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities, light warping and small dings, a dent below one wing, occasional surface scratches, minor tarnish, encrustations, verdigris. Overall with a fine, naturally grown patina.
Weight: 374.7 g
Dimensions: Length 18.5 cm
Shaped as a majestic goose with elegantly arched neck and finely chased plumage, this silver vessel belongs to a small and remarkable group of zoomorphic rhyta and vessels whose origins lie in Sassanian and Byzantine metalware. From the 7th century onwards, such exotic forms entered China via Silk Road exchange, inspiring the Tang dynasty court to create their own interpretations. Tang sancai examples (fig. 1), often in the form of geese or ducks terminating in cups, testify to the cosmopolitan taste of the period and the adoption of foreign models into Chinese visual language (fig. 2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a group of related Sogdian parcel-gilt silver repoussé vessels including a rhyton, dated c. late 600s-early 700s, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1988.67.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2023, lot 673
Price: USD 50,800 or approx. EUR 46,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare silver ‘chilong and lingzhi’ handled cup, Song dynasty Expert remark: Compare the related craftsmanship and motifs. Note the much smaller size (7.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Fig. 1: A Sancai-glazed duck-form cup, the animal similarly arching the neck backwards to grasp the rim of a bowl with open beak, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 6 October 2015, lot 83
Fig. 2: A bronze lamp in the form of a goose, dated to the Western Han dynasty, in the Birmingham Museum of Art
Peter Northover in his laboratory
Dr. Ben Essex
A RARE GILT-BRONZE FIGURE OF A SPOTTED DEER, MING DYNASTY
China, 1368-1644, circa mid-15th century. Naturalistically cast as a stag captured in an elegant foursquare stance, the tail pointed, the face with almond-shaped eyes, pricked ears flanked by antlers, the body engraved with stylized spots in the fur formed by circular designs.
Provenance: From a prominent European private collection. Condition: Good condition with age-related wear, casting irregularities, rubbing and losses to the gilding, light surface scratches, and old soldering marks to the ears and antlers. The stand shows signs of use with minor losses. The bronze exhibits a rich, naturally developed patina, with traces of ancient lacquer and gilding, and scattered malachite encrustation throughout.
Weight: 115.9 g (excl. stand) and 123.8 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 6.2 cm (the figure) and 7.7 cm (incl. stand), Length 6.8 cm
With a neatly fitted wood stand finely carved in openwork with lingzhi, dating from the Qing dynasty. (2)
The motif of the deer stretches back to the dawn of Chinese art history. Arguably its finest creative articulation is in the lacquered wood figure of a recumbent deer from the late Spring and Autumn period tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng, excavated in 1978 in Hubei from an intact royal tomb of Zeng, a small state subordinate to Chu. It is illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Qinghua Da Cidian. Jinyin yu Shiquan, Shanghai, 1996, p. 153, pl. 004. Like the present figure, it clearly represents the species Sika Mandarinus, the most favored by artisans of all the nineteen species of deer found in China, due to its attractive spotting.
The deer has traditionally been an emblem of immortality in China, believed to live to a very great age, and considered the only animal capable of finding the fabled and sacred fungus of immortality, the lingzhi. A picture of a deer is often a rebus for official emolument, due to the similar pronunciation of the two words.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related gilt-bronze and cloisonné enamel deer, dated to the Ming dynasty, 11 cm tall, in the British Museum, registration number 1938,0524.668.
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
A RARE LACQUERED BRONZE
FIGURE OF VAISHRAVANA, YUNNAN, 13TH-14TH CENTURY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 3 March 2025, based on sample number C125b47, sets the firing date of both samples taken between 500 and 750 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China, late Kingdom of Dali to Yuan period.
Superbly cast, the figure standing in a dynamic pose with his hand clasped in loose fists to the chest, dressed in an elaborate armor and celestial scarf, the cold-painted face with a stern expression, wide bulging eyes below furrowed brows, red-painted lips in a tight smile, all above the scrolling beard that flows in the wind, the hair tied neatly away from the face and secured with ribbons with billowing sashes.
Inscriptions: To the back, ‘Sun Zhang’.
Provenance: From a European private collection.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, traces of weathering, minor losses to exposed areas, flaking and losses to lacquer and gilt, the pegs below the feet reinforced, the upper back and left leg each with a small drilled hole from sample-taking. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, orange-brown patina that is highly characteristic of later Dali bronzes, which have been found to be high in arsenic.
Weight: 1,635 g
Dimensions: Height 20 cm (excl. stand), 22.2 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated stand. (2)
This sculpture dates to the 13th or 14th century, a period associated with the final phase of the Dali cultural tradition in what is now Yunnan province. Though the Dali Kingdom was formally conquered by the Mongols in 1253, its royal descendants continued to govern the region as tusi (hereditary native chieftains) under Yuan dynasty rule. An independent, devoutly Buddhist kingdom in southwestern China, Dali had coexisted with the Song dynasty and maintained cordial relations with it, fostering artistic and cultural exchange. Unlike its predecessor state Nanzhao, which had had a contentious relationship with the Tang dynasty, Dali’s claimed Han Chinese identity helped solidify diplomatic ties with the Song and supports the view of Dali as a Chinese kingdom. The sculpture thus reflects the persistence of Dali’s cultural and religious identity beyond the fall of the kingdom itself.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related earlier Dali gilt-bronze figure of the Guardian Protector of the East, dated 11th12th century, 15.6 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2001.77. Compare a related gilt-lacquered bronze figure of Mahakala, dated to the 13th century, from a private collection and illustrated by Jeff Watt on Himalayan Art Resources, item number 8380 (fig. 1) fig. 1
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE TAPIR-FORM VESSEL, XIZUN, LATE MING-EARLY QING DYNASTY, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
China. The bronze is heavily cast in the form of a tapir standing foursquare with its head facing forward, bulging eyes, above a wide ruyi-shaped snout, a gui-form protrusion at the center of the forehead, ears pricked, and tail hanging down. The body is inlaid in silver and gold with geometric scrolls and the head is cast in relief with curved brows and a collar encircling the neck. The hollowed body is fitted with a removable and pierced cover cast as bird with curved wings, its eyes inlaid in gilt, and wings with silver-inlaid scrolls.
Provenance: From a private estate in New York, USA.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities. Few nicks, light scratches, and small dings here and there. Expected rubbing and tarnishing to the gilt and silver. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, deep patina with cuprite and malachite encrustations.
Weight: 1,206.7 g
Dimensions: Length 17 cm
The shape and inlaid decoration of this charming vessel are based on ancient prototypes of the Warring States period. Archaistic vessels of this type are the result of a tremendous interest in ancient bronzes during the Northern Song period, brought about by a renewed interest in Confucianism and anything associated with the rituals of the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age tapirs evidently found favor with the Northern Song Emperor Huizong (r. 1126), who was a very keen antiquarian and
who instigated the publication of illustrated catalogues of the items in his collection. One of these, the Xuanhe Bogu tulu (‘Xuanhe Illustrated Collection of Antiques’), included an illustration of such an early bronze vessel. The name xizun appears in the Bo gu tu, compiled during the Northern Song dynasty. The word xi meaning ‘sacrificial victim’, often refers to an ox or another animal. The popularity of these zoomorphic vessels continued into the Yuan, Ming, and early Qing dynasties.
Literature comparison: Compare a related earlier gold and silver-inlaid bronze tapir-form zun, dated to the Yuan dynasty, 31.3 cm long, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, object number 中銅000730N000000000.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 February 2018, lot 108
Price: USD 100,000 or approx. EUR 111,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Chinese gold and silverinlaid bronze tapir-form vessel, zun, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of casting, and decoration with similar expression and inlays. The scroll designs to the limbs are both cast (raised) and inlaid, similarly to the present lot. Note the size (26.7 cm) and the vase spout.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF THE GUARDIAN KING ZENGZHANG TIANWANG (VIRDUHAKA), MING DYNASTY
China, 1368-1644. The figure is finely cast with legs slightly apart in a powerful stance, wearing an elaborate armor secured about the waist under a long flowing robe, and flowing celestial scarves billowing above the head and trailing to the ground, with his arms raised to tightly clasp a spear.
His chest and leg armor, gauntlets, the hems and flaps of his robe, and his boots are richly detailed with chased floral designs, subtle incision work, and minute beading. The bearded face with a stern expression marked by wide almondshaped eyes, furrowed brows, a sharp nose, and red-painted bow-shaped lips, the hair pulled up under a ribbed court headdress.
Provenance: From an old private collection in Bavaria, Germany.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, scattered minor nicks and light surface scratches, light rubbing and minor losses to gilding, traces of weathering, a small section of the celestial scarf repaired. The spear is a later replacement. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, warm patina with small areas of malachite encrustation.
Weight: 3,788 g (excl. base), 5,126 g (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 32.3 cm (the figure excl. spear and base), 38.2 cm (the figure incl. spear), 43.2 cm (incl. base and spear)
With an associated and neatly fitted marble base, dating from the mid-20th century. (2)
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related gilt-bronze figure of Vaishravana, Guardian King of the North, dated Yuan-early Ming dynasty, 35.9 cm high, in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, object number F95-4, purchased by the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman and illustrated by Colin Mackenzie, Masterworks of Chinese Art, 2011, pp. 8687, where it is dated Yuan dynasty.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2013, lot 1274
Price: USD 40,000 or approx. EUR 47,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A giltlacquered bronze figure of Isana, Ming dynasty, 16th-17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar attire, expression, flowing beard, and incised hair. Note the size (46.3 cm), lacquer gilding, and related subject, depicting the Guardian of the Northeast.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
AN IMPERIAL GOLD- AND SILVER-EMBROIDERED ‘NINE DRAGON’ ROBE, JIFU, QIANLONG
Expert’s note: This robe was almost certainly worn by an important and wealthy member of the Imperial court in the later 18th century, as indicated by the lavish use of gold and silver thread, as well as the deep blue ‘jiang’ silk. The embroidery along the lower section is exceptionally fine, depicting naturalistic waves and a central mountain motif, markedly characteristic of work produced in the later Qianlong period.
China, second half of the 18th century. The robe is meticulously embroidered in gold and silver couched thread of varying tones with the prescribed Imperial five-clawed dragons, the ninth concealed within the front flap, each clutching or courting flaming pearls of wisdom against a ground of intricately worked chrysanthemums borne on scrolling tendrils above foaming and rolling waves interspersed with lingzhi-shaped clouds and centered by the terrestrial diagram.
Deep blue and gold striped sleeve extensions extend the arm length and dark aubergine-gray silk bands decorate the collar and cuffs, edged with original buttons and brocade edgings, lined with turquoisegreen silk damask.
Provenance: The Property of an American Gentleman, by descent from a great-great uncle who was recorded as travelling in China in circa 1919.
Condition: Excellent condition with expected wear and traces of use. Minor losses to the metal threads and a few loose strands, with no repairs whatsoever. One armpit shows a restitched area of approximately 10 cm. The inner lining with minor soiling, tiny tears, and small replaced patches to the front flap, all consistent with age and use. Overall, the piece displays magnificently, with the blue ground and the gold and silver brocade remaining exceptionally crisp and fresh.
Dimensions: Length 145 cm, Width 168 cm
Superbly embroidered in parallel gold and silver threads with nine resplendent dragons swirling amidst a profusion of blossoming chrysanthemums, this magnificent robe embodies the powerful symbolism associated with the Imperial court. The embroidery is of exceptional quality, with painstaking attention to detail evident in the curling foamy crests of the turbulent waves and the animated expressions of the dragons, suggesting that the robe was originally tailored for an important member of the court. These garments were always individually fitted, with sleeves and underarm seams often extended in plain silk to allow ease of movement when worn. The gold- and silver-wrapped threads themselves were the product of an arduous and time-consuming process: delicate leaves of precious metal were applied to paper, cut into fine strips, and meticulously wrapped around a silk core. Less supple than plain silk, these threads required extraordinary skill to manipulate, yet here they have been employed with remarkable precision to create the layered design of dragons, waves, and the cosmic mountain. The sumptuous interplay of gold and silver would have been especially prized by the Manchu aristocracy, for whom such garments signified not only elevated rank but also immense wealth.
Imperial robes decorated with dragons appear to have been worn from at least the 10th century, but it was only at the turn of the eighteenth century that nine dragon designs were introduced and extended to cover the entire surface of the garment, symbolizing infinity and emphasizing a unified view of the universe over which the emperor held sway. The size of the front-facing dragons was also reduced at this time to equal the dimension of their side-facing counterpart, so a greater space was obtained to accommodate further decorative designs such as the floral scroll ground of the present lot. Dragons held extraordinary powers that compared with those of the emperors, embodying royalty and dominion, and when clutching the flaming pearl, expressed the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the wellbeing of his subjects. The use of the blue color was associated with the Temple of Heaven, south of the palace, where the Emperor offered sacrifice at the winter solstice and also prayed for rain during the summer months.
The dense meander enclosing blossoming chrysanthemum is a popular stylistic convention which was developed during the Yongle period, and is often encountered on Mingstyle porcelain wares of the Qianlong period. Symbolic of longevity in China, chrysanthemums were also associated with a joyful retirement. They were the favorite flowers of Tao Qian, or Tao Yuanming (365-427), a poet living during a turbulent period in China who retired in midlife to a small estate to live out his days in rustic obscurity, drinking wine and writing poetry. Private and quiet as his life was, his reputation grew steadily after his death, particularly for his associations with chrysanthemums, which he grew in a small patch by the eastern fence of his retirement estate.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related goldembroidered blue-ground dragon robe with a very similar floral ground, dated to the Qianlong period, 1318 x 206 cm, illustrated in Heavens’ Embroidered Cloths: One Thousand Years of Chinese Textiles, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1995, p. 218, no. 63. Compare a closely related Imperial robe of blue Jiang silk with a design of dragons and chrysanthemum scrolls embroidered with gold and silver thread, dated to the middle Qing dynasty, 190 cm wide, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, 51. Costumes and Accessories of the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 67, pl. 39.
A RARE ‘FLYING TIGER’ BANNER, EMBROIDERED SILK, 18TH CENTURY
China. Finely worked in satin stitch on a pale green silk ground, depicting a playful, muscular tiger standing on his hind legs with forelegs raised triumphantly and large red-spotted wings, all set amid boldly rendered, vaporous lingzhi-shaped clouds in cream, pale orange, green, and blue hues.
Provenance: A private estate in the southern United States. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above via the local trade, and thence by descent.
Condition: Good condition overall, with age-appropriate wear. Minor fading, light soiling, and a few stains not affecting the central image. Some losses, small tears, and loose threads throughout.
Dimensions: Image size 89.5 x 85 cm, Size incl. frame 95 x 91 cm
Set within a gold-lacquered wood frame behind glass. (2)
Tigers with bat-like wings were associated with military personnel since the mid-Ming dynasty, embellishing uniforms, robes and equipment. Flying tigers emblazoned military banners during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The beast was thought to have supernatural power, which is symbolized by wings and shooting flames. The Huangchao liqi tushi (Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court), which was enforced in 1766, shows several similar flying tiger flags.
Painted depictions of flying tiger banners appear in imperial military processions, notably in the Southern Inspection Tour scrolls by Wang Hui (1632–1717), which record the Kangxi Emperor’s 1698 journey from Beijing to Nanjing. Square in shape and rendered in colors corresponding to the
Eight Banners (gusa) of the Qing army, these banners can be seen flying from the sterns of vessels escorting the Emperor across the Yangtze River. They appear to mark the boats carrying banner generals. See Evelyn Rawski and Jessica Rawson (eds.), China: The Three Emperors 1662–1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, no. 13, pp. 86–89 and 388–389.
Throughout Asia, the tiger is a potent symbol associated with strength and military prowess. In China, the tiger was known as king of the land animals, a complement to the dragon, the chief of aquatic animals. On the animal’s forehead the stripes suggest the character, wang, for king. The tiger was associated with yang, the active, life-giving, masculine principle and was the animal guardian of the West. It was claimed that during the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1050 - 256 B.C.) living soldiers, dressed in tiger skins, advanced into battle shouting loudly in the hope that their cries would strike much terror in the hearts of their enemies as if they were being confronted with the roars of actual tigers.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Doyle New York, 19 March 2024, lot 109
Price: USD 51,200 or approx. EUR 45,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An exceptionally rare Chinese embroidered silk “flying tiger” banner, Kangxi period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related embroidery, subject, motifs, and ground. Note the size (134 x 130.1 cm) and that this banner is double-sided.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
AN EXCEPTIONAL BRONZE FIGURE OF A TORTOISE, DONG SON CULTURE
Northern Vietnam, 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD. Boldly cast, the oval body raised off the ground and supported by strong limbs, the carapace finely incised with numerous spiral and geometric designs characteristic of the Dong Son culture, centered by a circular aperture to the top, the head gently raised and detailed with similarly stylized eyes and snout.
Provenance: From the private collection of Darwin Freeman, collected between 1968-1971, and thence by descent within the same family. Born 1946 in Idaho, USA, Darwin Freeman was a member of the armed forces and later became an avid collector. He met his wife in the mid-1960s, and the pair later relocated to her hometown of Innsbruck, Austria. In 1967, Freeman was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Germany and Thailand. While he was stationed at the Embassy in Bangkok, between 1969 and 1971, he actively began engaging in the exploration and collection of ancient bronzes and other works of art. Upon completing his duty, Freeman arranged for his collection to be shipped to Austria, where it remained in storage until this day. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities. Nicks, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, small losses, and encrustations. The bronze covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite and spots of azurite encrustations.
Weight: 553.9 g
Dimensions: Length 16 cm
Dong Son (named for a village in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam) was a Bronze Age culture in ancient Vietnam centered at the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam from 1000 BC until the first century AD. Vietnamese historians attribute it to the states of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc. Its influence spread
to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Maritime Southeast Asia, throughout the first millennium BC. The culture long remained a mystery to Western archaeologists, and it was known only through its bronze objects, many of which were taken from burial sites. Dong Son bronze objects were exhibited in Europe for a century before their original location was even determined, and several theories and speculations over the dating methodologies of the culture continue to this day.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related elephant-shaped vessel with similar spiral designs and circular aperture, 16 cm long, dated 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD, in the Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore, accession number 200756439.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 13 December 2023, lot 299
Price: EUR 3,900 or approx. EUR 4,100 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze horse-form vessel, Dong Son culture
Expert remark: Compare the closely related spiral decorations and similar size (13.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
107
REN BONIAN (1840-1896): ‘TURTLES’
China. Ink and watercolors on paper.
Finely painted with a bale of turtles, the scene shows two adults nestled close together, watchfully guarding a hatchling as it strains to push free from its shell. The carapaces of each turtle are rendered with the characteristic textured ground, enhancing the naturalistic detail of the composition.
Inscriptions:
To the left, ‘In the summer of 1906, I visited the Jia family in Piling, where I saw Bonian’s painting ‘Three Turtles.’ Its archaic elegance and unique charm rival the exquisite works of Lu Baoshan I once saw. Upon returning, I composed two quatrains in appreciation.’ Signed, ‘Pu Hua’. One seal, ‘Zuoying’
To the top, ‘Master Zhuang once spoke of the ancient Mingling tree, which witnessed five hundred springs and autumns. / I imagine these three dwellers of its realm / Burrow into mountains and hide in earth, seeking to forget their forms. / Regard the crane and deer as symbols of longevity, yet know / That among armored creatures, painting turtles is most difficult. / Understand the threefold essence as playful freedom— / Profound in strength and thought, cold in bone and demeanor.’
Provenance: Pu Hua (c. 1834-1911) and thence by descent.
Subsequently in the Parisian trade, acquired from a private collection in France via the local auction market.
Condition: Excellent condition with only minor wear and light soiling.
Dimensions: Size 39.5 x 53 cm
Framed behind plexiglass. (2)
Ren Bonian (1840-1896), also known as Ren Yi, was a painter and son of a rice merchant who supplemented his income by doing portraits. He was born in Zhejiang, but after the death of his father in 1855 moved to Shanghai, where he was exposed to Western thinking. He became a member of the Shanghai School which fused popular and traditional styles. He was as famous as Wu Changshuo, Pu Hua, and Xu Gu; together, they were known as the “four famous Shanghai-style painters” in China. Ren Yi ranked with Ren Xiong, Ren Xun, and Ren Yu as the Four Rens. He was noted for his bold brushstrokes, as seen in the present work, and sparse yet distinct use of color. In his earlier career, his artwork was influenced by Song Dynasty painters, but later on, he favored a freer style influenced by the works of Zhu Da (died 1705), also known as Bada Shenren, a noted late Ming to early Qing painter.
Pu Hua (c. 1834-1911), style name Zuoying, was a painter and calligrapher from Jiaxing, and a close friend of Ren Bonian, sharing both artistic affinities and social connections within Shanghai’s vibrant art circles. He became known for his expressive, free-flowing brushwork in landscapes and ink bamboo. Pu Hua was known to frequently acquire works by Ren Bonian after the master’s death in 1896, continuing until his own passing in 1911.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Xiling Yinshe Auction, Hangzhou, 14 July 2024, lot 2487
Price: CNY 345,000 or approx. EUR 41,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Three Turtles, Ren Yi (1840-1896)
Expert remark: Compare the related subject, note the size (40 x 31.5 cm) and that this work dates from 1885.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
108
A SMALL BRONZE ‘OWL’ WATER DROPPER, EASTERN HAN DYNASTY
Expert’s note: Bronze water droppers first appeared in China during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), when they were devised as practical tools for the scholar’s desk. Used to dispense small drops of water for grinding ink, they complemented the inkstone and brush, forming an essential part of early writing culture. Archaeological finds from Han tombs confirm their presence, often in simple animal or vessel forms. These early bronzes mark the origin of a tradition that continued in ceramics, jade, and precious materials throughout later dynasties.
China, 25-220 AD. Boldly cast as an owl standing on its two feet, the sculpture supported by the bird’s long and broad tail incised with a cross-hatched pattern, the teardrop-shaped wings folded neatly against the sides and detailed with wavy feathers, the face with a quizzical expression marked by large round eyes flanked by pointed ears, the short curved beak agape forming the vessel’s spout, framed by neatly incised plumage.
Provenance: Collection of Didrik C. Bildt, Sweden. Collection of Reinhold Holtermann, by family tradition inherited from the above. Thence by descent in the same family. Didrik Carl Bildt (1879-1933) was a Swedish explorer and art collector. After serving as a lieutenant in the Svea Life Guards, he undertook extensive journeys around the world, traveling to Asia for the first time in 1902. Before his premature death, he entrusted parts of the art collection he had amassed over his lifetime to the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, which still preserves objects acquired during his travels. Reinhold Oscar Christian Holtermann (1899-1960) was a Swedish painter, cartoonist, and experimental filmmaker who received notable recognition for his prolific creative career during his lifetime. In acknowledgment of his artistic contributions, he was nominated for membership in the Swedish Academy of Fine Arts.
Condition: Very good condition overall, with expected wear and minor casting irregularities. Showing signs of burial, weathering, small nicks, and light surface scratches. The stopper was likely made of wood or another perishable organic material, as none of the other known examples from this group have preserved their stoppers. The bronze exhibits a fine, naturally developed dark patina with areas of malachite and cuprite encrustation.
Weight: 448.3 g
Dimensions: Height 11.6 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bronze owl-form vessel illustrated by Regina Krahl, Collection Julius Eberhardt. Early Chinese Art, vol. 3, Hong Kong, 2011, p. 72f.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Near identical
Auction: Nagel Stuttgart, 12 June 2023, lot 21
Price: EUR 23,850 or approx. EUR 25,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze candle stand in the shape of an [sic] standing owl, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the near identical form, decoration, manner of casting, and size (11.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
Reinhold Oscar Christian Holtermann (c. 1945)
Portrait of Didrik Carl Bildt taken during one of his expeditions, c. 1905
109
A RARE ROCK CRYSTAL FIGURE OF A BEAR, WESTERN HAN DYNASTY
China, 206 BC-8 AD. Exquisitely worked in the round as a crouching bear, the animal portrayed with an alert gaze above a well-pronounced snout, the head flanked by a pair of ears formed with S-shaped ridges extending along the beast’s jaws and detailed with fine incisions repeated along the legs and tail simulating fur, the muscular body further skillfully rendered with a well-defined outline and depicted with curved claws and firm paws. The right-hind leg pierced with an aperture.
Provenance: English trade, acquired from a private estate in Somerset, United Kingdom.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, signs of burial and traces of weathering, natural fissures and inclusions, few small nicks, scattered light surface scratches, minuscule losses.
Weight: 193.1 g
Dimensions: Length 9 cm
Carved in the round, this amply-proportioned bear has large eyes, ears pulled back, a thick neck, and a hanging abdomen that almost touches the ground. Whether recumbent, standing, or strolling, it has a lovely pose of leisure and ease. The bear is depicted bending its body and stretching its neck, tilting its head slightly to the right. Its surface polished throughout, with a small number of short, finely incised lines depicting hair. Its realism is comparable to that of a white jade bear excavated from the ruins of the temple of the Weiling Mausoleum of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty in Xianyang, Shaanxi. See Liu Yunhui, Shaanxi chutu Handai yuqi [Han dynasty jades excavated in Shaanxi], Beijing and Taipei, 2009, p. 272.
Bears were depicted in Chinese art at least as early as the Shang dynasty and have been a popular totemic emblem since ancient times. From the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) onwards, and probably even much earlier, bears have also been linked with military prowess, shamanism, and immortality. It might be noted that the words for ‘bear’ and ‘virility’ are exact homonyms, pronounced in Chinese as ‘xiong’.
Literature comparison: Compare a group of eight related rock crystal animal carvings, dated to the Han dynasty, 1.5 cm-2.3 cm wide, with Ben Janssens Oriental Art.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Los Angeles, 7 May 1999, lot 45
Price: USD 23,000 or approx. EUR 38,500 (for two) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Two rare rock crystal bears, Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related material and subject. Note the smaller size (3.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2023, lot 3832
Price: HKD 381,000 or approx. EUR 43,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade bear, Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar expression and incised fur. Note the smaller size (4.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A RARE ARCHAIC BONE FIGURE OF A TIGER, WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY
China, 1046-771 BC. Finely carved standing foursquare atop a shaped pedestal covered in silk brocade, the beast with its mouth open in a snarl revealing sharp fangs and a lolling tongue, all below a wide snout and bulging eyes, framed by lopsided ears, and the body carved with raised swirls.
Provenance: From the Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York, USA and thence by descent in the family. E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967. Run by Edith (19392012) and Joel Frankel (1937-2018), it was one of the oldest galleries in the United States focusing exclusively on Asian art. Leaders in their field, the Frankels traveled the world in search of Asian art treasures and educated the general public about their shared passion. Their gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City became a local institution, best known for its regular schedule of innovative thematic exhibitions, and frequently visited by the biggest names in the field, such as Eskenazi, Ellsworth, Junkunc, and the Alsdorfs.
Condition: Good condition with wear and natural imperfections. Small losses, extensive weathering and erosion, and scattered nicks and scratches. The base drilled with a small hole.
Weight: 34.8 g (excl. stand), 52.1 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 6 cm (excl. stand), 8.3 cm (incl. stand)
With a fitted silk-brocade box, cover and matching stand. (2)
Bone was widely used for both practical and decorative purposes in ancient China. It was made into vessels, spoons, and personal adornments. This bone carving of a roaring tiger was probably used as an amulet or talisman, protecting its wearer from harm and danger.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 10 April 2025, lot 84
Price: EUR 5,850
Description: A rare turquoise-inlaid bone figure of a cockerel, Western Zhou dynasty Expert remark: Compare the identical material and manner of carving with similar decorative motifs. Note the similar size (6.4 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2013, lot 1192
Price: USD 30,000 or approx. EUR 35,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare carved bone figure of a tiger, late Shang dynasty, 11th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related identical material and manner of carving with similar decorative motifs.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A RARE AND IMPRESSIVE BLACK STONE FIGURE OF A LION, TANG DYNASTY
China, 618-907. Naturalistically and powerfully carved seated on its hind legs, the beast’s forepaws supporting its strong body, the ferocious expression defined by the tightly pressed mouth baring teeth, wide bulging eyes, and a flaring snout, the beast’s majestic mane arranged in neatly detailed thick curls.
Provenance: From the Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York. An old inventory label to the foot, ‘[…]ng, 7,500’. E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967.
Condition: Superb condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, traces of weathering, encrustations, structural fissures, scratches, and nicks. All as expected for an authentic stone lion from the Tang dynasty.
Weight: 2,208.6 g
Dimensions: Height 13 cm, Length 15.5 cm
This piece marks an important stylistic shift from the more abstract depictions of lions of the preceding Northern Qi and Sui dynasties, and displays the vigorousness and boldness characteristic of Tang sculptures. The Tang dynasty saw an unprecedented flowering of the arts, resulting from political and military stability and a general openness to foreign trade. Lions were among the most prized tributary items presented to the Tang court by emissaries from the western regions of India and Central Asia. After receiving a lion as tribute from Samarkand in 635, Emperor Taizong (598-649) is recorded to have commissioned a poem in its honor from the court poet Yu Shinan (558-638). Lions were also sent from Samarkand, Khotan and as far as the Arabian Peninsula.
Tang carvers and artists strived to successfully display the animal’s majestic demeanor, its ferociousness and strength.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 March 2012, lot 1764
Price: USD 458,500 or approx. EUR 583,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A magnificent carved black limestone figure of a lion and prey
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar ferocity, curled mane, and base. Note the much larger size (28.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
112
AN EXTREMELY RARE TURQUOISE CONG, LATE NEOLITHIC PERIOD, QIJIA CULTURE
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to c. 2100-1600 BC. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 1 March 2024, accompanies this lot. Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind.
Expert’s note: No other cong carved from turquoise have been recorded in private or public collections in the west, although a few jade cong have been inlaid with turquoise, see Gu Fang, Jade Cong and Bi of the Qijia Culture, in Qijia: Jades of the Qijia and Related Northwestern Cultures of Early China, c. 2100-1600 BCE, New York, 2008.
China, c. 2100-1600 BC. Finely carved and superbly polished, the thick-walled cong with straight edges and a cylindrical interior skillfully hollowed. Each side with squared, projecting corners and divided with a gently recessed vertical band to the center. The opaque stone of a vibrant robin’s egg blue shifting into deeper bluish-green tones, interspersed with natural russet veining.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Condition: Very good condition with wear and natural imperfections. Signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering. The surface dotted with scattered encrustations.
Weight: 303.9 g
Dimensions: Height 9.2 cm
Turquoise was probably first exploited in China as early as 7000 BC, its luminous blue-green hue treasured from the Peiligang Culture onward. Initially worked into small pendants and beads, the stone’s use broadened in the later Neolithic to include shapes more often rendered in jade. These pieces—whether ceremonial tools, ornaments, or plaques—were worked entirely from turquoise rather than inlaid, their forms echoing prestigious jade types while showcasing the distinctive color and texture of the mineral.
By the dawn of the Bronze Age, Erlitou-period workshops, situated close to the palatial core, refined turquoise working to an extraordinary degree. Large objects, sometimes composed of many finely cut elements, stood alongside pure turquoise carvings, underscoring the material’s role in elite display and ritual performance. In these works, turquoise was not merely an alternative to jade, but a medium in its own right—valued for its rarity, saturated color, and the exceptional skill required to transform small nodules into imposing ceremonial forms.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
113
A COLOSSAL DARK GREEN JADE CONG, QIJIA CULTURE
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to the Qijia culture. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed and notarized copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 25 July 2008, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012).
China, 2400-1600 BC. Of classic one-tier form, finely carved and superbly polished, the cong with plain, gently curved sides and short circular collars to the top and bottom, the interior of circular section skillfully hollowed. The opaque stone of varying shades of pale green with creamy inclusions and veins.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York. With two collector’s labels applied to the cylindrical interior, inscribed ‘3388’ and ‘51410’. Condition: Very good condition with old wear, distinct signs of weathering and erosion, including small chips and nibbles, which have smoothened over time. The stone with natural inclusions and fissures.
Weight: 8.0 kg (excl. stand), 10.0 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 10.9 cm, Length 45.3 cm (excl. stand)
With an associated black-lacquered metal stand intended to mount the cong along its diagonal axis. (2)
Expert’s note: This particular example of jade cong is an extraordinary masterpiece, featuring a spectacular combination of plain form, nearflawless mineral of true dark green tone, and an exceptionally monumental scale. The latter attribute aligns it directly with the renowned Royal Jade Cong, unearthed in the tomb at the Fanshan cemetery, the richest of all Liangzhu burial sites in terms of both quantity and quality of grave goods.
The Royal Jade Cong is remarkable for its impressive dimensions, measuring 17.5 centimeters wide and weighing 6.5 kilograms. It has accordingly been referred to as the ‘King of Cong’ and is widely regarded as one of the most impressive examples of jade cong from the Liangzhu culture. Notably, the dimensions and weight of the present cong exceed even those of the Royal Jade Cong.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 May 2021, lot 2912
Price: HKD 2,250,000 or approx. EUR 275,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing)
Description: A massive, mottled brown and buff jade cong, Western Zhou to Western Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form and manner of carving. Note the much smaller size (15 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
Dr. Gu Fang
114
AN EXTREMELY RARE CELADON AND RUSSET JADE ‘KNEELING FIGURE’, SHANG DYNASTY
China, c. 1200 BC. Exquisitely carved, depicted with the head facing forward and slightly upward, the figure rendered kneeling with the body upright and the hands resting on the knees, portrayed with large eyes, a broad nose, and full lips, flanked by ears subtly detailed in thread relief, the chest, back, arms, and thighs similarly decorated with scrolling motifs. The back of the head pierced with two apertures. The semi-translucent stone of a pale green tone with creamy-beige shadings, russet patches, cloudy inclusions, and areas of calcification.
Provenance: From the collection of David Taylor (1876-1958), passed down through the Taylor family to his descendants. David Taylor (1876-1958), a prominent British businessman based in Belfast, owned several commercial properties and a substantial portfolio of stocks and shares. During his travels to East Asia in the early 20th century, he acquired numerous jades, including the present lot.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, traces of weathering and signs of prolonged burial, minuscule nibbling.
Weight: 63 g
Dimensions: Height 4.9 cm
Kneeling figures of this type are among the rarest jade artifacts from the Shang dynasty. Examples carved with related features have been found at the tomb of Lady Hao, dated to around 1200 BC, suggesting that this piece was made at around the same time. While the identification and function of these kneeling figures is a matter of speculation, their rarity suggests that “they are likely to have been extremely valuable and to have offered Fu Hao some sort of power or access to power” (see Jessica Rawson, Mysteries of Ancient China, London, 1996, page 108).
About a kneeling jade figure from the Tomb of Fu Hao, Ai Weiwei notes that “Some people believe this small carving represents Fu Hao herself, but I believe it’s more mythological than memorial in function — a ritual object related to a higher power” (see Ai Weiwei on a Shang Dynasty jade from the tomb of Fu Hao, published in ‘It Speaks to Me: Art That Inspires Artists’, 2019).
The Tomb of Fu Hao is an archaeological site at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within the modern city of Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by Zheng Zhenxiang, it was identified as the final resting place of the queen and military general Fu Hao, who died about 1200 BC. She was likely to have been the Lady Hao inscribed on oracle bones by king Wu Ding as well as one of his many wives. The artifacts unearthed within the grave included 755 jade objects, among them besides contemporary Shang jades also Longshan, Liangzhu, Hongshan, and Shijiahe jades. It is to date the only Shang royal tomb found intact with its contents and excavated by archaeologists, never having been looted probably due to its considerable distance from other known tombs.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2 April 2019, lot 3412
Price: HKD 1,000,000 or approx. EUR 121,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An extremely rare white and russet jade ‘kneeling figure’, Shang dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling with similar pose, and manner of carving with similar thread-relief decorations and pierced aperture to the back of the head. Note the size (4 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A CELADON AND BROWN JADE ‘DRAGON AND BIRD’ PENDANT, SHANG DYNASTY
China, c. 1600-1046 BC. Finely carved as a bird and dragon locked in combat, shown in profile. The eyes and mouth neatly detailed in thread relief, their bodies with scroll and lozenge designs. The dragon’s tail is pierced with a single aperture. The translucent stone of a celadon tone with russet-brown shadings and areas of creamy calcification.
Provenance: From the collection of David Taylor (1876-1958), passed down through the Taylor family to his descendants. David Taylor (1876-1958), a prominent British businessman based in Belfast, owned several commercial properties and a substantial portfolio of stocks and shares.
During his travels to East Asia in the early 20th century, he acquired numerous jades, including the present lot. His grandfather, Sir David Taylor (1815-1904), was born in Perth, Scotland, and relocated to Belfast in 1842, where he served as mayor in 1867, and again in 1883 and 1884.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, traces of weathering and signs of prolonged burial, minuscule nibbling, old smoothened losses, the stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks.
Weight: 40 g
Dimensions: Length 10.1 cm
In the late Shang period, personal ornamentation regained prominence, as seen in the hundreds of jade, bone, and ivory adornments uncovered in the tomb of Fu Hao at Anyang. Many of these were shaped as animals, both real, like birds, and mythical, such as dragons. While archaeological records often lack precise information on how such pendants were worn, it is plausible they were assembled into necklaces, pectorals, or suspended from the waist. A notable example comes from Tomb M2 at the site of Liulihe (Fangshan, Beijing, 10th century BC), where the head of the deceased was encircled by hundreds of small beads, shells, and jade pendants in the form of blades and animals, including birds, fish, dragons, and rabbits. Pendants that combine both a bird and a dragon, as seen in the present lot, are particularly rare.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jade plaque depicting the same subject, dated to the Shang dynasty, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1987.518. Compare a related jade pendant in the form of two addorsed birds, dated to the Shang dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2020, lot 2717
Price: HKD 625,000 or approx. EUR 75,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A dark celadon jade parrot form pendant, Shang dynasty, c. 1600-1046
BC Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, and stone.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
Sir David Taylor, Mayor of Belfast (1867 and 1883-1884), grandfather of David Taylor (1876-1958)
116
AN IMPORTANT AND RARE
‘FU HAO
TYPE’ ALTERED WHITE JADE CARVING OF AN OWL, LATE SHANG DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to 1600-1100 BC. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 27 February 2024, accompanies this lot.
China, 13th-11th century BC. Finely carved in the round as an owl standing on its feet and tail, with the head held high and accentuated with a pair of raised round eyes and sharp hooked beak, the breast rendered rounded, further portrayed with a pair of wings curving to the back incised with stylized plumage. The back of the head is pierced at an angle with two holes connecting to each other. The opaque stone is now of a mottled ivory white and creamybeige tone with pale russet patches.
Provenance: Victor Choi, Dragon Culture, Hong Kong, 2007. A private collection in New York, acquired from the above. Victor Choi is an important dealer, scholar, and impassioned collector of Chinese antiques and works of art based in Hong Kong, whose gallery Dragon Culture has been a fixture on Hollywood Road for decades.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. The stone with few natural fissures, some of which may have developed into tiny hairline cracks. Signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering with associated tiny losses. Minor nicks here and there, some shallow surface scratches, and minuscule nibbling.
Weight: 74.1 g
Dimensions: Height 4.7 cm
Owl carvings like the present lot are among the rarest jade artifacts from the Shang dynasty. A closely related example, with similar features, was discovered in the tomb of Lady Hao, dated to around 1200 BC, suggesting that this piece was likely created during the same period.
The Tomb of Fu Hao is an important archaeological site located at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within modern-day Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the tomb was identified as the final resting place of Queen and military general Fu Hao, who died around 1200 BC. The tomb contained an extraordinary array of artifacts, including 755 jade objects, which encompassed both contemporary Shang jades and older pieces. Notably, the Tomb of Fu Hao is the only Shang royal tomb discovered intact, with its contents undisturbed, likely due to its remote location, far from other known burial sites. This pristine condition has provided invaluable insights into Shang dynasty culture and the significance of jade in their ritual practices.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2020, lot 2716
Price: HKD 687,500 or approx. EUR 81,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade carving of an owl, Shang dynasty, c. 1600-1046 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, motifs, and subject, with similar double-line grooves. Note the size (3.5 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2016, lot 3202
Price: HKD 4,620,000 or approx. EUR 594,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important and rare celadon jade carving of an owl
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, motifs, and subject, with similar double-line grooves. Note the size (4.1 cm) different ears and beak.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE ‘FU HAO TYPE’ TURQUOISE MATRIX ‘HUMAN FIGURE’ PENDANT, SHANG DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to the Warring States period. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed and notarized copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 12 February 2025, accompanies this lot.
China, c. 1600-1100 BC. Finely carved as a human figure seated upright with his arms resting on his bent knees, the face boldly modeled with almondshaped eyes, a broad nose, and full lips, flanked by elongated ears carved in the form of C-shaped scrolls, the head surmounted by a small loop for suspension as a pendant. The opaque stone of a deep turquoise hue, mottled with dark-brown patches and fine rivering.
Provenance: Collection of Michael Robins, Santa Fe, Mexico, acquired in Hong Kong before 2009. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, natural imperfections, signs of burial, traces of weathering, erosion, small losses to the back, the stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks.
Weight: 19.2 g
Dimensions: Height 4.4 cm
The present figure, with its human form and seated pose, can be compared to a group of humanoid and anthropomorphic figures shown either seated upright like the current lot or kneeling, in both cases with the arms resting upon the bent knees. Such examples have for example been found at the tomb of Lady Hao, dated to around 1200 BC, suggesting that this piece was likely created during the same period. While the precise identification and function of these figures remains speculative, Jessica Rawson writes “they are likely to have been extremely valuable and to have offered Fu Hao some sort of power or access to power”, see Mysteries of Ancient China, 1996, p. 108.
The Tomb of Fu Hao is an important archaeological site located at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within modern-day Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the tomb was identified as the final resting place of Queen and military general Fu Hao, who died around 1200 BC. The tomb contained an extraordinary array of artifacts, including 755 jade objects. In addition, approximately 500 other objects made from a variety of precious materials were also unearthed, including bone hairpins, combs, and knives, copper mirrors, ivory cups, and ornamental objects fashioned from turquoise, malachite, and agate. Notably, the Tomb of Fu Hao is the only Shang royal tomb discovered intact, with its contents undisturbed, likely due to its remote location.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related jade figure of a kneeling man, dated to the Shang dynasty BC, 4.3 cm high, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.50.317, and illustrated by Max Loehr and Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber, Ancient Chinese Jades from the Greenville L. Winthrop Collection in the Fogg Art Museum, 1975, no. 121.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 15 March 2021, lot 8
Price: USD 24,062.50 or approx. EUR 25,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A turquoise matrix figural owl pendant, Shang dynasty or later Expert remark: Compare the closely related stone with mottled turquoise hue, dark-brown patches, and rivering. Note the similar size (4 cm), double-line grooves, and different subject.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
118 A RARE CELADON AND BROWN JADE ‘BIRD’ PENDANT, LATE SHANG DYNASTY
China, 13th-11th century BC. Well carved as a bird with slightly hooked beak, its wings placed against its sides and its claws tucked underneath. The eyes are finely incised and the wings detailed with characteristic double-line grooves. Pierced vertically through the center for suspension as a pendant. The semi-translucent stone is of a celadon tone with brown shading and veins, as well as creamy calcification.
Provenance: From an Italian private collection. Zacke, Vienna, 28 April 2017, lot 55. A private collection in Vienna, Austria, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, traces of weathering and signs of prolonged burial, minuscule nibbling, a tiny chip to the cord hole, and areas of calcification.
Weight: 26 g
Dimensions: Height 4.1 cm
The style of this jade bird is closely related to one from the tomb of Fu Hao, on display at the National Museum of China. The Tomb of Fu Hao is an important archaeological site located at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within modern-day Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by archaeologist Zheng Zhenxiang, the tomb was identified as the final resting place of Queen and military general Fu Hao, who died around 1200 BC. Fu Hao is believed to be the Lady Hao mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions by King Wu Ding and one of his many wives. The tomb contained an extraordinary array of artifacts, including 755 jade objects, which encompassed both contemporary Shang jades and older pieces from the Longshan, Liangzhu, Hongshan, and Shijiahe cultures. Notably, the Tomb of Fu Hao is the only Shang royal tomb discovered intact, with its contents undisturbed, likely due to its remote location, far from other known burial sites. This pristine condition has provided invaluable insights into Shang dynasty culture and the significance of jade in their ritual practices.
PUBLISHED
Filippo Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition Zacke, Vienna, 2007, p. 130, no. 147.
Literature comparison: Compare a related jade bird, dated to the Shang period, excavated in 1976 at Yinxu, Anyang, Henan province from the tomb of Fu Hao (c. 1250 BC), illustrated in ‘Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’, Yinxu yuqi (Jades from Yinxu), Wenwu Chubanshe, Beijing 1981, pl. 63, where it is described as a swallow. Compare a related celadon jade bird, dated to ca. 1300-1050 BC, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1987.590.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2023, lot 639
Price: USD 91,440 or approx. EUR 88,500, converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaic jade bird, Late Shang / Zhou dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and manner of carving with similar double-line grooves. Note the size (3.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A CELADON JADE ‘HORSE AND DRAGON’ PENDANT, SONG-YUAN DYNASTY, EXCAVATED FROM THE CHAO PHRAYA
galloping horse with a long curved tail
the legs, the head surmounted by a ferocious dragon with sinuously coiled body, subtly detailed with scroll designs.
Expert’s note: The present lot was recovered in the 1970s during an underwater excavation in the Chao Phraya near the Old Royal Palace (Wang Luang) within Ayutthaya Historical Park. The Chao Phraya river system underpinned the rise of central Thai polities and, ultimately, the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351-1767). Contacts with Song and Yuan China had brought merchants, craftsmen, and migrants—and their belongings—into the region, and Ayutthaya maintained regular tributary missions and robust maritime trade with the Ming and Qing. This jade likely arrived through trade or tribute; how or when it entered the river remains unknown. Heavily corroded iron adheres to the jade, indicating it was once set into some kind of metal hardware, such as an armor, rather than worn as a free pendant. The horse motif and restrained incised detailing sit comfortably in a Song–Yuan frontier aesthetic that blended Chinese workshop style with steppe equestrian taste.
Provenance: Discovered in the Chao Phraya river system by divers in the 1970s. The collection of a Thai university professor, acquired from the above.
The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum, acquired from the above via a local antiques dealer. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe. Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear. The jade is attached to a heavily corroded iron fitting showing extensive encrustation. The jade itself with little nibbling.
Weight: 154.6 g
Dimensions: Height 6 cm (the jade), Length 9 cm (the bronze)
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
China, circa 10th-14th century. Finely carved in openwork to depict a
sweeping underneath
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum Dr. István Zelnik
Ruins of Wat Chaiwatthanaram, built in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, by the Chao Phraya
A RARE CELADON JADE CARVING OF A DRAGON, WARRING STATES PERIOD
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to 475-221 BC. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 15 March 2006, accompanies this lot.
China, 475–221 BC. Superbly carved, the sinuous beast shown in profile and elegantly worked in a dynamic pose, one forelimb extended as it strides forward, its tail curling gracefully over its back, the animated head raised with jaw wide open and whiskers and mane trailing in stylized scrolls. The body subtly incised with C-scrolls and hook-scrolls, as well as minute incision work to the haunches and agile limbs. The translucent stone with large areas of calcification, now of a creamy ivorywhite color with nuances of sage-green and russet-brown.
Dr. Gu Fang
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering, few small chips, the stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 33.6 g
Dimensions: Width 9.1 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jade dragon-form pendant exhibited in the Museo d’Arte Orientale, Giade cinesi. L’arte rivelata dalla scienza (Chinese Jades. Art Revealed by Science), Turin, 6 April-25 June 2017.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 May 2025, lot 3760
Price: HKD 571,500 or approx. EUR 62,500 converted at the time of
writing
Description: A jade ‘winged dragon’ pendant, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, decoration, and subject, with similar features and expression. Note the size (6.9 cm) and later date.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A GREEN JADE ‘TIGER’ PENDANT, EASTERN ZHOU DYNASTY, WARRING STATES PERIOD
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to the Warring States period. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 24 February 2024, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012).
China, 475–221 BC. Elegantly carved, the crouching feline shown in profile and densely carved on both sides with scroll designs as well as incised striations to the curling tail. The mouth, spine, and tail pierced with suspension holes. The translucent stone is of a sage-green tone with icy inclusions.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Condition: Excellent condition with expected wear, natural imperfections, signs of prolonged burial, and traces of weathering. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.
Weight: 64.3 g
Dimensions: Length 13.4 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related jade tiger pendant dated to the Spring and Autumn period, exhibited in the Xinli Museum, Wuxi, A Thousand Years of the Tiger’s Leap – Xinli Fine Jade Tiger Exhibition, 1 January – 1 March 2022.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2015, lot 580 Price: USD 40,000 or approx. EUR 46,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A buff-colored opaque jade tiger pedant, China, Eastern Zhou dynasty, 6th-5th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related motif, manner of carving, and decoration. Note the size (10.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A RARE GILT-JADE FIGURE OF A BEAR, HAN DYNASTY
Expert’s note: The surface retains extensive layers of pigments and gilding, characteristic of ancient decorative techniques. In a few small areas, the coating—composed of barium sulfate with silicate minerals, iron and potassium chlorides, copper, and traces of gold and brass— has been partially removed with modern tools to reveal the jade beneath. Microscopic steel shavings confirm this surface intervention in the last 100 years, though the jade core remains untouched and well preserved.
China, 206 BC-220 AD. Finely carved as a plump bear seated on its haunches in a moment of repose as it scratches a spot immediately behind its right ear with its right forepaw. At peace with itself and with the world, the bear appears to be enjoying the moment. The powerful animal with the mouth open revealing sharp teeth, its rotund body with engorged mammary glands, neatly detailed with scroll designs.
The stone of a deep celadon tone and richly decorated with thick, ancient gilding.
Provenance: From the Estate of Edith and Joel Frankel, New York. E & J Frankel was a major New York gallery specializing in Asian Art since 1967. Run by Edith (1939-2012) and Joel Frankel (1937-2018), it was one of the oldest galleries in the United States focusing exclusively on Asian art. Leaders in their field, the Frankels traveled the world in search of Asian art treasures and educated the general public about their shared passion. Their gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City became a local institution, best known for its regular schedule of innovative thematic exhibitions, and frequently visited by the biggest names in the field, such as Eskenazi, Ellsworth, Junkunc, and the Alsdorfs. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, signs of weathering, encrustations, corrosion, losses to gilt.
Weight: 257.8 g
Dimensions: Height 7.6 cm
From the Han dynasty onward, and probably even much earlier, bears have been linked with military prowess, shamanism, and immortality. As a corollary, it might be noted that the words for “bear” and “virility” are exact homonyms, not only in modern Mandarin Chinese, in which both are pronounced xiong, but also in ancient Chinese, a connection that likely speaks for itself in terms of symbolism. Bears were depicted in Chinese art at least as early as the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–c. 1050 BC), as evinced by three jade bears excavated in 1976 from the tomb of Lady Fu Hao (died c. 1200 BC), Anyang, Henan province, and by a jade bear in the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection at the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1943.50.308.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A RARE CELADON AND BROWN JADE ‘DRAGON’ PENDANT, HAN DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to 206 BC – 220 CE. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 31 August 2021, accompanies this lot. Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012).
China, 206 BC-220 AD. Superbly carved, the S-shaped pendant of traditional angular shape balanced by soft, curvilinear wisps and scrolls to depict a sinuous dragon, decorated on either side with interlocked T-scrolls with raised bosses, as well as incised striations to denote whiskers and facial hair. The semi-translucent stone of pale celadon hue with patches of dark brown as well as dark inclusions and opaque ivory-white calcification.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Condition: Excellent condition with wear and natural imperfections. Signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering. The stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into small hairline cracks.
Weight: 105.1 g
Dimensions: Height 15.7 cm
The popularity of ornamental jade pendants during the Han dynasty represents a revitalization of jade craft that had advanced considerably during the Warring States, but that had declined during the Qin and early Han periods.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related jade dragon pendant, Western Han dynasty, dated to the 2nd century BC, 18 cm high, excavated at Shizishan in 1994-1995, now in the Xuzhou Museum, Jiangsu, and illustrated by A.R. Miller in Jade, Imperial Identity, and Sumptuary Reform, Jia Yi’s Xin Shu, Dao 15, (2016), p. 118, fig. 3. Compare a closely related jade dragon pendant included in a special exhibition of Pre-Han and Han jade at the Aurora Museum, Shanghai (fig. 1)
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
1
fig.
AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND LARGE DARK GREEN JADE ‘CHILONG’ DISK, ROYAL BI, HAN DYNASTY
Expert authentication: Dr. Gu Fang has examined the present lot and confirms its authenticity and the dating above, noting the style of cutting, workmanship, thickness and quality of stone with decomposed areas indicating burial all suggest a dating to 206 BC-220 CE. He assessed it as a piece of notably good quality. A signed copy of Dr. Gu’s expertise, dated 16 September 2024, accompanies this lot. Dr. Gu Fang (born 1962) is an internationally renowned scholar of Chinese art and a leading authority on jades. He graduated from the Department of Archaeology at the prestigious Beijing University in 1986 and later studied at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where he now serves as a Senior Fellow specializing in archaeological excavations and Chinese jade research. A former visiting scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he has authored several books on Chinese jades, including the 15-volume The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China (2007), one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, as well as Chinese Jade: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Jade in China (2012).
China, 206 BC-220 CE. The circular disc is carved on both sides around the central aperture with a field of raised nodes within a hexagonal grid pattern, enclosed by inner and outer raised borders, and is surmounted by a pair of confronted dragons carved in openwork and shown in profile, their sinuous bodies richly incised to denote whiskers and fur, the heads and furcated tails similarly detailed, the semi-translucent stone of deep green celadon hue with paler shadings, dark-brown patches, and cloudy as well as russet inclusions.
Provenance: From a private collection in New York, United States. Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, signs of prolonged burial and traces of weathering, encrustations, minor nibbling to the outer edges, the stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into minor hairline cracks.
Weight: 345 g Dimensions: Height 25.8 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related green jade bi, dated to the Han dynasty, in the collection of the Hebei Museum, and exhibited by the Qingdao Museum, Ji Di Han Feng: Exhibition of Han Dynasty Cultural Relics from the Hebei Museum Collection, 27 July-20 October 2019. Compare a related jade bi with similar nodes within a grid pattern and surmounted by mythical beasts, dated to the Eastern Han dynasty, ca. 22 cm wide, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1916.155 (fig. 1). Compare a related earlier jade bi with dragon motif dated to the Eastern Zhou dynasty, 16.5 cm high, in the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, object number 33-81. Compare related white jade bi disk dated to the Western Han dynasty, excavated at Han Tomb No. 1 at Lingshan, Mancheng, Hebei, 25.9 cm high, in the Hebei Museum.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 November 2024, lot 3809
Price: HKD 2,640,000 or approx. EUR 294,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An exceptionally rare and large white jade ‘chilong’ disc, bi, Eastern Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and manner of carving with similar nodes within a grid pattern and mythical beasts carved in openwork. Note the closely related size (25.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
fig. 1
Dr. Gu Fang
A HIGHLY IMPORTANT ARCHAIC YELLOW JADE BI DISK, ON AN IMPERIALLY INSCRIBED ZITAN STAND, FROM THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE QIANLONG EMPEROR (HONGLI)
The jade bi disc from the Han dynasty, China, 206 BC-220 AD. Finely carved in low relief to each side with raised circular bosses neatly arranged within narrow plain borders encircling the rim and enclosing the central aperture. The translucent stone of a yellowish-beige tone with white cloudy patches, russet veining, and areas of calcification.
The stand from the Qianlong period, China, 1736-1795. Intricately carved from dark reddish-brown zitan in the form of a gui tablet with a pointed end rising from turbulently crashing waves. The front is decorated with a central carved boss showing the qian trigram encircled by two dragons, the reverse meticulously engraved and gilt with a lengthy poetic inscription. (2)
Inscriptions: The reverse with a poem written by the Qianlong Emperor, followed by two of his personal seals, ‘Bide’ (Assisting Virtue) and ‘Langrun’ (Clear and Luminous).
It followed the rites of the Zhou dynasty and aspired to the splendor of the Han capital, Even and harmonious in perfect form, like precious jade pieces set upon pedestals.
Its radiant hue reflects the morning light, And the auspicious signs of the oracle foretell a bountiful autumn harvest. Imperially composed and inscribed.
Provenance: Lempertz, Cologne, 15 November 1963, lot 1097.
Collection of Klaus Nierhoff, Wiesbaden, Germany, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of the collector’s handwritten personal notes including a picture of the present lot and a cut-out of the 1963 Lempertz catalog entry accompany this lot. Klaus Nierhoff (19262011) was a German pharmacist and an avid collector of Chinese art, particularly bronzes and jades.
Condition: Superb condition with only minor natural wear. The disk with traces of ancient weathering, minuscule nibbling, and natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks. The stand with expected natural age cracks and a small loss to the upper back. The group with a fine naturally grown patina overall.
Weight: 476 g (the disk), 876 g (total)
Dimensions: Diameter 18 cm (the disk), Height 29.9 cm (the stand)
Jades from the personal collection of Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor, are of the utmost rarity. Famed for his deep passion for ancient jades, Qianlong built the greatest personal collection ever assembled by a Chinese emperor—or indeed by any individual in history. Archaic jades from his collection form the cornerstone of the surviving Qing Imperial holdings. The Emperor personally authenticated, classified, and often composed poems in praise of cherished pieces, producing more than 800 jade-related verses among the 40,000 poems he wrote in total.
The present yellow jade bi was precisely the kind of archaic piece that most captured Qianlong’s attention. Selected for the extraordinary purity of its stone, its exceptionally smooth and luminous polish, and its remarkable state of preservation, it stood out even among the many thousands of Han dynasty bi known to him. Only such exemplary pieces were elevated to the highest status: mounted in precious zitan stands, inscribed with imperial poems and seals, and placed on display in the most favored halls of the Forbidden City.
To honor and protect his treasures, Qianlong personally commissioned the most exquisite zitan wood stands, such as the present example. In his view, while paper might last a thousand years, jade—the crystallized essence of heaven and earth—was indestructible. On occasion, he even had his own calligraphy engraved directly onto archaic jades, transforming them into both literary and artistic treasures.
The very best jades, such as the present bi, were never subject to direct inscription. Qianlong could not bring himself to alter the natural beauty of these ancient witnesses to history. Instead, he devised the practice of commissioning inscribed zitan stands, which allowed him to add his poems and seals without disturbing the purity of the jade itself. In this way, the most treasured pieces remained pristine, while at the same time being elevated into a union of antiquity, imperial verse, and precious mount.
For the most exquisite and unusual jades entering his collection, Qianlong typically recorded his personal observations in verse.
On the present bi, he wrote: “It followed the rites of the Zhou dynasty and aspired to the splendor of the Han capital, aven and harmonious in perfect form, like precious jade pieces set upon pedestals.”
Here, Qianlong consciously linked this bi to the moral authority of antiquity. The Zhou dynasty rites were, for him, the very foundation of order and legitimacy, while the Han represented imperial splendor at its height. By casting this jade as embodying both Zhou ritual orthodoxy and Han grandeur, he was implicitly situating his own reign within that unbroken lineage of civilization and virtue. The reference to evenness and harmony reflects his larger political ideal: a balanced empire where Confucian order prevailed under his rule.
He then continued: “Its radiant hue reflects the morning light, and the auspicious signs of the oracle foretell a bountiful autumn harvest.”
In these lines, Qianlong turns to the bi’s physical qualities—its luminous color, its translucency, and its divine purity—and reads them as omens of prosperity. The comparison to the morning light recalls renewal and vitality, while the mention of a bountiful harvest directly ties this jade’s perfection to the Emperor’s role as guarantor of cosmic harmony and agricultural abundance.
For Qianlong, the purity of the jade was never just aesthetic: it was hard evidence that Heaven itself endorsed his rule. As he remarked more than once, “Jades of this type are numerous, yet when I encounter this one I feel compelled to compose a poem”; and elsewhere, “I have many such pieces, but on seeing this one I am moved to write.” Such comments reveal the Emperor’s connoisseurial mindset: each bi was not simply admired as an antiquity but transformed into a vehicle for imperial reflection and authorship.
After personal inspection, Qianlong ordered the most appealing bi to be stored in the so-called “hundred treasure boxes” reserved for his favorites, with only the very best of these mounted for permanent display. While larger examples were sometimes set into heavy rectangular table screens of zitan or rosewood, this should not be taken as a measure of importance. In reality, it was not size but quality—above all color, translucency, and purity—that determined a bi’s prestige.
The Qianlong Emperor and his art collection, dated 1745-1750, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, accession number 00005313
Discs of the finest material, such as the present example, revealed their most dramatic beauty in direct interplay with sunlight. Because the sun’s angle shifted constantly, the stands for such jades were made relatively light, allowing them to be repositioned throughout the day so that the disc could catch the light and glow with its full radiance.
The present stand demonstrates the extraordinary ingenuity of the imperial craftsmen. Its front is decorated with a central carved boss showing the Qian trigram, which secures the bi safely in place. The design is both protective and practical: the boss locks the disc so it cannot slip and break, yet it does not interlock permanently, allowing the bi to be lifted out for close inspection. The precision is astonishing—the boss fits the aperture of the disc to within a tenth of a millimeter— proving beyond doubt that this very bi and this very stand were made for one another. It was a brilliantly clever invention, ensuring that the most precious jades could be admired, handled, and safeguarded all at once.
Archival records confirm that both formats were in use: bi could be “inserted into a zitan chaping (table screen)” or “mounted on a stand (zuo),” and in many cases were dispatched to the Maoqin Hall to have the Emperor’s verses carved upon them. These mounts elevated the bi beyond their archaic ritual role, presenting them instead as objects of literati contemplation and imperial self-expression.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Near identical
Auction: Beijing Poly International Auction, 6 June 2015, lot 6309
Estimate: RMB 6,800,000 or approx. EUR 1,097,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An exceptionally large and rare imperially inscribed zitanmounted in gui-shape archaic jade bi, Qianlong period, Qing dynasty/Western Han period
Expert remark: Compare an example of identical form, material, and manner of carving, inscribed with the very same poem as the present lot. It is highly likely that this stand and the present example were originally conceived as a pair.
The Imperial records are replete with such commissions. For example, in the 35th year of Qianlong’s reign (1770), a Han bi with a “sleeping cocoon” motif (蚕繭纹,cán jiˇan wén, literally “silkworm cocoon pattern”) was presented from the Ruyi Hall and ordered to be set in a dragon-engraved zitan mount; shortly thereafter it was sent to Maoqin Hall for the addition of a poem. Such entries closely parallel the present work, which bears on its reverse a Qianlong Imperial poem, accompanied by two incised and red-lacquered seals reading Bide (Assisting Virtue) and Langrun (Clear and Luminous).
Both seals are documented among the personal repertory of seals employed by the Emperor: Langrun in particular recalls his favored Langrun Garden in the Yuanmingyuan. Their presence here, together with the formula “Imperially composed and inscribed,” firmly situates the inscription within Qianlong’s characteristic practice of uniting ancient jade, precious mount, imperial verse, and seal in a single work of historical and artistic resonance.
Literature comparison: Compare a wood-mounted Qijia-culture jade bi inscribed with two Imperial poems, dated to the Qianlong period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Estimate EUR 60,000
Starting price EUR 30,000
The reverse of the present lot
126
A LARGE GRAY AND RUSSET JADE ‘WASHING THE ELEPHANT’ GROUP, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
China. Superbly carved in the round to depict an elephant standing foursquare, its massive head turned slightly to the right, with the trunk gracefully curled between its tusks to reach one of the ears. A boy dressed in voluminous robes sits on the minutely wrinkled back of the animal, pouring water from a flask onto the skin of the elephant while brandishing a brush in his other hand to scrub its folds. The semi-translucent stone of a creamy white tone with gray shadings and suffused with russet veins and patches that blend harmoniously across the surface.
Provenance: An old private collection in Taiwan. A noted private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above between around 1995 and 2005, and thence by descent. Condition: Excellent condition with minimal wear. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into fine hairline cracks.
Weight: 2,168 g
Dimensions: Length 15.6 cm
With a padded silk storage box. (2)
The subject matter of a boy assisting an elephant embodies multiple layers of meaning and auspicious symbolism in traditional Chinese art and culture. The phrase ‘qi xiang’ meaning ‘to ride an elephant’ is a homophone of ‘ji xiang’, which signifies ‘good fortune’, thus imbuing such imagery with propitious connotations. Additionally, depictions of boys cleaning or ‘washing the elephant’ serve as a visual pun symbolizing the act of sweeping away the phenomena of the outside world. This interpretation arises from the fact that word ‘xiang’ can signify both ‘elephant’ and ‘image’, reinforcing the metaphorical association between worldly appearances and illusion.
Literature comparison: The scene of washing the elephant is well known and can be found on a related jade group in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
Jadeware (III), vol. 42, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 98; and on a jade boulder in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch’ing Court, Taipei, 1997, p. 44.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 25 March 2022, lot 1260
Price: USD 75,600 or approx. EUR 73,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A creamy white jade figure of an elephant, Qing dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with a similar composition, poses, and wrinkly skin. Note the size (12.3 cm) and the creamy white color lacking the attractive russet inclusions of the present lot.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2019, lot 1174
Price: USD 50,000 or approx. EUR 54,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale greyish green jade figure of an elephant and boy, China, Qing dynasty, 18th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, manner of carving, and size (16.5 cm). Note that according to the Christie’s description, the stone shows “some opaque buff mottling and brown mottling on the reverse”.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A LARGE AND RARE JADE ‘BIXIE’ WATER POT AND COVER, LATE MING DYNASTY
China, 16th-17th century. The hollow water pot boldly carved as a crouching bixie with the head turned sharply to one side in an alert expression, the ears and horns flicked back as though preparing to pounce on its prey, the face with bulging eyes, thickly twisting brows, a ruyi-shaped snout, and a widely grinning mouth, slightly agape revealing tongue and sharp teeth. The muscular body flanked by a pair of wings, the ridged spine by rows of fur tufts terminating in a curled bifurcated tail.
The translucent stone is of a celadon tone with pale brown shadings, dark specks, icy inclusions, and russet veins, the stopper of slightly paler tone with a dark-russet patch neatly picked out by the carver.
The circular opening on its back fitted with a matching jade stopper in the form of a miniature coiled beast. (2)
Provenance: The collection of Dr. Émile Robin, and thence by descent. Dr. Émile Robin (18841971) was a French naval physician whose career brought him to China in the early 20th century. He began his service in 1905 and was stationed at the administrative center in Tientsin (Tianjin) in 1908. In 1909, he was appointed to the faculty of the Tianjin Medical School, a position that placed him at the intersection of cross-cultural exchange during a pivotal moment in Sino-French relations. During his time in China, Dr. Robin developed a deep appreciation for Asian art and culture, amassing a discerning collection of fine objects, many of which remained in his family through descent.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and traces of use, minor nibbling to the extremities, small chips around the mouth, a minute loss under the tail. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 802.1 g
Dimensions: Length 15.4 cm
This water pot reflects the thriving jade production of the Ming dynasty due to the growth of capitalism and the loosening of restrictions on jade carving. Jade became less associated with items for ritual use and was increasingly employed for everyday objects by the court and wealthy class,
such as pieces for the scholars’ desk, eating and drinking vessels and ornamentation on clothing. Collecting antique jades also grew in popularity, thus influencing the style and aesthetics of the Ming period, as seen in the Haninspired form and decoration of the present piece, see an example dated to the Western Han dynasty in the collection of the Xianyang Museum in Shaanxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji-qin han, vol. 4, Shijiazhuang, 1993, p. 109, no. 148 (fig. 1)
The 16th century writer Gao Lian recorded a white jade waterdropper in the form of a bixie made by the celebrated carver Lu Zigang of Suzhou. Described as archaic in design with a hollow body and inlaid with turquoise, vessels such as the present piece were probably inspired by Lu’s work (see James C. S. Lin, The Immortal Stone. Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, 2009, p. 57).
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jade bixie-form waterpot, 15.5 cm long, dated to the 16th century, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number C.144-1913, illustrated by Ming Wilson, Chinese Jades, 1997, no. 65.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2013, lot 431
Price: USD 75,000 or approx. EUR 89,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A finely carved jade bixie-form water dropper, Ming dynasty, 16th/17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and subject. Note the missing stopper.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Dr. Émile Robin (1884-1971)
fig. 1
A YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE ‘CHILONG’ TRIPOD CENSER, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
China. Finely carved with deep rounded sides supported on three short feet fronted by taotie masks, the sides decorated with a band of sinuous chilong amid archaistic scroll designs, the rim set with a pair of skillfully carved dragon heads issuing square loop handles suspending loose rings. The stone is of a pale greenish-yellow color with russetbrown patches, fine veins, few dark specks, and lighter gray inclusions.
Provenance: From a Portuguese private collection.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, minor nibbling along the rims, and fine natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 207.2 g
Dimensions: Length 13.4 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a related jade brush washer, dated to the Qing dynasty, 17.2 cm long, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, accession number 故玉001508N000000000. Compare a related jade bowl with similar animal mask handles, dated to the 18th century, in the British Museum, registration number 1930.1217.13.a.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 6 October 2015, lot 23
Price: HKD 437,500 or approx. EUR 58,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pale celadon jade censer, Qing dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related form, manner of carving, and size (12.7 cm). Note the floral decoration and different color.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 23 September 2020, lot 651
Price: USD 12,600 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An archaistic pale celadon jade censer, Qing dynasty, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the archaistic design, the mask handles suspending rings, and color of the jade. Note the size (15.9 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A PALE CELADON JADE FIGURE OF A RECUMBENT HORSE, 18TH
CENTURY
China. Exquisitely carved in a recumbent pose with the head turned back and feet tucked underneath the body. The head is detailed with upright ears framed by a long, meticulously incised, wavy mane that falls on either side of the neck. The stone is of a pale greenish-white tone with gray and dark-brown veins and a light russet-tinged area around the neck.
Provenance: From the Thornton Family Collection of Jades, Montreal, Canada, acquired in the local trade between the 1960s and 1990s. Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton (1915-2009) assembled one of Canada’s most significant private art collections, featuring works by prominent Canadian modern painters such as Lawren Harris and A.Y. Jackson, alongside an exceptional group of Chinese jades and snuff bottles.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear. The stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 500 g
Dimensions: Length 11.2 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2013, lot 1683
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 66,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A well-carved grey-green jade figure of a recumbent horse, 17th/18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar recumbent pose, fine facial features, and neatly incised mane and tail. Note the size (15.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton (19152009)
130
A MOTTLED GRAY JADE FIGURE OF A HORSE, LATE MING-EARLY QING DYNASTY
Expert’s note: Unlike the more conventional Qing dynasty carvings of horses depicted in recumbent poses, the present example is shown standing, emphasizing its powerful, sinewy build. This rare depiction of a standing horse—especially one of such substantial form—recalls the bold, muscular style of Tang dynasty stone and ceramic horses. Compare a much smaller, closely related jade carving of a horse standing foursquare on a rockwork base, 8.3 cm wide, dated to the late Ming dynasty, from the Sze Yuan Tang collection, at Bonhams Hong Kong, 5 April 2016, lot 55, sold for HKD $212,500 or EUR 28,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
China, 17th century. Finely carved standing foursquare with the head slightly turned inquisitively, the face modeled with a long snout, pricked ears, almond-shaped eyes, and flaring nostrils, its long mane neatly incised and falling on either side of the stout neck. The partially translucent stone of variegated hues of gray and pale celadon with cloudy inclusions, dark specks, and russet veins.
Provenance: Liberty & Co., London, 1957. A private collection in Scotland, acquired from the above and thence by descent. Copies of the invoice from Liberty & Co. and an insurance valuation letter from Spink & Son, London, dated 8 April 1976, accompany this lot.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, small scattered nicks and tiny losses around the hooves, the stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 1,478.5 g
Dimensions: Length 22.5 cm
The horse symbolizes speed, perseverance, success, and nobility, carrying a wealth of auspicious meanings through homophones and idiomatic expressions. One of the most well-known is ma dao cheng gong, meaning ‘success arrives with the horse,’ a metaphor for swift and effortless victory. The horse also embodied the aspirations and struggles of literati scholars, representing their quest for a discerning ruler who would recognize their talents—much like the legendary Bo Le, famed for his ability to identify extraordinary steeds.
Literature comparison: Compare a related gray jade figure of a resting horse, 21 cm long, dated to the Qing dynasty, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, object number 故玉002882N000000000.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 26 March 2010, lot 1088
Price: USD 32,500 or approx. EUR 41,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A mottled gray jade figure of a recumbent horse
Expert remark: Compare the closely related stone, manner of carving, and subject, with similar features, expression, incision work, color, veining, and size (25.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A GILT-DECORATED SPINACH-GREEN JADE TABLE SCREEN, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Two Chinese silver marks stamped into the silver frame.
This table screen would have formed part of the paraphernalia on a scholar’s desk, with the idyllic mountainous landscape alluding to the idealized scholar’s retreat.
The four panels are each neatly fitted into the silver frame and superbly painted in gilt with two continuous scenes, one side depicting ladies arriving on boat at an idyllic palace garden, one transversing a bridge on the back of a donkey accompanied by her attendant, another group arriving at the gate, and several are shown within pavilions and private rooms, framed by pines and rockwork.
The reverse is similarly decorated with a peacock perched on a blossoming branch of prunus, surrounded by bamboo, peonies, chrysanthemums, and other auspicious flowers issuing from rockwork, all below thick scrolling clouds on each side. The natural markings of the spinach-green jade cleverly utilized to enhance the scenes.
Provenance: From the collection of Lothian Toland, California, United States. Lothian Toland (born 1937) was the third wife of Richard ‘Red’ Skelton (1913-1997), a famous American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971. Lothian also appeared in Image Makers: The Adventures of America’s Pioneer Cinematographers (2019), a documentary highlighting the innovative techniques of early cinematographers and their enduring influence on the evolution of filmmaking.
Condition: Very good condition with only minor wear and minute manufacturing irregularities. Light rubbing to the gilt; the stone shows natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks. Overall, the gilding is exceptionally well preserved—likely a result of the remarkably high quality of the painting, which appears to have been admired and carefully preserved by successive generations.
Weight: 560 g
Dimensions: Size 28.9 x 16.2 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1103
Price: USD 62,500 or approx. EUR 71,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A pair of pale green jade gilt-decorated plaques, 18th-19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration and manner of painting. Note the pale green stone and that the lot comprises two plaques of similar size (26 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Lothian Toland and Red Skelton
A LAPIS LAZULI FIGURE OF PADMAPANI LOKESHVARA, TIBET, 12TH CENTURY
Finely carved to depict Padmapani standing in tribhanga atop a lotus base, his right hand in abhaya mudra, and the left hand holding a lotus stem which grows into a blossom at his shoulder. The body dressed in a finely pleated dhoti, with beaded necklace and armlets, his rounded face with almond-shaped eyes surmounted by a foliate tiara and tall chignon. The stone is of a dark blue hue amid numerous prominent veins of gray and white beneath shiny metallic colored flecks.
Provenance:
The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, signs of erosion, and traces of weathering, both suggesting a possible period of burial. Minor losses to exposed areas, small nicks, and a few tiny chips. Small old repairs to the chignon, right arm, and lower base. The stone with a fine overall patina.
Weight: 231 g Dimensions: Height 16.2 cm
This finely crafted depiction of Padmapani Lokeshvara is an exceptional and rare example of Tibetan sculpture carved entirely from lapis lazuli. Typically, this precious stone is used sparingly, most often as decorative inlay for a deity’s jewelry, making a figure of this scale and material highly remarkable.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 16
Estimate: HKD 250,000 or approx. EUR 31,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A lapis lazuli figure of Padmapani Lokeshvara, Tibet, circa 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, stone, and subject, with similar pose, details to the robe, and jewelry. Note the different size (7.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum
Dr. István Zelnik
133
AN UNUSUAL JADE FIGURE OF A PENSIVE BODHISATTVA, YUAN-MING DYNASTY
China, circa 14th-16th century. Superbly carved seated in lalitasana, the pad of one foot exposed with minutely worked toes, one hand resting on the lap and the other toying with the hem of a scarf which is loosely draped over each arm, wearing a voluminous dhoti which falls in pools to the feet, the underside meticulously carved to reveal the fabric’s naturalistically carved undulations.
The deity adorned modestly, the head turned to one side as he closes his eyes in deep contemplation, the rounded face with a serene expression marked by heavy-lidded eyes, a small nose, and gently pursed lips forming a calm smile. The finely incised hair tied away from the face and partially shrouded by a headdress secured with a tasseled bow.
The finely polished, translucent stone of a pale greenish yellow hue with light russet inclusions and few dark specks.
Provenance: From a private collection in the United Kingdom, and thence by descent in the same family.
Condition: Good condition overall, commensurate with age. With ancient wear, a few minute nicks, and areas of weathering and erosion. Calcification and soil encrustations suggest at least some time of burial. The stone shows a few natural fissures, some developed into small hairline cracks. Areas unaffected by calcification test at a hardness of 6.5–7 on the Mohs scale.
Weight: 748.2 g
Dimensions: Height 13.8 cm
Pensive bodhisattva images first appeared in China during the 5th and 6th centuries. Initially, the pensive pose was primarily limited to narrative scenes or secondary figures, but by the mid- to late 6th century, independent images of figures in this pose were increasingly produced, mostly in the Hebei and Shandong regions of China. This rare type originates in the Gandharan region during the Kushan period and is of extraordinary significance for further stylistic and iconographic developments throughout Asia, culminating in the iconographic type
of a seated Maitreya by the 7th century. Over time, related images of Prince Siddhartha in meditation were transmitted to East Asia, inspiring similar Chinese works called “taizi siwei xiang,” or “pensive image of the crown prince.” Especially with the beginning of the Norther Qi dynasty, this pose was increasingly used to portray Maitreya. In this position he is contemplating his impending final reincarnation and future enlightenment. See a pensive bodhisattva at the center of a marble stele, 44 cm high, dated to the 6th century, in the National Museum of Korea, accession number Deoksu4684.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare an earlier gilt-bronze figure of a pensive bodhisattva, dated to the Tang dynasty, 11 cm high, in the Shanghai Museum. Note that a bronze from this group may have served as an inspiration for the present lot.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 March 2021, lot 667
Price: USD 68,750 or approx. EUR 72,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade figure of the ‘water moon’ Guanyin, late Qing dynasty, early 20th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of carving with a similar sinuous sway to the figure. Note the size (15.8 cm) and later dating.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A FINELY CARVED ‘FURONG’ SOAPSTONE FIGURE OF AN EMACIATED LUOHAN, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
China. Seated with his left knee raised supporting his left elbow, the face with a deeply creased forehead and downcast eyes, clasping a rosary in his right hand as he meditates, and dressed in loose robes falling gracefully in voluminous folds, with neatly incised hems, and opening at the chest to reveal his chest with meticulously detailed ribcage. The bald head detailed with minute stipples evoking hair. The stone is of a pale caramel color with orange hues, red blushes, and opaque cream areas.
Provenance: Private collection, United Kingdom, inherited from the owner’s grandparents, who are said to have purchased the present lot from John Sparks, London.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few tiny nibbles, minuscule chips along the edges, and remnants of wax to the underside. The stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 137.1 g
Dimensions: Height 6.8 cm
‘Furong’ stone was first excavated from Furong mountain in the late Ming to early Qing dynasty. It is smooth and glossy, and traditionally compared by collectors to the finest nephrite.
Expert’s note: Finely carved soapstone figures of luohans in the collection of Sir Hans Sloane were bequeathed to the British Museum upon his death in 1753, with one acquired prior to 1718, illustrating that fine soapstone carvings of this type were in wide circulation by the first half of the 18th century. Three of these fourteen figures are illustrated by Roger Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art III, London, 1981, p. 209. fig. 182.
Literature comparison: For other examples of emaciated luohans, see a marble sculpture dated to the Jin dynasty and a nephrite jade figure dated to the Qing dynasty, both in the collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object numbers B60S208 and B60J234, respectively; a bamboo group dated to the 18th century at Sotheby’s New York, 19-20 March 2007, lot 708; and a silver-inlaid bronze figure dated to the 17th century at Christie’s New York, 24 September 2020, lot 912.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 March 2023, lot 1282
Price: USD 126,000 or approx. EUR 116,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and finely carved baifurong figure of a standing luohan, 17th century
Expert remark: This figure by the master carver Zhou Bin shows a remarkably similar treatment to the face. Note the size (13.7 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 11 November 2010, lot 102
Price: GBP 24,000 or approx. EUR 49,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A finely-carved soapstone figure of a luohan, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of carving with similar pose and robe. Note the size (10.9 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
The Lotus in Chinese Art, Lots 135-139
The lotus is one of the most enduring and iconic symbols in Chinese art, revered for its purity and spiritual resonance. Rising unsullied from muddy waters, it embodies transcendence, moral integrity, and the triumph of enlightenment over worldly obstacles. In Buddhism, the lotus is closely associated with the Buddha himself, often serving as his throne. In Confucian thought, it represents virtue and the upright scholar, while in Daoist tradition it conveys harmony with nature. Whether carved in jade, painted on porcelain, or carved into ceramics, the lotus carries the timeless message of renewal and perfection.
135
A RARE AND MAGNIFICENT
FAHUA GLAZED ‘LOTUS POND’ VASE, MEIPING, LATE 15TH-EARLY 16TH CENTURY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 July 2025, based on sample number P125j96, sets the firing date of one sample taken between 500 and 750 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China. Superbly potted, the baluster body rising from a spreading foot to a short waisted neck, decorated in low relief slip lines with different stages of a lotus blossom, all growing from a band of crested rolling waves, below beaded garlands suspending precious object framing the shoulders, on a rich cobalt-blue ground. The interior of the mouth covered in a translucent green glaze and the base left unglazed.
Fahua glazes are a distinctive type of Chinese ceramic decoration that emerged during the Ming Dynasty and gained prominence in the 15th and 16th centuries. These glazes are notable for their vibrant, jewel-toned colors and the complex technique used to apply them. Fahua wares involved outlining the design on the ceramic body with raised or incised lines of clay, which formed compartments. These compartments were then filled with different colored glazes, creating a design somewhat similar to cloisonné enamel work but adapted for ceramics.
Provenance: Collection of Alfred Loewenstein, thence by descent. Alfred Léonard Loewenstein (1877-1928) was a Belgian financier and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1920s. Known for his bold investments and financial acumen, he amassed a fortune through banking, electricity, and infrastructure ventures across Europe and North America. At the height of his influence, his financial empire was estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Alfred Loewenstein was not only a prominent financier but also a collector of Asian art, particularly Chinese porcelains. His life came to a mysterious and tragic end when he disappeared mid-flight over the English Channel during a private flight. His body was later recovered from the sea, but the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unsolved.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, showing ancient wear and expected firing irregularities, including a few small firing cracks. The base shows minor flaking. One fine hairline. Old repair to the neck. Two small holes from sample-taking, with associated fills.
Weight: 1.6 kg
Dimensions: Height 28.7 cm
Expert’s note: The beading around the neck resembles ornamentation on fifteenth-century Tibetan bronze altar vessels as well as figures of bodhisattvas, see Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, 2001, p. 410, no. 13:4.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related larger fahua glazed meiping with lotus decoration, 42 cm high, dated circa 1405-1505, in the British Museum, registration number Franks.67.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3186
Price: HKD 437,500 or approx. EUR 54,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fahua ‘lotus pond’ Meiping, Ming dynasty, late 15th-early 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glazes, relief decoration, lotus motif, and size (28 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
Alfred Léonard Loewenstein (1877-1928)
A FINE AND RARE CARVED DINGYAO ‘LOTUS’ VASE, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
Expert’s note: Bottles, vases, and jars were only very rarely produced by the Ding white ware kilns around Baoding city in Hebei province, which had specialized in the production of round, open shapes. Closed, upright shapes, especially with a tall slender neck as seen on the present vase, represented a much greater challenge, requiring precision in throwing to make the separately thrown parts fit, and diligence in joining to ensure neat and firm alignment, as they were much more likely to collapse or tilt in the kiln.
China, 960-1127. Of elegant and voluminous proportions, the meipingform body rising from a narrow base and sweeping to high rounded shoulders, surmounted by a tall waisted neck and flaring into a conical dish-shaped mouth with a short galleried rim, the exterior finely incised and combed with two large lotus blossoms issuing scrolling vines, and covered overall in an ivory-white glaze.
Provenance: Bluett & Sons, London, United Kingdom, first half of the 1980s. Collection of Peter Schmidt, Germany, acquired from the above, according to information he provided to the Nagel auction house at the time of the sale of his collection in 2012. Nagel, Stuttgart, 2 November 2012, Lot 603, sold for EUR 16,640 or approx. EUR 22,000 An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above. Peter Schmidt (1937-2025) was a highly influential German brand designer. His Peter Schmidt Group is currently Germany’s most successful brand and design agency. In its early years the company focused on packaging designs for consumer goods and cosmetics; in 1980, it began to design perfume bottles with great success. His most famous works include the signet of the City of Hamburg and the logo of the German Bundeswehr, and he has received countless awards and accolades for his work. He was also a passionate artist and an avid collector of Asian art. A large part of his collection was bequeathed during his lifetime to the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, including many works acquired in London from renowned dealerships such as Bluett & Sons, John Sparks, Bernheimer, and Marchant.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including few small glaze recesses.
Weight: 505 g
Dimensions: Height 23.1 cm
The understated elegance and sublime simplicity of white Ding ware evokes ideals of classical beauty to be one of the most admired ceramic wares of China to this day. True Ding ware is mostly of good quality and pleasing design, but this vessel is an exceptionally rare and outstanding example of the ware at its very best: combining exquisite material with fine potting, graceful proportions and a freely incised design that appears to have been sketched from life. Furthermore, while open vessels such as bowls and dishes were created in abundance, upright examples of this type represent a maturation of techniques of which very few examples have survived.
The booming demand for white wares is the product of a fresh aesthetic that was brought about by the newly established Song dynasty and the subsequent changes in the distribution of wealth and resources as well as a renewed discovery of the beauty of nature. In a quest to establish an identity that deviated from that of the Tang but aimed at reviving a romanticized concept of antiquity based on Han dynasty Confucian ideals, the scholar-elite of the Song promoted commercial liberalism which granted much freedom to the activities of merchants, brokers and landowners who in turn transformed the capital into a vibrant urban hub.
The present lot at Nagel, Stuttgart, 2 November 2012, Lot 603, sold for EUR 16,640 or approx. EUR 22,000 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Within this dynamic atmosphere, the Ding kilns of the Northern Song period experienced surges in development and popularity. Given the overall excellence of this white ware, it is natural that the court selected it as one of its official ceramics. Many Ding vessels were discovered in the tomb of Emperor Taizong’s empress, who died in AD 977 and was later reburied in AD 1000. A large number of Ding vessels from the Qing court collection still remain in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, several of them bearing inscriptions by the Qianlong Emperor. Most of these pieces, however, are bowls and dishes, while any upright shapes (like the present vase) are extremely rare
LITERATURE
COMPARISON
Compare a related carved Dingyao white glazed meiping vase carved with a floral design, with similarly double-lined and combed petals, dated to the Song dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, inventory number 新00059774. Compare the similar form of the upper rim and color of the glaze. Compare a related dingyao mallet-form vase with carved lotus design, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, from the Percival David Foundation and now in the British Museum, registration number PDF.103.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2017, lot 3218
Price: HKD 19,900,000 or approx. EUR 2,519,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An exceptional and extremely rare dingyao carved ‘peony’ bottle vase, Northern Song dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the color of the glaze and finely incised floral decoration. Note the different form.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Peter Schmidt
A CARVED YAOZHOU CELADON ‘LOTUS AND SAGITTARIA’ BOWL, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
Expert’s note: The decoration was incised while the clay was still leather-hard, using a deft hand and an angled blade to create the characteristic V-shaped grooves. After glazing, the celadon pooled richly in the recesses while resting thinly on the raised areas, resulting through the nuances of the firing process in a pleasing tonal contrast. The darker, more saturated green in the carved lines creates a refined sense of depth and texture, hallmark traits of the best Yaozhou wares. While Yaozhou bowls of this general pattern are well known, the inclusion of the sagittaria leaf in the present design is rare and distinguishes this example as a work of particular importance.
China, 960-1127. Finely potted with deep rounded sides supported on a short spreading foot and rising to a meticulously finger-grooved band below the lipped rim, the interior freely and exquisitely carved with lotus blossom, a furled lotus leaf, and a sagittaria leaf. The bowl is covered inside and out with a finely crackled glaze of olive-green tone, save for the unglazed foot revealing the gray body burnt to reddishbrown in the firing.
Provenance: Galerie Beurdeley, Paris, France, 1970. Collection of Docteur Rouyère, Pau, France, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of a letter from Jean-Michel Beurdeley, dated 15 July 1970, in which he offers to sell the present lot to Docteur Rouyère, accompanies this lot. A copy of a stamped invoice written and signed by Michel Beurdeley, dated 15 September 1970, confirming the dating above and stating a purchase price for the present lot of FRF 20,000 or approx. EUR 25,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Galerie Beurdeley was established in 1817 by Jean Beurdeley (1771-1853) as a shop selling curiosities and eventually rose to prominence under his grandson Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis Beurdeley (1847-1919) as the most important Chinese art gallery in Paris. After World War II, the gallery was run by Michel Beurdeley (19112012). In the early 1970s, his son Jean-Michel Beurdeley took over operations of the gallery for the next three decades before eventually moving to Thailand in 2001. Jean-Michel is a cofounder of MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai and sponsor of the Patsri Bunnag Foundation. He was honored with the French title Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2007 and promoted to Officer in 2018. Condition: Superb condition with minor wear and firing irregularities, few old shallow chips to the foot probably inherent to the manufacture, the rim with two minute glaze bruises. A Yaozhou bowl in such pristine state must be considered extremely rare.
Jean-Michel Beurdeley at Galerie Beurdeley, Paris
Weight: 509 g
Dimensions: Diameter 21.1 cm
The Yaozhou kilns were located at Huangpuzhen, Tongchuanxian, Shaanxi province, began production of a wide range of wares during the Tang dynasty. The kilns were well placed to use water transportation to the Northern Song capital at Kaifeng, and it is recorded that Yaozhou wares were presented as tribute to the Northern Song court. Both the official Song history and other literary sources mention such tribute gifts. For instance, the official gazetteer during the Yuanfeng era (1078-1085), Yuanfeng jiuyu zhi, mentions fifty sets of tribute ceramics sent to the court from Yaozhou.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 29 May 2013, lot 2216
Price: HKD 300,000 or approx. EUR 43,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Yaozhou carved celadon bowl, Song dynasty (960-1279)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, decoration, and motifs (albeit without the sagittaria leaf). Note the similar size (19 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 September 2021, lot 833
Price: USD 27,500 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A carved Yaozhou celadon bowl, Northern Song dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, decoration, motifs, and size (20.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A JIZHOU REVERSE-DECORATED
‘LOTUS’
MEIPING, SOUTHERN SONG TO YUAN DYNASTY
PUBLISHED
Song Ceramics, the Eight Kiln Groups at a Glance, Examples from the Jiyuanshanfang Collection, 2008, page 102. Mentioned in the foreword by Li Zhiyan, Research Fellow at the Beijing Palace Museum, as “an outstanding example demonstrating its bold form, coupled with delicate painting”.
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 11 July 2025, based on sample number P125j95, sets the firing date of the one sample taken between 600 and 1000 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China, 1127-1368. Skillfully painted in swift brushwork with a continuous scroll of lotus, detailed with furled leaves, the present vase is particularly notable for its black-coffee brown glaze that provides a striking contrast with the lotus in white reserve.
Provenance: The Jiyuanshanfang Collection. A noted American private collector, acquired from the above. The Jiyuanshanfang Collection is currently housed on New York’s Upper East Side and was originally founded upon an old family collection. A comprehensive catalog of the collection titled “Song Ceramics: The Eight Kiln Groups” was published in 2008 with a foreword written by Li Zhiyan, Research Fellow at the Beijing Palace Museum. Another contributor to this catalog was Martin Lorber, formerly Director of Sotheby’s New York. Jiyuanshanfang’s first exhibition was held in 2012 at the Morris Museum in New Jersey. In 2015, Jiyuanshanfang lent early Chinese ceramics to a large-scale exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach, Florida, titled “High Tea: Glorious Manifestations – East and West”.
Condition: Very good condition with minor old wear and firing flaws, few small chips to foot. The foot with five unglazed areas where the fingers held the vase while dipping it into the glaze. The foot rim with one minuscule hole from sample-taking with associated fill.
Weight: 859.1 g
Dimensions: Height 23.6 cm
Well potted, the rounded sides rising to a slightly waisted neck with a thicklipped rim. Boldly painted to the exterior with a vivid arrangement of lotus flowers and leaves reserved against an opaque glaze of dark brown, framed by line borders at the shoulder and above the foot, the glaze stopping unevenly above the foot, revealing the dark ware.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
See a closely related Southern Song Jizhou meiping, also decorated with a white lotus pattern against a black background, excavated from Chaohu, Anhui (fig. 1), now preserved in the Anhui Provincial Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan, taoci juan, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 290, no. 406. A similar lotus pattern can also be found on a printed textile from a tomb in Fujian whose occupant died in 1243, see Fuzhou Nansong Huangshengmu, Beijing, 1982, p. 125, fig. 91. fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 December 2015, lot 229
Price: HKD 400,000 or approx. EUR 55,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare ‘Jizhou’ ‘lotus’ vase, Southern Song dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the near identical decoration and glaze. Note the different form and slightly smaller size (18.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A WHITE JADE ‘LOTUS ROOT AND BIRDS’ BRUSH REST, QIANLONG PERIOD
China, 1736-1795. The lotus root, paired with birds and blossoms, forms a symbolic composition conveying wishes for harmony, happiness, and fruitfulness in marriage. While this motif is well established in traditional Chinese art as a blessing for a joyful union and continued lineage, it is rarely encountered in jade.
The brush rest is finely carved in openwork with the central rhizome issuing leaves and blossoms above turbulent waves, the two birds perched on the stem and a leaf, all richly detailed and meticulously incised.
The stone is of a fine and elegant white color with cloudy and icy inclusions as well as few gray specks. With a meticulous polish overall, rendering an unctuous feel.
Provenance: Marchant, London, 13 November 1972 (confirmed by Marchant via email on 21 July 2025, a copy of the email will be shared with the winning bidder upon request). A prominent European private collection, acquired from the above, and thence by descent.
Condition: Superb condition with only minor age-related wear and a tiny chip to one bird’s beak. The stand with a few small losses. This exceptional state of preservation is particularly remarkable given the highly fragile nature of the piece.
Weight: 167.9 g (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 18.1 cm
With a fitted hardwood stand dating from the Qing dynasty, finely carved in the form of crashing waves. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related jade washer in the shape of a lotus root, dated to the Qing dynasty, 31 cm long, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, inventory number 故玉 001707N000000000.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 11 May 2021, lot 321
Price: GBP 35,250 or approx. EUR 55,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine white and russet jade carving of a lotus root, 18th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related manner of carving, stone, and subject. Note the slightly smaller size (15.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
140
A MONUMENTAL SICHUAN POTTERY
FIGURE OF A PRANCING HORSE, HAN DYNASTY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 6 October 2015, based on sample number C115j56, sets the firing date of all three samples taken between 1500 and 2400 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
Exhibited: The International Show, 23-29 October 2015, Park Avenue Armory, New York.
China, 206 BC to 220 AD. Powerfully modeled striding with the right leg forward and tail raised, the back surmounted by a saddle and plain bordered saddles, the head richly detailed with crisply defined expressive features and a bridle that includes the ends of the bit and bosses at the interstices, the open mouth below flaring nostrils and wide bulging eyes, ears pricked alertly on either side of the hogged mane which follows the line of the powerful, arched neck, the haunches incised with stylized muscles and terminating in pronounced hooves.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, firing irregularities, signs of weathering and soiling from burial, encrustations, nicks, scratches, minor losses. The right back leg with an old repair which was sensitively renewed in 2015 as documented by a condition report written by expert restorer Stefan Kaloudov from Aetos Art & Design on 19 October 2015, further noting: “There were no visible cracks or damages of the structure. The craftsmanship and the materials look authentic and consistent with the period. The incrustations and deposits on the surface are genuine. […] The final touch ups were done using the original clay from the period found in the horse.” A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
Provenance:
- The T. T. Tsui Collection, Hong Kong, 1970s.
- A private collection, acquired from the above in the 1980s.
- Ariadne Galleries, New York and London, by 2015, Art Loss Register reference S00106561.
- A distinguished American private collector, acquired from the above on 23 January 2017.
A copy of a Research Summary from Ariadne Galleries, confirming the provenance and dating above, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Tsui Tsin Tong (1941-2010) was a Hong Kong entrepreneur, philanthropist, and connoisseur of Chinese antiques. He was also a Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Tsui began collecting antiques in the 1970s and later exhibited pieces of his collection in the Tsui Museum of Art, a gallery within the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. His collection included over 700 pieces of art and antiquities, mainly focusing on ceramics ranging from painted pottery of the Neolithic period to the porcelain of the Qing dynasty. Dr. Tsui also founded the Tsui Art Foundation and loaned a part of his collection to the University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and has made donations to galleries in Australia, England, and the United States.
A copy of a Research Summary from
Founded in 1972, Ariadne Galleries has established a reputation as one of the world’s leading dealers in the field of ancient art. With a prominent gallery in New York’s upper East side for many years, in 2014 Ariadne opened its second gallery in London’s historic art district, Mayfair. With nearly fifty years in the industry, Ariadne boasts of several important private collectors and foundations among its clients, as well as some of the world’s most celebrated museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University Art Museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Dimensions: Height 110 cm
This sculpture offers a dynamic representation of a spirited horse which expertly captures the realism of this magnificent beast whilst at the same time retaining the stylization typical of the period. The animal, with its stocky, sturdy legs, flaring nostrils, geometric jaws and large eyes is imbued with an extraordinary vitality and strength of expression, symbolizing the power of the horse in Chinese civilization.
The horse had long been revered for its military importance and majestic beauty, and, as an allegory of wealth and the aristocracy, it featured in the tombs of all high-ranking individuals. However, it was during the Han Dynasty, specifically under Emperor Wudi (r. 141-87 BC), that contacts with the peoples of Central Asia enabled the Chinese to discover new breeds of horse, specifically the fabled and highly sought-after Ferghana steeds from modern Uzbekistan, which were to be instrumental in the Emperor’s defeat of the barbarians. These larger, more powerful horses established the Silk Road and were referred to by the Chinese as “heavenly horses”. Considered a type of heavenly apparition and a symbol of divine favor, they inspired artistic creations in terracotta, stone and wood that sought to glorify and perpetuate their beauty.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Los Angeles, 4 April 2022, lot 50
Price: USD 35,312 or approx. EUR 33,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A massive Sichuan pottery horse, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose and modeling. Note the similar size (108 cm) and lacking saddle.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2001, lot 169
Price: USD 47,000 or approx. EUR 73,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A massive grey pottery figure of a horse, Han dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related pose and decoration. Note the larger size (137.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
Ariadne Galleries
Tsui Tsin-tong (1941–2010)
AN
AMBER AND CREAM-GLAZED
POTTERY FIGURE OF A FERGHANA HORSE, TANG DYNASTY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 July 2025, based on sample no. C125j87, sets the firing date of both samples taken between 900 and 1500 years ago, consistent with the dating of the present lot. A copy of the report accompanies the lot.
China, 618-907. Finely modeled standing proudly foursquare on a rectangular base, the bridled face with wide nostrils and pricked ears, the short tail lightly flicked upwards, the body covered in a cream glaze, with the mane, tail, and saddle highlighted in a rich amber glaze attractively darkening in the recesses.
Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 11 May 1965, lot 7 (described as a “horse of Ferghana type”). A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. Sotheby’s London, 9 November 2005, lot 498. A private collection in Lancashire, United Kingdom, acquired from the above and thence by descent. The stand with a label from the 2005 Sotheby’s sale. The previous owner’s husband was a collector of Chinese art who acquired most of his objects in the 1990s and early 2000s. Condition: Some repairs, touchups, fills, and small chips, as generally expected from Tang dynasty excavations. Typical manufacturing irregularities including firing cracks, glaze flakes, glaze recesses, and dark spots. Small holes from sample-taking with associated fills. Overall, the condition is commensurate with age and the piece displays exceptionally well.
Weight: 2 kg (excl. stand), 2.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 39.7 cm (excl. stand), Length 32 cm
With a finely carved and fitted hardwood stand dating from the late Qing dynasty or Republic period. (2)
Among the most universally admired examples of Chinese ceramic sculpture are the majestic horses made for the tombs of the aristocracy of the Tang Empire. These horses, representing wealth and power, played a significant part in emphasizing the importance of the occupant of the tomb. They were not only used for war or transport, but employed in a variety of leisurely activities. Polo, for example, was a popular pursuit at the Tang court and was played by both men and women. It was specifically encouraged by two Tang emperors, Taizong and Xuanzong, as being excellent for developing certain useful skills.
The most magnificent breed, immortalized in Chinese literature and the visual arts, was the Ferghana horse, introduced into central China from the West during the Han dynasty. These were the fabled ‘celestial’ or ‘blood-sweating’ horses, known for their speed, power, and stamina. The renowned court artist Han Gan (720-60) changed the nature of Chinese horse painting when he depicted one of Emperor Xuanzong’s (r. 847-59) favorite horses, Night-Shining White (now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), in a realistic rather than supernatural manner. This development parallels the realism of Tang arts in general, and is exemplified by the present lot.
Night-Shining White, one of Emperor Xuanzong’s favorite horses, painted by Han Gan, ca. 750, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1977.78
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 March 2017, lot 1132
Price: USD 25,000 or approx. EUR 29,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An amber and cream-glazed pottery figure of a horse, Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and glazes. Note the unglazed saddle and the near-identical length (30.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A LARGE SANCAI-GLAZED EARTHENWARE
FIGURE OF A COURT OFFICIAL, TANG DYNASTY
China, late 7th century to early 8th century. Finely modeled to depict a civil official firmly standing atop a rockwork base, with hands clasped and concealed beneath the long sleeves of his flowing robe. The garment, worn over a long skirt that partially covers the feet, is complemented by a distinctive official headgear.
Covered in a lustrous sancai glaze of amber, green, and straw tones, attractively pooling as it flows down the body. The face left unglazed and sensitively modeled with heavy-lidded eyes and bow-shaped lips, the details finely painted along with the tall hat decorated with a bird.
Provenance: The Great Wall Trading Co., Hong Kong, 1975.
Copies of a signed certificate of antiquity issued by the Hong Kong Art Craft Merchants Association, certificate no. A-68/1, dated 12 May 1975, confirming the dating above, and a stamped invoice, dated 14 June 1975, stating a purchase price for the present lot of HKD 60,000 or approx. EUR 40,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompany this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear and manufacturing irregularities including little glaze pitting and firing cracks, glaze flaking and minor losses mostly to the base, few small chips and losses, minor touchups and other signs of repair, all exactly as expected from authentic Tang dynasty excavations.
Weight: 7.2 kg (excl. stand), 8.9 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 85.9 cm (excl. stand), 90.2 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a wood stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams San Francisco, 24 June 2013, lot 1172
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 45,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An impressive sancai glazed pottery funerary figure of a dignitary, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, glazes, and decoration. Note the size (120.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A LARGE
(81 CM)
RELIQUARY STUPA WITH COVER AND STAND, TANG DYNASTY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 11 February 2002, based on sample number C102c3, sets the firing date of four samples taken (one from each section) between 900 and 1500 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China, 618-907. Heavily potted in four sections, comprising an ovoid jar with a tall conical cover terminating in a bud-shaped finial, set atop a cylindrical mid-section decorated with pierced leaf designs framed by everted diskshaped rims, all raised on a tiered splayed foot decorated with two curling ribbons.
The exterior freely painted in brown, red, and cream pigments with geometric bands and stylized leaves and flowers. (3)
Provenance: Collection of Robert Hafter, Küsnacht, Switzerland, acquired before 2005, and thence by descent in the same family. Robert Hafter (d. 2024) was a Swiss dealer of European and Asian antiques, furniture, and decorative art. He opened his first shop in 1966, which later developed into a family business eventually continued by his children Anatol and Natalie Hafter after his retirement in 2005, who deepened the company’s focus on Asian art. Condition: Excellent condition with expected ancient wear, traces of weathering, soil encrustations, few small chips, flaking and minor losses to pigments, which are overall exceptionally well preserved. Each section with a small hole from sampletaking with associated fill.
Weight: 7.3 kg Dimensions: Height 81 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related pottery stupa-form reliquary jar and stand, potted in three sections, 59.3 cm high, dated to the Tang dynasty, 7th-8th century, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 2006.170.275.AC (fig. 1)
Natalie Hafter, daughter of Robert Hafter, who worked in the family business for 25 years before succeeding her father in 2005
Compare a related pottery stupa-form urn unearthed from a Tang dynasty tomb (no. M078) in the western suburbs of Wuzhong, Ningxia, and now in the Henan Museum (fig. 2)
Compare a related painted pottery urn, dated to the Tang dynasty, 33.5 cm tall, in the Guangdong Daguan Museum. fig. 2 fig. 1
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A FINE JUN SKY-BLUE GLAZED BOWL, SONG DYNASTY
China, 960-1279. Well potted with deep rounded sides supported on a short foot with a recessed base and rising to a gently incurved rim, covered overall with a thick, finely crackled glaze of sky-blue tone thinning to mushroom at the rim, subtly decorated with a single small splash of dark-green copper oxide, and unevenly stopping short above the foot to reveal the reddish-buff ware.
Provenance: C. T. Loo, Paris, 1965. Collection of Docteur Rouyère, Pau, France, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of the original invoice from C. T. Loo, signed by Janine Emmanuel Loo, dated 9 November 1965, addressed to Docteur Rouyère, confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot. A copy of the collector’s notes for the present lot handwritten by the previous owner, confirming the provenance above and stating a purchase price of FRF 3,600 or approx. EUR 7,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot.
In 1902, Ching Tsai Loo (1880-1957) relocated to Paris where he established his first gallery, Loo & Co. In 1908, his business expanded to New York, where he opened a gallery in 1927. In 1946, Loo transferred the management of the Paris business to his youngest daughter Janine Emmanuel Loo (1920-2013). In 1952, his associate Frank Caro (19041980) took over daily operations of the New York business. Until his death in 1957, Loo continued to play a large role in both companies. Loo’s work profoundly influenced the collections of major Western museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, and the British Museum.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities including a small firing crack below the rim with associated glaze flaking, few minor old chips to the foot.
Weight: 240.0 g
Dimensions: Diameter 10.8 cm
The lustrous sky-blue glaze of this bowl, which shows an almost jewel-like gloss, is traditionally considered the most desirable color of monochrome Jun wares. Jun ware was much admired over the centuries for the beautiful depth and intensity of its glaze, which varies from a thick opaque sky blue to brilliant mauves, lavenders, and blues. It was discovered in the 1980s that this blue tone was not created by pigments but is actually an optical effect. During firing, the glaze separates into light-scattering droplets of glass and when light passes through this ‘glass emulsion’ the blue spectrum of light is reflected, giving the ware its bright blue color. The thickness of the glaze is a critical factor in creating these optical blues. Analyses of sectioned shards done at the kiln sites indicate that only a single layer is applied and that the depth of glaze is attributable to the thick body, as water from the glaze is absorbed by the porous biscuit, resulting in a more substantial covering.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Junyao bowl, dated to the Northern Song dynasty, early 12th century, 10.5 cm diameter, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 20.45, illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, 1989, p. 86, no. 77.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2023, lot 528
Price: USD 17,780 or approx. EUR 16,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Jun bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 12th-13th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, ware, and size (10.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
145
A CARVED QINGBAI ‘FLORAL’ EWER AND COVER, SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY
China, 1127-1279. Well potted, the domed body supported on a short foot and surmounted by a straight neck, the sides set with an elegantly upturned spout opposite a vertically oriented handle, flanked by two small scroll-form handles at the shoulder, the vessel fitted with a circular lid topped by a small loop.
The sides are sumptuously decorated with floral blossoms borne on meandering stems, below a band of overlapping chrysanthemum petals encircling the mouth. Covered overall in a finely crackled glaze of pale-blue color attractively pooling in the recesses and thinning at the raised areas, the base left unglazed revealing the white ware.
Provenance: From the Kyukodo Collection. The Kyukodo Collection was assembled by a distinguished Chinese collector based in Southeast Asia, known for his close connections with the Japanese art collecting community. Over the years, he held numerous exhibitions in Japan, where he showcased a remarkable array of Chinese ceramics and works of art. His discerning eye and international ties contributed to the collection’s exceptional quality and reputation.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities, including pitting, small firing hairlines, and kiln grit. Minor glaze flaking, light scratches, and shallow chips to edges.
Weight: 156.9 g
Dimensions: Height 8 cm, Width 8.8 cm (handle to spout)
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related example in the Jiangxi Museum, Nanchang, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji (The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics), Song, 1999, Shanghai, pl. 134.
PUBLISHED
Treasures from Kyukodo: Ancient Ceramics and Chinese Works of Art Exhibition – Tang SancaiGlazed Pottery and Qingbai Wares, Tokyo, September 2019, cat. no. 84.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 6 November 2024, lot 44
Estimate: GBP 15,000 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A carved Qingbai ‘floral’ ewer and a cover, Southern Song to Yuan dynasty Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, decoration, motifs, and size (8.2 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 September 2022, lot 945
Price: USD 16,380 or approx. EUR 15,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small molded Qingbai domed ewer and cover, Southern Song dynasty, 1127-1279
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, decoration, and motifs. Note the size (11 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A QINGBAI CARVED FLOWER-FORM BOWL, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
China, 11th-12th century. Finely potted with slightly rounded sides flaring widely to the petal-cut rim corresponding to the six petals of the combed flowerhead that swirls outward from the center. Both sides of the bowl are covered with a pale blue glaze pooling to a slightly darker tone on the slightly tapered ring foot. The base is unglazed.
Provenance: Bluett & Sons, London, United Kingdom, first half of the 1980s. Collection of Peter Schmidt, Germany, acquired from the above, according to information he provided to the Nagel auction house at the time of the sale of his collection in 2012. Nagel, Stuttgart, 2 November 2012, lot 605, sold for EUR 10,240 or approx. EUR 13,500 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above. Peter Schmidt (1937-2025) was a highly influential German brand designer and he has received countless awards and accolades for his work.
He was also a passionate artist and an avid collector of Asian art. A large part of his collection was bequeathed during his lifetime to the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, including many works acquired in London from renowned dealerships such as Bluett & Sons, John Sparks, Bernheimer, and Marchant.
Condition: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including small glaze recesses and kiln grit, a small glaze bruise above the foot, and few tiny nibbles to the unglazed foot.
Weight: 351 g
Dimensions: Diameter 20.5 cm
Literature comparison: A very similar bowl from the collection of J. C. Thomson was included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, The Arts of the Sung Dynasty, London, 16 June-23 July 1960, pl. 75, no. 216. A slightly deeper Qingbai bowl carved with the same design is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, no. 430. Compare a related Qingbai carved flower-form bowl, illustrated in Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesische Keramik, Meisterwerke aus Privatsammlungen, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, 1988, p. 60, no. 31. Compare a closely related Qingbai carved flower-form bowl, illustrated in Simon Kwan, Song Ceramics from the Kwan collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1994, p. 266-267, no. 115.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2102
Price: USD 35,000 or approx. EUR 41,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Qingbai flower-form bowl, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, decoration, motif, and size (19.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
Peter Schmidt
A RARE CARVED LONGQUAN CELADON VASE AND COVER, NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 July 2025, based on sample number P125k8, sets the firing date of the sample taken between 600 and 1000 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
Expert’s note: A dog standing foursquare is a motif sometimes found in the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127). Such dogs were regarded as guardians, protecting households and property, their stance reflecting both stability and alertness. The highly raised, curling tail is a characteristic feature from this period, symbolizing a high grade of confidence. It is remarkable that the dog on this lid has survived nearly a millennium without any damage.
China, 11th-12th century. Sturdily potted, the lobed baluster body supported on a spreading foot and rising to a high angled shoulder surmounted by a gently waisted neck and a broad cupped mouth with incurved rim. Each lobe is fluidly carved with scrolling foliage, beneath a finely crackled olive-green glaze darkening in the recesses, attractively pooling to the interior below the mouth to a pale sea-green tone, and stopping unevenly above the base to reveal the buff-colored ware. The domed cover topped by a finial in the form of a dog standing foursquare with curling tail.
Provenance: From a private collection in Berlin, Germany. Condition: Superb condition with expected ancient wear and typical firing irregularities including kiln grit to the base and small glaze recesses, little flaking and minor losses to the glaze mostly at the foot. The base with two small holes from sample-taking with associated fills.
Weight: 1,410 g
Dimensions: Height 30.4 cm
The covered vase with galleried mouth is a typical form of Northern Song Longquan ware. The form has gradually changed from a tall tapering body with long neck in the early Northern Song dynasty to an ovoid body with shorter neck in the late Northern Song dynasty. Meanwhile, the glaze color developed a more olive tone, and the carved decoration became more robust.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 2 December 2015, lot 2804
Price: HKD 1,960,000 or approx. EUR 265,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare carved Longquan celadon vase and cover, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, carved decoration, and olive-green glaze. Note the size (26.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
148
A FINE HENAN RUSSET-SPLASHED AND BLACK-GLAZED ‘PARTRIDGE FEATHER’ BOWL, NORTHERN SONG TO JIN DYNASTY
China, late 11th-first half of the 12th century. Of conical shape with flared rim, supported on a short foot, the interior splashed with persimmon brown against a lustrous black glaze thinning towards the rim, and the exterior covered in a persimmon color with few black splashes. The glaze stopping short of the foot to expose the buff ware.
Provenance: John Sparks, Ltd., London, 1966. Collection of Docteur Rouyère, Pau, France, acquired from the above and thence by descent. The base with an old label, inscribed ‘H.M. […]’. A copy of a handwritten statement, written by the previous owner, confirming the provenance above, and stating an actual value of NF 15,000 (Francs Nouveaux) or approx. EUR 23,100 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. John Sparks began trading as the Japanese Fine Art Depot in 1890 and later established John Sparks Ltd in 1906. Recognized as one of the most respected London dealers in Chinese art, John Sparks supplied an international clientele of collectors, including Queen Mary, from whom the company received the Royal Warrant of Antiquary of Chinese Art in 1926. The next year John Sparks moved to larger premises at 128 Mount Street in Mayfair, London, where it remained until it closed in 1990.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including minor pitting and little kiln grit to the base, few tiny nicks to the rim, light surface scratches.
Weight: 160.9 g
Dimensions: Diameter 12.7 cm
This bowl is remarkable for its captivating pattern of irregular russet splashes on the interior, which creates a striking contrast to the lustrous black glaze. Known as zhegu ban, or ‘partridge feathers’, this pattern evolved from the experimental nature of Song dynasty kilns as they competed in producing wares for the thriving tea market. Bowls covered in a lustrous dark-brown glaze heightened the aesthetic experience of drinking tea, which at the time was energetically whisked to produce a rich white froth.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 June 2016, lot 3124
Price: HKD 525,000 or approx. EUR 67,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A henan russet-splashed black glazed conical tea bowl, Northern Song-Jin dynasty (960-1234)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, splashed glaze, and size (12.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
Queen Mary with Peter Sparks at John Sparks in London
149
A FINE PAIR OF JIZHOU ‘TORTOISESHELL’ GLAZED BOWLS, SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY
China, 12th-13th century. Each bowl with conical sides rounding up towards the lipped rim, covered inside and out with a rich dark-brown glaze liberally splashed in translucent golden glaze in imitation of mottled tortoiseshell, the glaze ending short of the knife-pared foot to expose the buff-colored granular ware. (2)
Provenance: Peter Boode Chinese Antiques, London. Jean Mahé, Paris, acquired from the above. French private collection, acquired from the above in 1968. Each with a label from ‘Peter Boode London, Chinese Antiques’, and a further label ‘21923’. A copy of a certificate with old photographs of the present lot, written and signed by Jean Mahé, dated 24 April 1968, confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot. A copy of a handwritten provenance statement with old photographs of the present lot, confirming the above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of FFR 6,000 or approx. EUR 8,600 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. Peter Boode (d. 1972) was a Dutch dealer and collector of Chinese antiques, which he sourced on his trips to China and Southeast Asia. Some of his pieces were donated to the British Museum or lent to the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1935-1936. He also published several works including Notes for Collectors of Chinese Antiques (1943). Jean Mahé was a National Expert at the Cours d’Appel et le Tribunal Civil de la Seine, Paris, active in the second half of the 20th century.
Condition: Good condition with ancient wear, traces of use, and firing irregularities including minor warping, little flaking to the glaze, few tiny nicks to rims.
Weight: 426.5 g and 408.3 g
Dimensions: Diameter 16.7 cm and 16.5 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 September 2010, lot 1309
Price: USD 8,750 or approx. EUR 9,300 (for one) converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A jizhou ‘tortoiseshell’-glazed bowl, Southern Song dynasty, 12th-13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, and size (16 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A JIZHOU PAINTED ‘PRUNUS’ BOTTLE VASE, SOUTHERN SONG-YUAN DYNASTY
PUBLISHED & EXHIBITED
The National Museum of History, Good Fortune Throughout History: An Exhibition of Black Glaze and Porcelain from Tzu-chou and Ji-chou kilns, Taipei, 20 August-12 September 2004, cat. no. 33, p. 66.
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 July 2025, based on sample no. P125k4, sets the firing date of the sample taken between 600 and 1000 years ago, consistent with the dating of the present lot. A copy of the report accompanies the lot.
China, Jiangxi province, 13th to early 14th century. Well potted, the pear-shaped body supported on short splayed foot and surmounted by a subtly waisted neck with a rolled lip. The exterior finely decorated with reserves in the creamy-white biscuit against the dark-brown glaze to depict two vertically oriented plum branches in full bloom. The interior and foot ring left unglazed revealing the buff ware.
Provenance: From a noted private collection in Taiwan.
Condition: Good condition overall, with ancient wear and typical manufacturing irregularities, including light kiln grit and small firing cracks. A luting line is visible below the mouth, with associated minor glaze recess. Light surface scratches and old shallow chips to the foot. Minuscule glaze touchups to the reverse—original condition is documented in the publication referenced above. The base bears a small sampling hole with associated fill.
Weight: 298.4 g
Dimensions: Height 17.3 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Jizhou ware resistdecorated bottle vase with prunus floral design, China, Jiangxi province, dated Southern Song dynasty, 22 cm high, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 50.1190.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 18 March 2009, lot 331
Price: USD 16,250 or approx. EUR 21,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small Jizhou painted pear-shaped vase, Southern Song to Yuan dynasty, 13th-14th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, decoration, motif, and size (18 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A FINE JUNYAO BLUE-GLAZED BOWL, YUAN TO MING DYNASTY
China, 1279-1644, circa 13th-14th century. Well potted with a finger groove below the rim and a wide curving well, all supported on a splayed foot. The body applied with a thick layer of a rich mottled blue glaze suffused with open bubbles, transitioning from sky-blue to pale lavender before thinning to mushroom with black flecks along the upper rim, ending unevenly above the foot exposing the buff ware. The base inscribed in black ink.
Inscriptions: To the base, ‘wan gu’ with further illegible characters.
Friedrich Otto Hasse (1886-1964)
Provenance: From the private collection of Friedrich Otto Hasse, Bremen, Germany, acquired between the 1920s and the 1950s in Europe and then by descent in the same family. Friedrich Otto Hasse (1886-1964) joined the chocolate manufacturer Hachez & Co, where he became sole shareholder in 1933. He was an expert art collector and owned artworks of Kokoschka, Braque, Ensor, Vlaminck, and Coester. Hasse further collected Chinese ceramics and bronzes, specializing in Chinese ceramics of the Song to Ming periods, mostly acquired in 1924 at Hugo Meyl and in the Cassirer & Helbing auctions in Berlin. Hasse also owned archaic Chinese bronzes, including a turquoise-inlaid dagger hilt that was featured in the major 1929 Chinese exhibition in Berlin. His holdings extended to small Buddhist bronze figures and Tang dynasty sculptures, like a camel and amphora later sold at auction. His passion for collecting was also reflected in his library, which included the complete series of the George Eumorfopoulos Collection, the books by R. L. Hobson about Chinese ceramics, and other contemporary books on Chinese art.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including pitting, glaze crazing, and a firing crack to the base, few tiny hairlines to the rim, few tiny chips to the rim and foot.
Weight: 604 g
Dimensions: Diameter 17.7 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Jun bowl, 20.1 cm diameter, dated to the Yuan dynasty, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number F1906.256.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 14 May 2019, lot 205
Price: GBP 7,500 or approx. EUR 12,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Jun bowl, Yuan-Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, glaze, ware, and size (17 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A
BLUE AND WHITE ‘THREE FRIENDS OF WINTER’ DISH, WANLI MARK AND PERIOD
China, 1573-1619. Well potted, the shallow rounded sides rising from a short foot to a slightly everted rim, decorated to the interior with clusters of bamboo leaves alongside a large pine tree and prunus bearing blossoms borne on thin gnarled branches, enclosed within a double-line and below a geometric band encircling the mouth. The exterior decorated in shaded tones of cobalt-blue with a meandering scroll bearing lotus blossoms and tendrils, between a double-line border and an upright ruyi-shaped lappet band encircling the rim and base respectively.
The base with an underglaze blue six-character mark da Ming Wanli nianzhi within a double rectangle and of the period.
Provenance: Frank Caro, C. T. Loo Chinese Art, no. C.3201, New York (according to label).
The Hilbert Family Portrait
Property from the Stuart and Barbara Hilbert Collection, acquired from the above and thence by descent. Stuart Hilbert (19402023) was a distinguished collector and dealer of Chinese art whose lifelong passion for learning shaped his career. He began collecting Asian art while living and teaching in Taiwan and Japan in the late 1960s, where he met his wife and collecting partner, Barbara Both educators, the Hilberts delighted in their time abroad, forging close friendships with collectors who taught them to acquire with a critical eye and a Chinese taste. In 1972, they moved to the UK, where Stuart studied Chinese intensively at King’s College, Cambridge. Returning to the U.S. in 1977, he pursued doctoral work at the University of Michigan, continuing to collect throughout. In 1984, after their daughter’s birth, they founded The Jade Dragon, Inc., turning their passion into a respected business known for connoisseurship, integrity, and curated offerings.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including little pitting, few firing cracks, and dark spots. Expected fritting and a minor hairline to the rim, the foot rim with a shallow chip and another short hairline.
Weight: 192.7 g
Dimensions: Diameter 17.5 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related blue and white ‘three friends of winter’ dish, Wanli mark and period, 17.4 cm wide, in the British Museum, registration number PDF.664.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 7 April 2015, lot 3723
Price: HKD 375,000 or approx. EUR 50,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blue and white ‘three friends of winter’ dish, mark and period of Wanli
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and similar decoration and motif.
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A BLUE AND WHITE ‘ELEPHANT’ KENDI, WANLI PERIOD
China, 1573-1620. Well modeled standing foursquare, the pachyderm’s head thrust into the air, its truncated tusks forming the double spout, its back surmounted by a tall cylindrical vase, painted in underglaze blue with a tasseled saddle decorated to both sides with a central blossom on stylized waves, all below a scalloped band of scrolls. The vase featuring a bird on rockwork issuing flowers, above the crescent moon, and a floral band encircling the upper rim. The neck decorated with a band suspending beaded tassels. The base unglazed.
Provenance: Property from a European Private Collection. The base lacquered with an old inventory number ‘J. No 444’, and a label inscribed ‘4.131’.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities including small firing cracks, dark spots, and a central luting line. One short hairline crack (ca. 3.5 cm) to the neck, one small chip and three minute hairlines on the nose, few minor chips to the mouth rim.
Weight: 664 g
Dimensions: Height 18.8 cm
The elephant is an auspicious symbol which is used in numerous rebuses to convey peace, prosperity, and good fortune. In Buddhism, elephants are regarded as one of the Seven Treasures and in a broader context are seen as symbols of strength, wisdom, and power. The combination of elephant and vase forms a play on words, taiping yoxiang, which sounds like ‘peaceful times.’
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related blue and white elephant-shaped kendi, dated to the late 16th century, 17.8 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2003.232. Compare a related blue and white elephant-shaped kendi, dated to the Wanli period, c. 1580-1620, in the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, object number G16.1.3. Compare a related blue and white elephantshaped kendi, dated c. 1600-c. 1650, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, object number AK-MAK-1310 (fig. 1). Further similar elephant-shaped kendis are illustrated by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul: A Complete Catalogue, Vol. II, London, 1986, pp. 729-730.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 January 2009, lot 165
Price: USD 47,500 or approx. EUR 63,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A late Ming blue and white elephant kendi, Wanli period Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and size (19.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
fig. 1
A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE ‘DAOIST IMMORTALS’ DISH, SHUNZHI PERIOD
China, around 1650. The shallow dish decorated in inky shades of cobalt blue to depict a scene with the eight Daoist immortals gathering on a riverbank, while on the opposite bank Shoulao is seated beneath a pine tree next to a smoking censer and recumbent deer, all below misty clouds. The rim lined in a café-au-lait glaze.
The recessed base with an underglaze-blue four-character mark yu tang jia qi (‘beautiful vessel for the Jade Hall’) within a double circle.
Provenance: Property of a noted Swedish collection. Bukowskis, Stockholm, 11-13 June 2024, lot 1311, sold for SEK 218,750 or approx. EUR 19,500. Collection of Anthony Lovett, acquired from the above. Anthony Lovett is an avid collector of Chinese porcelains of the 17th and 18th century, specializing in famille verte and Kangxi wares. His interest in porcelain began when he acquired a few pieces of mandarin palette as decoration in his first London apartment. While collecting, he frequented the dealer and auction circuit from the 1980s onward and received support from experts such as Anthony Gray and Louise Guest, as well as Dr. Ivy Chan in identifying and contextualizing his pieces.
The present lot at Bukowskis, Stockholm, 11-13 June 2024, lot 1311, sold for SEK 218,750 or approx. EUR 19,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Condition: Excellent condition with expected minor wear and firing irregularities including dark spots, few tiny firing cracks, and little pitting, light surface scratches, a shallow chip to the exterior of the rim.
Weight: 2.1 kg
Dimensions: Diameter 35.8 cm
The Jade Hall, Yu Tang, also known as the Hanlin Academy, was an official body in Beijing open only to scholar-officials who received the jinshi (metropolitan) degree. The Hanlin Academy or ‘Office of the Forest of Brushes’ was founded in 738, and once it gained control over rescript writing, became the preeminent scholarly institution of the inner court. The Yu Tang Jia Qi mark occurs on porcelain from the Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, Chongzhen, Shunzhi, and Kangxi periods in differing calligraphic forms and means ‘Beautiful Vessel for the Jade Hall’. Porcelains with this mark are considered to be rare.
Two large dishes of similar proportions, also decorated with the ‘Eight Daoist Immortals’, are illustrated by Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis and Stephen Little in, Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661, Alexandria, VA, 2002. The first, from the Butler Family Collection, is decorated in the wucai palette (p. 224, no. 75), and the second, from the Collection of Caromy Hoare, is decorated in underglaze blue (p. 225, no. 76). Both examples bear the same mark inscribed on this lot, which is noted by Sir Michael Butler to be a commendation or ‘omen’ mark that was popular in the Shunzhi period.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 March 2015, lot 3560
Price: USD 27,500 or approx. EUR 32,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large blue and white ‘immortals’ dish, Shunzhi period, circa 1650
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, manner of painting, and size (36 cm). Note the identical mark. It is possible that the present lot and this dish were once part of the same series and setting in the jade hall.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Anthony Lovett
A BLUE AND WHITE ‘CAT AND BUTTERFLY’ MALLET-SHAPED VASE, TRANSITIONAL PERIOD
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 July 2025, based on sample number P125j93, sets the firing date of the sample taken between 350 and 500 years ago, consistent with the dating of the present lot. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
China, mid-17th century. The truncated pear-form body rising to a long waisted neck with garlic head below the upper rim, finely painted in shades of cobalt blue to depict a cat seated amid blossoms and rockwork and looking up to butterflies and smaller insects flying above, all below a stylized petal border around the shoulders. The neck further decorated with a bifurcated dragon amid lotus scrolls. Covered in a lustrous transparent glaze stopping neatly above the curving edge of the base, save for a small splash across the central concave recess.
Provenance: From an important Irish private collection.
Condition: Excellent condition with expected wear and firing irregularities including minor pitting and fine lines of brown discolored bubbles to the neck and body, the mouth with a tiny chip, the unglazed base with light surface scratches and few minute shallow chips. Two holes from sample-taking with corresponding fills.
Weight: 2.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 38.9 cm
Cats and butterflies are symbols of longevity. The cat (mao) is a homonym for ‘seventy’, while the butterfly (die) shares the same sound as ‘eighty’. Together, they form a rebus for maodie. This term implies that one would live to be seventy or eighty — considered high age in ancient China.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 17 May 2012, lot 250
Price: GBP 15,000 or approx. EUR 29,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blue and white malletshaped vase, mid-17th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, cobalt-blue decoration, floral motifs, and size (37 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Rob Michiels, Bruges, 31 October 2020, lot 264
Price: EUR 20,150 or approx. EUR 25,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare Chinese blue and white bottle vase with a cat and a butterfly, Transitional period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related decoration and similar motif. Note the similar size (36 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
AN INCISED BLUE AND WHITE ‘ANTIQUE TREASURES’ BRUSH POT, BITONG, TRANSITIONAL PERIOD
China, mid-17th century. Well potted with cylindrical sides finely painted in inky shades of cobalt blue to depict precious vessels including a baluster vase with trumpet mouth filled with lotus blossom and leaves, an ice-crack jar, a rectangular jardiniere with a scholar’s rock, a square baluster vase containing leafy peony blooms, a faceted gu-form vase with camellia sprays, a small censer atop a stand, and a low table with a covered jar in front of a fruit bowl.
The design is framed by neatly incised anhua bands of leafy floral scroll below the rim as well as hatched and wavy lines above the foot. Covered overall in a transparent glaze stopping neatly above the foot, revealing the white ware.
Provenance: Collection of J. P. Islef, and thence by descent in the family. J. P. Islef (d. 1954) was an accounting officer at Store Nordiske Telegrafsselskab, who was stationed in China from around 1898 to shortly before World War II. A copy of an old photograph taken in J. P. Islef’s home, showing a part of his collection including the present lot, can be shared with interested bidders upon request (please contact our customer service department) and will be handed out to the winning bidder.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and manufacturing irregularities including dark spots, few firing cracks, minute glaze recesses, and little pitting. Light surface scratches, an old shallow chip to the foot, and the rim with tiny glaze lines and a minute bruise.
Weight: 864 g
Dimensions: Height 18.8 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 November 2023, lot 807
Price: HKD 409,000 or approx. EUR 54,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blue and white ‘figural’ brushpot, bitong, Chongzhen
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and size (18.5 cm), with similar motifs particularly in the incised borders, but also in the precious vessels and grass tufts similarly painted in cobalt blue.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 15 May 2013, lot 134
Price: GBP 23,750 or approx. EUR 45,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blue and white brushpot, bitong, circa 1640
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration with similar fine brushwork and incised borders. Note the naturalistic subject.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
157
AN INSCRIBED BLUE AND WHITE ‘LUOHAN’ CENSER, KANGXI PERIOD
China, 1662-1722. Finely potted, the bombé body is supported on a short, spreading foot and rises to an everted rim. The exterior is delicately painted in inky shades of cobalt blue with depictions of Jubo Luohan raising his alms bowl, Budai Luohan holding prayer beads and leaves, Wa’er Luohan cleaning his right ear, and a fourth Luohan.
The figures alternate with the four Chinese characters forming the inscription Amituofo (Amitabha).
Provenance: Neumeister Munich, 4 November 1982, lot 159 (described as a flowerpot). An important private collection in southern Germany, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including dark spots, discoloration, dimples, and impurities to the glaze at the lower section. Few tiny chips and minute nicks to the foot.
Weight: 1.7 kg
Dimensions: Diameter 23 cm
The recessed base with an apocryphal underglaze-blue six-character mark da Ming Chenghua nianzhi within a double circle.
Literature comparison: Compare a related censer exhibited by Marchant, The Bertil J. Högström Collection, Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain, London, 2011, cat. no. 10. A related censer decorated with the ‘Eighteen Luohan’, inscribed with a date corresponding to 1695, is in the Shanghai Museum, and illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Shanghai, 1987, pl. 114.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2023, lot 557
Price: USD 38,100 or approx. EUR 35,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blue and white bombé-form ‘luohan’ censer, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, subject, design, and apocryphal reign mark. Note the size (19.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
158 AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE PEACHBLOOM-GLAZED ‘BEEHIVE’ WATER POT, TAIBAI ZUN, KANGXI MARK AND PERIOD
EXPERT’S NOTE
The neck of this tabaizun was intentionally reduced shortly after firing, most likely to accommodate larger brushes than the standard narrowneck form. This purposeful alteration is not unique; compare a nearidentical peachbloom-glazed water pot with dragon roundels, similarly lacking a neck, formerly in the Robert Lehman Collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1975.1.1696), which confirms the existence of such modified examples.
China, 1662-1722. The domed body incised with three highly stylized dragon roundels and covered in a glaze of greyish-red tone finely mottled in soft crushed-strawberry red in contrast to the white rim.
The recessed base left white and inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character mark da Qing Kangxi nianzhi and of the period.
Provenance: Collection of Pierre Vellones, thence by descent in the family. Pierre Vellones (1889-1939), was a French composer known for his eclectic and inventive contributions to early 20th century music.
A contemporary of Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie, Vellones was a part of the vibrant French musical scene in the interwar period. Though he trained in medicine and served as a military doctor during World War I, his true passion lay in music. He composed a wide variety of works including orchestral suites, piano miniatures, chamber music, and vocal pieces.
Pierre Vellones (standing) und Maurice Martenot, 1936
Condition: Good condition with minor old wear and firing irregularities, including slight pitting to the base, a tiny nick to the rim, a few minuscule hairlines, and light surface scratches. The neck was intentionally reduced after firing; see expert’s note above.
Weight: 497 g (excl. stand), 711 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Diameter 12.6 cm
With a fitted carved wood stand. (2)
Water pots of this form are known as taibai zun, after the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai, who is often depicted leaning against a large wine jar of similar form. They are also known as qizhao zun because their shape resembles that of a chicken coop.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A LARGE FAMILLE VERTE ‘FOUR SEASONS’ SQUARE VASE, KANGXI PERIOD
China, 1662-1722. The square tapering body surmounted by a waisted neck with everted rim, decorated with four panels of butterflies and birds fluttering amongst blossoming peony, lotus, chrysanthemum, and prunus, representing the four seasons, with smaller cartouches of similar decoration on the neck and floral diaper pattern to the shoulders. The unglazed foot rim centered by the countersunk square base covered in a transparent glaze.
Provenance: Collection of Frederick Adolphus Konig, and thence by descent in the family. The interior of the mouth with two labels, ‘X557 2 1-‘. The base inscribed ‘GBP 210’. Frederick Adolphus Konig (18671940) was an American banker of German ancestry who moved to England in the 1890s and married Baroness Gerda von Chappuis in 1906, a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Marie Louise, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He was the owner of Tyringham Hall in Buckinghamshire. Together with his brother Hans, he founded the banking firm of Konig Brothers in London.
Condition: Good condition with expected old wear, light rubbing, little flaking to the enamels, and firing irregularities including fritting to edges, pitting, and dark spots.
Weight: 3.9 kg
Dimensions: Height 49 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related famille verte square vase with flowers and birds of the four seasons, dated to the early 18th century, 48.9 cm tall, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 14.40.91. Compare a closely related famille verte square vase depicting the same subject, dated to the Kangxi period, 49.5 cm high, formerly in the collection of Ernest Grandidier and now in the Musée Guimet, accession number G 3120 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related famille verte square vase depicting the same subject, dated to the Qing dynasty, 17th-18th century, in the Tokyo National Museum, collection reference number TG-2337. A similarly decorated famille verte faceted vase of Kangxi date, with an apocryphal Jiajing mark, is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, 1998, p. 152, no. 103.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 15 May 2013, lot 142
Price: GBP 27,500 or approx. EUR 51,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare famille-verte ‘bird and flowers’ square vase, Kangxi mark and period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and subject. Note the reign mark.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 1
Portrait of Baroness Gerda von Chappuis, by John Lavery, c. 1910
Augustus the Strong (1670–1733), Lots 160-161
Augustus, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was not only a powerful ruler but also history’s greatest porcelain collector. Obsessed with the “white gold” of Asia, he amassed more than 20,000 pieces, surpassing all royal and imperial collections of his time. His passion led to spectacular exchanges—famously trading 600 soldiers for a set of Chinese porcelain vases. Determined to break China’s monopoly, he founded Europe’s first hard-paste porcelain manufactory at Meissen in 1710, forever changing the course of European art.
A FAMILLE-ROSE ‘MAGU’ DISH, ENGRAVED JOHANNEUM MARK N=183-I, YONGZHENG PERIOD
The present lot at Lyon & Turnbull, London, United Kingdom, 5 November 2021, lot 229, sold for GBP 40,000 or approx. EUR 59,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
China, 1723-1735. Elegantly potted, the gently curved sides rising from a short straight foot to an everted rim, the interior finely painted with the goddess Magu in flowing robes holding a lingzhi in her right hand, accompanied by a boy attendant hoisting a large peach in a basket over his shoulder and a deer with a peach sprig, overhanging prunus branches above, the rim border with floral sprays, all enameled in delicate pastel shades, the rim lined in café-au-lait. The foot ring pierced with two apertures for mounting.
Provenance: Ex-collection Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. A private collection in New Hampshire, United Kingdom, acquired before 1930 and thence by descent over five generations. Lyon & Turnbull, London, United Kingdom, 5 November 2021, lot 229, sold for GBP 40,000 or approx. EUR 59,000. A private collector, acquired form the above. The base with the wheel-etched Johanneum mark ‘N:183-I’ and an old label.
Condition: Magnificent condition with only minor wear and firing irregularities, including minuscule pitting, a few dark spots, and tiny glaze recesses. Minor nicks to the foot and minuscule enamel flakes are present. Overall, the piece presents superbly and must be considered extremely rare in such well-preserved condition.
Weight: 1,945 g Dimensions: Diameter 43.7 cm
The so-called Johanneum mark on this dish was used for porcelains from the collection of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony (1670-1733). Porcelains from the old Collection, an inventory of which was started in 1721, bear these engraved marks, which were colored black, of numbers and letters corresponding to the particular class of porcelain, i.e., an H written sideways (as seen on the present dish), denoting ‘green Chinese’. It is believed that the presence of the Johanneum mark indicates that the piece entered the collection prior to the death of King Augustus in 1733.
EXPERT’S NOTE
The inventory record for this piece is dated 1779 and reads ‘Fifty differing dishes painted with pagods, stags, trees, and flowers. The largest is 6.4 cm deep, 45.7 cm in diam. No. 183’. According to the inventory records in Dresden, dishes of this type were acquired in 1727. After Augustus’ death in 1733, the porcelain was packed away in the cellars of the unfinished ‘Japanisches Palais’. The term ‘Johanneum’ was taken from the name of the building in Dresden to which the royal collection was moved in 1875-76.
The design shows the goddess Magu, who is associated with immortality and longevity, on her way to the famous peach banquet of Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West). Xiwangmu rules over the garden of the Peaches of Longevity. Once every 3000 years peaches ripen and Xiwangmu invites all the Immortals to a banquet so they can continue to enjoy eternal life. On this dish Magu holds a lingzhi, and is accompanied by a stag with a peach in its mouth, because deer are thought to have the ability to find lingzhi. A boy carries peaches in a basket, while the blossoming prunus tree represents youth and longevity. The sprays of peonies and magnolias on the rim symbolize desires for wealth and high rank.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related famille-rose ‘Magu’ dish, Yongzheng period, 44 cm diameter, currently in the Dresden Porcelain Collection, also with a Johanneum mark N=183-I, museum inventory number PO 6223.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 17 March 2021, lot 282
Price: USD 47,880 or approx. EUR 50,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A famille-rose ‘Magu’ dish, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period
Expert remark: Compare closely related form, enameled decoration, Magu motif, and Johanneum mark. Note the much smaller size (38.8 cm) and the partially faded enamels.
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
Augustus the Strong
161
AN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT AND THUS EXTREMELY RARE GILT AND COPPER-RED ‘THREE BEASTS’ BOTTLE VASE, KANGXI PERIOD
Expert’s note: Pear-shaped bottles decorated with animal motifs in copper-red are exceedingly rare, and examples further adorned with gilt details over the glaze are rarer still. On most pieces of this type, the gilding is extensively worn; on the present vase, however, it remains in an exceptionally well-preserved state. As part of the Dresden Porcelain Collection, the vase was placed in careful storage not long after its creation and remained virtually untouched for some one-and-a-half centuries. Its highly distinguished provenance meant that, even as the collection passed from royal ownership into private hands, the importance of safeguarding its masterful yet delicate decoration was always fully appreciated.
China, 1662-1722. The bulbous body supported on a short foot and rising to a long, slender neck with lipped rim, painted in copper-red do depict a qilin, a horned pixiu, and a Buddhist lion, their fur marks highlighted in gilt and with black (in fact very dark cobalt-blue) pupils. The upper mouth lined in gilt and the base unglazed.
Provenance: Collection of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, acquired in 1723, and thence by descent. Seized by the Free State of Saxony during the German Revolution of 1918-1919, subsequently restituted to the Albertine House of Wettin, and thence by further descent. An important Bavarian private collection, acquired from the above. The base inscribed with wheel-etched Johanneum inventory numbers, ‘N 15 [Arrow]’ and ‘I.163.’, and two inventory numbers of the Dresden Palace, ‘II.A.17.’ and ‘P.O.7997’. The vase was most likely acquired in June or July 1723, together in a set of eight similar vases, from either his most influential minister Jakob Heinrich von Flemming or the Berlin-based porcelain dealer Madame Bassetouche, who delivered a great amount of East Asian porcelains to the court. After the death of Augustus the Strong, it was likely stored in the Japanisches Palais until the Dresden Porcelain Collection was moved to the Johanneum in 1876. Condition: In absolutely perfect and magnificent condition, with no damage of any kind. Only the most minor wear and minimal firing irregularities are present, including a few tiny dark spots and slight pitting. The gilding is exceptionally well preserved—an extremely rare survival for this type of ware. This piece is for the most discerning collectors, who will recognize the rarity of such a pristine state of preservation.
The so-called Johanneum mark on this vase was used for porcelains from the collection of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony (1670-1733). Porcelains from the old collection, an inventory of which was started in 1721, bear these engraved marks, which were colored black, of numbers and letters corresponding to the particular class of porcelain.
Weight: 920 g
Dimensions: Height 25 cm, Diameter 14 cm
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Near identical
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5 April 2016, lot 51 Price: HKD 2,480,000 or approx. EUR 326,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing Description: A copper-red and gilt-decorated bottle vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period
Expert remark: This is the only other known example to have appeared on the auction market with gilding so exceptionally well preserved, which also made it the most expensive specimen of its type ever sold. Formerly in the distinguished Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928–1969).
The present lot is most likely recorded in the historical palace inventory of Augustus the Strong created between 1721 and 1727. See Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Inventory no. 324. Inventory of the Palais in AltDresden. In the year 1721. [Addenda], Red Chinese, Ch. II. Dresden 1721, page 863
A near identical example, which is the pair to the present vase, remains in the Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection.
It bears the Dresden Residence inventory number ‘PO 7998’ (the present lot having the number 7997) and the palace number ‘N 15 [Arrow]’. This vase was researched and published on The Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection platform which transcribed the historical palace inventory of Augustus the Strong. It is very likely that the present vase was part of the same inventory listing, “N. 15. 8 like items, 10 inches high and 6 inches in diameter”. See the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Inventory no. 324. Inventory of the Palais in AltDresden. In the year 1721. [Addenda], Red Chinese, Ch. II. Dresden 1721, p. 863.
The current example is decorated beneath a clear glaze using a copper-red glaze, rather than underglaze-red painting. This method produces bold silhouettes but lacks the capacity for fine detail, which is why gilt highlights were applied to enhance the design.
Originating in the Yongle period of the Ming dynasty, this technique was rarely used after the Xuande period but was again revived during the Kangxi period. The present vase is an outstanding example of this ability as the simple yet skillfully applied brush strokes, in which the three mythical animals have been executed, are remarkably wellpreserved and very clearly visible.
Literature comparison: Compare two further closely related copperred bottle vases with beasts, dating to the Kangxi period, all from the collection of Augustus the Strong, in the Royal Dresden Porcelain Collection, museum inventory numbers PO 7987 and PO 7988.
Estimate EUR 60,000
Starting price EUR 30,000
162
A SUPERB BLUE AND WHITE ‘FLORAL’ JAR AND COVER, LIANZI GUAN, TRANSITIONAL PERIOD, CIRCA 1630-1650
China, mid-17th century. Thickly potted, the ovoid body supported on a tall straight foot and rising to a broad cylindrical neck, the exterior finely painted in shades of cobalt-blue with butterflies and insects amid sprays of peony, camellia, hibiscus, and lotus as well as scattered sprigs of bamboo, lingzhi, and aster, all framed by line borders below a band of pendent stiff leaves at the neck, the domed cover similarly decorated with bees amid peony and bamboo.
Provenance:
Property from the Stilte-Stichting Landgoed Den Bosch Collection, acquired by Dionysia Everwijn and thence by descent. The base lacquered with an old inventory number, ‘BR 6619’, and the base and cover each with a label inscribed ‘BR 66-A’ and ‘BR 66-B’, respectively. Dionysia Wilhelmina Everwijn (1923-2011) was a Dutch amateur painter, art collector, and the owner of Den Bosch, a country estate in Leuvenheim near Brummen that dates back to around 1600 and where her family had lived in since 1866. Condition: The jar in overall excellent condition with minor old wear and firing irregularities including minor pitting, dark spots, glaze recesses, and small firing cracks. The foot with chips as visible on our images.
The cover with a shallow chip, two small hairlines, and a crack extending from the rim and terminating in a curve near the opposite side, with two associated minute losses and stabilized with two old rivets.
Weight: 3,144 g
Dimensions: Height 27 cm
The lianzi guan (lit. ‘lotus jar’) is so named for its resemblance to a lotus seed. This vase form is unique to the Transitional period, emerging at a moment when Jingdezhen potters experimented boldly with new silhouettes for a growing domestic and international clientele. Its broad, rounded body provided an ideal surface for expansive narrative scenes, landscapes, or abstract ornament, which became hallmarks of the era’s porcelain. As a form that appears suddenly in the early seventeenth century and disappears just as quickly under the Qing, the lianzi guan serves as a signature vessel of the Transitional period — embodying its spirit of innovation, experimentation, and responsiveness to a changing world of taste and trade.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Near identical
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 24 May 2006, lot 118
Price: EUR 9,000 or approx. EUR 14,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Transitional blue and white oviform jar and cover, mid-17th century
Expert remark: Compare the form, decoration, and motifs. Note the size (29.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
Den Bosch in Leuvenheim near Brummen, Netherlands, where the present lot was apparently kept for many years
Dionyisia Everwijn, Self-Portrait
A PAIR OF FAHUA GLAZED ‘DRAGON’ ROOFTOP TERMINALS, MING DYNASTY
China, circa 16th to early 17th century. Heavily potted, each finely modeled as the head and chest of a ferocious two-horned dragon, the head with bulging eyes, large dark pupils, a long curled snout showing sharp fangs, the wavy scrolling mane picked out in turquoise, the scaly body flanked by a pair of clouds, all neatly picked out in rich glazes of dark aubergine, bright turquoise, grayish-white, and ochre.
Provenance: The Ghezzi Family Collection, Zurich, Switzerland. The Ghezzi Family has been passionate about jewels and antiques since the 1930s. In the 1940s, Giacomo Ghezzi (1914-1995) opened a jewelry shop in the center of Zurich, and one in St. Moritz. At the same time his wife Philomena ran an antique gallery elsewhere in the city. They both travelled extensively from New York to Tokyo, via Paris, London, Geneva and Hong Kong, hunting for the next treasure to sell. Their son, Fermo Ghezzi (1938-2006), continued in the family’s passion, obtaining his goldsmith’s degree in 1958, and joining the family business together with his wife Sonja. A gemologist and admirer of beautifully crafted period jewels, he acquired over his career some of the finest and noblest jewels, varying from important gemstones to jewels with provenance.
Condition: Good condition with some wear, few small losses, light scratches, old repairs and touchups to the teeth, noses, and eyebrow, few small chips. One with a small hole from sample-taking and associated fill.
Scientific Analysis Report:
A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 30 July 2025, based on sample number C125j89, sets the firing date of all three samples taken between 500 and 800 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
Weight: 10.2 kg and 10.3 kg (excl. stands)
Dimensions: Height 36.5 cm and 37.5 cm (excl. stands)
Each with a fitted hardwood stand, dating from circa 1900. (4)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
These architectural features would most likely have served as beamends for the roof of a temple, see a closely related pair of dragonform terminals dated to the 16th century, 43.7 cm tall, in the Walters Art Museum, accession numbers 49.2378 and 49.2379.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A LARGE ‘MYTHICAL BEAST’ NIGHT LIGHT, BROWN ENAMELED BISCUIT, KANGXI-QIANLONG PERIOD
Expert’s note: Although the lot at first appears to be made from Yixing clay, and several similar beasts have been made in Yixing (see the example in the Palace Museum in the literature comparison), rubbed areas to the underside reveal a white biscuit of the type typically seen in wares from the Transitional and Kangxi periods (c. 1635-1700) onwards. Furthermore, its obvious function as a night light and/or incense burner precludes Yixing as this ware is not heatresistant enough for such use. It is possible that the group of smaller Yixing beasts were based on the present sculpture or others like it, although no beasts of similar size and ware have been recorded in the West.
China, late 17th-18th century. Finely modeled standing on its haunches with the head tilted to the left, the tail swept along the body and the feet tucked below, the fur neatly and densely incised, the beast with a quizzical expression marked by large round eyes enameled in white with black pupils, the mouth open in three sections divided by a pair of fangs, the oval nostrils pierced as well, the head surmounted by a pair of long curved ram-like horns.
The large opening at the base allows for the placement of either a candle or an incense container, with the light or fumes escaping through the wide, openwork mouth and nostrils.
Provenance: French trade. Acquired from a private estate in Paris.
Condition: Overall good condition with expected wear, traces of use, and firing irregularities, a minute shallow chip to the nose, minor chipping to one haunch, minor losses to the tips of the horns, one with an associated small repair, one leg with an old repair.
Weight: 4.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 24 cm
Night lights were made in China as early as the late Ming period, typically in the form of a cat, which is said to be able to see spirits in the dark. The present lot, with its open mouth and pierced nostrils, as well as a characteristic opening on the underside, is an extremely rare nightlight depicting a mythical beast in place of the ubiquitous cat.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a Yixing stoneware model of a similar mythical beast, dated to the Qianlong period, from the Qing Court Collection and now in the Beijing Palace Museum, see Yixing Zisha Wares in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2009, p. 234, pl. 143.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 January 2008, lot 232
Price: USD 15,000 or approx. EUR 19,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare blue and white cat nightlight, late Ming
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling with similar pose and size (22.5 cm). Note the more common feline subject and the different ware.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1.500
A RARE AND LARGE (39 CM) ANHUA-DECORATED FAMILLE ROSE DISH, YONGZHENG PERIOD
China, 1723-1735. Superbly potted, the shallow rounded sides supported on a short foot and rising to a broad everted rim, the interior finely painted in bright enamels to depict a pair of blossoming peonies flanked by lilies and prunus flowers borne on a gnarled branch, the rim finely carved in anhua with a pair of phoenixes amid peony blossoms and below a café-au-lait line.
Provenance: Madame Verneix, Paris, France. A French private collection, Paris, acquired from the above. The base with several labels, one reading ‘Fam. Rose [X] Kieng Long 1715-1795’. A statement by Nicolas Fournery, confirming the provenance stated above, will be shared with the winning bidder of this lot. The present dish was acquired directly from Madame Verneix, as were many other pieces in the previous owner’s collection. Madame Verneix, a discreet dealer who did not always label the objects she sold, had her gallery, Arts d’Autrefois, in 90 rue du Bac, in the VII arrondissement in Paris. Condition: Good condition with minor old wear and firing irregularities including pitting, dark spots, and minor warping, a 2 cm hairline to the rim, few small chips to the upper rim and foot, little fritting, expected minor flaking to the enamels.
Weight: 1.6 kg
Dimensions: Diameter 39.3 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a related smaller floral famille rose dish with anhua decoration at the well, dated to the Yongzheng period, 15.7 cm diameter, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number 1991C-1855.
Expert’s note: The combination of anhua decoration with famille rose enamels, as seen on the present lot, is rare. Most early 18th-century famille rose wares, each almost unique in its execution, are attributed to the Yongzheng period, with the luminous pink enamel on this dish being characteristic of that era. Executing such a design on a large dish was technically demanding, as firing famille rose enamels next to an anhua-incised surface required precise control of temperature and glaze thickness to ensure that the transparent glaze pooled within the incised lines while preserving the clarity of the enamels. This complexity, particularly in the early 18th century, highlights the high quality of this piece.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 1 March 2024, lot 206
Price: EUR 10,400 or approx. EUR 11,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large famille rose ‘flowers and butterfly’ dish, Yongzheng period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related famille rose decoration and floral motifs with similar pink peonies. Note the different form, the lack of anhua decoration, and the smaller size (34.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A SUPERB BLUE AND WHITE ‘BAJIXIANG’ PORCELAIN PLAQUE, QIANLONG PERIOD
China, 1736-1795. The plaque of lobed form, meticulously painted in inky shades of cobalt blue featuring two fish flanking the endless knot, the conch and the wheel of Dharma, all below a finely ornamented parasol suspending on beaded and ribboned tassels a lotus to the right and the victory banner to the left. The rim lined with a geometric border. Drilled through the narrow sides to be mounted on a support.
Provenance: French trade, by repute acquired from a private estate in Paris.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities including kiln grit to the back, light surface scratches.
Weight: 2.8 kg
Dimensions: Size 41.1 x 30.2 cm
The design on this plaque was especially favored during the Qianlong reign. The bajixiang, or Eight Buddhist Emblems, first appeared as supporting motifs on blue-and-white ceramics as early as the Yuan dynasty but gradually evolved into a central decorative theme. A devoted adherent of Tibetan Buddhism, the Qianlong Emperor actively supported religious art, making symbols like the bajixiang particularly prominent and widely used during his rule.
This type of tile would have most likely been used as a wall hanging or inset into a wood support, such as a table or folding screen.
EXPERT’S NOTE
The present plaque features an ingenious variation of the popular bajixiang motif. Notably, the vase motif is absent from the eight auspicious symbols, however, under close inspection it is evident that when combined, all motifs together form the shape of a treasure vase.
For another example of this striking composition, see a blue and white hexagonal baluster vase, formed and decorated according to the Qianlong Emperor’s personal instructions, sold at Poly Auction, Beijing, 12 December 2018, lot 5427, for CNY 10,350,000 or approx. EUR 1,337,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
167
A SLIP-DECORATED AND ENAMELED ‘DOVES AND PEKINGESE DOG’ SNUFF BOTTLE, YIXING, 1820-1850
China. Of rounded rectangular form with a cylindrical neck, flat lip, slightly splayed oval foot, each side with a recessed panel decorated with a slip design, one depicting two Pekinese frolicking beneath flowers issuing from rockwork, the reverse side featuring two doves in a garden with ornamental rocks, bamboo, and a butterfly in flight, all set against a ground covered with cobalt blue enamel except the mouth and foot rims.
Provenance: Robert C. Eldred Co., 27 August 1998, lot 156. The Francine and Bernard Wald Collection of Fine Snuff Bottles, likely acquired from the above, according to the family’s lawyer. Thence by descent. Eldred’s is the oldest continuously operating auction house in New England, founded in 1947 by Robert C. Eldred, Sr. In 1978, his son Robert C. Eldred, Jr. became President of the company, leading it for over three decades until his retirement in 2014. Francine and Bernard Wald were a devoted couple and passionate snuff bottle collectors, with a particular love for agate bottles—amassing a collection of over 1,400 pieces.
and Bernard Wald
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities, two small areas of touchup to the enamel near the foot.
Stopper: Coral cabochon in a silvered platelet, carved spoon
Weight: 45.5 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 72 mm, Diameter neck 15 mm and mouth 7 mm
The Daoguang Emperor and his consort were fond of doves and small dogs, respectively, as subjects of paired doves and Pekingese dogs became popular during this period. The symbolism imbued in the pairs of dogs and doves implies a wish for happy marriage.
The dove-and-dog Yixing bottles were made in sets and in several different series. One of the finest versions of all is seen in the present lot, with its rounded rectangular shape, blue surround and multi-colored slip decoration. The slip is both painted with a brush and plastered on and carved, or at least manipulated with a blade of some sort. This is the same technique as that of the Slip Master, but it is a quite different, more evolved style, with a number of different colors of slip used almost like enamels. This is typical of artistic evolution in the snuff-bottle arts, where a simple idea, drawn initially from the painting style of the literati with its predominance of monochrome ink painting, evolves to a more complex style as the possibilities of the medium are explored.
The dogs and doves on this series are always extremely well depicted, full of life, and the limited range of colors of slip available to the carvers are very thoughtfully and effectively used.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2007, lot 38
Price: USD 33,600 or approx. EUR 45,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An unusual slipdecorated stoneware snuff bottle, Yixing, 1820-1850
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and subject. Note the size (6.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
Francine
168
A GILT AND FAMILLE ROSE ‘EIGHTEEN LUOHAN’ PORCELAIN SNUFF BOTTLE, QIANLONG MARK, 1780-1850
Expert’s note: The subject of the present lot was particularly popular among porcelain snuff bottle makers during the first half of the 19th century, although it originated in this medium in the late Qianlong period. The skillful painting and rich gilding seen on our bottle make this a rare and fine example of the group that is probably of relatively early date, possibly within the Qianlong period itself.
China. The flattened ovoid body tapering towards the oval foot, surmounted by a short waisted neck with flat mouth, finely worked in enamels to each side to depict the Eighteen Arhats in a rocky landscape, backed by a richly gilded ground, a dragon framed by clouds wrapping around the neck.
The slightly concave foot with an iron-red four-character mark Qianlong nianzhi
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities, some rubbing to the gilt mainly around the mouth and foot, and light surface scratches.
One side shows Jubo Luohan rising an alms bowl, Fuhu Luohan with his tiger, Changmei Luohan holding his long eyebrows, standing among the others, and the other side depicting Jianlong Luohan raising his arm towards the dragon above, Kanmen Luohan holding his staff, Xiaoshi Luohan holding his Buddhist lion, and Tuota Luohan with a pagoda in his left hand, centered by the remaining luohan.
Stopper: Coral cabochon on a black platelet
Weight: 31.8 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 56 mm. Diameter neck 18 mm and mouth 8 mm
A luohan is a disciple of Buddha who attained enlightenment and achieved perfection, but chose to postpone his accession to Nirvana, choosing instead to remain in the world to aid sentient beings.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Poly Auction, Beijing, 9 December 2018, lot 6136
Estimate: CNY 30,000 or approx. EUR 3,900 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt ground and famille rose ‘18 Luohan’ snuff bottle, Jiaqing period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, the rich gilding and form.
Note the bi yun xuan zhi mark instead of the Qianlong mark and the size (6.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 1,500
Starting price EUR 700
169
A WHITE JADE ‘PEACH AND MONKEYS’ SNUFF BOTTLE, 1750-1850
China. Well hollowed and carved in form of a peach with two monkeys clambering on its leafy branches that grow from the base, and with a small bat perched above. The translucent stone is of an even white tone apart from a faint russet area to one side.
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor surface wear, the coral stopper and cork with remnants of adhesive, the stone with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into thin hairline cracks.
The homophone for monkey, hou, one of the twelve zodiac animals, is ‘nobleman’ or ‘high official’ as well as ‘descendants’. The monkey therefore represents the wish for the success of one’s descendants. The representation of monkey and peach relates to the legendary Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, who stole the peaches of immortality. Therefore, the present lot bestows auspicious wishes for success and longevity for generations.
Stopper: Coral branch
Weight: 63.9 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 57 mm. Diameter mouth 6 mm.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 18 March 2019, lot 682
Price: USD 5,700 or approx. EUR 6,200 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A white jade ‘peach’ snuff bottle, 1750-1850
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, stone, and subject. Note the size (6.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
170
A FINE WHITE JADE ‘FENGJUANGUI (MALLOW CURLING IN THE WIND)’ SNUFF BOTTLE, 1736-1820
China. Well hollowed, the flattened globular body rising from an oval foot to a cylindrical neck with flat mouth, incised to the wide sides with a stylized mallow blossom, and the narrow sides each carved with a clambering chilong. The translucent stone is of an even white color with cloudy white inclusions.
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few microscopic nibbles to the mouth, the coral cabochon with two tiny nicks.
Stopper: Coral cabochon on a black platelet
Weight: 63 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 54 mm. Diameter neck 17 mm and mouth 6 mm.
This bottle depicts the mallow which is associated with the successful scholar. Its Chinese name gui is also a homophone on the word gui for ‘honor’. As such, the mallow flower is depicted on a variety of Imperial bottles made from different materials. This particular version of the design is known as fengjuangui, ‘mallow curling in the wind’, and is characterized by the wavy petals and cross-hatched center. See a related golden glass snuff bottle with the same design, flanked by a pair of beast mask handles, described as “probably Imperial” and attributed to the Palace Workshops, Beijing, dated 1730-1780, at Bonhams Hong Kong, 7 October 2014, lot 13.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 4 November 2008, lot 17
Price: GBP 6,250 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A finely carved white jade snuff bottle, Qianlong
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, stone, and mallow motif. Note the size (6.4 cm) and different form.
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A YELLOW AND RUSSET JADE SNUFF BOTTLE, MASTER OF THE ROCKS SCHOOL, 1750-1800
PUBLISHED
Robert Hall, Chinese Snuff Bottles IX, Chinese Whispers, no. 26
Finely carved, the slightly flattened ovoid body supported on a short oval foot and surmounted by a tall cylindrical neck with flat lip and small mouth, one side boldly carved in high relief through the russet skin with confronting archaistic dragons, their tails morphing into chilong heads and their sinuous bodies forming the character ‘long’ (dragon), the narrow sides carved in relief with lion masks suspending mock-ring handles.
The semi-translucent stone of a pale yellowish-green tone with cloudy inclusions and enveloped in a lustrous dark russet-brown skin.
Provenance: Robert Hall, London, 1999. The Francine and Bernard Wald Collection of Fine Snuff Bottles, acquired from the above and thence by descent. Francine and Bernard Wald were a devoted couple and passionate snuff bottle collectors, with a particular love for agate bottles—amassing a collection of over 1,400 pieces.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, one tiny nibble to the lip and minuscule nibbling to the foot rim.
Stopper: Coral
Weight: 79.6 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 67 mm. Diameter neck 13 mm and mouth 6 mm.
The Master of the Rocks School specialized in carvings from two-colored hardstones, such as agate, crystal, chalcedony and jade. The school’s main output was bottles carved with landscape designs, but many other subjects are recorded, which may have been partly produced for the Imperial Court. The quality of carving and the use of material in the present bottle are typical of this school.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 15 March 2017, lot 343
Price: USD 18,750 or approx. EUR 21,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A carved yellow and russet jade snuff bottle, Master of the Rocks School, 17401860
Expert remark: Compare the closely related stone, manner of carving, and motif with similar dragons and russet skin. Note the size (6.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
172
A SILHOUETTE AGATE ‘MAGPIES, BUTTERFLY AND MINOGAME’ SNUFF BOTTLE, OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1780-1880
China. Well hollowed, the flattened and compressed spherical body rising from an oval foot to a cylindrical neck with flat lip, finely carved through the dark-brown markings in the stone on one side to depict two magpies perched on rockwork, one bird raising its head towards a butterfly fluttering above.
Expert’s note: Beneath the main motif, a minogame (蓑亀, mǐn wù guī in Chinese, literally “green‑hair turtle”) is distinctly visible in the silhouette. This legendary turtle—so ancient that algae grow upon its shell, resembling a straw rain-coat—symbolizes longevity, wisdom, and enduring felicity. In East Asian decorative arts, the minogame is often depicted alongside magpies (鹊, què), which represent joy and marital happiness, and butterflies (蝶, hú dié), a symbol of love, beauty, and also long life, the trio—minogame with magpies and butterflies— forms a classic auspicious ensemble signifying wishes for a long, joyful, elegant life filled with love.
What is particularly extraordinary in this bottle is that the lapidary has utilized a 100 % natural formation in the agate to create a natural black shadow that artfully defines the minogame’s silhouette. It is rare for a stone’s natural coloration to so perfectly echo the symbolic form of a turtle embodying longevity and good fortune.
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, tiny nibbles to the mouth, and light surface scratches. The stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Stopper: Glass cabochon in imitation of coral and jadeite on a turquoise platelet
Weight: 68.8 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 72 mm. Diameter neck 21 mm and mouth 8 mm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 221
Price: USD 10,000 or approx. EUR 13,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A carved silhouette agate snuff bottle, official school, 1780-1860
Expert remark: Compare the closely related stone, manner of carving, and motifs.
Note the size (6.1 cm)
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A FINE DENDRITIC CHALCEDONY ‘FROG AND LOTUS’ SNUFF BOTTLE, OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1760-1850
Expert’s note: The side view reveals the careful precision with which the ground plane is separated from the green relief, achieved without compromising the bottle’s overall form. This delicate balance— aligning natural markings with an intentional design—is a challenging accomplishment that speaks to the artist’s skill and control.
China. Well hollowed, rising from an oval foot to a cylindrical neck with slightly concave upper rim, the square body with rounded shoulders carved to one side through the dark green layer to depict a frog perched on a lotus leave and looking at a butterfly. The pair flanked by further lotus leaves and buds, all above finely incised waves that wrap around the foot. The reverse with further lotus stems bearing a blossom and a pod. The stone is of a pale gray color with emerald green shadings.
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s. The base with an old label inscribed with an inventory number, ‘34’.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and few tiny nibbles, the stone with natural fissures and inclusions.
Stopper: Coral cabochon with green glass knop and turquoise platelet
Weight: 75 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 70 mm. Diameter neck 21 mm and mouth 8 mm
There is a variety of chalcedony that has areas of green running through the honey-brown color. Although the green on the present bottle is not made up of such strong and obviously dendritic filaments as moss agate, it is infused with minuscule moss-like markings, thus qualifying as dendritic. Because of the color, the material tended to be used for a range of subjects where green was of particular significance, including frogs, lotus leaves, and crickets.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related agate snuff bottle with green skin carved as lotus leaves, dated late 18th or 19th century, illustrated by Bob C. Stevens, Collector’s Book of Snuff Bottles, 1976, no. 545.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 23 November 2010, lot 40
Price: HKD 192,000 or approx. EUR 31,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A dendritic chalcedony ‘frog and lotus’ snuff bottle, Official School, 1760–1850
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, stone, manner of carving, motifs, and size (6.7cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
174 AN EXQUISITE TWO-COLOR CAMEO JASPER ‘BUDDHIST LIONS AND MONKEYS’ SNUFF BOTTLE, OFFICIAL SCHOOL, 1750-1860
PUBLISHED
Clare and Michael Chu, The Bentley Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 1908, p. 82.
Superbly carved and well hollowed, of flattened rounded square form surmounted by a tubular neck with a flat lip and supported on an oval foot ring, carved in relief through the dark green outer layer on one side with a Buddhist lion and cub playing beside a brocade ball with tasseled ribbons, and the reverse cleverly integrating a thin darker inclusion that sweeps diagonally across the bottle to depict a pair of monkeys sitting on a subtly carved craggy rock, the lower situated simian stealthily hiding a succulent peach from the vigilant stare of his companion.
Provenance: Sotheby’s Billingshurst, 25 June 1991, lot 119, estimate GBP 2,500 or approx. EUR 8,900 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). The Bentley Collection, acquired from the above. Clare Chu, Asian Art Studio, Los Angeles, California. The Francine and Bernard Wald Collection of Fine Snuff Bottles, acquired from the above and thence by descent.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, a small hairline to the lion cub’s body, the stone with natural fissures and inclusions.
Stopper: Coral and Jasper
Weight: 91.4 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 72 mm. Diameter neck 20 mm and mouth 8 mm.
This extraordinary example is made from material of exceptional quality and range, with distinct layers of color, allowing for the rare technique of double layers of carving.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 12 May 2011, lot 172
Price: GBP 19,200 or approx. EUR 38,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large carved jasper snuff bottle, 1800-1900
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, stone with similar tones of green and mustard, manner of carving, and motifs with similar lion, brocade ball, and rockwork. Note the identical size (7.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Clare Chu
175 AN IMPERIAL ENAMELED
TURQUOISE-BLUE GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE, YANGZHOU SCHOOL, QIANLONG, 1770-1785
China. Of flattened spherical form with a waisted neck and slightly concave foot, the opaque deep turquoise-blue bottle delicately painted in bright enamels to depict butterflies fluttering above grasses and flowers.
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s.
Condition: Good condition with minor old wear and manufacturing irregularities including open bubbles to the lip and a slightly warped shape. Little flaking and rubbing to the enamels.
Stopper: Pink tourmaline cabochon on a jadeite-imitation glass platelet
Weight: 56.4 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 65 mm. Diameter neck 15 mm and mouth 7 mm.
This color appears sufficiently often from the Yangzhou school, as an overlay and more rarely as a ground color as in the present lot, to be accepted as part of the standard range. Any glassworks capable of producing overlay bottles could as easily produce plain and enameled ones, and almost certainly did. There was a large market for each of these categories, and no commercial workshop in China would have ignored this potential source of additional business.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related turquoise-blue porcelain snuff bottle decorated with flowers, dated to the Qing dynasty, in the National Museum of History, Taipei, collection number 8203.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 14 September 2012, lot 1150
Price: USD 27,500 or approx. EUR 33,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare enameled turquoiseblue glass snuff bottle, Imperial, Yangzhou, Qianlong four-character mark in iron-red seal script and of the period, 1770-1785
Expert remark: Compare the similar form, the color of the glass and enamels, the fine brushwork, and the size (6.2 cm). Note the Qianlong seal mark.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 September 2007, lot 690
Price: USD 15,000 or approx. EUR 20,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare enameled turquoiseblue glass snuff bottle, Imperial, Yangzhou, Qianlong four-character mark in iron-red seal script and of the period, 1770-1785
Expert remark: Compare the similar form, the color of the glass and enamels, the fine brushwork, and the size (6 cm). Note the Qianlong seal mark.
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
176
AN EMERALD-GREEN AND MILKY-WHITE DOUBLE OVERLAY PINK GLASS ‘PHOENIX’ SNUFF BOTTLE, 1760-1880
China. The flattened spherical body rising from an oval foot to a cylindrical neck with flat lip, finely carved through the translucent green and white layers to the rose-tone body on each side with a majestic phoenix standing on one leg atop craggy rockwork, flanked by a pine tree and tall peony blossom, the details meticulously incised.
Provenance: This bottle comes from a collection that originates from a highly distinguished Taiwanese family and was assembled primarily during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the snuff bottles in the collection were acquired in Hong Kong, with the majority believed to have been purchased through Christie’s and Sotheby’s during this period. While original receipts were not retained, possibly due to the sheer size of the collection, it is likely that several of these bottles can be traced in Sotheby’s and Christie’s catalogues from the 1980s and 1990s. Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, tiny nibbles, and few open bubbles.
Stopper: Jadeite cabochon on a copper platelet
Weight: 64.2 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 75 mm. Diameter neck 15 mm and mouth 6 mm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related green and white double-overlay pink glass snuff bottle depicting a different subject, dated to the Qing dynasty, 7 cm high, in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, museum number C2023.0151. Compare a related double-overlay glass snuff bottle depicting a cat, exhibiting a similar graduation between the overlay colors, illustrated by Hugh Moss, Victor Graham, and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, Vol. 5, Part 3, Glass, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 688-689, no. 1007.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 25 November 2013, lot 171
Price: HKD 275,000 or approx. EUR 39,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An emerald-green and yellow double-overlay pink glass ‘silkworms’ snuff bottle, Yangzhou school, Qing dynasty, mid to late 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and double-overlay technique with similar graduation between the colors.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 March 2022, lot 812
Price: USD 42,840 or approx. EUR 40,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A green and yellow-overlay transparent mulberry-red glass snuff bottle, 1770-1830
Expert remark: Compare the related form and double-overlay technique with similar graduation between the colors. Note the size (5.9 cm).
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
177 AN INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL ‘SWALLOWS’ SNUFF BOTTLE, BY ZHOU LEYUAN, DATED TO THE RENCHEN YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1892
Inscriptions: To one side, signed ‘Zhou Leyuan’ and dated ‘In the year of Renchen [corresponding to 1892], Lunar September, Beijing’. One red seal, ‘Yuanyin’.
Expert’s note: This is one of Zhou Leyuan’s late masterpieces, painted on crystal. In this case, it remains uncertain whether the bottle is an older example repurposed by the artist or one specifically commissioned by him. The shape could plausibly date back to the mid-eighteenth century, but its frequent appearance among Beijing School artists—particularly in the work of Ma Shaoxuan, whose portraits often appear in very similar forms—suggests the possibility of later manufacture.
Well hollowed, the rounded rectangular body supported on a short oval foot ring and rising to a cylindrical neck. Superbly painted with a continuous landscape depicting prunus trees growing amidst peonies and grassy mounds, each tree trunk shown on a different side with the blossoming branches extending to both sides, with swallows in flight.
Provenance: The Little Shop, Hong Kong, 1960. A private collection in England, acquired from the above. A copy of the invoice from the Little Shop, Hong Kong, dated 6 April 1960, accompanies this lot. The base with an old label typed ‘99’. Condition: Good condition with minor wear, minuscule nicks to the foot, the mouth with a small smoothened area, the stone with natural fissures and inclusions. The painting with minuscule traces of wear and use.
Stopper: Rose quartz
Weight: 48.2 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 65 mm. Diameter neck 13 mm and mouth 5 mm.
Zhou Leyuan is the founder of the popular Beijing school of painting. His career spanned the period from 1881 to 1893. Every single artist of the first phase of the school owed a considerable debt to Zhou, and most began their careers by copying his style and signing his name. Some even devoted most of their careers to producing copies of his work. Hugh Moss has described Zhou Leyuan as “the single most important artist in the entire field of inside-painted snuff bottles”.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 24 November 2010, lot 41
Price: HKD 108,000 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An inside-painted rock-crystal snuff bottle, Zhou Leyuan, dated 1892 (the bottle 1740-1892)
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of painting, composition, and swallow motif, this bottle being dated to the same year as the present lot. Note the size (6.4 cm)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 September 2007, lot 609
Price: USD 20,000 or approx. EUR 26,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An inside-painted brown crystal snuff bottle, signed Zhou Leyuan, dated to the Renchen year, corresponding to 1892
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of painting, composition, and swallow motif, this bottle being dated to the same year as the present lot. Note the size (6.2 cm) and brown color of the crystal.
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
A RARE INSIDE-PAINTED CRYSTAL SNUFF BOTTLE, BY MA SHAOXUAN, DATED 1899
Of flattened, rounded rectangular form, supported on a short oval foot and rising to a cylindrical neck, finely painted on one side with a grouping of inscribed paper items, including paintings, folding fans, rubbings, and calligraphy. The other side with a poetic inscription.
Inscriptions:
1. To one side, signed ‘Ma Shaoxuan’ with seal ‘Ma Shaoxuan’, dated to the ‘first month of the Year of Jijai [1899]’. Further inscribed with an excerpt from the Lantingji Xu: ‘Jihai xin zhengyue, yonghe jiunian, sui zai guichou, muchun zhi chu, hui yu kuaiji shanyin zhi lanting, xiuxi shi ye. qunxian bizhi, shao zhang xianji. cidi you chongshan junling, maolin xiuzhu’ (‘In the ninth year of Yonghe [353 AD], during the year of Guichou, in the early days of late spring, we gathered at the Orchid Pavilion near Shanyin in Kuaiji to observe the Purification Ritual. Scholars of great virtue all arrived; the young and old alike assembled. The place boasts towering peaks and rugged ridges, dense forests and tall bamboos’.
2. The other side with inscribed paper items, clockwise from the top, starting with the fan, ‘Yi si dong ri Sima Zhong zuo’ (‘Winter in the Year of Yisi [1845] by Sima Zhong’); ‘Yo huai min zhen Zao wu san kong’ (‘Endowed with bright virtue since youth, Enlightened early to the Three Emptinesses’); ‘men wai shui liu he chu, tian bian shu rao shei jia, Pan Zuyin’ (‘Outside the gate, to where does the water run? At horizon’s edge, which home is encircled by trees? Pan Zuyin’); ‘Jiu cheng zhi gong Ci ze sui zhi’ (‘Jiucheng Palace—this was built by the Sui’); and the round fan, signed ‘Bada Shanren’.
Provenance: The Little Shop, Hong Kong, 1960. A private collection in England, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of the invoice from the Little Shop, Hong Kong, dated 6 April 1960, accompanies this lot. The base with an old typed label, ‘79’.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, manufacturing irregularities, occasional light surface scratches, and a minor smoothened chip to the foot. The stopper with traces of wear and use.
Stopper: Coral with pearl finial and a green platelet
Weight: 45.3 g
Dimensions: Height including stopper 77 mm. Diameter neck 17 mm and mouth 7 mm.
Ma Shaoxuan (1867-1939) was one of the most technically accomplished artists of the Beijing School of snuff-bottle painting, which was founded by Zhou Leyuan and included other leading artists, such as Ding Erzhong, Ye Zhongsan and Zi Yizi.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 June 2021, lot 1018
Price: HKD 302,400 or approx. EUR 35,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An inside-painted glass ‘hundred antiques’ snuff bottle by Ma Shaoxuan, dated guimao year, corresponding to 1903
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and motif. Note the size (6 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 6 November 2014, lot 470
Price: GBP 21,250 or approx. EUR 38,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine inside-painted glass snuff bottle, signed Ma Shaoxuan, dated 1895 and of the period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and motif. Note the size (6.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
179
A RARE TURQUOISE-INLAID GOLD ‘ARGALI’ FIBULA, WESTERN MONGOLIA, 13TH-11TH CENTURY BC
PUBLISHED
Tina Pang, Treasures of the Eurasian Steppes: Animal Art from 800 BC to 200 AD, New York, 1998, p. 127, no. 137.
Eurasian Steppes. Hollow cast, the argali head with stout downward curled horns, blunt turquoise-inlaid nose and eyes, extending to a linear serrated back applied with tubular extensions with further inlays.
Provenance: A private collection in Canada, 1980s. Ariadne Galleries, New York and London, acquired in 1993. A distinguished American private collection, acquired from the above on 27 April 2016. A copy of the Art Loss Register Reference S00116622 dated 31 August 2016 accompanies this lot. A copy of a certificate from Ariadne Galleries, describing the present lot as a fibula and confirming the dating and provenance above, accompanies this lot. Founded in 1972, Ariadne Galleries has established a reputation as one of the world’s leading dealers in the field of ancient art. With a prominent gallery in New York’s upper East side for many years, in 2014 Ariadne opened its second gallery in London’s historic art district, Mayfair. With nearly fifty years in the industry, Ariadne boasts of several important private collectors and foundations among its clients, as well as some of the world’s most celebrated museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University Art Museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Obvious losses, some corrosion, tiny nicks, and traces of weathering and erosion. Two inlays replaced. The top pierced with two apertures.
Weight: 26.5 g (excl. stand), 80.9 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 6.5 cm (excl. stand), 8.6 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated metal stand. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related pair of turquoise-inlaid gold argali brooches, excavated in 1971 from a Bronze Age tomb No. 9 at Tevsh Uul in Bogd soum, Övörkhangai Province, in the collection of the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, Ulaanbaatar. The burial mound, measuring 10 by 6 meters with a square stone enclosure, contained a grave at a depth of 1.8 meters. Positioned at either temple of the interred individual was this pair of gold ornaments, identical in craftsmanship to the present lot and similarly modeled in the form of stylized argali (wild sheep) heads.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 14 May 2008, lot 6
Price: GBP 26,900 or approx. EUR 57,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare Ordos turquoise-inlaid gold ram fitting, Spring and Autumn period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related craftsmanship with similar materials and use of inlay. Note the later date.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A RARE FRAGMENT OF AN OPENWORK GOLD PLAQUE, CHINA, 6TH-4TH CENTURY BC
Published:
1. Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1953, pl. 22.
2. Leif Petzäll (ed.), Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, The Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities, Ulricehamn, 1999, no. 21.
Exhibited: Smithsonian Institution, Chinese Gold and Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, Washington, D.C., 1954-1955.
Finely cast as two animals coiled around each other into a circle, their legs tucked into the center and encircled by joined bird heads with elongated beaks and large round eyes. The reverse with two loops.
Provenance: The Carl Kempe Collection, thence by descent. Sotheby’s, London, 14 May 2008, lot 4, sold for GBP 11,875, approx. EUR 26,000. The Saoud bin Mohammed Ali Al-Thani Foundation, acquired from the above, and subsequently deaccessed. The reverse lacquered with an old inventory number, ‘CK22’, and with a label inscribed ‘1905 SO’. Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967) was a leading figure of the Swedish pulp and paper industry and an Olympic silver medalist. However, he is probably best known for his magnificent and legendary collection of Chinese art. After his death, part of his collection was donated to the British Museum and the Museum of Art and Far Eastern Antiquities in Ulricehamn, some items were exhibited in 1971 by the Kempe Foundation and some objects were sold at auction houses including Sotheby’s Hong Kong, while a substantial portion has remained in the family to this day. Saoud bin Mohammed Ali Al-Thani (1966-2014) was a Qatari prince who served as minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. By the turn of the 21st century, Sheikh Saoud had established an international reputation as an avid art collector, both for his own collection as well as those of several state-owned museums he oversaw in Qatar. Sheikh Saoud’s legacy as a collector is remarkable, as he laid the foundations of the major collections of Qatar Museums.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, expected wear, obvious losses, casting irregularities, minor warping, few small fissures, light surface scratches.
The present lot at Sotheby’s, London, 14 May 2008, lot 4, sold for GBP 11,875, approx. EUR 26,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Weight: 15 g
Dimensions: Length 4.5 cm
Expert’s note: It is likely that at least some of the recesses and pierced areas of this plaque originally held inlays of semi-precious stones, see for example a turquoise-inlaid gold ram-form fitting dated 7th-early 6th century, 3.8 cm wide, also formerly in the Carl Kempe Collection, and sold at Christie’s New York, 12 September 2019, lot 501, for USD 47,500.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 12 September 2019, lot 502
Price: USD 47,500 or approx. EUR 52,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A small gold plaque, Northeast China, 6th-5th century BC Expert remark: Compare the closely related material and craftsmanship. Note the size (2.9 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
Dr. Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967)
Saoud bin Mohammed bin Ali Al-Thani (1966-2014)
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND IMPORTANT GOLD ‘PHOENIX’ VASE, TANG-LIAO DYNASTY
China, 618-1125. Finely modeled with an ovoid body supported on a short tapered foot and surmounted by a long slender neck with horizontal ribs and terminating in a blossom-shaped mouth with neatly incised petals. The body richly engraved with a pair of majestic phoenixes with long trailing tails, surrounded scrolling vines issuing lotus, peonies, chrysanthemums, and other auspicious flowers, framed above and below by borders of petals and interlocking S-scroll.
Provenance: The private collection of a Scandinavian businessman and thence by descent. Bukowskis, Stockholm, 15 June 2012, lot 1845, dated as 17th-18th century. A noted English private collection, acquired from the above, and thence by descent.
Condition: Good and entirely original condition, with expected agerelated wear and manufacturing irregularities. A few minor dents, dings, and minuscule nicks, along with light surface scratches. Microscopic remnants of soil encrustation, slightly more concentrated on the interior. Overall with a fine, naturally developed patina.
Metallurgy: Analysis confirms a high gold content ranging from 22 to 24 carats, consistent with the purity levels found in Tang and Liao dynasty goldwork. Such high-purity alloys were typically reserved for elite or ceremonial use, reflecting the technical sophistication and material wealth of the period. This is consistent with other excavated examples from aristocratic tombs and temple hoards.
Weight: 121.6 g
Dimensions: Height 15.6 cm
The shape of the present bottle was popular during the Tang, Liao, and Song dynasties and was produced in a variety of materials. For example, see a bronze vase dated to the Tang dynasty and a white glazed porcelain vase dated to the Song dynasty, both in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, inventory numbers 故銅002401N000000000 and 故瓷018167N000000000, and a glass vase dated to the Tang dynasty in the Shaanxi History Museum.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a near identical gold vase with phoenixes (fig. 1) as well as a gold urn with a closely related decoration of interlocking S-shapes and lappets framing birds and florals, both dated to the Liao dynasty, in the Shanghai Museum.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Near identical
Auction: Koller, Zurich, 26 November 2024, lot 142
Price: CHF 150,000 or approx. EUR 162,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare gold vase, China, Tang dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the form, decoration, motifs, and size (16.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
fig. 1
182 AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE GOLD REPOUSSÉ VOTIVE PLAQUE, JAVA, CIRCA 10TH-12TH CENTURY
Indonesia. Of rectangular form, dexterously worked to depict a ceremonial procession centered on a princely figure, lavishly embellished with beaded jewelry and a grand tiara, seated beneath a richly decorated howdah atop a caparisoned elephant. The procession is accompanied by numerous attendants, some on horseback leading the way, others following on foot. Three celestial beings emerge from the clouds in the upper left corner in an attitude of prayer, offering protection and blessings to the prince.
Provenance: From a private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired 10-20 years ago.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, manufacturing irregularities, surface scratches, light warping and minor dents, scattered small tears with associated minor losses, minor signs of burial including encrustations.
Weight: 47.2 g (excl. stand), 647.0 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: 17.6 cm (excl. stand), 20.9 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated wood stand. (2)
The present votive plaque depicts a scene from one of the jatakas, as represented in the Mahayana Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Central Java. The jatakas were narrative accounts recalling the previous lives of Prince Siddhartha, prior to his renunciation and eventual enlightenment as the Buddha. Executed in low relief, the composition unfolds with ceremonial grandeur, portraying the prince surrounded by nobles, attendants, and celestial deities, evoking the opulence and privilege of his early life, worldly comforts he would ultimately renounce in his quest for spiritual liberation.
A substantial number of relief scenes from Borobodur, including one depicting the same scene as the present plaque, were meticulously documented by Professor Nicolaas J. Krom in his seminal 1927 publication Barabudur: Archaeological Description. This work arose from extensive archaeological investigations conducted in the early twentieth century under the Dutch colonial administration of the island and remains a fundamental reference for the study and preservation of this monumental site.
Votive plaques of this kind served both devotional and didactic purposes. As offerings, they expressed religious merit, while, as visual narratives, they conveyed essential episodes from the the life and teachings of the Buddha. Within the context of Borobudur, they reinforced the overarching function of the monument as a sacred path guiding pilgrims from the realm of desire to the attainment of enlightenment.
Borobudur, located in Central Java, is the largest Buddhist monument in the world and a cornerstone of Southeast Asia’s archaeological heritage. Built in the ninth century under the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple embodies a distinctly Javanese interpretation of Buddhist architecture and cosmological principles. Conceived as a monumental stone mandala, Borobudur comprises a sequence of ascending terraces. The lower square platforms (rupadhatu) are intricately adorned with narrative and ornamental bas-reliefs, while the upper circular terraces (arupadhatu) are stark and unembellished, symbolizing the transition from the material to the spiritual realm. In total, the monument features approximately 2,670 relief panels, spanning over 2,500 square meters. These depicted scenes from everyday life in ancient Java, stories from Buddhist scriptures, and numerous jatakas, such as the one represented on this plaque.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related engraved gold plaque, Indonesia, Eastern Javanese period, dated early 9th-14th century, 7.6 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1998.544.35.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
Royal elephant escorted by attendants during the Mataram (Medang) Kingdom period (743-1016) in Java, as depicted in the Borobudur temple
A GARNET-INLAID GOLD SCROLL CASE PERSIA, SELJUK EMPIRE, 11TH – 12TH CENTURY, WITH TWO INSCRIBED GOLD FOIL SHEETS
The scroll case of slender cylindrical form, fitted with tiered finials on either end, and applied with circular medallions inlaid with garnets to the center, flanked by short rectangular panels. The surface of the case is minutely worked with granulation separating lozenge bands.
The two gold-foil sheets are incised with cuneiform scripts in Persian, Assyrian, and Sumerian languages. One sheet is further decorated with an Assyrian winged sun emblem adjacent to an anthropomorphic feline, and Sumerian figures with shaved heads. (3)
Expert’s note: The case itself is firmly attributable to the Seljuk workshops of Persia in the 11th–12th century, with its precise goldsmithing and garnet inlay. The two associated gold foils, however, present an anomaly: they are incised with cuneiform characters and Mesopotamian-style motifs, including a winged sun emblem and shaved-headed figures. As cuneiform was long extinct by the Seljuk period, the foils cannot be contemporary with the case. They may represent much earlier Mesopotamian elements repurposed as potent amulets, or, alternatively, later historicist additions inspired by rediscovered antiquities. Their presence underscores the complex afterlife of ancient scripts and symbols within Islamic-period objects.
Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik
István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former highranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, the gold with soil encrustations indicating a prolonged period of burial, minuscule dents, small nicks, and minor losses. The gold foil with creasing, small tears, and minor losses. Some of the embellishments, though ancient, may be associated. Alloy composition range: 91.38% gold, 7.12% silver, and 1.49% copper (the case). 90.97% gold, 8.96% silver, and 0.06% copper (one sheet). 87.65% gold, 12.28% silver, and 0.06% copper (the other sheet). The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Weight: 20.1 g (inscribed sheet), 18.6 g (illustrated sheet), 125.6 g (scroll case with plug)
Dimensions: Length 22.3 cm (scroll case), Size 15.5 x 10.5 cm (each sheet)
The Seljuks (11th–13th centuries), a Turkic dynasty ruling across Iran, Anatolia, and Central Asia, are celebrated for their artistic production in architecture, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork. While bronze and silver vessels and inlaid wares from this period survive in greater numbers, objects made of gold are exceedingly rare—partly because precious metal was often melted down and reused. Seljuk goldsmiths drew on both Persian and Central Asian traditions, combining them with motifs from Byzantine and Islamic sources. The present lot is decorated with rows of grains added in the groove between two twisted wires, a technique influenced by contemporaneous jewelry from Syria and the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt.
Gold tablets inscribed with cuneiform script, imitating the clay prototypes of ancient Mesopotamia, illustrate the enduring prestige of earlier textual traditions. A notable comparison can be drawn with the Neo-Assyrian gold tablet commemorating the founding of Dur-Sharrukin, the capital established by Sargon II (721-705 BC), now in the Louvre (see literature comparison). While Sargon II styled himself as a ruler of a new era, he deliberately adopted the name of Sargon of Akkad, the legendary founder of the Old Akkadian empire nearly two millennia earlier. Such examples reveal how cuneiform inscriptions frequently drew upon the authority of older texts and dynastic precedents, projecting legitimacy through continuity with the distant past.
The gold sheets are decorated with iconic motifs inspired by earlier traditions including two confronting Sumerian figures, identifiable by their shaved heads; the bare-chested dancing men are dressed in loincloths with their hands raised. The men’s heads and beards are shaved, suggesting that they are participating in a religious ceremony which required ritual purification of the body. Their face appears in profile, with a prominent nose, sloping forehead, and foreshortened ear. See a similar dancing man from Early Dynastic III Mesopotamia, dated ca. 2600-2350 BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 59.41.53 (fig. 1). The back shows an Assyrian winged sun, emblematic of the solar symbol associated with divinity, royalty, and power in the Ancient Near East. See a similar ceiling relief at the temple entrance to the first columned hall in the mortuary temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habu (fig. 2), Egypt, dated to the 9th century BC, and another winged sun emblem over the temple of Kom Ombo (fig. 3), constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, 180-47 BC.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Neo-Assyrian gold tablet inscribed in cuneiform commemorating the creation and founding of Dur-Sharrukin, dated c. 722-705 BC, in the Louvre, numéro principal AO 19933. Compare a related gold filigree roundel with similar granulation, Iran, dated to the 11th century, 7.1 cm wide, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1980.344. Compare a related earlier Assyrian gold tablet, dated to 1243 to 1207 BC, Ishtar Temple, formerly in the collection of the Vorderasiatisches Museum.
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum
Dr. István Zelnik
fig. 1
fig. 3
fig. 2
184
A
PAIR OF LARGE GOLD ‘RAM’ ORNAMENTS, EURASIAN STEPPES, CIRCA 3RD-2ND CENTURY BC OR EARLIER
Each exquisitely worked in the form of a recumbent ram shown in profile, resting on its legs tucked beneath the muscular body, the broad neck twisted to turn the head towards its rear. The animals are well detailed with round eyes, long funnel-shaped ears, beneath pronounced brow ridges, tapered snouts, and long ears. Each composition is framed on one side by the large, curling horn of the ram, embellished with a sequence of highly stylized bird heads, all enclosed within neatly chased, rope-like contours. (2)
Provenance: From a private collection in Europe, acquired around 1985-1990. According to the previous owner, he paid approx. EUR 80,000 for the present lot at the time.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and irregularities, few minuscule nicks and dents, occasional small surface scratches, light warping, minor losses, and signs of burial including encrustations. Metallurgy: Analysis confirms a gold content ranging from circa 18 to 20 carats, consistent with the purity levels found in early Han dynasty goldworks from China. Such high-purity alloys were typically reserved for royalty and the military elites.
Weight: 109.7 g and 116.6 g (excl. stands), total weight 226,3 g
Dimensions: Length 21 cm (each), Height 27.5 cm (each incl. stand)
Each with an associated wood and metal stand. (4)
During the first millennium BC, many horse-riding nomadic tribes exerted control over the vast Eurasian steppes to the north of the Black and Caspian Seas. Among them, the Scythians, who settled primarily in the Pontic steppe region, were vividly described by the Greek historian
Herodotus in his Histories, where he also mentioned related groups such as the Massagetae, Sarmatians, and Saka. Contemporary Chinese sources refer to similar nomadic confederations under names such as the Xiongnu or Hsiung-nu. But beyond literary accounts, much of what is known about these cultures derives from the archaeological evidence recovered from their burial mounds, which have yielded remarkable metal objects, such as the present sumptuous gold plaque, crafted in a variety of styles. These objects testify to the intense intercultural exchanges that occurred across territories historically traversed by the Silk Road, extending from northern China to the Persian Empire and the eastern Mediterranean.
Scythian art flourished between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC, after which the Scythians were progressively displaced from much of their territory by the Sarmatians. Following this shift, rich burial goods largely disappear from Scythian sites along the Black Sea coast. In its earlier phases, Scythian art was characterized by dynamic and stylized animal figures, forms that exerted a lasting influence across Eurasia, from China to the Celtic cultures of Europe.
These animal-style compositions were noted for their intricate design, in which stylized creatures, such as stags, horses, rams, bears, and mythical beasts, were depicted in dynamic poses, often twisted, contorted, or locked in combat. A recurrent motif was the crouching animal with legs tucked beneath the body, upright head, and taut musculature. Other distinctive features, such as the ‘looped’ antlers of certain animals further characterize these designs. Such motifs were frequently applied to plaques, clasps, and weapons, often fashioned from gold and silver, enhanced with inlays of precious stones. Many of these elements show clear stylistic affinities with artistic traditions from the Far East.
The motif of the eagle-headed griffin was adopted from Western Asian iconography and appears primarily at sites with documented links to that region, for example, in the Kelermes kurgan, a burial mound in the North Caucasus near the Kurban River. The present plaque, adorned with bird-like heads decorating the horn of the ram, echoes this West Asian influence, as
do other examples that incorporate the same motif in a more stylized form. Representations of griffins became rare in Scythian art following the tribe’s withdrawal from Western Asia, and later depictions are often distorted.
From the early 18th century, under the patronage of Tsar Peter I of Russia, systematic archaeological explorations were undertaken in Siberia, the Ingala Valley, and the Tobol region (present-day Kazakhstan). These expeditions uncovered gold and electrum objects associated with Scythian people and related cultures, many of which were presented to the Imperial Court as archaeological treasures and curiosities. These acquisitions became the foundation of the later Imperial Siberian Collection. Throughout the 19th century, further excavations of burial mounds in the North Caucasus, Crimea, Taman, and Ukraine, financed by the Russian Imperial Court, brought to light additional gold plaques. In 1859, during the reign of Emperor Alexander II, an imperial decree formally transferred all such objects from the Imperial Collection to the Hermitage Museum, where they remain on display to this day.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related gold belt buckle with paired felines attacking ibexes, Mongolia or Southern Siberia, Xiongnu period, dated c. 3rd-2nd century BC, 8.0 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 17.190.1672 (fig. 1). Compare a related silver belt plaque in the shape of a crouching horse, North China, dated 3rd-1st century BC, 14.5 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1985.214.78. Compare a related gold plaque in the shape of a grazing kulan, Northwest China, Xiongnu period, dated 2nd-1st century BC, 4.3 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2002.201.118. fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 5 July 2023, lot 64
Price: GBP 100,800 or approx. EUR 125,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Scythian gold stag appliqué, c. late 5th century BC Expert remark: Compare the related overall manner of hammering, as well as the crouching pose of the animal with similarly tucked legs and curved antlers. Note the much smaller size (5.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 2 April 2014, lot 34
Price: GBP 37,500 or approx. EUR 68,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Scythian gold boar bracteate, c. late 5th century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related overall manner of hammering, as well as the crouching pose of the animal with similarly tucked legs and upright ears. Note the much smaller size (5.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
AN
EXCEPTIONAL
AND
EXTREMELY
RARE 23K GOLD RITUAL HELMET, WESTERN EURASIAN STEPPE, POSSIBLY HELLENISTIC OR SCYTHIAN IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM BC
Expert’s note: Both the cultural attribution and dating remain hypothetical, as no comparable examples have ever been recorded. This is not unusual, since gold helmets are in general extremely rare, and gold objects from the Eurasian steppes are only sparsely documented. The object’s state of preservation, as well as its stylistic restraint and uncompromising execution, suggest considerable age. However, in the absence of direct comparanda, a precise attribution— both chronologically and geographically—cannot yet be made.
The helmet constructed from six curved plates, each chased with a stout masculine figure in profile, the head sporting luscious thick hair, a strong jaw, and wide eyes below arched brows, separated by a vertical ribs, applied at the top with a floriform finial. The wide rim applied with a pair of cheek plates, each decorated with a man taming a tiger. The neck guard in the form of chainmail with numerous lozenge-form plaques, each embossed with the head of a bearded man and joined with small loops.
Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Fair condition, commensurate with age. With ancient wear, losses, small dents, warping, tears, nicks, and signs of burial including soil encrustations. Individual parts may have been replaced or renewed. The chainmail shows expected losses. One of the cheek plates has detached and is now provisionally re-attached. Alloy composition range (three samples): 99.99% gold; 97.41% gold, 2.04% copper, and 0.54% silver; 95.75% gold, 2.75% silver, and 1.49% copper. The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Weight: 278 g
Dimensions: Height 16.5 cm (the helmet), 32.5 cm (incl. chainmail)
Gold helmets were often deposited in graves as funerary offerings for the honored dead or dedicated in sanctuaries to the gods. Too fragile to have been used as functional armor, they served primarily as ritual objects symbolizing rank and divine protection. A related example is the Thracian gold helmet of Coțofenești, dated around 400 BC and weighing nearly a kilogram, discovered in 1929 in the village of Poiana Coțofenești, Romania, by a shepherd boy. Subsequent archaeological investigations established that the helmet was not part of a hoard or grave assemblage, but rather associated with a local Geto-Dacian, or northern Thracian settlement.
The Thracians, who inhabited the lands between the Balkans and the northern Black Sea, occupied a key position along the western fringes of the Eurasian steppe. This strategic location brought them into close contact with nomadic peoples such as the Scythians, whose mastery of mounted warfare and animal-style art left a marked influence on Thracian material culture. At the same time, Thracian elites maintained exchanges with Greeks along the Black Sea coast, blending Hellenic motifs with their own ritual traditions. The Coțofenești helmet, combining bold repoussé ornamentation with symbolic imagery, reflects this cultural crossroads— linking Thracians to both the steppe world of the Scythians and the Mediterranean sphere of the Greeks.
A further parallel can be drawn with a solid gold Scythian helmet, dated to the 4th century BC and now preserved in the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, Kyiv. Like the Thracian helmet of Coțofenești, it was too fragile for battle and functioned as a ceremonial emblem of elite power. Both pieces embody the broader Eurasian steppe tradition of depositing precious gold headgear as ritual or funerary offerings, while underscoring the cultural interplay between nomadic Scythian elites and the settled Thracian and Geto-Dacian communities of the Balkans.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Geto-Dacian gold helmet of Cucuteni Băiceni, dated c. 4800 3000 BC, unearthed from the Cucuteni Baiceni Royal Tomb in 1884, and now in the National Museum of History of Romania. Compare a related Scythian solid-gold ceremonial helmet, dated to the 4th century BC, unearthed near Zrubne village (Donetsk Oblast) in 1988, and now in the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, Kyiv. Compare the Golden Helmet of Meskalamdug, a solid-gold ceremonial helmet dated to circa 2600 BC, discovered in 1924 in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, modern-day Iraq, and now in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
Estimate EUR 60,000
Starting price EUR 30,000
Dr. István Zelnik
186
A RARE 18K GOLD REPOUSSÉ PENDANT OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, POSSIBLY TAXILA
Kushan Empire, circa 1st-4th century AD. Constructed of a finely hammered sheet joined to a plain backing sheet, framed by a thickly granulated border, the arched pendant depicting the Buddha seated in dhyanasana atop a cushioned throne supported on a lotus dais, his right hand lowered in varada mudra and the left clutching the hem of his voluminous robes cascading in richly carved folds, the face in a serene expression with heavy-lidded eyes and bow-shaped lips forming a subtle smile, backed by a large circular nimbus, and flanked by pairs of worshipers and bodhisattvas standing on lotus daises.
Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former highranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear, casting irregularities, signs of burial, soil encrustations. Possibly minor additions and/or replacements. Light scratches, small tears, some warping and minute losses, minor dings.
Alloy composition range: 77.78% gold, 19.05% silver, 2.66% copper, 0.5% iron. The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Weight: 136.2 g
Dimensions: Height 13.1 cm, Width 12.6 cm
Expert’s note: The scene depicted by the present lot shares affinities with Gandharan schist relief narrative panels, although it is unclear which event is depicted here. The worshipers could be Indra and Brahma entreating the Buddha to preach the doctrine, but the hand gestures are typically different. In fact, the varada mudra is extremely rare in Gandharan Buddha sculptures, and more often found in later works from the Swat Valley and Kashmir, where it is associated with the Buddha Ratnasambhava.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related smaller Kushan gold repoussé buckle with Hariti and Panchika, possibly from Taxila, dated to the 4th century, 4.4 cm wide, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IS.10-1948 (fig. 1)
Compare the related famous Bimaran reliquary casket, excavated in Bimaran Stupa 2, dated 1st century, 6.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1900,0209.1 (fig. 2)
Compare a related gilt bronze pectoral depicting Buddha and bodhisattvas, found presumably in the Salt Range in Pakistan, alone with a hoard containing 17 silver coins of the Hun king Mihirakula, dated 6th century AD, illustrated by Osmund Bopearachchi, A Pectoral Depicting Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from Greater Gandhara, Ancient West & East, vol. 17, 2018, p. 232, fig. 1.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2019, lot 3625
Price: HKD 1,125,000 or approx. EUR 142,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare early Gandharanstyle gilt-bronze votive figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, Sixteen Kingdoms, 4th-early 5th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and subject. Note the similar size (12.3 cm), different material, and Chinese origin.
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum
Dr. István Zelnik
fig. 1
fig. 2
187 AN 18K GOLD PECTORAL, PROBABLY TAXILA, INDO-GREEK RULE, HELLENISTIC PERIOD
Ancient region of Gandhara, circa 2nd-1st century BC. Of crescent form, finely constructed from a hammered gold sheet and terminating in loop-cord attachments, suspending eight gold-sheet beads decorated with bees to the bottom.
The pectoral itself is decorated with a banquet scene with a seated figure enjoying a glass of wine poured by a scantily clad attendant, two further female attendants flanking the couple on either side, all framed by foliate scrolls and foliage.
Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik
István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above.
Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former highranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear, casting irregularities, signs of burial, soil encrustations. Possibly minor additions and/or replacements. Light scratches, small tears, some warping and minute losses, minor dings.
Alloy composition range: 77.7% gold, 16.91% silver, 3.98% copper, 1.03% iron, 0.37% zinc. The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Weight: 34.9 g
Dimensions: Length 16.5 cm, Height 12.5 cm
‘Melissa’, the Greek word for bee, derived from the epithet meilichios, has been used by poets to describe the gentleness of nature and by philosophers to name everything that is pure and virgin. See a similar Greek gold ring adorned with a bee, dated to the 3rd century BC, in the J. Paul Getty Museum, object number 85.AM.278 (fig. 1). Several other rings and gems with this design have survived; they may have been a sort of souvenir from the Sanctuary of Artemis at Ephesos, whose cult enjoyed a wide popularity and had a connection with bees. The insects appear on many surviving reproductions of the cult statue of Artemis of Ephesos, and other representations of bees have been found in the sanctuary.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 10 April 2025, lot 177
Price: EUR 26,000
Description: An 18k gold pectoral, Taxila, Indo-Greek rule, Hellenistic period
Expert remark: Compare the related form and modeling. Note the size (24 cm).
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
fig. 1
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum
Dr. István Zelnik
188 AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE BUDDHIST GOLD SUTRA MANUSCRIPT, KHAROSTHI SCRIPT, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, CIRCA 1ST-4TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: This rare inscribed gold sheet—possibly unique within the surviving corpus—stands as an extraordinary witness to the religious and artistic culture of Gandhara. While a comprehensive body of Gandhari manuscripts and reliquaries exists, all inscribed in the distinctive Kharosthi script, examples executed in precious metal are vanishingly scarce. The majority of surviving manuscripts, dated between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, are written on fragile birchbark scrolls and represent the canonical literature of Gandharan Buddhism in the Gandhari language, often considered part of the Dardic family.
1
Comparable epigraphic material on gold or silver survives only in the rarest instances. One notable parallel is a gold plate measuring 11 x 4 cm, inscribed in seven lines of Kharosthi, discovered within a stone reliquary at Matta in the Swat Valley and now preserved in the Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum first published by Gerard Fussman, “Documents épigraphiques kouchans (IV): Ajitasena, père de Senavarma”, Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient, 1986, 75: 1–14. Another exceptional example is the silver scroll, dated to the year 89 AD during the reign of the first Kushana king, Kujula Kadphises, unearthed by Sir John Marshall in 1914 in a chamber to the west of the Dharmarajika Stupa in Taxila, now in the collection of the National Museum in New Delhi (fig. 1) Both show the same punctured dots of the lettering as the present lot.
The rarity of such survivals, combined with the unparalleled sanctity and prestige attached to relic dedications, underscores the significance of the present gold book. Beyond its function as a votive offering, it is a testament to the devotional fervor, artistic refinement, and epigraphic sophistication of Gandharan Buddhism at its height.
Kushan empire, 2nd-3rd century. The book composed of six goldsheet pages minutely punched in Kharosthi script, the cover sheet neatly incised with an image of Buddha’s feet (Buddhapada), the third page with three stupas, and the back sheet with a swastika emblem, all joined by a central gold stud.
Provenance: Ex-Collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, minor encrustations, few minuscule tears, minor creasing, tiny nicks.
Alloy composition range: 90.22% gold, 9.71% silver, 0,06% copper. The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Weight: 50.9 g
Dimensions: Size 9.6 x 7.7 cm
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
fig.
189 A GOLD REPOUSSÉ MINIATURE RELIQUARY STUPA WITH 21 INSCRIBED GOLD SHEET STRIPS, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA
Expert’s note: This miniature stupa was most likely created as a portable reliquary, intended to safeguard sacred contents. The accompanying set of 21 inscribed gold sheet sutras has been associated with the stupa at some point, with only a few fitting inside at any one time. In this way, selected texts could be carried during travels or pilgrimage and used in daily devotion. While the precise function cannot be established with certainty, parallels with other miniature stupas suggest that such objects served both as containers of relics and as portable objects of worship.
Kushan empire, circa 1st-3rd century. Constructed in two parts out of hammered gold, the ridged cylindrical base housing a hammered gold scroll, and surmounted by a spherical dome with granulated repoussé decoration which issues a tiered chhatri, terminating in a rounded knop, the reliquary containing a rolled-up strip of gold sheet.
The lot comprises twenty-one strips of gold sheet minutely punched with Buddhist inscriptions. (22)
Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above. Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former high-ranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, encrustations, light warping, small dents, few tiny nicks, losses, the strips with some creasing.
Alloy composition range: 86.77% gold, 13.03% silver, and 0.19% copper (the stupa base); 85.45% gold, 14.48% silver, and 0.06% copper (one strip). The lot was tested by the Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum.
Weight: 4.8 g (the stupa), approx. 7.2 g (each strip)
Dimensions: Height 3.1 cm (the stupa), ca. 4.5 cm (each strip)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related gold reliquary in the form of a stupa, 5 cm high, dated to the 1st century AD, in the British Museum, registration number 2004,0331.1 (fig. 1). Compare a related gold and crystal reliquary, Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura period, dated c. 2nd century, 13.5 cm high, in the Alsdorf Collection, and illustrated by Pratapaditya Pal, Collecting Odyssey, 1997, cat. no. 93. fig. 1
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum
190 A MAGNIFICENT RUBY-SET GOLD BRACELET, MAKARAKANTHI, 19TH CENTURY
The present lot at Sotheby’s New York, 19 September 2008, lot 260, sold for USD 8,750 or approx. EUR 11,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
South India, probably Madras. Exquisitely chased, the hinged bangle composed of a series of graduated kirtimukha masks, culminating in two opposing makara heads with ruby-inlaid eyes. Each makara bearing a pronounced curved beak and holding an orb in its open mouth, the orb delicately finely incised with confronted birds on both sides and crowned with a foliate finial and a screw fitting at the top, set with an additional gemstone.
Provenance: A private collection in the United States, acquired in New York in February 1988. Sotheby’s New York, 19 September 2008, lot 260, sold for USD 8,750 or approx. EUR 11,500. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, traces of use, and manufacturing irregularities. Minute dents and minuscule fissures. Some of the rubies possibly renewed.
Weight: 86.6 g
Dimensions: Length 8.5 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 25 October 2023, lot 127
Price: GBP 10,160 or approx. EUR 12,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An emerald-set gold bracelet, South India, 19th century Expert remark: Compare the closely
A MUGHAL GOLD-INLAID FLY-WHISK (CHAURI) HANDLE, LATE 17TH-
The present lot at Christie’s London, 12 October 2004, lot 164. A copy of the invoice, stating a purchase price of GBP 9,833 or approx. EUR 24,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot.
North India or Deccan. With a cylindrical pale green nephrite jade shaft around a metal core inlaid with gold linked hexagons below a band of ruby-inset leaf motifs, swelling to a bud-form terminal, and fitted with an upper cup formed from a separate piece of jade inlaid with a foliate lattice and decorated with gold and inset gems forming tendrils and
Christie’s London, 12 October 2004, lot 164. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above. A copy of the invoice from Christie’s London, dated 12 October 2004, and stating a purchase price of GBP 9,833 or approx. EUR 24,500, accompanies
Old wear, traces of use, and minor manufacturing irregularities. The shaft with two old repairs. Small losses and minute
Fly-whisks do not appear frequently in texts of the period, but feature very prominently in portraits of Indian and particularly Mughal rulers. The main figure is frequently attended by one or more flywhisk bearers. Flywhisks thus became an indicator of rank, such that, by the midseventeenth century, small delicate flywhisks were carried by nobles as accoutrements appropriate to their position. A number of enthronement scenes in the Padshahnama show one of the senior courtiers standing behind the Emperor holding a flywhisk in addition to the two more prominent servants, each with larger examples who tend to flank the monarch. Even Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan’s chosen successor, is shown on his own in a portrait now in the Khalili Collection, standing with a sword over the right shoulder and a flywhisk by his side.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Christie’s New York, 19 June 2019, lot 359 EUR 53,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of
A gold-inlaid and gem set jade flywhisk, North India, 1675-1725
Compare the closely related form, stone, and decoration with similar gold inlays and rubies. Note the size (29.8 cm).
192
A DIAMOND, RUBY, AND GARNET-INSET GOLD-INLAID JADE DISH, INDIA, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Of shallow form with raised lip, the interior with a vacant central lobe surrounded by diamond and ruby-inlaid palmettes encircled by a plain gold band, beyond these a series of floral sprays issuing similar florets with a central garnet inlay and scrolling gilt foliage.
Provenance: Collection of Brigitte Mavromichalis, Switzerland, thence by descent. Brigitte Mavromichalis (1926-2015) was born in Stockholm into a family of higher Swedish society. At the age of 20 she was sent to Switzerland by her parents to pursue an academic education at the University of Lausanne. There she met her future husband. The couple, who loved traveling and culture, kept their Swiss residence but toured the world and visited countless museums. After her husband’s death in 1982, Mavromichalis continued to devote herself to her passion for art, music, and sport, excelled in bridge at an international level, and remained a discreet patron of the arts throughout her life. She put together her art collection, which grew over the decades, in utter freedom, and free of any hierarchy in media, style, and people. It consisted mainly of paintings, but also included drawings and prints, and was characterized by great diversity.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities. Few small chips and minor nibbling along the rim and to the base, expected minor losses to inlays, some possibly renewed. The stone with natural fissures, some of which have developed into thin hairline cracks.
Weight: 234.9 g
Dimensions: Diameter 15.6 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jeweled plate, India, 18th-19th century, 22.7 cm wide, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 02.18.774. For an 18th-century Mughal jade dish of similar form, see Spink & Son, Passion and Tranquility, London, 12 October-12 November 1998, p. 42, no. 24.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 5 October 2010, lot 49
Price: GBP 6,000 or approx. EUR 12,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A diamond and turquoiseinset and gold-inlaid pale jade saucer, India, circa 1900
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and similar jade, decoration, inlay, and size (14 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
193
A RARE IZNIK POLYCHROME POTTERY ‘ABSTRACT’ DISH, TURKEY, CIRCA 1590
Ottoman Empire. Well potted, the deep rounded sides supported on a straight foot and rising to a broad everted rim. Finely painted under the glaze in bole-red, cobalt-blue, emerald-green, and black with a central floral medallion encircled by a band of intersecting circles against a spiral ground, the rim with similar spiral decoration interspersed by subtly stylized bird heads and foliate designs, the exterior sides with floral sprays and circles.
Provenance: A private collection in Geneva, Switzerland, acquired between the 1960s and 1970s.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and firing irregularities, fritting to rim, glaze lines, the glaze further with light abrasions, minimal flaking, and slightly discolored areas mostly at the rim and exterior sides, few minor rim hairlines, the unglazed foot with few old shallow chips and a small firing crack. The foot drilled with a circular aperture for wall mounting with associated nibbling around the edges. An Iznik pottery dish in such well-preserved condition, with no repairs or touchups whatsoever, must be considered rare.
Weight: 748 g
Dimensions: Diameter 26 cm
This dish belongs to a select group of Iznik wares decorated with a tight wave-scroll background pattern which was favored by a particular Iznik atelier in the 1580s also referred to by Julian Raby as the “Turquoise workshop” (see Nurhan Atasoy and Julian Raby, Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, pp. 249, 260, and 263). Recalling the ‘breaking wave’ and ‘wave-and-rock’ border designs that characterize Iznik dishes, these miniature spirals at once fill in the composition of the dish and vivify its overall effect.
The strong abstract design on this dish is a striking example of the innovations taking place in Iznik design at the end of the sixteenth century. The interplay of spiral scrolls, concentric bands, and boldly overlapping circles creates a rhythmic surface almost kaleidoscopic in effect.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s London, 9 October 2013, lot 150
Price: GBP 20,000 or approx. EUR 37,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Iznik polychrome pottery dish, Turkey, circa 1585-90
Expert remark: Compare closely related form and decoration as well as the related motifs with similar spiral ground.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Cologne, 6 March 2024, lot 22
Price: EUR 25,400 or approx. EUR 26,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Iznik polychrome pottery dish, Turkey, Ottoman, circa 1590
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration as well as the related motifs with similar spiral ground. Note the size (29.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A FINE GEM-SET AND GOLD-MOUNTED DAGGER, 18TH-19TH CENTURY
Uzbekistan, probably Bukhara or Samarkand. The curved doubleedged steel blade with medial ridge. The bone handle enhanced by gold beadwork terminals bezel-set with tumbled emeralds, rubies, and other gemstones. The gold sheath finely worked in repoussé, its central section soberly decorated with blossoming flowerheads amid scrolling tendrils, framed by double bands of turquoise beads.
Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 27 April 2005, lot 159 (described as from Samarkand). A British private collection, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of the Sotheby’s invoice stating a purchase price for the present lot GBP 4,322 or approx. EUR 10,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing) accompanies the lot.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities. Slight traces of corrosion on the blade and minor nibbling along the edges. The handle with light surface scratches and a fine, naturally grown patina. Some small dents to the metal mountings and to the gilt-inlaid decoration. Some inlays possibly renewed or reattached.
Weight: 222.7 g
Dimensions: Length 23.5 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related jeweled and gold-inlaid dagger with scabbard, Bukhara, dated 1875-1900, 40.5 cm long, in the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, inventory number DM-6611. Compare a closely related jeweled and gold-inlaid dagger and sheath, Bukhara, dated 18th-19th century, 34 cm long, in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, museum number В.О. 2339. Compare a closely related Khiva dagger scabbard sheath, Khanate of Khiva, dated 19th century, illustrated hy Dmitry Miloserdov, ‘Arms decoration features in Khanates of Central Asia’, in the Bulletin of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies, vol. 35, 2023, p. 66-96, no. 24-25.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 11 December 2008, lot 55
Price: USD 80,500 or approx. EUR 143,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An antique multi-gem and gold dagger
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and decoration. Note the larger size (35.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A DIAMOND-SET AND AGATE-HILTED
MUGHAL DAGGER, KHANJAR, 18TH CENTURY
The present lot at Sotheby’s London, 5 October 2011, lot 306, sold for GBP 9,375 or approx. EUR 18,500 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
North India. The slightly curved steel blade with a double groove framing a central ridge, the hilt composed of reddish banded agate with a rounded pommel set with silver mounts in the form of stylized eyes to each side containing a brilliant-cut diamond, the quillons with a silver mount incised with a band of leafy scrolls issuing blossoms below a diagonally striped band.
Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 5 October 2011,lot 306, sold for GBP 9,375 or approx. EUR 18,500. A private collection in the United Kingdom, acquired from the above.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and manufacturing irregularities. The silver elements show slight tarnish, and the steel blade has minor rusty dimples with a tiny bend at the tip.
Weight: 296 g
Dimensions: 36.7 cm
The present dagger belongs to this rarefied group, its hilt carved from a single piece of lustrous banded agate of deep red colors, a material whose toughness challenges the lapidary’s skill, and whose warmth and translucence would have appealed to the Mughal connoisseur’s eye.
At the Mughal court, various types of agate were highly prized for their beauty, symbolic associations, and the technical skill required to work them. A small number of these have survived, each of great importance. Among the most celebrated is the agate-hilted khanjar owned by Emperor Shah Jahan, its blade inscribed with his titles and dated AH 1039 / AD 1629 (sold at Bonhams, London, 10 April 2008, lot 271). Another notable example, with a hilt of strikingly figured agate and bearing the cipher of King Charles I of England, was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 21 April 2005, lot 92.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A QAJAR GOLD-DAMASCENED STEEL HELMET,
KHULA KHUD,
PERSIA, 19TH CENTURY
Of typical high domed form with applied upper spike finial, adjustable nose-guard and three plume holders, a shaped mail skirt below, the helmet richly decorated with slightly raised shaped panels enclosing foliate and floral designs, above a band of foliate cartouches enclosing inscriptions from the Throne Verse (Ayah al-Kursi), the 255th verse of the second chapter of the Quran, al-Baqara 2:255.
Provenance: From a Croatian private collection. Condition: Very good condition with wear and casting irregularities. Scattered nicks and light scratches, small dings, expected wear and rubbing to gilt, corrosion, encrustations, and traces of use.
Weight: 2,963 g
Dimensions: Height 27 cm (excl. mail skirt), 60 cm (incl. mail skirt)
Despite the modernization of Iran’s military in the nineteenth century, traditional armor continued to be manufactured. Its purpose, however, is uncertain: for military parades, as costume for religious or historical plays, or as romantic souvenirs for the tourist trade.
The Throne Verse (Ayah al-Kursi) is one of the most important verses in the Qur’an. It is known as the greatest verse in the Qur’an and should be memorized, understood, and often recited. It serves as a daily means of protection from worldly harm, and from unseen sources of harm, such as devils, magic, and the evil eye. In the verse, Al-Suyuti narrates that a man from humanity and a man from the jinn met. Whereupon, as means of reward for defeating the jinn in a wrestling match, the jinn teaches a Quranic verse that if recited, no devil (šayt ān) will enter the man’s house with him. Because the Throne Verse is believed to grant spiritual and physical protection, it is often recited by Muslims before setting out on a journey and before going to sleep. It is the “seat” of God’s power, but without God sitting on it with bones, since bones and body belong to the created things.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Qajar helmet dated to the 19th century, 27.9 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 02.5.7.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 17 April 2007, lot 257
Price: GBP 9,600 or approx. EUR 22,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Qajar gold damascened steel helmet (Khula Khud), Iran, 19th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and related inlays and motif. Note the similar size (26.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
AN ANCIENT AND VERY RARE SILK FRAGMENT WITH CONFRONTING LIONS AND BULLS, SOGDIANA, CIRCA 650 AD
Central Asia. Finely woven with red, green, honey, black, and blue threads with bands of confronting lions and bulls, against a vibrant red ground, each standing imposingly on its quarry, their bodies vibrantly decorated and fur picked out in geometric patterns.
Provenance: A private collection of fine Central Asian silks in the United States, acquired in the 1970s. The private collection of Mr. K., United Kingdom, acquired from the above via the British trade and thence by descent.
Condition: The fragment is in good condition, commensurate with age. Obvious losses, tears, loose threads, and soiling.
Dimensions: Size 50 x 39 cm, Size incl. frame 61 x 46 cm
Neatly mounted and preserved on a silk-covered cardboard. (2)
Sogdiana, an ancient region of Central Asia located around Samarkand and Bukhara, lay at the heart of the Silk Road and served as a vital bridge between China, Persia, and the Mediterranean. The Sogdian people, based in present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are known primarily through their language and as master traders from the sixth to the eighth century, establishing bases in China and beyond.
Sogdian textiles often share compositions and designs—such as confronted animals—with those produced in nearby Iranian centers under Sasanian control, making them difficult to distinguish. However, the finely detailed rendering of the animals’ bodies on this fragment points to the period just after the fall of the Sasanians in 641, when such works were no longer valued in Iran.
This outstanding example of a Central Asian silk fragment evokes the wealth and splendor of Sogdiana in the late Sassanian-early Islamic period. The range of stylistic and iconographic references reflects the extensive trading network of the Sogdians, whose mercantile empire, centered on Samarqand and Bukhara, controlled some of the major commercial arteries of the Silk Road.
By the mid-7th century in Central Asia, paired lions had long symbolized power, kingship, and protection. This imagery featured prominently in luxury textiles, where it formed part of the visual language of trade and diplomacy, projecting the wealth and status of the owner or recipient.
This design appears on a number of Sogdian silk textiles which represent motifs inspired by Sasanian royal iconography in which feared animals and their victims allude to the relationship between the powerful ruler and his enemies. This particular motif carries a strong association with power and potency, and possibly was meant to refer to the wearer himself. Such motifs were extensively used and transmitted as a common vocabulary which served an important function in the context of trade and diplomacy. A silk fragment such as the present one would have represented a highly luxurious product indicating the wealth, status and aspirations of the wearer.
Compare the closely related motif of the present lot (fig. 1) and an important silk robe, sold at Sotheby’s London for approx.
EUR 470,000 (fig. 2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related textile fragment with bulls and lions, dated to the 7th-8th century, 78.1 x 48.3 cm, in the Yale University Art Gallery, accession number 2017.54.18. Compare a closely related silk samite with confronted lions and yaks, dated 7th-8th century, exhibited by Carlo Cristi at Asian Art in London Fall 2011.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
fig. 1
Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s London, 25 April 2012, lot 499
Price: GBP 241,250 or approx. EUR 470,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and important silk robe, Sogdiana, Central Asia, 7th8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related motif and similar vibrant red ground.
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000 fig. 2
198 A RARE AND LARGE MUGHAL PAINTING OF A COURTESAN, NORTH INDIA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
She is sumptuously adorned with pearl-strung armlets and bracelets, large gold earrings with pendant drops set with emeralds and rubies, a nose ring on each nostril, multiple strings of pearls around the neck, and a delicate pearl hairpiece. The forehead and cheeks are embellished with further jewels.
Her face is exquisitely rendered with almond-shaped eyes framed by long, tapering lashes and highlighted with kohl and a green cosmetic tint, below elegantly arched brows, and above slender pursed lips touched with a faint, knowing smile. The long dark hair is pulled back, falling over the shoulders, with a single curl gracefully unfurling below the ear.
Provenance: A private collection in Rhineland, Germany, and thence by descent.
Expert’s note: Mughal paintings of this size are exceptionally rare. A large-format work (119 × 40 cm), linked to the Kangra court artist Purkhu and dated mid-18th to early 19th century, was sold here on 10 April 2025 (lot 218) for EUR 143,000 (fig. 1). The monumental scale and rich coloring of the present portrait reflect the influence of European oil painting. Notably, large-format European works were circulating at the Mughal court as early as 1602, and Jahangir famously displayed English portraits behind his throne during the New Year festival of 1616–17. The current lot resonates closely with the celebrated, slightly larger Mandu painting of Emperor Jahangir (see auction result comparison)—described by Bonhams as the largest known Mughal portrait—demonstrating how the Mughal atelier adapted its refined miniature tradition to monumental formats while maintaining extraordinary precision of line and luxuriant surface detail. A later art-historical echo may also be seen in Francesco Renaldi’s 1787 portrait of a Mughal Lady (fig. 2), seated in an interior, executed in Calcutta, which exemplifies European academic portraiture adopted in the subcontinent by the late 18th century. This work underscores how unfamiliar Western modes likewise penetrated India’s visual culture—and by extension, how Mughal court artists may have been aware of such European conventions. Both the Mandu Jahangir and the current lot share distinctive iconographic details: the graceful curl unfurling by the ear, the ankle folds of the churidar (bangles), and a confident, bold handling of form. These affinities reveal a sustained thread of stylistic and conceptual sophistication that connects imperial workshops across centuries. While smaller Mughal portraits reflect intimacy, works of this scale function as bold declarations of status, presence, and painterly virtuosity.
Gold, ink, and watercolors on cloth. Finely painted with a lady shown in full profile against a dark green ground, standing and holding five floral stems, three in bloom and two in bud. She wears a sheer peshwaz over the pleated golden-brown lehenga matching her slippers and the rose-colored churidar patterned with delicate floral motifs and gathering at the ankles in characteristic folds, and a gossamer greentinted odhni richly decorated with small flowerheads echoing the blooms in her hand, worn over her head and draped loosely across her bare breasts. On her feet are embroidered gold slippers.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, minimal soiling, and few minor losses to pigments.
Dimensions: Image size 175.6 x 114.5 cm, Size incl. frame 180.5 x 118.6 cm
Mounted on wood and framed. (2)
Courtesans in Mughal India occupied a complex position at the intersection of art, culture, and courtly politics. Renowned not only for their beauty but also for their refinement in music, poetry, and dance, they were arbiters of taste and style within the elite circles they inhabited. Painters often portrayed them in the same sumptuous attire and jewelry as noblewomen, their identities signaled less by costume than by the intimate or languid contexts in which they appeared. Such portraits—frequently shown in profile, holding flowers, or engaged in leisurely pursuits—were not mere records of likeness but idealized evocations of feminine allure and accomplishment. Executed with the same precision and luxurious detail as imperial portraits, these images reveal how the Mughal atelier translated the charisma of the courtesan into a timeless emblem of grace and cultivated sensuality.
Literature comparison: Compare a related miniature painting of a lady with a flower at night, attributed to Himachal Pradesh and dated to the 18th century, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1972.357.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 5 April 2011, lot 322
Price: GBP 1,420,000 or approx. EUR 2,857,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: The Largest Known Mughal Portrait: A Magnificent LifeSize Painting In Which The Emperor Jahangir (Reg. 1605 - 1627), The ‘World-Seizer’, Lays Claim To Spiritual And Temporal Power On A Global Stage, Attributed to Abu’l Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman painted at Mandu and dated AH 1026/AD 1617
Expert remark: Compare the related size (197 x 128.5), manner of painting, and composition, with similar rich details, plain background, curl above the ear, and folds at the ankles.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 2
fig. 1
199
A MINIATURE PAINTING FROM A NAYIKA SERIES DEPICTING ABHISARIKA NAYIKA, GULER, CIRCA 1800
North India, Punjab Hills. Gold, ink, and watercolors on paper. This composition is a variation on the story of Abhisarika Nayika that depicts the heroine enduring the terrors of the night, snakes, and evil spirits to forge a path through the darkness to her lover waiting in the lighted window of the far-off palace. All within an oval panel surrounded by delicate floral scroll against a yellow ground enclosed within blue and red borders.
Provenance: From a private collection in the United States. Christie’s New York, 22 September 2022, lot 107, estimate USD 6,000 or approx. EUR 5,800 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, few small losses to pigments, some with associated minor touchups, and minute water stains.
Dimensions: Image size 29 x 20.4 cm, Size incl. mounting 50.8 x 40.5 cm
Of the eight nayika (heroine) love stories, the Abhisarika Nayika offers the most dramatic subject for painting. Despite a gathering storm and the dangers of a dark forest, the nayika is compelled by her desire to brave snakes, ghouls, and other terrors to meet her lover, knowing that the passion of their encounter will be reward enough for facing the hazards of her journey.
For her unswerving commitment to love, the Indian poet Keshavadasa (1555-1617) calls her Kama Abhisarika:
Serpents twine about her ankles, snakes are trampled underfoot, diverse ghosts she sees on every hand,
She takes no keep for pelting rain, nor hosts of crickets screaming amidst the rolling of the storm,
She does not heed her jewels falling, nor her torn dress, the thorns that pierce her breast delay her not,
The goblin-wives on the way are asking her: ‘Whence have you learnt this yoga? How marvelous this trysting, o Abhisarika!
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s London, 12 June 2018, lot 27
Price: GBP 10,000 or approx. EUR 16,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A painting from a Nayika series: Abhisarika Nayika, Kangra, Punjab Hills, North India, circa 1820
Expert remark: Compare the related subject and manner of painting. Note the size (25.4 x 20.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
200
THE THIEVING CAT, KANGRA, CIRCA 1810
North India, Punjab Hills. Gilt, ink, and watercolors on paper. The miniature is exquisitely painted to depict a lady chasing a small tabby cat, which has caught a parrot in its jaws, with blood trickling from the helpless bird’s neck. She is holding a stick in her right hand, the background shows the parrot’s empty cage behind her. The carpet is finely detailed with leafy floral scroll.
Inscriptions: The back inscribed, ‘No. 9, A cat has carried the Rani’s favorite parrot. The Rani is seen beating the cat, trying to free her parrot. Price […], 1810’
Provenance: From a private collection in the United States. Christie’s New York, 22 September 2022, lot 109. A collector, acquired from the above in an after-sale transaction.
Condition: Very good condition with little wear, minor losses to pigments, and few tiny water stains. The vibrant colors are extremely well preserved.
Dimensions: Image size 25.3 x 17.7 cm, Size incl. Passepartout 50.7 x 40.7 cm
This scene is derived from poetry, where the parrot often symbolizes love, courtship, and even has associations with divine figures like Krishna and Kamadeva, the god of love. It is also linked to fertility and marriage,
with parrot motifs appearing in wedding decorations and bridal trousseaux in various regions. Conversely, the cat, in some contexts, can represent cunning or even be a symbol of the ‘thieving’ nature portrayed in fables and moral narratives. These symbolic representations are not always straightforward and can be interpreted differently based on the specific context and artistic tradition.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related Kangra painting depicting the same subject, dated ca. 1810, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IS.140-1955.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 2 May 2019, lot 102
Price: GBP 8,125 or approx. EUR 13,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: The thieving cat, Kangra, Punjab Hills, North India, circa 1800-10
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and manner of painting with similarly detailed carpet. Note the size (19.5 x 12.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A MINIATURE PAINTING OF A LADY AND HER SERVANTS PREPARING FOR THE BEDCHAMBER
North India, circa 1875-1925. Gold, ink, and watercolors on paper. A Mughal princess longing for her absent lover is shown lounging on a terrace behind a tranquil evening landscape, wearing floral decorated yellow paijama with a diaphanous peshwaz, and a sheer orange odhni with stylized flowerheads around her head and torso, and richly adorned with fine jewelry. The impatient lady reclines against a yellow bolster on a low bed as she is being prepared for the bedchamber by four attendants who surround her, massaging her hand and foot and offering wine, while two are kneeling on the floor preparing food, all framed by a floral border.
Provenance: From a private estate in Monaco. Condition: Excellent condition with only minimal wear. Laid down on cardboard and mounted with a cloth mat.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Indian miniature painting with similar architecture and landscape, and identical floral border, dated 1875-1925, in the Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, accession number 1998.42.180.
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
Dimensions: Image size 25 x 33.5 cm, Size incl. mounting 34.2 x 44.5 cm
202
A LARGE AND FINE PAINTING WITH THE MARRIAGE OF KRISHNA AND RUKMINI, NATHDWARA, FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
India, Rajasthan. Gold, ink, and watercolors on paper. Depicting a lavish garden scene with the seated Krishna and standing Rukmini in the center of a white marble pavilion with intricately carved arches and green tiles with lotus flowers, surrounded by attendants and musicians. The painting is lush with detail including potted lotus flowers, rows of banana trees, balustraded terraces, and a lotus pond at the lower register with bathing goddesses.
The back with a lengthy poetic inscription in Devanagari script.
Provenance: From a private estate in Monaco. The reverse inscribed to the lower right corner, ‘Schoo[l of N]athdwara’.
Condition: Fair condition with expected wear, losses to pigments, creasing, light scratches, small tears, two corners with old repairs. The colors markedly well-preserved.
Dimensions: Image size 38 x 43.5 cm
In this painting, the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna is depicted in a pavilion with Rukmini. In the texts such as Bhagavata Purana and Mahabharata, Krishna heroically kidnapped and eloped with Rukmini at her request, in order to prevent an unwanted marriage with the evil king Shishupala, who is Krishna’s cousin. After slaying the malevolent king Shishupala, Krishna bathes in the Yamuna river.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related earlier painting of the Marriage of Krishna and Rukmini, dated circa 1790, in the British Royal Collection, accession number RCIN 1005113.w.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams London, 21 April 2015, lot 202
Price: GBP 7,500 or approx. EUR 13,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Krishna with Rukmini on a palace terrace, surrounded by female musicians and attendants, perhaps Alwar, first half of the 19th Century Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and manner of painting. Note the similarly large size (49 x 35.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
A VERY LARGE AND IMPORTANT CHANDRAKETUGARH POTTERY VESSEL, 2ND-1ST CENTURY BC
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 17 August 2004, based on sample number N104r96, sets the firing date of the sample taken between 1500 and 2400 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
India, West Bengal. Of ovoid form, supported on a stepped waisted foot and surmounted by a waisted neck with flaring rim, decorated in relief with four registers depicting finely carved figures in a procession walking through hutments, some atop elephants, others carrying flowers, fly whisks, and parasols, and still others beating drums, all enclosed within beaded borders, and with an exuberant floral band above the foot.
Provenance: John Eskenazi, London, 2007. An important private collection, acquired from the above. A copy of the purchase invoice, dated 14 March 2007, confirming the dating above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 95,000 or approx. EUR 129,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. John Eskenazi is one of the most internationally respected dealers in Indian, Gandharan, Himalayan and Southeast Asian works of art.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, obvious losses with associated “museum style” restorations, minor chips and small cracks, touchups.
Weight: 2,155 g (excl. stand), 3,655 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 61 cm (excl. stand), 65 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted to a modern, rotating stand. (2)
The vase is primarily decorated with images of sophisticated women and fertility goddesses richly adorned with elaborate hairstyles, intricately patterned textiles, and an abundance of jewelry.
Chandraketugarh is an archaeological site located beside the Bidyadhari river, about 35 kilometers northeast of Kolkata. Excavation between 1957 and 1968 (conducted by the Asutosh Museum of Indian Art) revealed relics of several historical periods, although the chronological classification of the relics remains incomplete. According to some historians, the Chandraketugarh site and surrounding area could be the place known to ancient Greek and Roman writers as having the same name as the river Ganges, sometimes referred to as Gangaridai.
This ancient capital and important urban center has yielded a wealth of artistically accomplished pottery of diverse object types and ceramic wares. Buff-colored low-fired earthenware was prevalent. Numerous sculptures, relief plaques, and ornate vases were produced. They are decorated primarily with images of sophisticated women and fertility goddesses richly adorned with elaborate hairstyles, intricately patterned textiles, and an abundance of jewelry.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Chandraketugarh terracotta vase with figural decoration, dated to the 2nd-1st century BC, 74.3 cm high, in the Nelson Atkins Museum, object number 2009.54 (fig. 1) Compare a closely related Chandraketugarh pottery vase with figural decoration, dated 2nd-1st century BC, 64 cm high, in the Toledo Museum of Art, object number 2008.139 (fig. 2). Compare a related smaller vase with similar flowers and processional scenes, dated circa 100 BC, 26 cm high, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.2005.155.
Estimate EUR 50,000
Starting price EUR 25,000
fig. 2 fig. 1
204
A SANDSTONE SHIVA EKAMUKHALINGA, CENTRAL INDIA, POST-GUPTA PERIOD, 7TH-8TH CENTURY
The cylindrical surface smoothly polished and carved to one side with an image of Shiva which is meticulously carved with fine facial features, heavy-lidded downcast eyes under arched brows, a broad nose, and pursed lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by ears adorned with large earrings. The hair is exquisitely modeled into a tall jatamukuta adorned with a central diadem and secured by a thick band incised with geometric motifs.
Provenance: R. M. Collection, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium, acquired between 1979 and 2009, thence by descent to his wife Marie-Anne Lefevre in 2023.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, chips, nicks, few minor fissures, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Weight: 23.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 43 cm (excl. stand), 52 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a modern metal stand. (2)
The present lot relates closely to a celebrated Shiva Ekamukhalinga discovered in 1919 at Bhumara, a 5th or 6th century Gupta era Hindu stone temple dedicated to Shiva near Satna, Madhya Pradesh. The jatamukata and especially the tiara with similar geometric band and foliate panels are of very similar design. Yet, the present head distinguishes itself through a slightly later refinement of form: the coiffure rises in a less rounded arrangement, while the face is fuller and more sensuous, with softly modeled cheeks, heavy-lidded eyes, sinuously arched brows, and a gently smiling mouth. This combination of grace and monumentality suggests a moment of stylistic transition and a slightly later date than the Bhumara linga.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related post-Gupta-style sandstone Shiva Ekamukhalinga, 42 cm high, dated c. 800, in the Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerpen, object number AE.1990.0032.0020. Compare a related, slightly earlier Shiva Ekamukhalinga from Madhya Pradesh, 49.3 cm high, dated c. 6th century, formerly in the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection and now in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 2021.241 (fig. 1)
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
1
fig.
A closely related Shiva Ekamukhalinga discovered at Bhumara, photographed in 1919
205
A PINK SANDSTONE BUST OF BUDDHA, MATHURA, KUSHAN PERIOD, 2ND-3RD CENTURY
1
Expert’s note: The present lot was once part of a large and highly important stele depicting the Buddha enthroned accompanied by two attendants. See three closely related examples, each with lengthy inscriptions: the famous ‘Katra stele’, dated end of 1st century AD, 71 cm high, in the Government Museum, Mathura, illustrated in James C. Harle, The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, Yale University Press, 1994, p. 63, no. 43 (where it is dated to the early 2nd century); a sandstone stele dated 110 AD in the National Museum, New Delhi, object number L.55.25; and a sandstone stele dated c. 131 AD, 93 cm high, in the Kimbell Art Museum, accession number AP 1986.06 (fig. 1)
Northern India, Uttar Pradesh. Finely carved, the deity dressed in a pleated uttarasanga, the serene face with rounded cheeks, almondshaped eyes below arched brows and a circular urna, the hair with a neatly incised whorled ushnisha, backed by a sun-form halo.
Provenance: From the collection of Jean-Marc Andral, acquired in the local art market in Rajasthan, India, in October 1990. A copy of a provenance statement, written by Jean-Marc Andral, dated 24 April 2025, confirming the above, accompanies this lot. Jean-Marc Andral is a Belgian manager based in Brussels and active in the healthcare industry for over 25 years.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, small chips, scattered nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 28.3 kg (excl. stand), 32.6 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 50 cm (excl. stand), 52.5 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 March 2014, lot 1069
Price: USD 60,000 or approx. EUR 70,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A red sandstone head of Buddha, India, Mathura, Kushan period, 2nd/3rd century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar facial features and hairline. Note the smaller size (33.5 cm) and different state of preservation, with only a fragment of the head being left
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
fig.
206
AN ICONIC RED SANDSTONE TORSO OF THE BUDDHA, GUPTA PERIOD, MATHURA, 3RD-5TH CENTURY
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of Silla Kingdom images found in present-day Korea. A notarized copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise dated 19 January 2021, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute. He has conducted extensive research in China, participating in archaeological excavations at various historical sites. Dr. Chang is the author of several influential works, including Compassionate Beings in Metal and Stone: Chinese Buddhist Sculptures from The Freer Gallery of Art (2016) and Light of the Buddha in the Desert: Essays on Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang from 5th-14th Centuries (2012). He is currently a professor at Arts College, Sichuan University.
Expert’s note: This commanding image of the Buddha was created by artists at Mathura, an important center of arts in the kingdom of the Gupta monarchs (c. 320-485). The sculptors selectively combined elements from earlier traditions to create the quintessential Gupta Buddha image. From the Greco-Roman style of Gandhara, Gupta sculptors borrowed the monastic robe that covers both shoulders, transforming its folds into a network of strings; from their own earlier Mathura tradition they retained the sensuous, full-bodied form of the Buddha. The sensitive handling of the stone reveals the ridge created at the waist by the draped sarong-like undergarment whose lower edge peeks out at the ankles. The Gupta Buddha was a source of inspiration for the entire Buddhist world, including land-bound Nepal and Tibet, the island of Sri Lanka, and the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Java. Each area took the Gupta ideal and developed it along its own lines. Even Chinese pilgrims to India carried portable bronze Guptas back to their homeland.
Central India. Magnificently carved standing in a slightly flexed pose with right leg forward, his left hand lowered and clutching a piece of his robe where it cascades in an undulating line, the richly pleated garment enveloping his sensuously modeled body with the meticulously detailed folds following its contours.
Provenance: A private collection, acquired in the 1970s. Collection of Nik Douglas, acquired circa 1989, and thence by descent to his wife Christi Douglas, New York, United States. A copy of a provenance statement signed by Christi Douglas on 28 February 2021 and confirming the above, accompanies this lot.
Nicholas ‘Nik’ Douglas (1944-2012) was a renowned author, curator, and Asian art expert. Between 1966 and 1974, he traveled through South and Southeast Asia visiting remote areas of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand, and Indonesia, building up his knowledge of the customs, beliefs, and spiritual practices of Hindus and Buddhists. He researched Oriental medicine, alchemy, art, sculpture, and mysticism, studying with Hindu yogis, Buddhist lamas, and doctors. The Buckingham Collection was built by Nik Douglas, his mother, and his grandfather, as well as further collectors in the family. Part of the collection was exhibited in 2010 by The Tibet House, New York, The Buddha Image: Out of Uddiyana.
Weight: 113 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 105 cm (excl. stand), 122.5 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated stand. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related red sandstone torso of a standing Buddha, Gupta period, Mathura, dated 320-485, 134.6 cm high, in the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, accession number F1994.17. Compare a closely related mottled red sandstone torso of Buddha, Gupta period, Mathura, 5th century, 114.9 cm high, in the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, object number 45-15. Compare a closely related red sandstone figure of standing Buddha, Gupta period, Mathura, 5th century, in the National Museum of India, New Delhi.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 14 March 2016, lot 65
Price: USD 81,250 or approx. EUR 94,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large sandstone torso of Buddha, Mathura, Gupta period, 5th-6th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving of the figure draped with similar monastic robes. Note the similar size (109.0 cm).
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, small chips, scattered nicks, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
Dr. Chang Qing
A SANDSTONE CARVING OF A LION SUBDUING A WARRIOR, CHANDELA DYNASTY
Central India, Madhya Pradesh, 11th century. Powerfully sculpted in a standing pose, with its hind legs slightly bent, the lion shown wearing a large harness fastened at its waist, from which it appears to drag a heavy stone resting on the ground behind it. The elongated body of the animal extending into a striking head marked by bulging eyes, small ears emerging from a majestic mane neatly carved with undulating grooves, and open jaws revealing sharp fangs, as well as a long tongue. Beneath its forepaws, a small warrior, equipped with a round shield and raising a triangular weapon with one arm, standing in a pose suggesting alliance with the guarding creature.
Provenance: A private collection in Belgium. Gallery Ilunga, Ghent, ca. 2000. The collection of Mr. and Mrs. Sergeant, Ghent, Belgium, acquired from the above and thence by descent. A copy of a certificate of authenticity from Gallery Ilunga, signed by Luc Cannoot, and confirming the dating and provenance above, accompanies this lot. Ilunga was a noted gallery of African and Asian art and antiquities founded in 1980 in Ghent, Belgium, operated by its longtime director Luc Cannoot. Ilunga is the name that the Luba people give to those they consider to be unifying or bringing people together.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, minor obvious losses, and typical natural imperfections. Traces of weathering and signs of erosion, with some small losses, and remnants of pigments.
Weight: 33.7 kg (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Height (excl. stand), 55 cm (incl. stand), Length 79 cm
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
The current lot evidently draws inspiration from the monumental lions at the entrance of the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, the grandest and most elaborately decorated Hindu temple of the region. Like its temple counterparts, this sculpture exudes a powerful supernatural presence: the bulging eyes, exaggerated features, and commanding stance elevate it beyond naturalism into the realm of the divine protector. At the same time, its hybrid quality intensifies this effect— the curling tail at the rear evokes the sinuous movement of a serpent, blurring the line between lion and mythic creature. In both temple and sculpture, the lion transcends zoology to embody a charged, otherworldly force, a guardian meant to awe, sanctify, and shield against malevolent powers.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams London, 19 April 2016, lot 187
Price: GBP 6,250 or approx. EUR 11,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A red sandstone fragment depicting a mythical lion and rider, India, circa 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and related subject. Note the size (45 x 43 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
208 A TERRACOTTA BUST OF MANASA, THE SERPENT GODDESS, EASTERN INDIA, GUPTA PERIOD, EARLY 6TH CENTURY
EXHIBITED
Aicon Gallery, New York, Through the Ages: South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism, New York, 16 March-12 May 2012.
Superbly modeled, the voluptuous Goddess of Snakes with a slender waist and wide hips, finely adorned with a beaded head ornament, large earrings, and a multi-strand necklace that falls between her exaggerated breasts. Her facial features are precisely delineated, especially her almond-shaped eyes, with well-defined lids under arched brows, and pursed lips forming a gentle smile. The hair is modeled in ringlets and crowned with a tall tiara, all backed by a fiveheaded naga hood that shelters the deity.
Provenance: From an important private collection in New York, United States, acquired in the early 2000s. According to the present owner, the present lot was also exhibited at TEFAF 2007 in Maastricht.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, obvious losses, small chips, old fills, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 8.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: 41 cm (excl. stand), 59.5 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal and plexiglass stand.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related terracotta head of Manasa, Eastern India, Gupta period, dated early 6th century, 30 cm high, exhibited by John Eskenazi at Asian Art in London, November 2011.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Compare a related terracotta bust of Vishnu, Gupta period, dated 5th-6th century, 29.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2000.82.
A RARE AND LARGE SILVER-INLAID BRONZE FIGURE OF VAIKUNTHA VISHNU, KASHMIR, 9TH-10TH CENTURY
Manifesting in the form of a four-headed god, with a peaceful human face in the front, a lion and a boar’s face on the two sides, and a ferocious face at the back. Here the lion and boar are vividly depicted with their mouths agape, representing Vishnu’s Varaha and Narasimha avatars.
The deity stands with his left foot slightly in front of his right, holds a lotus flower and a conch shell in his upper hands, and rests his lower hands on the heads of two diminutive figures – Gadadevi, the female personification of his battle mace, and Chakrapurusha, the male personification of his war discus. Enlivening the composition, a tiny effigy of the Earth goddess Prithvi emerges from the base between Vishnu’s feet.
Provenance: Stefan Freiherr v. Reibnitz, Munich, Germany, 1988. An old private collection in Bavaria, Germany, acquired from the above. A copy of the original invoice from Stefan Freiherr v. Reibnitz, dated 27 February 1988, accompanies this lot.
Condition: Good condition with wear, commensurate with age. Expected casting irregularities, obvious losses, scattered nicks and scratches, small dings, warping, and signs of weathering and erosion.
Weight: 9,188 g
Dimensions: Height 37.5 cm
Vaikuntha Vishnu was the paramount cult icon in the kingdom of Kashmir between the 8th and 10th centuries. Numerous sculptures of the same subject, both in metal and stone, have survived from the period. This complex form of Vishnu, first referred to by the name Vaikuntha in the seventh-century Vishnudharmottarapurana, is four-faced (chaturmurti), with the heads of a lion (right) and a boar (left) flanking a human face in the front and a fierce head in the back. He is also identifiable in this form by the epithet Para-Vasudeva, the ‘highest god’. The lion and boar represent Vishnu’s Varaha and Narasimha avatars. The fierce head on the back is a demonic, grimacing representation of Kapila, an immortal spirit who emerged from the Vedic ritual fire. These four heads correspond with Vasudeva (human), Samkarsana (Narasimha), Pradyumna (Kapila) and Aniruddha (Varaha), symbolizing respectively, bala (strength), jnana (knowledge), aisvarya (sovereignty), and sakti (energy).
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related smaller Kashmir bronze figure depicting the same subject, featuring similarly large eye inlays, 17.2 cm high, dated to 9th-10th century, in the National Museum, New Delhi. Compare a related Kashmir brass figure with silver and copper inlays depicting the same subject, dated c. 850, 46.4 cm high, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.80.6.2. Compare a related copper alloy figure depicting the same subject, dated 8th-9th century, 34.3 cm high, formerly in the collection of John D. Rockefeller and now in the Asia Society, New York, accession number 1979.43. All examples share the same composition and figural type with the present lot. All four gods are afforded a youthful body, with cruciform navel and slightly exaggerated musculature around the abdomen. They also wear similar crowns, necklaces, and armbands, as well as a long and prominent flower garland looping in front of their legs.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2018, lot 1028
Estimate: USD 90,000 or approx. EUR 101,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figural group inlaid with copper and silver depicting Vishnu and attendants, India, Greater Kashmir region, 11th12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject, with similar inlays. Note the much smaller size (19.8 cm) and later dating.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 22 March 2022, lot 317
Price: USD 60,312.5 or approx. EUR 58,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A brass figure of Vaikuntha Vishnu, Kashmir, 8th9th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the much smaller size (19 cm).
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
Stefan Freiherr v. Reibnitz
210 AN EXTRAORDINARY AND EXTREMELY RARE SANDSTONE FIGURE OF LAKSHMI-NARAYANA, CHANDELA PERIOD, 10TH-12TH CENTURY
Central India, Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh.
Superbly carved to depict Vishnu and Lakshmi embracing each other. They stand together in elegant tribhanga poses, Vishnu drawing Lakshmi close to him with his left arm around her back, his fingers unable to resist touching her fulsome bosom. Lakshmi bends her right knee to accommodate Vishnu’s hip pressed against hers. She raises her head toward Vishnu with a charming smile, while he gazes at the viewer, offering darshan: a means for the viewer to receive the divine couple’s blessings through eye contact. Both figures are richly bejeweled and wear necklaces, festooned girdles and tall crowns.
Provenance: A private collection in the United Kingdom. Jeremy Knowles, London, United Kingdom, by 2006. An important private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above. A copy of the signed invoice from Jeremy Knowles, dated 1 September 2006, confirming the dating and provenance above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 170,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Furthermore, in an informal email communication from 2008, Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, who was well acquainted with the sculpture, expressed the view that it should be dated to the 12th rather than the 13th century. A copy of this correspondence will be made available to the winning bidder upon receipt of full payment. Jeremy Knowles has been dealing with Indian and Asian works of art for over 25 years, specializing in fine and decorative sculpture and paintings. After working as a specialist in the Indian and Southeast Asian department of Spink and Son Ltd., he established his own business in 1993. He has previously exhibited at Asian Art in London, the Arts of Pacific Asia show in New York, and the Brussels Oriental Art Fair. Dr. Pratapaditya Pal, born in 1935, is a renowned art historian and curator specializing in South Asian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art. Educated in Calcutta and at Cambridge, he served as curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has published around 60 books and more than 250 scholarly articles. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Condition: Magnificent condition, commensurate with age. Minor wear, obvious losses, natural imperfections, small chips, scattered nicks and scratches, as well as traces of weathering, erosion, and encrustations. Remarkably, works from the Chandela period seldom survive in such an exceptional state of preservation, making this example an unusually rare testament to both the durability of the material and the care with which it has been preserved over the centuries.
Weight: 61.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 94 cm (excl. stand), 98 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
The masterful treatment of form in this sculpture, with the tautly modeled flesh and elegant proportions is truly remarkable. Sculptures depicting the intimacy of Lakshmi and Vishnu or Shiva and Parvati were popular iconographic devices and usually ornamented large projecting niches on the exterior walls of medieval Indian temples, see a closely related example at Parshvanatha temple (fig. 1), Khajuraho, a 10thcentury Digambara Jain temple now dedicated to Parshvanatha, although it was probably built as an Adinatha shrine during the Chandela period. Despite the temple’s Jain affiliation, its exterior walls feature Vaishnavaite themes. The temple has been classified as a Monument of National Importance by the Archaeological Survey of India. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other temples in the Khajuraho Group of Monuments, because of its outstanding art, architecture, and testimony of the Chandela period.
A copy of the signed invoice from Jeremy Knowles, stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 170,000
Lakshmi-Narayana is the dual representation of the Hindu deities Vishnu, also known as Narayana, and his consort, Lakshmi, traditionally featured in their abode, Vaikuntha. This dual manifestation of the supreme deities of Vaishnavism is explored in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Skanda Purana, and in other scriptures. Discussing a contemporaneous sandstone stele from 10th-century Rajasthan in the Brooklyn Museum (86.191), Joan Cummins remarks that depictions of Lakshmi-Narayana are one of few instances where we see Vishnu in the sensuous tribhanga pose rather than standing straight and erect (see the exhibition catalog Vishnu: Hinduism’s BlueSkinned Savior, Frist Art Museum, 2011, p. 80, no. 14). She also points out that Lakshminarayana images offer rare instances of coupled images where a female Hindu goddess is depicted on the same scale as the male: “Where couples are so equally represented, they are to be worshiped together, as two halves of a whole.”
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related sandstone sculpture of Lakshmi-Narayana, dated to the 11th century, 127 cm high, in the National Museum, New Delhi, accession number 82 225.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2001, lot 34
Price: USD 226,000 or approx. EUR 357,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A buff sandstone frieze of Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva and Parvati, India, Uttar Pradesh, 10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the smaller size (81.2 cm) and that this lot comprises a frieze with four deities.
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
fig. 1
A PINK SANDSTONE FIGURE OF A CELESTIAL BEAUTY, SURASUNDARI, CENTRAL INDIA, CHANDELA DYNASTY, 10TH-11TH CENTURY
Exhibited: Aicon Gallery, New York, Through the Ages: South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism, New York, 16 March-12 May 2012.
Superbly carved, leaning casually against a pillar, one hand holding a chauri, the effortless beauty of this semi-divine female is highlighted by her sinuous form and leisurely activity. Her facial features are precisely delineated, especially her almond-shaped eyes with pupils, well defined-lids, and arched brows. She is adorned with a beaded head ornament, large ear discs, and a multi-strand necklace that falls between her exaggerated breasts. Her waist belt is festooned with jeweled leg drops connected to rich openwork girdles.
Provenance: American Private Collection, acquired circa 1960s, by repute. Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, New York, 3 July 1980, lot 87. Collection of John R. Menke (1919-2009), acquired from the above and thence by descent. John R. Menke (1919-2009) was a nuclear physicist and a collector of Asian art for over forty years. Born in New York, Menke received a Bachelor of Science from both the School of Engineering and the School of Physics at Columbia University, New York. He worked in Southeast Asia on the acquisition of uranium and formed much of his collection of Southeast Asian ceramics at that time. Menke was also a close friend of Robert P. Griffing Jr. (1914-1979) who was the Director (19471963) of the Honolulu Academy of Arts (now Honolulu Museum of Art). Today, objects from his collection can also be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, obvious losses, scattered nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, and small chips.
Weight: 18 kg (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 65 cm (excl. base), 71 cm (incl. base)
Mounted on an associated hardwood base. (2)
In Indian art, a surasundari (lit. ‘beautiful goddess’) is a young maiden characterizing feminine beauty and graceful sensuality. Buddhist and Jain shrines have featured sensual figures in form of yakshis and other spirits since the 2nd century BC. However, the surasundari motif gained prominence in Indian temple architecture only around the beginning of the 9th century AD. Shilpa-Prakasha, a 9th-century Tantric architectural treatise, declares a monument without a surasundari as inferior and fruitless. The 15th century text Kshirarnava states that the surasundaris should be depicted looking down (adho-drishti), not looking at someone. In temple sculptures, the surasundaris are often depicted as attendants of gods and goddesses. They also manifest as dancing apsaras. A salabhanjika or tree nymph is another variation of a surasundari.
The Chandela dynasty (c. 831-1203 CE) became a great power in Central and Northern India during the 10th century. Thereafter successive rulers built magnificent temples at Khajuraho and elsewhere in their realm, to commemorate their military victories. As their influence expanded, their exquisite architectural style became admired across much of India, as indeed, it is now around the world. Chandela kings commissioned some of the finest temples in India. The best known of these today are in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, now a village but once the Chandela capital. Other temples, no longer standing, were located throughout their realm.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 24 September 2020, lot 704
Price: USD 137,500 or approx. EUR 146,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare buff sandstone figure of Salabhanjika, Central India, Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh, 10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related sinuous form and similar modeling, adornment, and expression. Note the size (83.8 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 September 2007, lot 59
Price: USD 121,000 or approx. EUR 161,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A red sandstone figure of Devi, India, Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, 10th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related sinuous form and similar modeling, adornment, and expression. Note the size (80.6 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
212
AN IMPORTANT AND EXTREMELY RARE BLACK BASALT STONE HEAD OF A JAIN TIRTHANKARA, SOLANKI DYNASTY, 11TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The restraint and precision of the carving embody the mature elegance of Western Indian Jain sculpture from the Solanki era, particularly in the perfectly symmetrical, broad, almost half-circle eyebrows—an archetypal feature of the style. These are sharply contrasted by the relatively small, softly contoured eyes, creating an almost diametrical opposition in form. This interplay between expansive brow lines and more compact ocular modeling is a hallmark of the earlier period’s aesthetic, as seen, for example, in the comparable Jain Svetambara Tirthankara sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (see literature comparison below), which is dated to the first half of the 11th century
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Western India, the Chaulukya (Solanki) dynasty of Gujarat, circa 940-1244 AD. Sensitively carved with soft, gentle curves and covered in tightly coiled snail-shell curls arranged in symmetrical rows. The half-closed eyes with heavy lids conveying a meditative state of deep contemplation. The ears with elongated lobes, symbolizing the renunciation of material wealth. The reverse is flat and partially unfinished, indicating it was possibly once part of a wall relief or monumental stele.
Provenance: From a private collection in France.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, small chips, few nicks, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Dimensions: Height 33 cm (excl. stand), 45 cm (incl. stand)
Jainism was established in India around the sixth century BC and flourished alongside Hinduism and Buddhism. The ultimate goal of the Jains or ‘conquerors’ was to achieve liberation from the cycle of reincarnations. They worship a group of twenty-four Supreme Teachers or Tirthankaras, arihants who after attaining kevala jnana (pure infinite knowledge) preach the dharma. An arihant is also called Jina (victor), one who has conquered inner enemies such as anger, attachment, pride, and greed.
With a modern metal stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 15 March 2006, lot 65
Price: USD 75,000 or approx. EUR 105,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A black stone head of a Jain Tirthankara, India, Gujarat, 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with similar features, expression, and size (29 cm). Note the slightly later date.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Compare a related white marble figure of a Jain Svetambara Tirthankara in Meditation with similar features, particularly the modeling of the eyes, curls and ushnisha, dated first half of the 11th century, 99 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, object number 1992.131.
A CLASSIC BLACK STONE STELE DEPICTING VISHNU, NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 10TH-12TH CENTURY
Published & Exhibited: Jonathan Tucker Antonia Tozer Asian Art, Indian, Southeast Asian and Chinese Works of Art, Asian Art in London, 1-10 November 2012, cat. no. 9.
Finely and deeply carved, the four-armed deity standing on a lotus pedestal in the center. He holds a ghada (mace) in his upper right hand, while the lower right hand forms the varada mudra. His upper left holds a cakra (disk), a symbol of absolute completeness and in his lower left a sankha (conch). His face with heavy-lidded eyes below gently arched brows and slender lips forming a calm smile, surmounted by a tall conical headdress, backed by a halo.
Vishnu is wearing richly pleated robes and an ornate headdress and is adorned with elaborate jewelry and embellished with a vanamala (long floral garland) reaching his knees. He is flanked by two consorts, Sarasvati, the goddess of poetry and music playing the vina to his left, and, Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune with a fly whisk in hand to his right. The relief is set within an arched mandorla centered by a kirtimukha spewing foliage and two apsaras, with elephants, birds, lions, and further adorative figures, including a Garuda kneeling at the base.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related stele of Vishnu, Pala dynasty, 79 cm high, dated 10th-11th century, in the Princeton University Art Museum, object number y1961-47.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2017, lot 616
Price: USD 47,500 or approx. EUR 53,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A black stone stele of Vishnu, Northeastern India, Pala period, 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the similar size (70.5 cm).
Provenance: Patrick Dunbar Antiques, New Mexico, United States, by the late 1970s. European private collection, acquired from the above. Jonathan Tucker & Antonia Tozer Asian Art, London, by 2012. English private collection, acquired from the above. Jonathan Tucker and Antonia Tozer are a husband-and-wife team, both former specialists with the venerable trading house of Spink & Son in London, Tucker as associate director of Indian and Southeast Asian art and Tozer as an expert in Chinese art. The couple operated a successful gallery in St. James’s, London for more than twenty years, and now work by appointment in the Cotswolds. During their many years in the Asian art field, they have sold to museums and private collectors throughout the world. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, old repairs, small losses, few chips, scattered nicks and scratches.
Weight: 33 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 67.7 cm (excl. stand), 81.8 cm (incl. stand)
With a fitted hardwood stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2011, lot 447
Price: USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 46,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blackstone relief of Vishnu, Northeastern India, Pala period, 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the slightly larger size (77.4 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Jonathan Tucker
AN IMPORTANT AND PUBLISHED COPPER ALLOY SHRINE OF SHIVA, ORISSA, 11TH CENTURY
Exhibited: McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, Embodying Enlightenment: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 11 September 2015 to 3 January 2016.
Northeastern India, 11th century. Superbly cast, Shiva is seated in lalitasana on an oval lotus base with beaded rims, raised on a stepped waisted base, the pendent foot resting on a small figure of Nandi. The right hand in varada mudra and holding a fruit, the left hand raised in abhaya mudra, the upper hands holding a cup and a lotus, dressed in a short dhoti with finely incised bands, adorned in beaded necklaces and armlets, and with a sash framing his shoulders.
The face with a serene expression, surmounted by a five-pointed crown and tall jatamukuta. The figure backed by a pierced aureole decorated with a central blossom and surmounted by a kirtimukha mask.
Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 18 April 1983, lot 73. A private collection in Switzerland, acquired from the above. Christie’s New York, 19 March 2014, lot 1083, sold for USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 45,000. A private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above. Condition: Very good condition with ancient wear, traces of worship, casting irregularities, and minor nicks.
Weight: 1.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 20.4 cm
The present figure can be identified as Shiva due to the presence of Nandi, the bull beneath his right foot. The angular and tiered seat as well as the elaborate throne backing are emblematic of Northeast Indian sculpture during the 11th century.
The small scale of the present lot highlights the portability of such devotional shrines. Comparable examples include a Green Tara attributed to Kurkihar, sold at Bonhams, Paris, on 11 June 2024, lot 24 (see the auction result comparison). While sharing regional distinctions, the elongated form and intricate filigree ornamentation of the Orissa example contrast with the fuller proportions and compact build of the Kurkihar Tara. Additionally, the tightly arranged, narrow lotus petals here differ from the broader petals seen in Kurkihar works. Together, these features reflect key aesthetic developments of the period, with this shrine exemplifying the refined bronze artistry unique to Orissa.
Literature comparison: Compare a figure of Uma Maheshvara, Orissa, 11th-12th century, and a related figure of Vishnu, Sri and Pushti, Orissa, 13th century, both illustrated by Nihar Ranjan Ray, Karl Khandalavala, and Sadashiv Gorakshka, Eastern Indian Bronzes, 1986, no. 273 and 274a. Both shrines share an intricate prabhavali and remarkable precision in jewelry, crown, and posture, closely related to the present lot. For such a small size, both sculptures show technical refinement and artistic sophistication, hallmarks from the region.
The present lot at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2014, lot 1083, sold for USD 37,500 or approx. EUR 45,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing).
PUBLISHED
Jeff Watt & Walter Arader, Embodying Enlightenment: Buddhist Art of the Himalayas, 2015, p. 7, no. 4.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Paris, 11 June 2024, lot 24
Price: EUR 279,800 or approx. EUR 284,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gilt copper alloy shrine to green Tara, Northeastern India, Kurhikar, Pala period, 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the form of the throne and aureole, as well as the portability. Note the size (13 cm) and gilding.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2012, lot 740
Price: USD 33,750 or approx. EUR 41,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silver-inlaid bronze figure of Padmapani, Northeastern India, Pala period, 11th/12th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar pose, finely detailed aureole, stepped waisted throne, and size (19.7 cm).
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
A RARE AND
LARGE
SILVER AND COPPER-INLAID BRONZE FIGURE OF VISHNU VARAHA, NORTHEASTERN INDIA, PALA PERIOD, 10TH-12TH CENTURY
Finely cast to depict Vishnu as the cosmic boar Varaha standing in a dynamic pose on one leg, the other raised at the knee, atop a circular pedestal raised on a tiered lotus plinth. The primary hands held to the chest, and the secondary arms raised and clasped around a chakra and gada. Wearing a short, pleated dhoti and adorned with various necklaces and pectorals, the body further inlaid with flat copper medallions incised with a simple flower, extending down to the pedestal. The boar-head turned to the side, the eyes meticulously inlaid in silver, and detailed with curling tusks which balance the weight of the earth.
Varaha is the third incarnation of Vishnu in the Dashavatara. The transformation of Vishnu into a boar became necessary when the demon, Hiranayaksha, once dragged the earth under the sea. The earth-goddess’s cries for help reached Vishnu who took the form of a boar, plunged into the depths of the ocean, gored the demon to death and surfaced with the earth intact. Varaha is depicted here in a heroic pose after rescuing Earth or Bhudevi, who in sculptural representations of Varaha is often depicted as a beautiful goddess seated on his raised elbow.
Dr. John Ross Jr. (19282019), a pioneering cardiologist and previous owner of the present lot
Provenance: The collection of Dr. John Ross Sr., thence by descent to his son and thence by further direct descent. Dr. John Ross Sr. was an American physician and art collector. He passed down his collection and passion for collecting to his son Dr. John Ross Jr. (1928-2019), a pioneering cardiologist whose research is widely used in diagnosing heart disorders. Dr. Ross was a renowned collector and passionate advocate of Asian and ethnographic art, dedicating over five decades to the field. A committed supporter of non-Western art, he played a central role in the Ethnic Arts Council (EAC) of Los Angeles, serving as Chair from 1988 to 1990 and remaining active on the board until 2007. His influence extended to academic institutions such as UCLA and USC, where he backed various ethnographic art programs. Internationally, he contributed through organizations like the Ethnic Arts Foundation and the Mithila Arts Institute in India, promoting cultural preservation and artistic exchange. Part of the collection was donated to the World Cultures Art Collection of Mesa College, San Diego.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected ancient wear, casting irregularities, small losses, scattered light nicks and small surface scratches, few minor dings, minor corrosion to inlays, old fills, and traces of weathering. The foot and one arm with old repairs, and the figure accurately reinforced to the base with a nut and bolt. Its raised details worn smooth by centuries of worship, this bronze survives with the desirable, glossy patina of a much-cherished icon.
Weight: 6,118 g
Dimensions: Height 39.5 cm
The present sculpture relates closely to a famous rock-cut relief in Cave 5 of the Udayigiri Caves, depicting Varaha rescuing the earth goddess, a masterwork of early Indian stone carving that demonstrates both artistic sophistication and theological symbolism.
The Udayagiri Caves, located in Madhya Pradesh, are an important early example of Hindu rock-cut architecture, dating to the early 5th century during the Gupta period. Comprising a series of excavations dedicated primarily to Hindu deities, with a few Jain monuments, the site is celebrated for its monumental reliefs and inscriptions that reflect the political and religious vitality of the Gupta court.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a later bronze figure of Varaha, dated circa 1600, 20.95 cm high, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.87.160.2.
Compare a closely related bronze of Varaha Pratihara, dated circa 10th century, 10.5 cm high, in the National Museum, New Delhi, accession number 67.107.
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
A BRONZE FIGURE OF GANESHA, SOUTH INDIA, LATER CHOLA PERIOD, 12TH-13TH CENTURY
India, Tamil Nadu. Finely cast seated in lalitasana over a compressed circular base raised over a tiered plinth incised with geometric bands and lappet leaves, holding an ankusha, broken tusk, and pile of sweets in his hands, dressed in a short, striated dhoti, secured by a naga-head belt, and adorned with jewelry. The face flanked by his fan-form ears issuing pendant earrings, surmounted by a conical headdress and backed by a shirashchakra.
Provenance: Collection of Françoise Leroy-Laveissière, who was an expert for Asian Art at the Cabinet Beurdeley & Leroy-Laveissière at Drouot, Paris, in the 1970s. Thence by descent in the family.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear and casting irregularities. Small losses, encrustations, and traces of weathering, all commensurate with age. The bronze with a naturally grown lustrous patina peering through the vibrant malachite encrustations.
Weight: 266.3 g
Dimensions: Height 9.5 cm
Literature comparison: Compare a related bronze figure of Ganesha, dated to the 13th century, in the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. See a related larger Chola bronze figure of Ganesha in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1970.62.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2008, lot 353
Price: USD 29,800 or approx. EUR 38,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Ganesha, South India, Tamil Nadu, late Chola period, 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the size (15.2 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2012, lot 74
Price: USD 25,000 or approx. EUR 30,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Ganesha, South India, Chola period, 12th century
Expert remark: Note the size (17.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
217
A COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF GANESHA, PALA PERIOD, 12TH CENTURY
Eastern India. Well cast, the four-armed deity is seated in lalitasana on a lotus base with a thickly beaded lower rim on which his vahana the mouse scurries along. Ganesha holds in his hands a bowl of sweets from which he samples with his trunk, a piece of his broken tusk, and an axe. The head with typically large ears and surmounted by a conical crown.
Provenance: From a private collection in Belgium.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear predominantly from centuries of worship within the culture, casting irregularities, obvious losses, few minuscule nicks, tiny dents, the bronze with a rich, naturally grown, smooth, dark patina.
Weight: 253 g
Dimensions: Height 7.5 cm
Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, is a widely cherished deity in the Hindu pantheon. He is worshiped throughout India at the beginning of journeys or new endeavors. As such, he is often placed at thresholds or entries where he is traditionally offered sweets, fruits, coins, flowers, and freshly cut grass. Renowned for his powers to remove obstacles, he also aids in areas of education, knowledge and wisdom, literature and fine arts. In Puranic literature, there is an amusing story about Ganesha’s broken tusk: After feasting on sweets one day, Ganesha was returning home on his mount, a mouse. The poor mouse, unable to bear Ganesha’s weight, dropped the deity and as a result, Ganesha’s stomach burst open spilling sweets. The moon witnessed this scene from the sky and burst into laughter. Ganesha reacted by breaking off one of his tusks and angrily thrusting it at the moon, which is why we see dark spots on the surface of the moon.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Pala bronze figure of Ganesha, 4.5 cm high, dated to the late 11th century, gifted by Dr. David R. Nalin and now in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1992.47 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related Pala bronze figure of Ganesha, 9 cm high, from the collection of G. Woodtli, illustrated by Ulrich von Schroeder, Indo-Tibetan Bronzes, Hong Kong, 1981, pl. 69H. Compare a related Chola bronze figure of Ganesha dated late 12th-13th century, 7.3 cm high, formerly in the Samuel Eilenberg Collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1987.142.325a, b.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 20 September 2022, lot 102
Price: USD 113,400 or approx. EUR 105,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A copper alloy figure of Ganesha, Eastern India, Pala period, circa 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the size (11 cm).
Estimate EUR 3,000
Starting price EUR 1,500
fig. 1
218
A VERY LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF SHIVA TRIPURAVIJAYA, DESTROYER OF THE THREE CITIES, VIJAYANAGARA PERIOD (1336-1646)
South India, circa 16th to mid-17th century. Standing triumphantly with one foot on the back of the prostrate dwarf demon Mushalagan, who holds a serpent in one hand, raised on a circular pedestal, the body held in a graceful tribhanga pose, his raised secondary hands holding a goad and the diminutive antelope, clad in a short dhoti and adorned with various jewelry, the face held in a confident gaze surmounted by the tall jatamukuta, supporting various jewels, flowers, snakes, and a crescent moon.
Provenance: An old private estate in Germany. The private collection of an Indian physicist and collector of Indian works of art based in France, acquired from the above via the local trade.
Condition: Good condition with expected ancient wear and numerous casting irregularities, traces of weathering, encrustations, areas of corrosion with associated minor losses and old fills, few small nicks and dents, light surface scratches. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, warm patina with scattered small areas of verdigris.
Weight: 28.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 83 cm
This tall and slender, yet grounded bronze of Shiva would have held the bow and arrow in his front hands; these were routinely cast separately and placed in Shiva’s hands, and are generally missing today in all but a few images still in worship in temples. Shiva stands gracefully poised, resting his weight on his right foot, while his left leg is lightly bent at the knee and placed on the back of the dwarf demon Mushalagan, who holds a serpent in one hand and looks out helplessly at the viewer. In an unusual strategy, the artist placed a pedestal below Shiva’s right foot so that the image would look appropriately balanced.
Shiva’s jatas or dreadlocks are piled elegantly upon his head, with the crescent moon and the trumpet-flower adorning one side, while a fullyopen blossom crowns the upswept locks. As is the norm, a diadem frames his face, and he wears a ring in one ear only, an eccentricity associated with this deity. A short dhoti is held in place by a series of belts with a large central lion-head clasp and, as is customary, he is adorned with rich jewelry. A ninth-century Tamil poem, titled Tirukayilaya Ula, or Procession of the Lord of Kailasa (meaning Shiva), tells us of the many items of jewelry that Uma places on Shiva prior to his emergence in procession, and makes it clear that adornment was an essential element of dress.
In their endless struggle with the gods, the titans once built three invincible cities (tripura) of gold, silver, and iron in the sky, in midair, and on earth, respectively. The only way for the gods to defeat their foes was to pierce all three cities at once. The task fell to Shiva, the supreme archer, who rose to the occasion and subdued the titans. Thereafter he came to be known as Tripurantaka, or Destroyer of Three Cities.
By the eighth century, the myth had caught the imagination of the artists in the Deccan, who carved some of the most dramatic representations of it (see Kramrisch 19812, 47, cat. 40; and 1981b, 405-21, for further discussion and references). Their successors in the Chola and Vijayanagar realm preferred a more iconic and synoptic depiction, of which this is a fine example. Modeled always in the round, such sculptures are used in religious processions.
Expert’s note: Images with this iconography have been variously identified as Vinadhara (Player of the Vina) or as Tripuravijaya (Destroyer of the Three Cities), since the attributes once held in the primary hands—originally fashioned separately and later inserted—are now missing. In his form as Vinadhara Dakshinamurti, Shiva demonstrates his yogic mastery, for in the Indian classical tradition, perfection in vocal and instrumental music is inseparable from control of breath and, ultimately, of the mind. As Tripuravijaya—a form that rose to prominence during the late Chola period—Shiva embodies supreme power, reducing with a single flaming arrow the three cities of demons to ashes. Most importantly, whether revealed as yogi or warrior, Shiva reminds his devotees of his omniscience.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 15 March 2017, lot 257
Price: USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 143,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Shiva, South India, Vijayanagar period, 14th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar pose and adornments. Note the earlier dating.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2014, lot 1626
Price: USD 425,000 or approx. EUR 501,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large and important bronze figure of the dancing Krishna, South India, Vijayanagar period, 16th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling manner of casting with similar pose and adornments. Note the slightly smaller size (68.5 cm) and the different subject.
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
A SUPERB JAIN BRONZE FIGURE OF A TIRTHANKARA, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Western India, Rajasthan or Gujarat. Heavily cast, the naked figure seated in dhyanasana with his hands folded onto each other in the lap above a triangular base with canted edges, the chest centered by a srivatsa emblem, the serene face with downcast almond-shaped eyes and full bow-shaped lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by elongated earlobes, the hair neatly incised with circular designs evoking curls.
Provenance: The collection of Louis & Helen Regenstein, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, thence by descent. Louis Regenstein, Jr. (19121994) was the only son of Louis and Venia, founders of Regenstein’s Department Store in Atlanta. He graduated with honors from Harvard College and Harvard Law, later serving as a senior partner at the law firm now known as Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton. Helen Moses Regenstein (1918-2023) majored in history at the Agnes Scott College, South Carolina, where she met her future husband Louis Regenstein. Throughout her life, Helen served on many philanthropic committees and boards including The Alliance Theatre, The High Museum, and The Temple, and also served as Parliamentarian of the Atlanta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Together, the couple traveled the world, collected a wide range of objects including fine art and furniture, and entertained exquisitely, hosting Elizabeth Arden at the Gone with the Wind Premiere Ball in 1939.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, some malachite and cuprite encrustations between the base and figure, minor soil encrustations at the armpits, casting irregularities, few nicks, and light scratches. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 5.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 19.2 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related brass figure of a Jain saint, also heavily cast, 5.3 kg, 19 cm tall, in the Horniman Museum & Gardens, museum number 238 (fig. 1). Compare a related bronze figure of Tirthankara Shitalanatha in the Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rajasthan.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 13 March 2017, lot 3109
Price: USD 125,000 or approx. EUR 140,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large iridescent copper alloy figure of Parshvanatha, Central of Western India, circa 15th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the larger size (35.5 cm) and earlier date.
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
fig. 1
A LARGE COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF BUDDHA, SRI LANKA, KANDYAN DYNASTY
Expert’s note: The present figure is remarkable for the Buddha’s piercing eyes with large, distinctive pupils. Since at least the first millennium AD, the creation of a Buddha image in Sri Lanka culminates with a consecration ceremony known as netra pinkama, or ‘the meritorious action of establishing the eyes’. This could be achieved by carving, painting, inlaying, or insetting the eyes. A netra pinkama ceremony would also be repeated periodically to clean and reset the eyes, and in the Kandyan period it was performed every time a temple was established or refurbished (see John Listobad, Guardian of the Flame: Art of Sri Lanka, Phoenix Art Museum, 2003, p. 46-47). In most cases, the eyes have small pupils indented for this purpose, and no other figure of this kind displays pupils of such remarkable size or striking presence.
18th century. Heavily cast, seated in ardha padmasana on a triangular waisted base with richly incised lotus petals, his hands lowered in dhyana mudra and decorated with a flower. Clad in a tight-fitting, finely pleated robe draped over his left torso. His face bares a calm, meditative expression, with almond-shaped eyes, neatly incised spiral urna and arched brows, and full lips forming a benevolent smile above the prominent chin flanked by elongated earlobes. The hair arranged in tight curls over the ushnisha surmounted by a tall flaming ketumala. The back of the base with two lugs for attachment within a shrine.
Provenance: An Egyptian private collector, acquired in London in the mid-20th century. A private collection in Montreal, Canada, acquired from the above in 2023.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear and casting flaws, small nicks and light surface scratches, a minor loss to the right leg, light warping and a small loss to the base, the bronze with a fine, naturally grown, smooth patina with areas of malachite and cuprite encrustation.
Weight: 8,132 g
Dimensions: Height 29.3 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related bronze figure of Buddha, 17.1 cm high, dated to the 18th century, in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1984.1304 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related bronze figure of Buddha, 19 cm high, dated 18th19th century, in the British Museum, registration number 1898,0702.27.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 30 November 2022, lot 1047
Price: HKD 355,800 or approx. EUR 42,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A silvered copper alloy figure of seated Buddha, Sri Lanka, Kandyan Period, 18th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject, with similar garment and flame finial. Note the related size (26.5 cm), missing base, and silvering.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
fig. 1
221
A LARGE AND MASSIVE BRONZE
FIGURE OF LAKSHMI ON AN ELEPHANT, DECCAN, 17TH-18TH
CENTURY
India. Finely cast in two sections, the deity standing in samabhanga atop a compressed globular pedestal raised on a flat plinth supported by a caparisoned elephant standing foursquare, the underside of the belly pierced with a rectangular aperture, its trunk raised and flanked by short tusks, wearing beaded garlands and bells around its neck, the back partially covered in a rug terminating in a bell on either side, and its body incised with foliate sprigs.
The deity is adorned with beaded jewelry and dressed in a finely incised dhoti, falling in voluminous folds to the front and gracefully flanking the sides in undulating hems; a parrot perched on one shoulder. The face with wide almond-shaped eyes with incised pupils below arched brows, flanked by ears suspending large earrings, the thick hair parted down the center and tied in a long braid to the back. (2)
Provenance: A private collection in the Midwestern United States, acquired from a Mrs. Sculnick, and thence by descent. A private collection in the United States, acquired from the above via the local trade. The figure and elephant each lacquered with an old inventory number, ‘J103’. With an old typewritten label, ‘Indian. S-81. Deepak Lakschmi. Bronze. Price: $ 200.00. Obtained from: Mrs. Sculnick’.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear, expected casting irregularities, small dings, scattered small nicks, light surface scratches, losses. The elephant’s ears with old repairs. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown, dark patina.
Weight: 4,659 g (the figure) and 5,145 g (the elephant)
Dimensions: Height 39.5 cm (the figure), 28 cm (the elephant), and 63 cm (total)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related brass oil lamp held by Lakshmi standing on an elephant, India,19th century, 39.6 cm high, formerly in the Sir Henry Wellcome Collection and now in the Science Museum, London, object number A129755.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related Auction: Christie’s London, 11 April 2008, lot 377
Price: GBP 8,125 or approx. EUR 18,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A splendid engraved bronze model of an elephant, probably Deccan, 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling, manner of casting, and engraved decoration. Note the size (23.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF SHIVA VINADHARA, THE LORD OF MUSIC, 19TH - FIRST HALF OF 20TH CENTURY
South India. Shiva is portrayed here entrancing the viewer with the divine music of his vina and swaying in graceful movement as he plays. Massively cast and sensitively modeled standing in a tribhanga atop a flat rectangular base, his principal hands poised to play the vina and the upper ones holding the leaping antelope (mrga) and battle-axe (parasu), which refer to the god’s role as protector, particularly of the animal kingdom.
The deity is dressed in a finely pleated short veshti secured by a series of belts with a large central lion-head clasp and adorned with beaded foliate jewelry. The serene face with a benevolent expression with gentle smile and elongated eyes, flanked by ears with pendulous lobes, the hair arranged in a tall jatamukuta.
Provenance: From a private collection in France, thence by descent. The previous owners were collectors of Indian sculpture and Asian works of art, which they acquired during numerous trips to India between the 1970s and 1990s.
Condition: Very good condition with old wear and expected casting irregularities. Few nicks and dents, light surface scratches, some rubbing, few fissures and natural fatigue cracks, encrustations, small fills, and areas of verdigris.
Weight: 59.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 96 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Indian bronze figure of Parvati, 80 cm high, dated “presumably 18th century”, in the Calvet Museum, Avignon (fig. 1)
Compare a related, slightly earlier Indian bronze figure of Parvati, dated 17th18th century, in the Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món, Barcelona.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 10 April 2025, lot 212
Price: EUR 44,200
Description: A large (152 cm) and massive bronze temple figure of Parvati, South India, 19th-first half of 20th century
Expert remark:
Compare the related modeling, posture, and adornments. Note the much larger size (152 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
1
fig.
AN IMPORTANT TERRACOTTA BUST OF A FEMALE DEITY, ANCIENT REGION OF HUND
Scientific Analysis Report: A thermoluminescence analysis report issued by Oxford Authentication on 22 July 2025, based on sample number N125k10, sets the firing date of all three samples taken between 1100 and 1700 years ago, consistent with the dating above. A copy of the report accompanies this lot.
Pakistan, 5th-7th century. Finely modeled with her left hand lowered and the right raised, as if engaged in a conversation. The face downcast with almond-shaped eyes below neatly incised brows, flanked by pendulous earlobes suspending large beaded earrings, the loose curls of hair on the goddess’s head falling in ringlets over the shoulders, the hair adorned with a pearl diadem centered by an elaborate foliate crown, the neck with magnificent jewelry, one necklace made of linked beads and a second one of flower-head beads centered by a large blossom issuing tassels.
Provenance: The collection of Cindy Elden, New York, United States, acquired in London around 2000. Previously exhibited at TEFAF Maastricht, according to the present owner. Cindy Elden, philanthropist and collector, belongs to a lineage of distinguished art patrons that includes her great-uncles—David Archibald Smart (1892–1952) and Alfred Smart (1895–1951)—renowned Chicago publishers and art patrons whose legacy is commemorated in the naming of the Smart Museum of Art. Her father, Richard Elden (1933–2018), who founded Grosvenor Capital Management, upheld that legacy through decades of leadership as Governor of the Museum. As a current Board member of the Museum, Cindy Elden has supported acquisitions and exhibitions, with a special emphasis on South and Central Asian sculpture. She is the President and Co-Founder of the Usher III Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to curing the rare genetic disorder that causes both hearing and vision loss. Condition: Good condition overall, commensurate with age. With extensive wear, weathering, and erosion; some losses, nicks, scratches, and chips; cracks and old repairs with associated touchups; as well as expected firing flaws. All consistent with the considerable age and fragility of the sculpture.
Weight: 19.4 kg
Dimensions: Height 57 cm
The ringlets falling over the goddess’ shoulders recall images from Gupta India, see a figure of a devotee with a related hair dress, dated to the 5th century, in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Bombay, accession number TC 56 (fig. 1). The Gupta style itself was inspired by Gandharan prototypes, where elaborate coiffures are associated with princely bodhisattva statues. The fan of curls at the crown of her head, as well as the profusion of locks falling down behind, perhaps indicates that a wig, rather than natural hair, formed such an elaborate coiffure.
The strongly incised facial features bear similarities to clay sculptures from Ushkur (see a related terracotta head of a man, dated to the 6th to 7th century, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.85.193.1, fig. 2). The same dramatic line of the eyebrows, running down to the bridge of the nose, the large expressive eyes and sublime smile indicates a distinct style of beauty.
Hund, known in antiquity as Udabhandapura, was a small village in the Swabi district, situated on the right bank of the Indus River in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was the Turk Shahi dynasty’s capital of Gandhara, and possibly functioned as a winter capital alternating with the summer capital of Kabul within the kingdom of Kapisa-Gandhara in the 7th to 9th century.
Expert’s note: This goddess probably dates from the late 6th or 7th century, that point when Kashmir was beginning to develop the distinctive stylistic elements associated with the more familiar bronze statues made later on. Stylistic analysis of post-Gupta/post-Gandhara art in Kashmir is difficult. Hermann Goetz, writing over fifty years ago (Goetz, Bombay, 1952) observed an intermediate phase between the styles of late Gandhara and mature Kashmir. He noted, however, that there was no simple evolutionary path and probably many more influences at work than are necessarily understood. Compare the striking resemblance between the present lot and two small attendants flanking the throne of a magnificent bronze Buddha from Kashmir, dated c. 700, 33.7 cm high, in the Norton Simon Museum, accession number F.1972.48.2.S (fig. 3). One has to proceed tentatively when analyzing the sculptures from Hund, but it is not rash to suggest that they represent an important step in the process that Goetz identifies.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 12 June 2012, lot 304
Price: EUR 23,750 or approx. EUR 29,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A terracotta bust of a celestial female attendant, Pakistan, Hund region, circa 8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, shape of the body, facial features, jewelry, and hair. Note the similar size (63 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 11 October 2023, lot 232
Price: EUR 58,500 or approx. EUR 62,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large and highly important pottery figure of a male deity, ancient region of Hund, Pakistan, 7th-8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, shape of the body, facial features, jewelry, hair, and related crown. Note the much larger size (98.5 cm)
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
Cindy Elden
fig. 1
fig. 2
fig. 3
A RARE SILVER ALLOY FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, SWAT VALLEY, 7TH-8TH CENTURY
Finely cast seated in dhyanasana atop a double-lotus base, his right hand raised above a bowl held in his left, wearing a loose-fitting robe with neatly incised parallel pleats, and adorned with a floral necklace mirroring his earrings, the mustachioed face with a serene expression marked by heavy-lidded eyes and slender lips forming an enigmatic smile, the head surmounted by a turban with a frontal crest showing a diminutive image of the Buddha Amitabha.
Provenance: The collection of The Zelnik
István Southeast Asian Gold Museum. Institutional art collection in Belgium, acquired from the above.
Dr. István Zelnik, President of the Hungarian South and Southeast Asian Research Institute, is a former highranking Hungarian diplomat who spent several decades in Southeast Asia, building the largest known private collection of Asian art in Europe.
Condition: Fair condition, commensurate with age. With expected ancient wear and extended signs of long-term burial, including losses, encrustations and corrosion. Remnants of gold foil remain, possibly later-added. Minor losses to the halo. The base is unsealed, the interior revealing part of the casting core and some malachite encrustations.
Weight: 213.9 g
Dimensions: Height 8.8 cm
The Swat Valley is located along the upper stream of the Indus in the heartland of the Gandhara region. It was a melting pot of various people and arts and served as a link between India and Central Asia and further eastwards for a constant flow of Buddhist pilgrims. The earlier Gandhara style is still echoed in the art of many icons of the Swat Valley, as visible in the present work’s physiognomy and drapery. The lotus base on which he sits, on the other hand, is typical for Swat Valley images. Thus, this fine bronze figure perfectly embodies the aforementioned melting pot of various styles.
Literature comparison: Compare a related Gandharan-style Chinese giltbronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, Sixteen Kingdoms, dated 4th-early 5th century, 12.3 cm high, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2019, lot 3625. Compare a closely related brass figure of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara with silver and copper inlays, Swat Valley, 17.1 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2012.247.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 55
Price: USD 54,000 or approx. EUR 75,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare silver alloy figure of Buddha with attendants, Swat Valley, 7th/8th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar garment folds. Note the size (14.8 cm).
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
The Zelnik István Southeast Asian Gold Museum
Dr. István Zelnik
A GRAY
SCHIST FRIEZE
OF BUDDHA DIPANKARA AND THE ASCETIC MEGHA, THE FUTURE BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, CIRCA 3RD CENTURY
Ancient region of Gandhara, Kushan period. Finely carved, the towering Buddha Dipankara gently turned towards the diminutive figure of the ascetic Megha, who is shown leaning against a wall, extending his arm in reverence to shower the Buddha with flowers. Buddha is dressed in voluminous robes draped across both shoulders, carved naturalistically with U-shaped folds that reveal the contours of his powerful body, the sensitively modeled face looks down with compassion at Megha who is modestly dressed in a loincloth, the deity backed by a large nimbus, all above a rectangular plinth decorated with a geometric band.
Provenance: R. M. Collection, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium, acquired between 1979 and 2009, thence by descent to his wife Marie-Anne Lefevre in 2023.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Possibly small old repairs. Expected wear, obvious losses, few structural fissures, minor chips, nicks, scratches, remnants of varnish, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Weight: 14.6 kg (excl. stand), 16.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 43.5 cm (excl. stand), 46 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
The Dipankara Jataka is a story of a Buddha from a past eon among a collection of stories about previous lives of the Buddha that carried particular significance in the Mahayana tradition of the kingdom of Gandhara (in present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan). In this story, the Buddha-to-be is born as the ascetic named Megha (also known as Sumedha) who encounters the Buddha Dipankara and is deeply inspired by his compassion and wisdom. Megha decides to emulate Dipankara’s virtues and vows to become a Buddha himself in the future. This story is the critical beginning of the Gandharan narrative cycle, as the Buddha Dipankara predicts that in a future life Megha will reach enlightenment and become the Buddha Shakyamuni. This narrative is for example related by a Gandharan schist panel dated ca. 2nd century, 22.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1998.491 (fig. 1). Compare also a related gray schist relief of the Dipankara Jakata, dated 2nd-3rd century, 37.5 cm high, sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2008, lot 567, for USD 37,000.
1
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig.
THE CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA, 2ND-3RD CENTURY
A reddish-gray schist gable. Ancient region of Gandhara, Kushan period. Deeply and intricately carved, two narrative scenes are separated by a double-lotus trim and topped by a large flower head, one side with a geometric trim, all supported on tall columns.
The upper register shows Queen Maya fast asleep in her bed chamber, her head raised on a high pillow, flanked by several female attendants and guards carrying spears, each with a serene disposition and comely expression; from a circular slab above, the Bodhisattva descending in the form of an elephant is seen.
The lower register depicts the birth of Gautama Buddha from the side of his mother, Queen Maya, in the grove at Lumbini. She is shown reaching up to break a bough with her right hand, similar in pose to a Salabhanjika Yakshi, while her left arm passes around the shoulder of her sister, Mahaprajapati, who stretches out a comforting hand resting on Maya’s belly. The god Indra, attending the birth, stands to Maya’s right, delivering the baby. The other figures represent female attendants and bodhisattvas.
Provenance: R. M. Collection, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium, acquired between 1979 and 2009, thence by descent to his wife Marie-Anne Lefevre in 2023.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, minor losses, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, few structural fissures, small chips, nicks, scratches.
Weight: 34.9 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 62 cm (excl. stand), 63 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
The panel is masterfully carved in deep, layered relief, combining two sequential episodes:
Queen Maya’s Dream and the Birth of the Buddha.
The upper scene illustrates Maya’s dream. According to Buddhist texts, before the Buddha’s birth, his mother, Maya Devi, dreamed of a white elephant entering her womb. In sculpture, this vision is rendered by showing the queen asleep on a couch with the elephant hovering above her.
The lower scene depicts the Buddha’s birth. Queen Maya stands beneath the canopy of a Sala tree, symbolizing the Lumbini Forest where the event occurs. She reaches up to break a bough with her right hand, as the future Buddha emerges from her side. The god Indra receives the infant, while behind him Brahma approaches in a reverential manner.
For panels depicting the same narratives, see the Birth of Buddha in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IM.109-1927, and Maya’s Dream in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B64S5.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Gandharan gray schist gable with Sumati prostrating before the Buddha Dipankara, dated to 2nd3rd century, 48.3 cm high, in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 2021.247. Compare a related larger Gandharan gray schist stupa gable, dated 2nd century BC-3rd century AD, 80.6 cm high, in the National Gallery of Australia, accession number 89.345 (fig. 1) fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2012, lot 8
Price: USD 242,500 or approx. EUR 292,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gray schist relief with the Great Departure, Gandhara, 2nd3rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the size (46.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
The birth of Gautama Buddha
The conception of Gautama Buddha
227 A FINE SCHIST FIGURE OF HARITI, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA
Kushan Empire, 2nd-3rd century. Finely cast seated in bhadrasana with each foot on a small pedestal, one hand holding a child on her lap motioning towards her breast, the other hand supporting its limbs. The deity richly adorned in beaded jewelry, wearing a sleeved tunic with naturalistic drapery and ruched sleeves, the face with a softly smiling expression and heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes, her hair tied to the back and secured by a wreath-like headdress. The child on her lap motioning towards her breast, while two others clamber at her feet.
PUBLISHED & EXHIBITED
Kitty Higgins
Far Eastern Art, Indian Stone
Sculpture, Washington, D.C., 1989.
Provenance: Kitty Higgins Far Eastern Art, Washington, D.C., 1989. The collection of Dr. John Ross Sr., thence by descent to his son and thence by further direct descent. Kitty Higgins is a Far Eastern Art expert and owner of a notable gallery in Washington, D.C. She has curated and lectured many exhibitions, and is an avid collector of Asian antiquities. Dr. John Ross Sr. was an American physician and art collector. He passed down his collection and passion for collecting to his son Dr. John Ross Jr. (1928-2019).
Dr. Ross was a renowned collector and passionate advocate of Asian and ethnographic art. He played a central role in the Ethnic Arts Council (EAC) of Los Angeles, serving as Chair from 1988 to 1990 and remaining active on the board until 2007. His influence extended to academic institutions such as UCLA and USC. Internationally, he contributed through organizations like the Ethnic Arts Foundation and the Mithila Arts Institute in India. Part of the collection was donated to the World Cultures Art Collection of Mesa College, San Diego.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, scattered nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations. Old repairs to the right breast and the neck.
Weight: 22.2 kg
Dimensions: Height 51.5 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 9 June 2015, lot 385
Price: EUR 37,500 or approx. EUR 45,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine grey schist stele depicting Hariti, Gandhara region, 2nd-3rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and modeling with similar pose, expression, and attire. Note the size (70 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
Dr. John Ross Jr. (19282019), a pioneering cardiologist and previous owner of the present lot
A GRAY SCHIST FIGURE OF A PENSIVE BODHISATTVA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 2ND-3RD CENTURY
Finely carved, seated in royal ease with one foot resting on a support and the other drawn up to support his elbow, his sandal left beside his other foot, the right hand raised to the temple while the left holds a lotus blossom, dressed in a dhoti and sanghati and adorned with multiple beaded necklaces, the face tilted to the side in deep thought surmounted by a turban with lotiform crest and backed by a nimbus. He is flanked by two devotees on a lower step, their hands joined in adoration and prayer.
Provenance: A private collection in England. The collection of Cindy Elden, New York, United States, acquired from the above in 2000. Cindy Elden, philanthropist and collector, belongs to a lineage of distinguished art patrons.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, small nicks, obvious losses, minor chips, the lower right corner with an old repair, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, minor structural fissures.
Weight: 6.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 32.2 cm (excl. stand), 36 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern stand. (2)
This rare type of ‘Pensive Bodhisattva’ originates in the Gandharan region during the Kushan period and is of extraordinary significance for further stylistic and iconographic developments throughout Asia, culminating in the iconographic type of a seated Maitreya in Korea and Japan by the 7th century.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 30 March 2006, lot 43
Price: USD 19,200 or approx. EUR 26,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gray schist figure of a pensive bodhisattva, Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the size (37 cm).
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
A RARE AND LARGE SCHIST FIGURE OF A YAKSHI, GANDHARA, 2ND-3RD
CENTURY
Standing with legs crossed on a square base carved with rosettes, her left hand supporting her waist, wearing a pleated sari held together by an elaborate belt, richly adorned in beaded jewelry, the serene face with almond-shaped eyes, aquiline nose, and full lips, flanked by elongated earlobes with floral earrings, the wavy hair with a tiara.
Provenance: Arthur Huc (18541932). Marcel Huc, inherited from the above. Thence by descent within the same family. Zacke, Vienna, 11 March 2022, lot 555, sold for EUR 32,864 or approx. EUR 40,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing). Collection of Dr. Mons Fischer, acquired from the above. Arthur Huc was the chief editor of La Dépêche du Midi, at the time the leading newspaper in Toulouse, France. He was also an accomplished art critic and early patron of several artists, including Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec. At the same time, Arthur Huc was a keen collector of Asian art, a passion that he inherited from his legendary ancestor Évariste Régis Huc, also known as the Abbé Huc (1813-1860), a French Catholic priest and traveler who became famous for his accounts of Qing-era China, Mongolia and especially the then-almost-unknown Tibet in his book “Remembrances of a Journey in Tartary, Tibet, and China”. Dr. Mons Fischer is a seasoned private collector of modern and contemporary art, who has also acquired fine Chinese works of art since the 1980s, eventually building one of the most important collections of its kind in Austria.
Rooted in the early narrative reliefs of Bharhut and Sanchi, where the voluptuous yakshi first emerged as a symbol of fertility and abundance, the present figure reflects the enduring appeal of this auspicious female earth spirit as she entered the artistic vocabulary of Gandhara. Reimagined through the region’s distinctive synthesis of Indian iconography and Hellenistic naturalism, the Gandharan yakshi retains the archetypal sensuous form—broad hips, full breasts, and elaborate coiffure—yet is rendered with the supple modeling, subtle facial expression, and refined ornament that typify the Kushan-period atelier. Such figures, often integrated into architectural settings, not only embodied fecundity and prosperity but also bridged the indigenous shalabhanjika motif with the cosmopolitan aesthetic of Gandhara, marking an important chapter in the transmission and transformation of early Buddhist visual culture.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Gandharan schist relief depicting a Yakshi grasping a tree, dated 2nd-3rd century, 96.5 cm high, in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 1923.316.
Inventory List: In 1954, L. Magniette, bailiff of the court in Toulouse (Huissier), was ordered to compile a complete inventory of the collection inherited by Marcel Huc from his father, Arthur Huc, the so-called “Inventaire Huc”. The present lot is listed in this inventory as part of a group of Gandhara stones as follows: “Seconde pièce cave- 32 pierres similaires Gandhara emballés- Bouddha et divers. (Voir suite)” (second room basement: 32 similar Gandhara stones wrapped- Buddhas and various. (see follow up). A copy of the inventory list and cover page are accompanying this lot.
Condition: Extensive weathering and wear. Few structural cracks. Some breaks, losses and erosions. Remnants of an old varnish above remnants of soiling from excavation.
French Export License: Certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel Nr. 185465 dated 30 June 2017 has been granted and a copy is accompanying this lot.
Weight: 49 kg (total)
Dimensions: Height 79 cm (excl. base)
With an associated wood base. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 19 September 2002, lot 20
Price: USD 339,500 or approx. EUR 520,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important and rare gray schist figure of Tyche, Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, stone, and manner of carving. Note the size (92 cm).
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
Dr. and Mrs. Mons Fischer
Arthur Huc (1854-1932)
The Huc Inventaire from 1954, with the present lot entry highlighted
230
A LARGE GRAY SCHIST FIGURE OF MAITREYA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY
Finely carved seated in dhyanasana atop a rectangular base decorated to the front with a panel depicting devotees flanking the meditating Buddha and framed by a pair of columns. His hands resting in dhyana mudra and holding the elixir of life contained within the kundika acutely modeled in the shape of a downturned lotus bud. He is dressed in neatly pleated robes and billowing scarves and richly adorned with beaded and floral jewelry. His face bearing a serene expression marked by half-opened almond-shaped eyes and full lips framed by a moustache. His wavy, elegantly flowing hair is secured with a turban centered by a large figural crest.
Provenance: From the private collection of Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024), Belgium, acquired circa in the 1960s and thence by direct descent to her grandson, the present owner of this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, minor signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, chips, nicks, scratches, few structural cracks, an old repair to the tip of the nose.
Weight: 39.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 61 cm (excl. stand), 62.5 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a modern metal stand. (2)
Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024) together with her grandson, the present owner of this lot, 1980s
Expert’s note: The present lot represents the rise in popularity of the worship of Maitreya at Gandhara and further afield. He is identified here by the remarkably detailed water vessel (kundika). The most elaborate of these vessels, in connection with Gandharan reliquaries, mimic the bulbous shapes of lotuses or fruits. As Mahayana Buddhism spread from Gandhara to China, images of Maitreya became the focal point of a widespread cult, the idea of a messianic savior appealing to many living under the chaotic political climate and civil unrest of the Six Dynasties Period following the collapse of the Western Han Dynasty in the beginning of the 3rd century –the time around which this sculpture was made. The link between the art of Gandhara and early Buddha images in China is clearly demonstrated through a comparison of the facial features and robes between the present lot and a gilt bronze Buddha held in the Harvard Art Museums (1943.53.80.A) believed to be the earliest devotional Buddhist image made in China.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related schist figure of a seated bodhisattva, 63 cm high, dated 3rd-4th century, in the Museum Rietberg, inventory number RVI 3 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related figure of Maitreya, 40.9 cm high, dated to the 2nd century, in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams New York, 19 March 2018, Lot 3062
Price: USD 348,500 or approx. EUR 385,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A schist figure of Maitreya, Ancient Region of Gandhara, circa 3rd century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar pose, robe, facial features, and size (60.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
fig. 1
231
A GRAY SCHIST FIGURE OF MAITREYA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD CENTURY
Finely carved, the Buddha of the Future seated on a textile covered throne flanked by lions, the right hand in abhaya mudra and the other hand would have held the elixir of life contained within the kundika acutely modeled in the shape of a downturned lotus bud, wearing a sanghati pooling elegantly in U-shaped folds above his feet and spilling over the edge of the base.
The deity is adorned with various necklaces and talismanic amulets, his mustachioed face with aquiline nose and steadfast gaze from heavylidded eyes, flanked by pendent earrings, his wavy curls pulled up into a chignon adorned by a floral beaded headband and backed by a mandorla.
With a broad muscular torso, strong hand, and ornate stylized folds, this sculpture exhibits the power and authority of Maitreya, believed to reside in Tushita heaven until the time comes when Shakyamuni is no longer remembered and the future Buddha will need to be reborn.
Provenance: Collection of Yvette Starck, Luxembourg, and thence by descent to Jacques Grosbusch, Luxembourg. A copy of a provenance statement, written and signed by Jacques Grosbusch, dated 31 May 2025, and confirming the above, accompanies this lot.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, few structural fissures, small chips, nicks, the right arm and a section of the mandorla with old repairs.
Weight: 59.1 kg
Dimensions: Height 70 cm
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 23 March 2022, lot 448
Price: USD 100,800 or approx. EUR 97,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large grey schist figure of seated Maitreya, Ancient Region of Gandhara, 3rd-4th century CE
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with similar pose, flattened pleats, kundika, and jewelry. Note the size (77.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Jacques Grosbusch
232
A GILT-LACQUERED GRAY SCHIST HEAD OF A BODHISATTVA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: While it is reasonable to assume that many schist figures were originally polychromed, or in some cases gilt, following Greco-Roman prototypes, only few examples remain. In the present lot, the bodhisattva head retains much of its original gilding. Compare a related parcel-gilt and polychromed schist figure of the Buddha, 51 cm high, at Christie’s New York, 12 September 2012, lot 522, sold for USD 1,482,500. Much like the Buddha in this example, the present lot was never part of a free-standing statue, but rather is a fragment of a large and prominent temple relief, as becomes obvious when viewing the backside. It also shows close stylistic affinities with early stucco productions from Gandharan sites at Taxila. The sensitive modeling has an expressive quality that is not seen often in the more formal stone images from this period.
Finely carved, the serene face with heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes, elegantly arched brows centered by a raised circular urna, full lips, and a wavy mustache, flanked by leogryph earrings, the head adorned with an elaborate knotted and richly bejeweled turban fronted by a pearshaped crest.
Provenance: Collection of Yvette Starck, Luxembourg, and thence by descent to Jacques Grosbusch, Luxembourg. A copy of a provenance statement, written and signed by Jacques Grosbusch, dated 31 May 2025, and confirming the above, accompanies this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, expected flaking and losses to gilt, chips, nicks, scratches, structural fissures, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations. Some of the gilt may have been renewed over time. Overall the sculpture shows a fine, naturally grown patina.
Weight: 13.6 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 32 cm (excl. stand), 42 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
Literature comparison: Compare a related Gandharan schist head of a Bodhisattva, dated late 2nd-3rd century, 23 cm high, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number IM.4-1919.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 27 November 2024, lot 1033
Price: HKD 829,500 or approx. EUR 92,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A grey schist head of a bodhisattva, Ancient region of Gandhara, 3rd-4th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with a similar pear-shaped crest on the turban. Note the smaller size (25 cm) and lack of gilt.
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
233
A LARGE GRAY SCHIST HEAD OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 1ST-4TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: This head was once part of a monumental frieze, from which it was removed a long time ago. It shares this property with a near identical head that currently resides in the Musée Guimet in Paris, and which is known among collectors from all over the world.
Kushan Empire. Finely carved and sensitively modeled in a serene expression with heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes showing a steadfast gaze, elegantly arched brows centered by a raised circular urna, a long aquiline nose, full bow-shaped lips below a neatly incised wavy mustache, and a broad rounded chin, all framed by wavy hair combed into a topknot secured by a beaded band.
Provenance: From the collection of Philippe Deridder (1950-1988), Belgium, acquired in the 1980s and thence by direct descent.
Philippe Deridder’s mother Marie Louise Alexienne (1929-2024) together with her grandson, the present owner of this lot, 1980s
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, nicks, few structural cracks, remnants of pigment, few specks of gilt.
Weight: 21.4 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 41 cm (excl. stand), 51.5 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted to a modern metal stand. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related head of Buddha, similarly lacking the back half, dated 1st-3rd century, 51 cm high, in the Musée Guimet, Paris.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Zacke, Vienna, 11 April 2024, lot 221
Price: EUR 16,900 or approx. EUR 17,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large gray schist head of Buddha Shakyamuni, ancient region of Gandhara, 2nd-3rd century Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject, modeling, and manner of carving. Note that this head, like the present lot, lacks a significant portion of the back half. Note the smaller size (33 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A MONUMENTAL GRAY SCHIST HEAD OF MAITREYA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD-4TH CENTURY
Finely carved, the serene face with heavy-lidded almond-shaped eyes, elegantly arched brows centered by a raised circular urna, full lips, and a finely incised wavy mustache. His face is framed by an array of neatly arranged short ringlets falling across his forehead, each terminating in an exquisite tail-like twist. His wavy locks are embellished with beaded ornaments before being tied into a loose, asymmetrical topknot that drapes towards his left ear.
Provenance: Collection R. M. (1933–2023), Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium, acquired between 1979 and 2009, and thence to his wife Lefevre Anne Marie.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, chips, nicks, scratches, structural fissures, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Weight: 42.4 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 49 cm (excl. stand), 60 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
This distinctive sculpture depicts the head of a bodhisattva, an enlightened individual who delayed Buddhahood in order to help sentient beings. The Greco-Roman influence in Gandharan art is clearly seen in his facial features, which are both naturalistic and idealized, creating a serene, pensive expression as the bodhisattva looks down. In Gandharan art, this type of square-knot chignon is often associated with Maitreya. Although most images of Maitreya feature a neat symmetrical topknot with shorter loops, more relaxed examples like the present lot also exist, as seen in a standing figure of Maitreya at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, object number 13.96.16.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Gandharan gray schist head of a bodhisattva dated to the 3rd century, 48.3 cm high, in the Crow Museum of Asian Art, Dallas, accession number 1982.33 (fig. 1)
Compare a closely related smaller Gandharan gray schist head of a bodhisattva, probably Maitreya, dated late 2nd-3rd century, 30.5 cm high, in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, object number 1967.28.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 11 June 2014, lot 386
Price: EUR 49,500 or approx. EUR 60,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Grey schist head of a bodhisattva, Gandhara region, 2nd-3rd century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with a similar loop-form stylized chignon. Note the smaller size (37 cm).
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
fig. 1
A MAGNIFICENTLY MODELED OVER-LIFESIZE STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD TO 4TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The present stucco head, like the following lot no. 236, is of earlier date than most, depicting wavy hair with not even a trace yet of the later Indian-influenced development of snail-like curls arranged all over the skull. The closest example in this regard is a head in the Musée Guimet, Paris, accession number AO 2960, discovered in Shahbaz Garhi and dated to the 3rd century, displaying a very similar hairline and rows of wavy locks.
Afghanistan, probably Hadda. Finely modeled, the oval face with almond-shaped eyes below elegantly arched brows, centered by a circular urna above the aquiline nose, and bow-shaped lips forming a gentle smile. The thick wavy hair piled up into a high topknot over the ushnisha and flanked by pendulous earlobes with long slits. The eyes, mouth, ears, and hairline with remnants of red and black pigment.
Weight: 19.7 kg (incl. stand)
A copy of the signed invoice from Jeremy Knowles, stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 65,000 or approx. EUR 101,000
Provenance: A private collection in Japan. Jeremy Knowles, London, United Kingdom, by 2006. The collection of Cindy Elden, New York, United States, acquired from the above. A copy of the signed invoice from Jeremy Knowles, dated 1 July 2006, confirming the dating and provenance above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 65,000 or approx. EUR 101,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. Jeremy Knowles has been dealing with Indian and Asian works of art for over 25 years, specializing in fine and decorative sculpture and paintings. After working as a specialist in the Indian and Southeast Asian department of Spink and Son Ltd., he established his own business in 1993. He has previously exhibited at Asian Art in London, the Arts of Pacific Asia show in New York, and the Brussels Oriental Art Fair. Cindy Elden, philanthropist and collector, belongs to a lineage of distinguished art patrons that includes her greatuncles—David Archibald Smart (1892–1952) and Alfred Smart (1895–1951)—renowned Chicago publishers and art patrons whose legacy is commemorated in the naming of the Smart Museum of Art. Her father, Richard Elden (1933–2018), the visionary hedge-fund pioneer who founded Grosvenor Capital Management, upheld that legacy through decades of leadership as Governor of the Museum. As a current Board member of the Museum, Cindy Elden has supported acquisitions and exhibitions spanning antiquities to modern art, with a special emphasis on South and Central Asian sculpture. She is the President and CoFounder of the Usher III Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to curing the rare genetic disorder that causes both hearing and vision loss. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, flaking, few cracks, small chips, nicks, scratches, remnants of red and black pigment, the right earlobe reattached, minor touchups.
Dimensions: Height 41.5 cm (excl. stand), 51 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
In addition to schist, stucco was a popular medium for sculpture in the ancient Gandhara region. A lightweight, malleable ware, stucco readily lends itself to delicate detailing and sensitive modeling, conveying an emotional presence exemplified in this fine head of Buddha.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Gandharan stucco head of Buddha, dated 3rd-4th century, 37.6 cm high, formerly in the collection of Marilynn B. Alsdorf and now in the Art Institute of Chicago, reference number 2015.442 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related Gandharan stucco head of Buddha, dated 4th century, 45.7 cm high, in the Saint Louis Art Museum, object number 43:1931. fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Bonhams Hong Kong, 2 October 2018, lot 8
Price: HKD 4,660,000 or approx. EUR 601,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A polychromed stucco head of Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, circa 4th/5th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and features, depicting wavy hair with traces of curly hair on top, this head thus being of slightly later date than the present lot. Note the excellent condition, polychromies, and much larger size (61 cm).
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
Cindy Elden
A LARGE AND IMPORTANT STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA, ANCIENT REGION OF GANDHARA, 3RD TO 4TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The present stucco head, like the previous lot no. 235, is of earlier date than most, depicting wavy hair with not even a trace yet of the later Indian-influenced development of snail-like curls arranged all over the skull. The closest example in this regard is a head in the Musée Guimet, Paris, accession number AO 2960, discovered in Shahbaz Garhi and dated to the 3rd century, displaying a very similar hairline and rows of wavy locks.
Afghanistan, probably Hadda. Delicately and crisply modeled, the oval face with almond-shaped eyes below elegantly arched brows, centered by a concave urna above the aquiline nose, and rosebud mouth forming a subtle smile, the thick wavy hair piled up over the ushnisha.
Condition: Superb condition, commensurate with age and the fragile nature of the piece. With expected wear, some losses, weathering and erosion, encrustations, flaking, chips, nicks, and scratches, as well as remnants of red and black pigment and minor old fills with touchups.
Provenance: A private collection in Japan. Jeremy Knowles, London, United Kingdom, by 2006. The collection of Cindy Elden, New York, United States, acquired from the above. A copy of the signed invoice from Jeremy Knowles, dated 1 June 2006, confirming the dating and provenance above, and stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 76,000 or approx. EUR 108,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. Jeremy Knowles has been dealing with Indian and Asian works of art for over 25 years, specializing in fine and decorative sculpture and paintings. After working as a specialist in the Indian and Southeast Asian department of Spink and Son Ltd., he established his own business in 1993. He has previously exhibited at Asian Art in London, the Arts of Pacific Asia show in New York, and the Brussels Oriental Art Fair. Cindy Elden, philanthropist and collector, belongs to a lineage of distinguished art patrons that includes her greatuncles—David Archibald Smart (1892–1952) and Alfred Smart (1895–1951)—renowned Chicago publishers and art patrons whose legacy is commemorated in the naming of the Smart Museum of Art. Her father, Richard Elden (1933–2018), the visionary hedge-fund pioneer who founded Grosvenor Capital Management, upheld that legacy through decades of leadership as Governor of the Museum. As a current Board member of the Museum, Cindy Elden has supported acquisitions and exhibitions spanning antiquities to modern art, with a special emphasis on South and Central Asian sculpture. She is the President and CoFounder of the Usher III Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to curing the rare genetic disorder that causes both hearing and vision loss.
Weight: 18.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 45 cm (excl. stand), 56 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
A copy of the signed invoice from Jeremy Knowles stating a purchase price for the present lot of USD 76,000 or approx. EUR 108,000
In addition to schist, stucco was a popular medium for sculpture in the ancient Gandhara region. A lightweight, malleable ware, stucco readily lends itself to delicate detailing and sensitive modeling, conveying an emotional presence exemplified in this fine head of Buddha.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare the sensitive modeling with a closely related smaller stucco head of Buddha from Hadda, dated 3rd-5th century, 25.7 cm high, in the Tokyo National Museum, collection reference number TC-411.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 22 March 2011, lot 204
Price: USD 80,500 or approx. EUR 100,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A large stucco head of Buddha, Gandhara, 4th/5th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling with similar serene expression and wavy hair. Note the size (54 cm).
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
Cindy Elden
A LARGE AND IMPORTANT BRONZE BUST OF AVALOKITESHVARA, SRIVIJAYA, 8TH-10TH CENTURY
Southern Sumatra and Malay Peninsula. Exquisitely modeled, the rounded face with crisply delineated features such as downcast eyes, elegantly arched eyebrows centered by a raised circular urna, and bow-shaped lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by pendulous earlobes suspending circular earrings, the chest adorned with beaded and foliate necklaces, the hair falling over the back in rope-like tresses, the head surmounted by an elaborate, three tiered headdress detailed with circles, lozenges and floral emblems, centered at the upper section by a diminutive figure of Amitabha Buddha within a foliate niche.
Provenance: From an important private collection in London, United Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, signs of burial, traces of weathering, corrosion, one of the medallions in the hair has been recast in bronze, minor areas of restoration, casting irregularities. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustation.
Weight: 28 kg
Dimensions: Height 61.5 cm (excl. stand), 76 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern stand. (2)
Of remarkable size, this exemplary casting of the Bodhisattva of Compassion was evidently an important commission. Stylistically, the figure bears a strong resemblance to Indian sculpture, both contemporaneous and earlier. The close cultural and artistic links between North India and Srivijaya during the 8th–10th centuries are well-documented and provide important context for this specific work. Maritime trade routes across the Bay of Bengal were not merely conduits for commerce but also for the transmission of religious thought, artistic motifs, and skilled artisans. Srivijaya, as a flourishing Buddhist hub, absorbed and reinterpreted these influences, creating works that retained the refinement of Indian prototypes while developing distinct regional characteristics.
In this light, comparisons with related works are particularly revealing. A bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara from Bangladesh, dated to the 9th–10th century, is in the Mainamati Archaeological Museum, and illustrated by Vincent Lefèvre and Marie-Françoise Boussac (eds.), Art of the Ganges Delta. Masterpieces from Bangladeshi museums, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2007, no. 54 (fig. 1). Likewise, echoes of the earlier Gupta period are visible, for example in the serene modeling of a terracotta bust of Vishnu from 5th–6th century Bangladesh, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2000.82 (fig. 2). These comparisons underscore how this bodhisattva embodies both the cosmopolitan exchanges of its time and the continuity of earlier Indian sculptural traditions, while also testifying to Srivijaya’s pivotal role as a crossroads of Buddhist art and devotion.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare the famous related bronze torso of Avalokiteshvara, 63 cm high, dated 7th-8th century, discovered in 1905 in Chaiya District, southern Thailand, and now in the Bangkok National Museum.
Compare a closely related Srivijaya copper alloy figure of Avalokiteshvara from Southern Thailand, dated late 8th-early 9th century, 76.7 cm high, in the National Museum, Bangkok, object number SV24, included in the seminal exhibition Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 14 April-27 July 2014, cat. no. 166.
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
fig. 1
fig. 1
238
A LARGE AND EXCEPTIONAL BRONZE FIGURE OF PARVATI (UMA) WITH
HER
INFANT SONS SKANDA AND GANESHA, SRIVIJAYA, 9TH-10TH CENTURY
Southern Sumatra and Malay Peninsula. Heavily cast, standing in a slight tribhanga atop a beaded double-lotus base raised on a tiered pedestal with a recumbent Nandi to the foot. The lowered right hand of the deity holding Ganesha’s extended fingers, while the left cradles the infant Kartikeya who clutches a lotus bud in his fist. Each adorned in beaded jewelry, the young boys with further tasseled bells to their waist, while their bare-chested mother wears a foliate-incised diaphanous dhoti secured at the waist by a belt and beaded bands suspending tassels.
Her face with a serene expression, wide almond-shaped eyes, incised brows centered by a tilak, and full lips forming a calm smile, flanked by ears with tasseled earrings. The thick locks of braided hair pulled up into a high chignon and falling in thick tresses to the shoulders, and secured by a foliate tiara.
Provenance: From an important private collection in London, United Kingdom. Acquired in Asia over 30 years ago.
Condition: Very good condition with wear, commensurate with age. Casting irregularities, signs of weathering and erosion, small losses, scattered nicks and scratches, corrosion, and encrustations. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with extensive malachite encrustation and a deep emerald-green hue overall
Weight: 10,049 g (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 55 cm (excl. stand)
With an associated stand. (2)
This superbly cast and sensuous bronze depicts Parvati, the archetypal Hindu mother goddess and embodiment of fertility. Known in South India as Uma, she is the consort of Shiva and mother to Ganesha and Skanda (Kartikeya). In the Hindu tradition, goddesses of fertility draw upon ancient nature cults, later assimilated into the symbolic repertoire of Indian religious art. The prototype for the idealized female torso was the damaru, Shiva’s hourglass-shaped drum, whose narrow waist and flaring ends are echoed in the sculptural form. This image captures the fullness of the feminine ideal in Hindu art, combining sanctity with sensuality. Throughout India, the Mother Goddess was popularly worshiped under a variety of local names (fig. 1), but in Srivijaya (and across much of Southeast Asia) she was most often invoked as Uma in religious contexts, or by the honorific Paramesvari, a title that could denote the goddess herself or serve as a royal epithet for queens.
Fig. 1: A 12th-century Pala stone stele of a Mother Goddess similarly holding a child in her arm while Ganesha sits beside her, 119 cm high, identified by inscription as Purneshvari, who was venerated in eastern India by both Buddhists and Hindus
The present bronze belongs to a rare group of large-scale Srivijaya sculptures that show the kingdom’s receptivity to artistic influences from across Asia. The Chola dynasty of Tamil Nadu provides the closest stylistic parallels (fig. 2) - seen here in the tribhanga pose, the tall jatamukuta headdress, and the refined treatment of jewelry and drapery. Further influences can be detected in the art of the contemporaneous Pala kingdom of Northeastern India, in the pronounced
Fig. 2: A Chola bronze figure of Parvati, 69.5 cm high, dated ca. first quarter of the 10th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 57.51.3
Fig. 3: A 9thcentury Pala bronze statue of Tara, 50.1 cm high, from Nalanda, Bihar, and presently kept at the National Museum in Delhi
beadwork as well as the wide lotus petals with pointed tips, and their staggered arrangement between top and bottom layers, derived from 9th-century Pala bronzes (fig. 3)
At the same time, there are traits more specific to the Srivijaya sphere: the subtly fuller proportions, the high plinth, and the integration of regional ornament types. Java, too, was a key partner in this cultural network, sharing both artistic idioms and the Hindu pantheon (fig. 4), and the cross-fertilization between Javanese and Srivijayan workshops further enriched the sculptural vocabulary. Other artistic influences came from the Dvaravati and Khmer artistic traditions from what is today northern Thailand and Cambodia.
Hindu bronzes from Srivijaya demonstrate the cosmopolitanism of the kingdom and its role as a nexus for Indian Ocean exchange. The depiction of Uma (Parvati) here with her infant sons—Skanda (Kartikeya) cradled at her hip and Ganesha standing at her side—is an iconography rooted in India (fig. 5) but embraced in Southeast Asia as a statement of divine maternity, protection, and auspiciousness. Such images would have resonated with Srivijayan elites who identified with the fertility and prosperity the goddess embodies. The bronze’s preservation, with crisp modeling and an even green patina, underscores its survival outside the heavy ritual handling common in India, offering us today a remarkably intact vision of Srivijaya’s Hindu artistry at its most sophisticated.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Fig. 4: A 9th-century Javanese bronze group depicting the Hindu god Surya and retinue, 39.4 cm high, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number 1995.21.a-.b
Fig. 5: A Pala basalt stele from eastern Bangladesh depicting Parvati with her sons Ganesha and Skanda, 61 cm high, dated approx. 11th century, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B64S6
Hindu bronzes from Srivijaya of such large scale are extremely rare. Compare a related figure of the bodhisattva Amoghapasha reportedly from southeastern Sumatra, with a similar green patina as the present lot, 41 cm high, dated late 8th-early 9th century, from a private collection and included in the seminal exhibition Lost Kingdoms: HinduBuddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 April-27 July 2014, New York, cat. no. 160.
Estimate EUR 40,000
Starting price EUR 20,000
A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA WITHIN A FLAMING AUREOLE, CENTRAL JAVA, 8TH-9TH CENTURY
Indonesia. Finely cast standing in samabhanga atop a waisted double-lotus pedestal raised on a tiered rectangular base, the right hand held in vitarka mudra and left in karana mudra, clutching the hem of his diaphanous sanghati that drapes across both shoulders, flaring downward in a gently undulating hemline, revealing the slender outlines of the body. The gently rounded face with a serene expression, heavy-lidded eyes below arched brows centered by a raised urna, above a broad nose and pursed lips forming a calm smile, the hair arranged in tight curls over the gently domed ushnisha, all framed by a tall and intricately cast flaming aureole.
Provenance: Alexander Goetz, Bali, Indonesia. Alexander Goetz is a noted German art expert and collector who specializes in Indonesian works of art. As a young man, he built and sailed wooden boats around the world, and eventually arrived in Bali in 1971. Within a year, he became involved in the local art scene and in 1975, he was sponsored by the Indonesian Institute of Science to do research on contemporary art in Bali. In 1990, Goetz and his family moved to London where he opened the eponymous gallery specializing in Southeast Asian art, with Indonesia as the main focus. Since 2015, Alexander Goetz has run Gallery 101, a dedicated art space in Kabupaten Badung, Bali.
Condition: Very good condition with expected old wear, casting irregularities, minuscule losses, signs of burial and traces of weathering, encrustations, the back of the aureole with few small fatigue cracks. The bronze with a naturally grown, vibrant patina with extensive malachite encrustations.
Weight: 1,821 g (excl. stand), 3,011 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 30.8 cm (excl. stand), 34.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated hardwood stand. (2)
Buddhist art produced in Indonesia during the 8th and 9th centuries under the patronage of the Shailendra dynasty displays a unique amalgam of regional artistic styles borrowed from the Indian subcontinent. The flowing contours of the body subtly delineated beneath the diaphanous garment are reminiscent of the Gupta style of northern India while the sloping shoulders and oval face with full cheeks recall the Sri Lankan Buddha images produced in Anuradhapura during the 7th and 8th centuries.
In Buddhist art, the nimbus is often imagined as consisting not just of light, but also of real flames. While this type seems to first appear in Chinese bronzes of which the earliest surviving examples date from before 450, it became something of a hallmark for the most important Chola bronzes, such as Shiva Nataraja, an image which emerged around 800 AD in Southern India, at the height of the Chola Empire. In the present statue, the arrangement of the numerous flames around the aureole is more formal than seen in most comparable examples.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Indonesian bronze figure of Padmapani Lokeshvara, 31.1 cm high, dated c. second half of the 9th-first half of the 10th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1994.528 (fig. 1). Compare a related Indonesian silver figure of Buddha, 27.8 cm high, dated 8th-9th century, said to have been found at Sambas, West Borneo, in the British Museum, registration number 1956,0725.8.a (fig. 2). Compare a related Central Javanese bronze aureole, 20.6 cm high, dated to the 9th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1982.460.1.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
fig. 1 fig. 2
Alexander Goetz
240
A RARE AND LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF THE EMACIATED BUDDHA, INDONESIA, 8TH-9TH CENTURY
Finely modeled standing in samabhanga with both hands raised in vitarkamudra, wearing a long diaphanous uttarasanga with finely incised lines which covers the left shoulder and crosses the chest diagonally, but leaves the right shoulder and right arm bare and falls short of the lower edge of the dhoti. The face with a serene expression with wide almond-shaped eyes, a slender nose, and gently pursed lips forming a calm smile, flanked by ears with pendulous earlobes, the hair arranged in snail-shell curls over the gently domed ushnisha.
Provenance: An old private collection in Bali, Indonesia, by 1980. In 2021 by descent to the present owner.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear and casting irregularities, small nicks, light scratches, minor rubbing, small areas of corrosion, encrustations, small losses, and traces of weathering. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with extensive malachite encrustations.
Weight: 4,012 g
Dimensions: Height 43.5 cm
The image of the Emaciated Buddha, showing Siddhartha Gautama in extreme asceticism, represents a pivotal stage on his path to enlightenment. It recalls the six years he spent practicing self-mortification, believing that liberation lay in total renunciation of the body. The sunken ribs, hollow cheeks, and skeletal frame emphasize suffering, impermanence, and the futility of excess austerity.
In Asia, the figure serves as a powerful reminder of the “Middle Way” — rejecting both indulgence and self-denial. This striking image endures as a symbol of resilience, discipline, and the profound balance at the heart of Buddhist philosophy.
The present statue is remarkable for the meticulously cast pleats of the robe, an exquisite feature that is rarely found on bronzes of the period and was derived from early Indian sculpture, specifically the Amaravati School or style, also known as the Andhran style. Freestanding statues are mostly of the standing Buddha, wearing a monastic robe organized in an ordered rhythm of lines undulating obliquely across the body, imparting a feeling of movement as well as reinforcing the swelling expansiveness of the form beneath. Besides Amaravati itself, there are numerous other sites were such sculptures were found, the second most important being Nagarjunakonda (fig. 1), a large monastic vihara or ‘university’ some 160 km away, which is now submerged under a lake after construction of a dam.
Pradesh
Several Amaravati School sculptures have been found in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia (fig. 2), Vietnam (fig. 3), and Thailand (fig. 4), which have been theorized to have originated from Sri Lanka, where the Amaravati legacy of southern India continued in the monastic workshops of Anuradhapura. The presence of such imported models had a profound impact on image-making in these kingdoms. The pivotal role of Sri Lanka, both as a hub for long-distance trade and as a recognized custodian of Buddhist values, made it a natural source of inspiration and guidance for newly emerging Buddhist communities.
Fig. 2: A closely related bronze figure of Buddha, 42 cm high, dated c. 8th century, in the Rijksmuseum, object number AK-MAK-193, where the curators note that “although this figure was found on Java, it was most likely made elsewhere and exported to Indonesia. The drapery folds of the monk’s robe are characteristic of Buddha figures from India or Sri Lanka.”
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Fig. 3: A closely related bronze figure of Buddha, dated 8th9th century, discovered in 1911 by Henri Palmentier in Quang Nam, and now in the Museum of Vietnamese History, Ho Chi Minh City
Fig. 4: A closely related bronze figure of Buddha, 29.2 cm high, found in Thailand, attributed to “probably” Sri Lanka, and dated 6th century, in the National Museum, Bangkok, included in the exhibition Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 14 April-27 July 2014, cat. no. 5
Fig. 1: A Buddha statue at Nagarjunakonda, Andhra
A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, INDONESIA, SRIVIJAYA PERIOD, 8TH-10TH CENTURY
Scientific Analysis Report: A physical-chemical study of the present lot has been performed by Adamantio srl, an Academic Spin-Off of the University of Turin, based on two samples taken on 6 September 2022, using electron microscope images and SEM scanning coupled with EDSa microprobe analyses, with the result consistent with the dating above. A copy of the detailed technical report, dated 20 October 2022, no. 54/2022, accompanies this lot.
Expert’s note: For a highly detailed commentary, elaborating on the historical context and showing further comparisons, please request a PDF copy of the academic dossier for this lot from our customer support department.
Seated in lalitasana on a double-lotus base over a raised tiered plinth, the right hand lowered and the left raised in karana mudra, clutching the hem of his diaphanous uttarasanga, which covers the left shoulder and crosses the chest diagonally, but leaves the right shoulder and right arm bare. The face with a benign expression, heavy-lidded downcast eyes under arched brows centered by an urna, a slender nose, and thick lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by ears with pendulous lobes. The hair arranged in large snail-shell curls over the domed ushnisha, backed by a pierced foliate mandorla with a flame border.
Provenance: From an important private collection in London, United Kingdom.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, traces of weathering, encrustations, minor areas of corrosion, scattered minute nicks and light surface scratches, few small fissures.
Weight: 5,290 g (excl. stand), 8,641 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 28.5 cm (excl. stand), 30.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated fitted metal stand. (2)
The lithe, elegant figure with slender proportions and long limbs is typical of Srivijaya images of the 9th century. Of particular interest in this instance, however, is the elaborate aureole surrounding the Buddha, the design of which mirrors stylistic developments that occurred in eastern India in the first half of the 9th century. This was a time when relations between the monasteries in Srivijaya and Bihar were especially close and so this figure provides evidence of an association that directed the progress and development of Tantric Buddhism more widely at that time. See a related bronze figure of Buddha in dharmachakra mudra, Pala period, c. 9th-10th century, 23.8 cm high, in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
When observing early Indonesian bronze sculptures, the influence of eastern India is immediately apparent (see literature comparisons). Buddhism was well established in Southeast Asia before the 5th century; a Kashmiri missionary named Gunarvarman travelled to Sri Lanka and then China via Indonesia in the early 5th century and in the opposite direction, the Chinese monk, Faxian visited Java in 414 on his way to India. From the late 7th century, esoteric Buddhism existed in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and western Java.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related bronze figure of Vasudhara, dated 8th-early 9th century, 12 cm high, in the Musée Guimet, accession number MG 3628, illustrated by Mathilde Mechling, in The Indonesian Bronze-Casting Tradition. Technical Investigations on Thirty-Nine Indonesian Bronze Statues (7th-11th c.) from the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques—Guimet, Paris, p. 121, fig. 5. Compare a related Pala bronze figure of Vajrapani, Bangladesh, dated late 9th-10th century, 16 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1987.142.214.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 March 2002, lot 14
Price: USD 226,000 or approx. EUR 353,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important bronze figure of the Medicine Buddha, Baishajyaguru, Central Java, 8th-9th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar pedestal, aureole, and size (31 cm). This Central Javanese figure shows a similar Pala influence as the present lot.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, CENTRAL JAVANESE PERIOD, 9TH-10TH CENTURY
Indonesia, Java. Superbly cast, seated in ardha padmasana on a boldly cast lotus base with thickly beaded upper rim. The right hand lowered to the knee and the left raised and held in karana mudra.
The Buddha is dressed in an uttarasanga which covers the left shoulder and crosses the chest diagonally, culminating in a stylized hem, but leaves the right shoulder and right arm bare, falling all the way down so that the antaravasaka is completely covered.
The face with a serene expression, heavy-lidded downcast eyes below gently arched eyebrows, centered by a raised urna, and gently pursed lips forming a calm smile, flanked by ears with pendulous lobes, the hair arranged in large snail-shell curls over the domed ushnisha, backed by a looped halo.
Provenance: From an important private collection in London, United Kingdom.
Condition: Excellent condition with expected old wear, casting irregularities, few small losses, signs of burial and traces of weathering, encrustations. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown, dark patina with malachite encrustation.
Weight: 3,163 g (excl. stand), 7,000 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 26 cm (excl. stand), 27.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated fitted metal stand. (2)
Expert’s note: The importance of the pedestal here, as in many Javanese bronze sculptures, is reflected in the careful attention paid to precision of modeling and clear articulation of its different parts, as well as to its aesthetic compatibility with the figure it supports.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related bronze figure of Buddha Vairochana, dated to the Central Javanese period, c. late 9th century, 19.4 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1987.142.23, and included in the exhibition The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection, 2 October 1991-28 June 1992, cat. no. 139.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A RARE SILVER AND BRONZE GROUP DEPICTING AVALOKITESHVARA AND VASUNDHARA, CENTRAL JAVA, 9TH-10TH CENTURY
Indonesia. Well cast with the two deities each seated in padmasana on a waisted double lotus base raised on a rectangular bronze plinth. Avalokiteshvara’s right hand holds a jewel while his left grips the stem of a lotus blossom coming to full bloom at the shoulder. Vasundhara holds her right hand in varada mudra while the left holds a shaft of wheat with a full head of grain.
Each backed by a bronze throne-back in the form of a flaming mandorla. Both are wearing neatly incised dhotis and are richly adorned with elaborate jewelry. Their faces with serene expressions marked by almond-shaped eyes and slender lips. Their hair arranged into high chignons secured by tiaras.
Cast in six separate parts: the two figures are made from silver and the two bases and two halos from bronze. (6)
Provenance: From an important private collection in London, United Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, casting irregularities, signs of burial and traces of weathering, encrustations, some tarnish, few minor losses, small dents, scattered light nicks and surface scratches. One of the two halos is possibly a later replacement or comes from a different statue. The bronze covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with extensive malachite encrustations.
Weight: 86 g and 74.3 g (the figures), 374.6 g and 341.7 g (incl. pedestals, excl. base)
Dimensions: Height 6.1 cm and 5.4 cm (the figures), 13.1 cm (incl. pedestal, excl. base)
The pair joined by an associated hardwood base. (7)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related group of Avalokiteshvara and his consort, the figures of silver and the pedestals of bronze, 12.1 cm high, dated to the late 9th century, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B86B1, included in the exhibition The Sculpture of Indonesia at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1 July-4 November 1990, and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue by Jan Fontein, p. 198, no. 49, where the author notes that only one further group of this type (with silver statues and bronze bases) is known, found in Ledok, Bagelen in Central Java and now in the National Museum, Jakarta, inventory number 364.
Estimate EUR 8,000
Starting price EUR 4,000
A
BRONZE ‘KINNARA’ FINIAL FOR A HANGING LAMP, INDONESIA, JAVA, 9TH-10TH
CENTURY
Expert’s note: This charming figure of a kinnara was originally part of the suspension system for a hanging oil lamp (or bell). According to Jan Fontein, “Flying creatures and heavenly beings must have been considered suitable subjects to be represented in oil lamps. The flickering lights enhanced the illusion of movement in such pieces and created lively shadows on the walls of the space in which they were hung”. For an example of a hanging oil lamp, dated c. 9th century, showing the placement of such figures within the ensemble, see Jan Fontein, The Sculpture of Indonesia, 1990, p. 245, no. 78.
Finely cast, the half-human, half-bird figure standing firmly on a domed base, its torso extending into a long rooster-like tail. The arms held against the chest, adorned with armlets and a pendant around the neck. The face bearing a serene expression, distinguished by heavylidded downcast eyes beneath gently arched eyebrows, an aquiline nose, and full lips forming a calm smile, the hair pulled up into an elaborate high chignon secured by a foliate tiara.
Provenance: From a private collection in the United Kingdom.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear and typical casting irregularities. Obvious losses, signs of burial, traces of weathering, encrustations, minor nicks, small dents. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with malachite encrustation.
Weight: 257.3 g (excl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 11 cm (excl. stand)
With an associated wood stand. (2)
Kinnaras and their female counterparts, kinnaris, are mythical celestial creatures, half bird, half human. They are minor demigods who are seen often in Indian art and were quite common in the sculpture of the Pala period, appearing at Nalanda as well as at other sites. They can be found on many Central Javanese temple reliefs and, to judge from surviving Javanese bronze sculptures, were particularly popular during the ninth and tenth centuries. An early Jataka tale relating the plight of a kinnari separated from her mate for one night is part of the prototypical evidence that led to the establishment of kinnaras and kinnaris as symbols of marital fidelity. It is said that they die brokenhearted if separated.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related Javanese bronze in the form of a kinnari, dated late 9th to early 10th century, 14.6 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1987.142.24, illustrated by Martin Lerner and Steven Kossak, The Lotus Transcendent. Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection, 1991, p. 190, no. 149.
Estimate EUR 2,000
Starting price EUR 1,000
A FINE BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, INDONESIA, JAVA, 9TH CENTURY
Finely cast seated in ardha padmasana, the primary right hand held in karana mudra and the left lowered in varada mudra, the secondary hands raised and clasped around his attributes including a bell, sutra scroll, lotus, and small jewel. Richly adorned with floral and foliate jewelry, the deity is dressed in a short dhoti with a scarf gently draped across his shoulders.
The face with a serene expression, marked by heavy-lidded eyes with recessed pupils, thickly incised arched brows centered by a raised circular urna, and full lips forming a benevolent smile. The hair piled into a tall chignon centered by a diminutive figure of Buddha Amitabha behind the foliate tiara, all backed by a large flaming nimbus and sheltered by a towering parasol.
Provenance: Alexander Goetz, Bali, Indonesia. Alexander Goetz is a noted German art expert and collector who specializes in Indonesian works of art.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Wear, casting irregularities, signs of weathering and corrosion, soil encrustations, few small nicks and dents, and small losses, all as expected. The bronze is covered in a rich, naturally grown patina with extensive malachite encrustations.
Weight: 2,125 g (excl. base), 3,456 g (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height of the figure alone (excl. tang) 24.5 cm; height of the bronze 27.5 cm (excl. base), 29.7 cm (incl. base)
A thickly cast tang projects from the flat underside, inserted in a fitted hardwood base. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s New York, 25 March 2004, lot 152
Price: USD 28,680 or approx. EUR 42,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Indonesia, Central Java, 9th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject with similar flames around the nimbus, jewelry and scarf, multiarmed form, and rich green patina. Note the size (20.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 4,000
Starting price EUR 2,000
A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, SRIVIJAYA EMPIRE, 9TH-11TH CENTURY
Indonesia and Malay Peninsula. Standing in samabhanga, his primary right hand lowered in varada mudra and the left held in karana mudra, the secondary hands raised to the shoulder and clutching a malla and a sacred text. The serene face with heavy-lidded downcast eyes below arched brows, centered by a raised urna and full lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by ears with pendulous lobes. The hair in thick tresses pulled into a high chignon centered by a diminutive Amitabha Buddha.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Provenance: Alexander Goetz, Bali, Indonesia. Alexander Goetz is a noted German art expert and collector who specializes in Indonesian works of art. As a young man, he built and sailed wooden boats around the world, and eventually arrived in Bali in 1971. Within a year, he became involved in the local art scene and in 1975, he was sponsored by the Indonesian Institute of Science to do research on contemporary art in Bali. In 1990, Goetz and his family moved to London where he opened the eponymous gallery specializing in Southeast Asian art, with Indonesia as the main focus. Since 2015, Alexander Goetz has run Gallery 101, a dedicated art space in Kabupaten Badung, Bali.
Condition: Good condition with expected old wear, small losses, minor casting irregularities, signs of burial and traces of weathering, encrustations, few minuscule fatigue cracks, scattered small nicks and light surface scratches. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustation.
Weight: 10,371 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 45 cm (excl. stand), 54.5 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated hardwood stand. (2)
Srivijaya was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia and was an important center for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th to the 12th century. It also was the first unified kingdom to dominate much of the Malay Archipelago. Due to its location, the powerful state over time developed more and more complex technology utilizing maritime resources. The rise of the Srivijayan Empire was therefore also parallel to the end of the Malay seafaring period.
Compare a related Srivijaya copper alloy figure of Avalokiteshvara, dated 8th-early 9th century, 56.6 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1982.64 (fig. 1), and included in the seminal exhibition Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, 15 April-27 July 2014, New York, cat. no. 158. Compare a related bronze figure of Maitreya, discovered in Komering, Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, dated 9th-10th century, in the collection of the National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta, inventory number 6025. Compare a related Javanese bronze figure of Shiva, 55 cm high, in the Museum Radyapustaka, Indonesia, illustrated in the Virtual Museum of Images & Sounds, accession number ACSAA_05389. fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2006, lot 202
Price: USD 66,000 or approx. EUR 92,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Thailand or Indonesia, Shrivijaya, 9th century
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and manner of casting with similar garments, jewelry, and size (44.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Alexander Goetz
A KAYAN DAYAK KLAU SHIELD, KALIMANTAN, BORNEO, INDONESIA, EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Carved from lightweight jelutong wood, of elongated hexagonal form, vertically creased along its center. The front boldly decorated with a centrally placed, mask-like face exhibiting fanged teeth, surrounded by scrolling vegetal motifs that continue onto the reverse. Each tapering end with two lines of rattan fiber, once used to suspend horizontal bands of attached hair. A central handle on the back serves as the grip.
Provenance: Galerie Davide Manfredi, Paris, 2008. Collection of Arnaud Kurc, Paris, acquired from the above. Davide Manfredi is a Paris-based dealer of tribal and ancient art from Southeast Asia who has traveled extensively in the region since the 1970s. Since 2008, he has owned and operated Galerie Pascassio Manfredi together with Alexandra Pascassio. Their clientele includes prominent private collectors of tribal art in Europe, North America, and Asia. The gallery has also placed objects in the collections of esteemed institutions such as the Musée du Quai Branly, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museo Pigorini, the Yale University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Asian Civilizations Museum. Arnaud Kurc is a French collector of tribal art, celebrated for his extravagant mounts and long-standing collaborations with major galleries and auction houses in Paris.
Condition: Good condition with wear, traces of use, minor age cracks, signs of weathering, minor nicks, small chips, minute dents, light fading and minor losses to pigments. A section of the right edge of the shield with old repair. The rattan bands partially fractured.
Weight: 1,650 g
Dimensions: Height 121 cm
Of all the shields from island Southeast Asia, arguably the type most readily recognizable by collectors for their artistry and highly varied patterns are from Borneo. Originally of Kenyah or Kayan origin and locally known as a kliau, klebit bok, kelempit, talawang, or terbai, over time this shield type was adopted by the Iban and other tribes owing to its streamlined ergonomics and martial efficiency. It is an oblong fighting shield carved from strong but lightweight jelutong wood not meant to receive a spear point, but to divert the spear by a twist of the hand. Each end of this shield type is tapered to an acute point that could be used to stabilize it against the ground, jam it into an opponent, or be offered up in a deadly feint, the latter utilizing the rattan bands that run horizontally across the shield, which while strengthening its general resilience and preventing it from shattering, also allowed a clever combatant to snare an opponent’s sword.
For lengthy discussion of Dayak shields, including numerous comparisons, see Steven G. Alpert, “Dayak Shields: Courting and Defying Death”, in Bill Evans (ed.), War Art & Ritual. Shields from the Pacific, vol. 1, 2019, p. 24-39. A copy is available upon request.
From the outset of its discovery by Europeans in the sixteenth century, the peoples of the island of Borneo, some of whom were reputed to be fierce warriors and avid head-hunters, together with their vast equatorial forests, myriad rivers, and unknown species of flora and fauna, ignited in the Western imagination an immense interest in this exotic landscape. Facts and fictions were eagerly recorded in nineteenth- and early twentiethcentury memoirs and travelogues, as well as being carefully documented by early colonial officials, ethnographers, and expeditions of zoologists and naturalists. These hardy individuals were the first alien collectors of Dayak shields.
The people who produced these shields are generically known as Dyak or Diak in older literature and more recently as Dayak, a word that many believe was derived from the ancient Austronesian word ‘Daya’, meaning ‘towards the interior’. The term was already in use before the arrival of Europeans but was popularized and further codified in the nineteenth century as a colonial convenience. Today, the word ‘Dayak’ is still generically used to describe the more than 200 groups, most living in the interior of the island, who share similar traits from a common Austronesian heritage.
Being an indigenous tribe in Borneo, the Kayan people are similar to their neighbors, the Kenyah tribe, with which they are grouped together with the Bahau people under the Apo Kayan people group. The Kayan people are categorized as a part of the Dayak people. They are distinct from, and not to be confused with, the Kayan people of Myanmar. Their basic culture is similar to the other Dayak people in Borneo. Traditionally, they live in long houses on river banks. Their settlement consists of one or several long houses as long as 300 meters, which can accommodate up to 100 families (400–600 people) and consist of a common veranda and rooms. Residents of a long house constitute a tribal community.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 8 November 2021, lot 71
Estimate: EUR 15,000 or approx. EUR 18,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Kayan Dayak klau shield, Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and motifs. Note the size (128 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Paris, 12 December 2018, lot 38
Price: EUR 32,500 or approx. EUR 38,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Dayak Shield, Borneo, Indonesia
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and motifs. Note the near-identical size (120 cm).
Estimate EUR 6,000
Starting price EUR 3,000
An engraving from 1871 that depicts an array of Dayak warriors from the Batang Lupar River that appeared as a large supplemental page in the Illustrated London News
Davide Manfredi
A MAGNIFICENT BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA, EARLY SRIVIJAYA EMPIRE, SOUTHERN THAILAND, LATE 7TH TO 8TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The early Srivijaya Empire was a major center of Buddhist learning and practice. The Chinese monk Yijing, who visited Palembang in 671 CE, recorded the presence of more than a thousand monks devoted to the study of both Mahayana and Hinayana traditions. His account confirms Palembang’s role as a vibrant hub of Buddhist scholarship and pilgrimage in the 7th century. By the 8th century, Srivijaya had extended its influence northward along the Malay Peninsula, establishing a presence at Ligor (present-day Nakhon Si Thammarat in southern Thailand). This expansion allowed Srivijaya to disseminate Buddhist teachings and institutions into the peninsula. Archaeological and inscriptional evidence from this period reveals that monasteries and Buddhist communities flourished, serving as both transit points for pilgrims en route to Nalanda in India and as local strongholds of Buddhist devotion fostered under Srivijayan patronage. In this cultural landscape, Buddhist sculptural traditions from Srivijaya in the south merged with the Mon-Dvaravati style of northern Thailand, and in some places with Khmer and Javanese influences, creating a distinctive regional idiom. The present bronze Buddha is an exceptional result of this confluence, embodying the refined elegance of Dvaravati form and the maritime cosmopolitanism of Srivijaya.
Exquisitely modeled standing in samabhanga, his right hand raised in vitarka mudra and the left clutching the hem of his diaphanous sanghati that drapes across both shoulders, flaring downward in a gently undulating hemline, revealing the slender outlines of the body. The gently rounded face with a serene expression, heavy-lidded eyes below arched brows centered by a raised urna, above a broad nose and pursed lips forming a calm smile, the hair arranged in tight curls over the domed ushnisha. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with malachite encrustations.
Provenance: Alexander Goetz, Bali, Indonesia. Alexander Goetz is a noted German art expert and collector who specializes in Indonesian works of art. As a young man, he built and sailed wooden boats around the world, and eventually arrived in Bali in 1971. Within a year, he became involved in the local art scene and in 1975, he was sponsored by the Indonesian Institute of Science to do research on contemporary art in Bali. In 1990, Goetz and his family moved to London where he opened the eponymous gallery specializing in Southeast Asian art, with Indonesia as the main focus. Since 2015, Alexander Goetz has run Gallery 101, a dedicated art space in Kabupaten Badung, Bali. Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, casting irregularities, small losses, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 10,756 g (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 42.5 cm (excl. base), 51.5 cm (incl. base)
Mounted on an associated wood base. (2)
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 17 March 2015, lot 29
Price: USD 269,000 or approx. EUR 322,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Buddha, Thailand, 8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject and related modeling with similar expression, pose, gestures, and drapery. Note the size (36.1 cm)
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
The iconography of this Buddha was widespread in the late first millennium AD, favored in the Mon territories of Thailand (see fig. 1) and widely propagated in the Srivijaya regions of peninsular Thailand and Sumatra (figs. 2 & 3). This aesthetic vocabulary, marked by a quiet spiritual introspection and fluid grace, was synthesized and reinterpreted in Central Java during the height of the Sailendra dynasty. Bronze Buddha images from Central Java, such as the present example, are celebrated for their harmonious proportions, smooth modeling, and understated spiritual presence. Rooted in Mon-Dvaravati prototypes and contemporaneous with Srivijayan devotional art, the style also draws upon influences from South Indian imagery (fig. 4), particularly in the treatment of the robe and facial features.
Fig. 1: A bronze figure of standing Buddha, Mon-Dvaravati period, dated to the 8th century, 25.2 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1992.99
Fig. 3: A bronze figure of Standing Buddha, South Sumatra, dated c. 600-800, 20 cm high, in the Rijksmuseum, object number AK-MAK-196
Fig. 2: A bronze triad of Buddha attended by Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya, Sumatra or Southern Thailand, dated to the second half of the 8th century, 19.1 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1984.486.4
Fig. 4: A bronze figure of Buddha, Andhra Pradesh, dated 7th-8th century, 38 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number 1905,1218.1
249 A RARE AND LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF AVALOKITESHVARA, PROBABLY FROM THE “PRAKHON CHAI HOARD”, PRE-ANGKOR, EARLY 8TH CENTURY
Northeastern Thailand, Buriram province. Finely cast, standing in samabhanga, holding lotus blossoms in two of his four hands, dressed in a short sampot, secured by a narrow belt and terminating to fishtail pleats to the front, the face with a serene expression marked by delicately outlined features such as the almond-shaped eyes and full lips forming a gentle smile, the brow and mustache minutely incised, the exquisitely modeled hair combed into a tall jatamakuta with tiers of looped curls piled elegantly and secured by a braided lock.
Provenance: From an old private collection in Germany, thence by descent. The collection was extensive, encompassing works from a wide range of cultural and geographical contexts. It was passed in its entirety to heirs with whom the collector had little contact, and no additional information regarding its formation or history was preserved. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. With expected wear, casting irregularities, signs of long-term burial, likely for over a millennium, weathering, encrustations, and areas of corrosion. Both arms with old repairs and remnants of solder, as well as a few minor fills. The bronze displays a rich, naturally grown, and stable patina with deep malachite, cuprite, and turquoise encrustations.
Weight: 8,249 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 69.5 cm (excl. stand), 83.5 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a black-lacquered wood stand. (2)
The so-called “Prakhon Chai Hoard” was accidentally discovered by local villagers in 1964 at Prasat Hin Khao Plai Bat II, a tenth-century Khmer brick temple in Buriram Province. Concealed in a stone-covered pit within the temple precinct, the bronzes were likely buried during the site’s rededication for Brahmanical use. Some bear traces of cloth wrappings, evidence of careful ritual deposition. Initially misattributed to Prakhon Chai district, the cache in fact originated from nearby Lahan Sai, though the name has endured. Numbering at least fifty-three known examples and perhaps two to three hundred in total, it is possibly the largest and most important cache of Buddhist bronzes ever discovered in mainland Southeast Asia.
These sculptures embody a fusion of Mon-Dvaravati, Khmer, and preAngkorian traditions, yet reveal a strikingly local vision. Their slender bodies, serene faces, and restrained drapery convey a spiritual clarity unique to this region. Distinctive features, such as the carefully plaited coiffure of Avalokiteshvara figures, distinguish them from their Indian prototypes and mark them as products of the Korat Plateau. The predominance of Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya over images of the Buddha reflects the strength of Mahayana devotion during this period of Southeast Asian history.
The hoard was first systematically studied by Jean Boisselier in 1967, who emphasized both the stylistic unity of the bronzes and their pivotal role in understanding the development of art in the Korat Plateau. His chronology has since been refined through comparisons with sculptures from Ban Thahnot, Ban Fai, and pre-Angkorian Khmer monuments of the eighth century. Their high tin content, which gives the metal a luminous silvery sheen, only enhances their elegance. Today the Prakhon Chai bronzes remain essential witnesses to the religious and artistic ferment of early Southeast Asia, among the most evocative and enduring Buddhist images ever produced.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related bronze figure of Maitreya from the “Prakhon Chai Hoard”, dated to the early 8th century, 96.5 cm high, in the Asia Society, New York, accession number 1979.63, and included in the seminal exhibition Lost
Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century, New York, 14 April-27 July 2014, cat. no. 139. Compare a related bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, Buriram province, Thailand, dated 750-850, 94 cm high, in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number B66B14.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Lempertz Cologne, 9 December 2016, lot 633
Price: EUR 74,400 or approx. EUR 95,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine and rare Buriram bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara. Thailand, Khorat plateau. Early 8th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of casting with similar short sarong and pendulous earlobes. Note the much smaller size (53.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
250
A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF MAITREYA, PRAKHON CHAI STYLE, 1850-1950
Thailand or Cambodia. The Bodhisattva is depicted in a graceful standing samapada posture, clad in a short sampot secured at the waist by a cord, with outstretched arms and hands held in dharmachakra mudra, symbolizing wisdom, knowledge, and spiritual enlightenment. The face with prominent lips below sinuous eyes, flanked by elongated earlobes, and the hair tied in smooth locks arranged into a tall chignon, and centered to the front with a stupa within a rectangular niche.
Provenance: From a private estate in France.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, slight traces of weathering, encrustations, remnants of varnish and pigment, a small area of the hair cut from sample-taking with associated fill.
Metallurgy: Brass alloy composed of copper, zinc, tin, lead, iron, aluminum, silicon, and nickel. Aluminum was only introduced into metallurgy in the second half of the 19th century. Inclusions also contain iron, silicon, chromium, and nickel, with chromium likewise entering metallurgy during the 19th century. The corrosion is scarcely developed, remaining subparallel to the surface without penetrating into the metal. Taken together, these features are fully consistent with a Southeast Asian bronze figure cast around 1900.
Weight: 25 kg
Dimensions: Height 131 cm (excl. stand), 153.7 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern stand. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a related earlier bronze figure of Maitreya, dated to the 8th century, 122.5 cm tall, in the Kimbell Art Museum, accession number AP 1965.01 (fig. 1). Compare also a closely related bronze figure of Maitreya in the collection of Haus Kemnade, a water castle in Hattingen, NorthrhineWestphalia, Germany. fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Related Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2015, lot 1067
Price: USD 81,250 or approx. EUR 94,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A bronze figure of Maitreya, Prakhon Chai style
Expert remark: Compare the similar pose, the elongated limbs, and facial expression. Note the different size (47.6 cm). This figure was shown in a 1994 exhibition in the Asia Society New York, where it was dated “possibly 20th century”.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A LARGE BRONZE HEAD OF BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI, LATE SUKHOTHAI TO EARLY AYUTTHAYA PERIOD
Expert’s note: Thai bronzes of this size and preservation are exceptionally rare, particularly those that are over 500 years old. It’s challenging to imagine the immense scale of the complete sculpture to which this head belonged, standing at well over 2 meters tall. Despite centuries passing, it has retained all its spirit, a near-magical presence, a sense of tranquility, and, above all, its ability to inspire.
Thailand, circa 15th-16th century. Heavily cast, this sizable head portrays Buddha’s serenity and classic Sukhothai elements. With heavy-lidded eyes gazing downwards in blissful contemplation, his arched brow gives rise to a beaked nose, beneath which a gentle smile plays out across his lips. His fleshy jowls are framed by pendulous earlobes, while his short curls are well-articulated in symmetrical arrangement over his dome and ushnisha. A flame surmounts his crown, a beacon of his enlightened consciousness.
Provenance: From a noted private collection, acquired in New York in 2019. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear and casting irregularities. Obvious losses, traces of weathering, encrustations. Few minuscule nicks, light surface scratches, remnants of varnish. The bronze exhibiting a fine, naturally grown, lustrous, dark patina.
Weight: 21.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 48.9 cm (excl. stand), 73.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction:
Bonhams New York, 16 March 2021, lot 320
Price: USD 27,812.50 or approx. EUR
29,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A copper alloy head of Buddha, Thailand, Sukhothai period, circa 1350-1400
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of casting, and subject. Note the size (59.4 cm) and slightly earlier dating.
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A LARGE BRONZE FIGURE OF TARA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, PROBABLY NORTHERN CHAMPA, CIRCA 12TH-13TH CENTURY
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as representative of Esoteric Buddhist sculpture in Southeast Asia during the 12th and 13th centuries. A copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise, dated 12 May 2012, accompanies this lot.
Dr. Chang holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Kansas and has held prestigious positions, including post-doctoral fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and senior research fellow at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institute.
Finely cast standing in samabhanga atop a waisted double-lotus pedestal, the lowered primary hands holding a conch and the stem of a lotus which blooms at the shoulder, the secondary hands raised. The deity is dressed in a fine pleated dhoti and adorned with thickly beaded jewelry. Her face with a serene expression marked by heavylidded downcast eyes below elegantly arched brows and a raised urna, her full lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by ears with pendulous lobes suspending large earrings, the hair pulled up into a high chignon centered by a floral ornament behind the ornate tiara.
Provenance: The collection of Nik Douglas, acquired in the 1970s and thence by descent to his wife Christi Douglas, New York, United States, 2012. Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, USA, acquired from the above in 2021. A copy of a certificate from Throckmorton Fine Art, confirming the above, accompanies this lot. Nicholas ‘Nik’ Douglas (1944-2012) was a renowned author, curator, and Asian art expert.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, casting irregularities, nicks and scratches, corrosion, small fatigue cracks, old repairs with associated touchups, and signs of weathering and erosion. The bronze with a fine, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite encrustation.
Weight: 2,514 g
Dimensions: Height 43.5 cm
Expert’s note: While Dr. Chang Qing holds that this bronze was created in Southeast Asia during a period when the Khmer Empire was the dominant power in the region, we would like to go a short step further and posit that it was probably made in northern Champa while the kingdom was embroiled in a bitter conflict with Angkor and at times was under Khmer occupation.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare two related earlier bronze figures from Champa, one depicting Tara (fig. 1), described as the largest known bronze figure from Champa, 115 cm high, dated late 9thearly 10th century, in the Museum of Cham Sculpture, Da Nang, and the other of Avalokiteshvara (fig. 2), 64 cm high, dated 8th-9th century, in the Museum of Vietnamese History, Ho Chi Minh City, both included in the exhibition La sculpture du Champa: Trésors d’art du Vietnam Ve-XVe siècles at the Musée Guimet, Paris, 2005-2006, p. 210-211 and p. 205, respectively. Compare a related earlier Champa bronze figure in the Museum of Vietnamese History.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
Nik Douglas, c. 2010
Dr. Chang Qing
fig. 2
fig. 1
253 A KHMER SANDSTONE FIGURE OF BUDDHA MUCHALINDA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAYON STYLE, LATE 12TH-EARLY 13TH CENTURY
Charity Lot
The hammer price achieved from the sale of this lot will be donated in its entirety to the Usher III Initiative.
The Usher III Initiative
The Usher III Initiative is a nonprofit medical organization dedicated to finding a cure for the disease that causes both hearing and vision loss. As a collaborative research consortium, it unites leading scientists, clinicians, and industry partners in the effort to understand the genetic basis of Usher syndrome type III and to develop effective therapies. The Initiative’s sustained investment in therapy-directed research has already produced major advancements, including the development of a first-inclass small-molecule drug candidate now in human clinical trials. With each step forward, the Initiative brings closer the possibility of treatments that could profoundly change the lives of those affected.
Powerfully sculpted, seated in dhyanasana on the scaled coils of Muchalinda, his hands lowered in dhyana mudra, dressed in a modest sampot fastened high along the sides of the waist. The face with downcast eyes in a benevolent expression, flanked by elongated earlobes with pendeloque earrings. The hair arranged in curly rows over the tiered ushnisha, beneath the well-detailed naga hood.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, scattered nicks and scratches, minuscule old repairs, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations. The surface of the stone bears a fine polish overall.
Provenance:
- Mario Tazzoli, Milan, 1974.
- Rossi & Rossi, London, c. 1992.
- A private collection in London, United Kingdom, acquired from the above.
- Joost van den Bergh, London, 2014.
- An important private collection in New York, United States, acquired from the above and donated to the Usher III Initiative in 2023.
Mario Tazzoli (d. 1990) was a former banker, Turin-based merchant, and trusted dealer of the Agnelli family, known for his outstanding taste in art, old and new. He was the first in Europe to realize the importance of Francis Bacon and brought him to his gallery, the Galatea.
Rossi & Rossi was founded in 1985 in London by the late Anna Maria Rossi, who was joined two years later by her son, Fabio, and has a global reputation as pre-eminent dealers in classical Indian and Himalayan art. Known for their groundbreaking exhibitions and scholarly publications, they further expanded the gallery’s influence in the burgeoning Asian art market by opening a dedicated space in Hong Kong in 2013. In addition to its exhibition program, Rossi & Rossi engages extensively with major museums and distinguished private collectors worldwide. Clientele include globally renowned institutions, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Palace Museum, M+, and Tate Modern.
Joost van den Bergh, based in London since 1988, has dealt in Asian art for over 35 years, with a primary focus on Indian ritual and Tantric traditions. He has curated landhibitions such as Tantra (2010), Magic Markings (2016), and Perfect Presence (2019), and brought renewed attention to overlooked artists like Jaipur painter Kalu Ram. His expertise has led to collaborations with major institutions, including the Rijksmuseum, The Met, and the British Museum, which now hold works he introduced into their collections.
PUBLISHED & EXHIBITED:
1. Mario Tazzoli, Scultura Orientale, Milan, April-May 1974, no. 22.
2. Joost Van den Bergh, From the Indus to Ceylon: Sculpture from the Indian Subcontinent, London, 2014, p. 4-5.
Weight: 87.7 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 75 cm (excl. stand), 80 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated fitted stand. (2)
Muchalinda is the name of a naga sheltering the Buddha from the elements after his enlightenment. When a storm raged and torrential rain fell for a whole week, the king of the nagas, Muchalinda, rose from the earth, coiling its body to form a seat and swelled its great hood to shelter Buddha. When the great storm had cleared, the serpent king assumed his human form, bowed before the Buddha, and returned to his palace. Seven-headed nagas are often depicted as guardian statues, carved as balustrades on causeways leading to main Cambodian temples, such as those found in Angkor Wat.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 18 October 2005, lot 148
Price: EUR 33,460 or approx. EUR 53,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Khmer, Bayon style, sandstone figure of Buddhamuchalinda, 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the similar size (80 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 14 December 2016, lot 24
Price: EUR 242,500 or approx. EUR 295,000 for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An important sandstone figure of Buddhamuchalinda, Cambodia, Khmer, Bayon period, late 12th-early 13th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the much larger size (147 cm).
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
Mario Tazzoli
Anna Maria Rossi & Fabio Rossi
A MAGNIFICENT SANDSTONE CARVING OF NANDI, PRE-ANGKOR PERIOD, 8TH CENTURY
Exhibited:
1. The European Fine Arts Fair (TEFAF), Maastricht, 4-13 March 2005.
2. Brussels Oriental Art Fair (BOAF), Brussels, 6-20 June 2006.
Scientific Analysis Report: A certificate issued by Dr. Marc Ghysels in 2009, ref. 090610-1, based on a computed tomography (CT) scan using X-ray imaging to evaluate the presence of any visually undetectable restorations, concludes that, aside from minor repairs to the ears, the sculpture has not undergone any restoration. A copy of the report accompanies the lot.
Cambodia, circa 8th century. Superbly carved, the sacred animal depicted in a recumbent position atop a rectangular plinth. The young bull resting its weight on the left side, with the left hind leg folded beneath its massive body, and its tail extending gracefully to the right, its tip draped over the right hind leg. A prominent hump rises behind its neck, which is adorned with a large necklace composed of circular ornaments.
The head, exquisitely sculpted, is held upright with refined poise. The almond-shaped eyes are open and alert, flanked by large funnelshaped ears, below the short horns, while the closed muzzle conveys a serene and composed expression—its gaze once directed toward the sanctuary entrance.
Provenance: Marcel Nies Oriental Art, Antwerp, 2006. The private collection of Mr. Raimann, Germany, acquired from the above, Art Loss Register Reference 4756.MB. A copy of a certificate of authenticity signed by Marcel Nies, confirming the dating above, accompanies this lot.
Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, signs of weathering and erosion, minor encrustations, sparse light nicks, surface scratches, and small chips to the edges of the plinth. The left ear and the tip of the right ear with old repairs.
Weight: 34.7 kg
Dimensions: Length 45.6 cm
Marcel Nies
Expert’s note: This early Cambodian temple sculpture is far more than a representation of a sacred animal—it was conceived to evoke a profound spiritual presence, transcending the physical form itself. The Nandi, powerfully yet sensuously carved, radiates both strength and serenity. Its inspired expression and beautifully modeled body reveal an austerity of design balanced with harmonious, flowing volumes. Remarkable from every angle, the piece exemplifies the rare artistic achievements of the pre-Angkorian period, embodying both devotional purpose and the refined aesthetic of early Cambodian sculpture.
PUBLISHED
Marcel Nies, The Sacred Breath. The Cultural Heritage of India, the Himalayan Mountains and Southeast Asia, 2005, p. 16-17.
In Cambodia, Nandi is also known as ‘the Fortunate One’ and was traditionally depicted as the vehicle of Shiva and his Shakti, Parvati. This sculpture of kneeling Nandi originally stood opposite a temple dedicated to the mighty Shiva. Depictions of Nandi can also be seen in a variety of other forms and locations, such as bas-reliefs on door lintels and in sculptures depicting Shiva with his Shakti. In several inscriptions, Shiva is described as an ancestral spirit riding a bull. Nandi as an individual statue is considered a sacred deity, representing Shiva himself and symbolizing the universal cycle of creation, maintenance, and destruction.
Cambodia’s earliest religious sculptures were made before the unification of the Khmer empire by Jayavarman II in the ninth century, in the style known as Pre-Angkor. The figurative style is relatively naturalistic, with well-observed forms and deliberately gentle volumes harmoniously flowing into each other. The style reveals the influence of Indian statues of the Gupta period, though the treatment of the body is freer and less muscular. The shape of the necklace is also an early stylistic trait. Similar stylistic comparisons can be made with only a small number of individual Nandi images known from Cambodia.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Christie’s Paris, 13 June 2018, lot 238
Price: EUR 35,000 or approx. EUR 43,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A sandstone carving of nandi, Cambodia, Khmer Empire, second half 10th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, stone, manner of carving, and subject, with similar pose, features, and base. Note the size (53 cm) and later dating.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A FINE SANDSTONE LION, KOH KER STYLE, 10TH CENTURY
Boldly carved, the powerful beast with a ferocious expression marked by bulging round eyes, a prominent snout, open mouth revealing sharp teeth and fangs, and pricked ears, all framed by the subtly detailed fur and richly carved mane cascading down the back terminating in an upturned tail carved in relief over the back.
Provenance: Arisra Gallery, Thailand, 2006. Collection of Martin Lerner, Founding Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acquired from the above. A copy of a signed provenance statement by Martin Lerner, dated 28 April 2025, confirming the above, accompanies this lot. Martin Lerner (b. 1936) is a distinguished art historian and the founding curator of the Department of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he first served as Vice Chair for Far Eastern Art (1972–1975) and later as Curator from 1978 onward. Previously Assistant Curator of Oriental Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art and a lecturer at Case Western Reserve University, Lerner helped shape the field through both teaching and curatorial leadership. Over four decades, he authored and co-authored landmark publications—including Indian Miniatures from the Jeffrey Paley Collection (1974), Bronze Sculptures from Asia (1975), Blue and White: Early Japanese Export Ware (1978), The Flame and the Lotus (1984), Thai and Cambodian Sculpture from the Sixth to the Fourteenth Centuries (1989), The Lotus Transcendent (1991), and Ancient Khmer Sculpture (1994)—which remain touchstones for scholars and continue to expand appreciation of Indian and Southeast Asian art worldwide. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, chips, nicks, scratches, remnants of pigment, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Dimensions: Height 60 cm (excl. stand), 73 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on a modern metal stand. (2)
This exquisite lion figure once graced a temple compound. The lion was not indigenous to Cambodia and the artist had to base his designs on drawings, smaller sculpted examples or just his imagination. The lion was considered an emblem of royalty. The concept came from ancient India where pillars supported by seated lions already existed before the Christian era. Stone lions in Khmer art can be encountered in various poses, seated, standing, walking and even rearing up. This strong example, with its long tightly-curled mane, can be dated to the Koh Ker period, rather than the more fowing manes of successive centuries. A later and larger example is illustrated in P. Pal Art from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia: Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, 2003, vol. 3, pl. 170.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 11 May 2016, lot 137 Price: GBP 30,000 or approx. EUR 54,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine sandstone lion, Cambodia, Khmer, Koh Ker period, 10th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject, with similar fierce expression and mane. Note the size (72 cm) and state of preservation.
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Martin Lerner from the Metropolitan Museum examine two Angkorian busts in Cambodia
A SANDSTONE GUARDIAN FIGURE DEPICTING A BENIGN DVARAPALA, ANGKOR PERIOD, STYLE OF PRE RUP, 10TH CENTURY
Khmer Empire, 10th century. Finely carved kneeling atop a square base with a geometric incised edge, with one knee raised, his right hand clutched in a fist and his left resting on his thigh, wearing a short pleated sampot with fine incision work. The face well detailed with a benign expression marked by open almond-shaped eyes with neatly incised pupils, closely cropped beard and moustache, a broad nose, and full lips, the hair drawn into a conical chignon secured with a foliate tiara.
Provenance: Sand Stone Antiques, River City, Bangkok, 1998. A private collection in Luxembourg, acquired from the above, and thence by descent. A copy of a signed certificate of authenticity by Sand Stone Antiques, dated 29 July 1998, confirming the dating and the attribution to the Pre Rup style above, accompanies this lot. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, minor structural fissures, nicks, scratches. The stone with a fine, naturally grown, smooth patina overall.
Weight: 58.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 58 cm (excl. tang and stand), 72 cm (incl. tang), and 79 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated black-lacquered metal stand. (2)
Expert’s note: The sculptural styles of Koh Ker and Pre Rup are often closely associated, and at times even confused, due to their shared emphasis on monumentality and strength of form. Both styles, however, would play a pivotal role in shaping the later Angkor Wat aesthetic, superseding the softer contours and more sensual qualities of the Baphuon style. As Martin Lerner observes, for a “ruler concerned with martial campaigns and responsible for such a gigantic personal monument as Angkor Wat, the Baphuon figural style may have appeared too consciously unheroic and sensuous.” (Martin Lerner, Ancient Khmer Sculpture, New York, 1994, p. 46). In contrast, Koh Ker and Pre Rup figures convey mass and power: the sampot, for instance, appears as a thick, heavy textile, while the modeling of the body emphasizes angularity and strength. These elements anticipate the commanding, heroic imagery that would come to define Angkor Wat sculpture. Although documentation is limited and the statuary of the Râjendravarman period shows little originality, a few specific features support the attribution of this deity to the Pre Rup style. In general, the figure recalls the style of Koh Ker, though on a much smaller scale and with a return to hieratic rigidity. The sarong follows the Koh Ker type, with narrow pleats and the distinctive large frontal flap, yet here the pleating is broader, displaying an archaizing tendency.
A dvarapala is a temple guardian. In India, where the concept originated, two giant figures, sculpted in high relief, are often found flanking the principal temple entrance. One is formidable, to scare away those of ill intent while the other is seductively handsome, in order to lure the faithful past the portal. In Cambodia the form evolved separately because the temples were built to different plans. There, a succession of courtyards contained secondary buildings and the principal one was only accessible to a limited number of ritual participants. In the 10th century dvarapala were freestanding statues, still sculpted in pairs but resting within the precinct. Although they observed approaching visitors, their essential role was that of bodyguards, protecting the deity lodged within the temple.
This latter role appears to have become increasingly dominant in the Koh Ker period when the supremacy of the kings of Angkor was challenged by a powerful royal claimant who established another court to the north of the Kulen mountains, from where he imposed martial rule on much of the kingdom. The achievement of this alternative court is reflected in some of the finest works of art to emanate from Cambodia during the Angkor period. The sculptures are notable for their spontaneous appearance, strong personalities and sense of inner, spiritual energy. Even when the subject is not a recognizable deity, the suggestion of individual personality is always present. This image of a dvarapala exemplifies the style of the period, full of confident swagger but maintaining a deeply serious purpose in his guardian role.
Benign dvarapalas can often be found flanking doorways or protruding from corner brackets, while apsaras are ubiquitous to the temples of Angkor. Dvarapalas became integral to temple sculpture in India as early as the 5th century and appear in Cambodia in the earliest of the Angkor Empire’s temples, the Roulos group, constructed around the turn of the 10th century. The Shaivite temples at Koh Ker are similar to these in their iconographical programs and architectural structures.
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams Paris, 25 October 2022, lot 59
Price: EUR 315,375 or approx. EUR 340,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A sandstone bust of a female divinity, Cambodia, Angkor period, style of Pre Rup, 10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, pleated sampot, and crown. Note the size (62 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A LARGE SANDSTONE FIGURE OF UMA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAKHENG STYLE, 10TH CENTURY
Expert’s note: The Bakheng style refers to a phase in Khmer art and architecture during the reign of King Yasovarman I (r. 889–910 CE), named after his state temple, Phnom Bakheng, near Angkor. It is considered the first fully developed Angkorian style and marks the transition from earlier pre-Angkorian traditions (like Prei Khmeng and Kulen styles) toward the monumental classic Angkor forms.
Khmer Empire, late 9th-early 12th century. Finely carved standing in samabhanga, the unadorned figure with prominent breasts and a beautifully rounded belly, dressed in a long, striated sampot tied at the front, the long central fold elegantly culminating in a fishtail hem, secured by a plain belt and short flange falling over the belt. Her serene expression with large almond-shaped eyes, full lips forming a calm smile, and a broad nose, flanked by elongated earlobes, and her hair arranged into a high cylindrical chignon behind the flaring foliate tiara.
Provenance: From the private collection of Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024), Belgium, and thence by direct descent to her grandson, the present owner of this lot.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations, minor structural fissures, scratches, nicks.
Dimensions: Height 111 cm (excl. stand), 116 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024) together with her grandson, the present owner of this lot, 1980s
Khmer artists depicted the Hindu goddess Uma with regal stability. Here, she stands facing fully forward, her body neither twisting nor bending. Her long skirt (sampot) creates a strong columnar base. At the same time, her bare chest, pinched waist, and broad hips emphasize her femininity and fertility. Although the artists left upper bodies bare—as was conventional in Khmer dress—they carved intricate designs on the headdress and belt. These patterns, including leaves and flowers, are inspired by nature. Furthermore, the sculptor was clearly interested in the interplay of horizontals (such as the bands of the tiara and the lines of the brow, mouth, and upper edge of the skirt) with verticals (such the nose, the pleats of the skirt, and the pendants hanging from the belt). In contrast to these straight lines, the volumes of the torso and the lower skirt narrow and swell.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related Bakheng-style sandstone figure of Uma, dated 10th century, 124.2 cm high, in the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, accession number S1987.909 (fig. 1). Compare a closely related sandstone figure of a female Hindu deity, dated approx. 890-925, 132.1 cm high, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object number B68S19. fig. 1
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 13 September 2011, lot 419
Price: USD 98,500 or approx. EUR 120,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A sandstone figure of Uma, Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject as well as the related modeling and manner of carving with similar pose, curves, sampot, and hairstyle. Note the smaller size (80 cm).
Estimate EUR 30,000
Starting price EUR 15,000
A MAGNIFICENT SANDSTONE
TORSO OF A GODDESS, BAPHUON STYLE, SECOND HALF OF THE 11TH CENTURY
Khmer Empire, Angkor period. Exquisitely carved standing in samabhanga, featuring a sensuously modeled figure dressed in a long, striated sampot tied at the front, the long central fold elegantly culminating in a fishtail hem, held together at the hips with a patterned belt fastened in a stylized knot.
Provenance: From a private collection in Germany. Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear with minor chips, scattered nicks and scratches, natural imperfections, and some obvious losses. Signs of weathering and erosion with encrustations are present. The surface retains a wellpreserved polish overall, giving it a notably smooth, almost unctuous feel.
Weight: 61.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 88 cm (excl. stand), 101 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
This piece exemplifies the style of Baphuon female figures with the frontal stance, the ovoid skirt wide at the hips and narrowing around the knees, the sarong in an elevated position at the back and curving down to below the navel and the elegant central pleat. According to Boisselier the highly decorative style of Banteay Srei inspired the development of Baphuon period sculpture, a manner which became more embellished with decorative elements as it reached a zenith during the Angkor Wat period a century later, see Helen Ibbitson Jessup and Thierry Zephir, editors, Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia - Millennium of Glory, Washington 1997, page 255.
The modeling of the torso, the curled end of the sarong above the belt and a long central fold recall Banteay Srei sculpture, see Emma C. Bunker and Douglas Latchford, Adoration and Glory, The Golden Age of Khmer Art, Chicago, 2004, page 175, fig. 8.6.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 31 March 2005, lot 111
Price: USD 486,400 or approx. EUR 698,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and large sandstone torso of a goddess, Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, 11th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the similar size (83.7 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 242
Price: USD 361,000 or approx. EUR 469,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Torso of female deity, sandstone Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the size (67.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
259
A RARE AND LARGE SANDSTONE FIGURE OF A FOUR-ARMED GODDESS, ANGKOR PERIOD
Expert’s note: Large-scale Khmer sandstone sculptures of female deities with four arms are exceedingly rare, particularly those carved fully in the round like the present figure. Compare a Khmer bronze figure of a four-armed Durga, 52 cm high, dated to the 10th century, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1996.27 (fig. 1)
Khmer Empire, 10th-12th century. Finely carved standing in samabhanga, the voluptuous deity intricately adorned in foliate jewelry, clad in a long, richly pleated sampot secured at the waist by a belt visible on the reverse and partially obscured in the front by the overhanging flange above the fishtail hem falling elegantly along the center. Her serene expression with finely incised almond-shaped eyes, full lips forming a calm smile, and a broad nose, her hair arranged into a high conical chignon behind the flaring foliate tiara.
Provenance: From the collection of Yvette Starck, Luxembourg, acquired on 10 June 1989 from Galerie Rambagh, Brussels, and thence by descent in the family. A copy of the original invoice from Galerie Rambagh accompanies this lot.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, old repairs to some arms and the neck, chips, few nicks, remnants of varnish, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Dimensions: Height 125 cm (excl. stand), 185 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related smaller sandstone figure of a Hindu goddess, 62.2 cm high, dated 1100-1150, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, accession number B65S2.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 March 2007, lot 270
Price: USD 66,000 or approx. EUR 89,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A sandstone figure of Uma, Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving, as well as the related subject. Note the much smaller size (72.1 cm).
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
fig. 1
AN IMPORTANT SANDSTONE FIGURE OF LAKSHMI, ANGKOR PERIOD
Expert’s note: Large-scale Khmer sandstone sculptures of Lakshmi with four arms are exceedingly rare, particularly those carved fully in the round like the present figure. A close parallel can be found in the northernmost sanctuary of Prasat Kravan, a small 10th-century temple at Angkor which features a pair of unique bas-reliefs depicting Lakshmi, one of which is four-armed (fig. 1)
Khmer Empire, 10th-12th century. Superbly carved, the four-armed deity standing in samabhanga, finely adorned in elaborate jewelry and anklets, holding a lotus bud, conch, and mala, wearing a long striated sampot tied at the front, the long central fold elegantly culminating in a fishtail hem, held together at the hips with a patterned belt fastened in a stylized knot. The serene face sensitively modeled with neatly incised details, such as the almond-shaped eyes and full lips forming a gentle smile, flanked by pendulous earlobes suspending ornate earrings. The hair piled up into an elaborate conical chignon secured by a flared tiara with ornate floral decoration.
Provenance: From a private estate in southern England.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, obvious losses, chips, nicks, scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations. Old repairs and remnants of later applied pigments and varnish. Overall with a fine naturally grown patina.
Material Analysis: The stone is siliceous, composed primarily of quartz alongside phases containing aluminum, potassium, magnesium, and iron. Traces of iron oxides and barium sulfate are also detected. The surface shows progressive alteration, with degradation of the more fragile mineral phases such as micas, creating a clear gradient of alteration between the weathered exterior and the fresher cut line. In addition, a clay deposit rich in iron and manganese is present on the surface, together with iron and barium sulfates and small tungsten shavings.
These findings are consistent with ancient Khmer sandstone, which naturally exhibits long-term weathering, alteration gradients, and surface accretions of iron and manganese. The presence of barium sulfate and tungsten confirm the restoration work carried out in the 20th century, as described in the condition report.
Weight: 146.5 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 139 cm (excl. stand and tang), 187.5 cm (incl. stand and tang)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT
COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 31 March 2005, lot 120
Price: USD 240,000 or approx. EUR 344,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A gray sandstone figure of Uma, Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, 11th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving. Note the related size (151.2 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
fig. 1
A RARE AND IMPORTANT OVER-LIFESIZE SANDSTONE HEAD OF A FEMALE DEITY, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAPHUON STYLE
Khmer Empire, circa 10th-11th century. Dexterously carved, the face with a serene expression distinguished by almond-shaped eyes beneath gently arched eyebrows, a broad nose, and full lips forming a calm smile, all flanked by long, pendulous earlobes. The finely carved hair rising into a domed chignon and secured with a delicately sculpted beaded band.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age, with ancient wear, manufacturing irregularities and natural imperfections. Traces of weathering and erosion, including sparse nicks, small chips, and obvious losses to the earlobes, which have smoothened over time.
Provenance:
- Walter Ephron Gallery, New York, by 1973.
- Collection of Karl Springer, New York, acquired from the above and thence by descent.
- Shali Gallery, San Francisco, by 1992.
- A private collection in Massachusetts, acquired from the above.
- Collection of Emmanuel and Argie Tiliakos, Winchester, Massachusetts, acquired from the above in 2001.
- Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, acquired from the above in 2015.
Walter Ephron (1895-1972) was a New York-based art dealer and collector. Raised in Vienna, where his father and uncle operated art galleries, he later served in the Austrian Army during the First World War. In the years that followed, he lived in both Paris and Vienna, and after the fall of France in 1940 during the Second World War, he fled to the United States. Soon after his arrival, he established the Ephron Gallery at 123 East 57th Street in New York, which he directed until his death.
Karl Springer (1931-1991) was a GermanAmerican designer and manufacturer of luxury furniture. In the early 1960s, he opened his first small workshop, and by 1965, he was fully dedicated to the creation of high-end furniture. His distinctive designs soon attracted the attention of the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, who became a devoted patron and introduced his work to her influential social circle, which included renowned actors and singers such as Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra, as well as former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Thanks to this support, Springer quickly rose to prominence and became one of the most celebrated designers of his generation.
Karl Springer
Emmanuel Tiliakos was an architect and city planner born in Athens. During the 1960s, as a result of his early studies in art history and archaeology, he developed a profound interest in ancient Hellenic and Russian iconography. He later expanded his passion to include works from various parts of Asia. Tiliakos cultivated a deep appreciation for some of the most significant and outstanding sacred images, valuing their cultural and spiritual meaning. His dedication led him to undertake frequent travels across Europe and Asia for more than three decades, always accompanied by his wife, Argie.
Weight: 36.9 kg (incl. stand)
A copy of a certificate from Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, confirming the above, accompanies this lot. This certificate also contains a secondary expert opinion, issued by Dr. Chang Qing, who dates the present lot to “Ca. 12th-14th century”.
Dimensions: Height 38.1 cm (excl. stand), 54.5 cm (incl. stand)
With an associated stand. (2)
The sculpture created during the Baphuon period, beginning in the second half of the 11th century, represents an apex never quite equaled again in Khmer art. Diving figures from this time are rendered with anatomical precision as well as a serene and dignified presence. The gods appear as handsome, well-built Khmer aristocratic male figures and the goddesses are beautiful, sensuous, graceful females. These sacred images are elegant and naturalistic in their appeal, presenting the deities in idealized human terms. The sculpture is modest in size compared to some of the overpowering images produced during the tenth century. The faces are soft and often seductive in their expressions. The ubiquitous chignon-covers and diadems represented on images during much of the tenth century are less frequently represented during the Baphuon period. Instead, the hair is pulled up into a chignon that is held in place by a simple jeweled or flowered chain. The workmanship is superb and executed with a jeweler’s precision.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 22 June 2016, lot 27
Price: EUR 49,500 or approx. EUR 64,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare sandstone head of a male deity, Khmer Empire, Baphuon style, 10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar facial features, expression, distinctive chignon arranged in concentric arcs around a beaded band. Note the much smaller size (19.5 cm).
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
A SANDSTONE FIGURE OF GANESHA, BAPHUON STYLE, ANGKOR PERIOD
Khmer Empire, 11th century. Standing in samabhanga, the pot-bellied deity dressed in a vertically striated sampot, secured by a plain belt tied at the back into a butterfly bow, a short flange falling over the belt, and the central fold elegantly culminating in a fishtail hem. His head with curling trunk detailed to the inner section, flanked by a pair of large ears, and the hair neatly braided into even rows behind an ornate tiara.
Provenance:
From the private collection of Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (19292024), Belgium, and thence by direct descent to her grandson, the present owner of this lot.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, signs of weathering and erosion, obvious losses, scratches, nicks. The stone with a rich, naturally grown patina.
Weight: 37.9 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 71 cm (excl. stand), 80 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 21 September 2007, lot 370
Price: USD 157,000 or approx. EUR 208,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare stone figure of Ganesha, Khmer, Angkor period, Pre Rup style, second half 10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related subject as well as the related modeling and manner of carving with similar pose, face, and size (76 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024) together with her grandson, the present owner of this lot, 1980s
A LARGE SANDSTONE FIGURE OF UMA, ANGKOR WAT STYLE
Expert authentication: Dr. Chang Qing has authenticated this lot, identifying its iconographic and stylistic characteristics as typical of Khmer Empire images found in present-day Cambodia. A notarized copy of Dr. Chang’s expertise dated 28 June 2020, in the State of New York, accompanies this lot.
Expert’s note: The present lot represents the best of Angkor Wat period sculpture, a chapter in Khmer art sometimes overlooked for its deliberately archaic style. While works from this era are sometimes said to lack the sensuality of the preceding Baphuon period and the spiritual intensity of the following Bayon period, the present example rises above. Its finely executed form and jewelry, carved in crisp relief, showcase a level of artistry that firmly places it among the finest achievements of its time.
Khmer Empire, Angkor period, ca. 12th-13th century. Magnificently carved, the female deity shown wearing a sampot secured at the waist with a simple belt with a sash falling in front, her arms gracefully embellished with beaded bracelets, while an intricately detailed necklace accentuates her full chest. Her face shows an impersonal and detached gaze fitting a celestial deity, distinguished by almond-shaped eyes, gently arched brows, a prominent nose, bow-shaped lips, and rounded chin. The hair arranged in a conical chignon behind the flaring tiara, meticulously detailed with beaded and floral designs.
Provenance: The collection of Richard and Ruth Dickes, 1980s. A private collection in New York, acquired from the above via the local trade in 2019. Dr. Richard (1942-2023) and Mrs. Ruth Dickes shared a lifelong passion for Asian art. They donated parts of their collection to major cultural institutions including the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Princeton University Art Museum, the China Institute, Asia House, the American Friends of the Shanghai Museum, and LACMA.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, signs of weathering and erosion, old chips, nicks, scratches.
Weight: 31.8 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 56.5 cm (excl. stand), 68.1 (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 31 October 2000, lot 135
Price: NLG 128,722 or approx. EUR 104,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Khmer, Angkor Vat style, sandstone figure of Lokeshvara, late 12th century Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and size (56 cm), as well as the state of preservation. Note the different subject.
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A FINE SANDSTONE FIGURE OF ARDHANARISHVARA, ANGKOR PERIOD, 10TH-12TH CENTURY
Khmer Empire. Superbly carved in a dancing pose, representing Shiva and Uma merged into one body, the hands resting on the thighs, wearing a short, finely incised sampot secured at the waist with a low belt issuing tassels, with one end shown in curved pleats on his right thigh and the other terminating in an overhanging flange, tied to the back in a butterfly knot. Generously adorned in foliate jewelry, the serene face sensitively modeled and crisply delineated with almondshaped eyes and full lips. The finely braided hair gathered in a domed topknot partly behind a conical half-tiara.
Provenance: From the collection of Jean-Marc Andral, acquired at Galerie des antiquaries, Versailles, between 1998 and 2006. A copy of a provenance statement, written by Jean-Marc Andral, dated 24 April 2025, confirming the above, accompanies this lot. Jean-Marc Andral is a Belgian manager based in Brussels and active in the healthcare industry for over 25 years.
Jean-Marc Andral
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, chips, nicks, scratches, remnants of varnish and pigments, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations.
Weight: 68 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 92.5 cm (excl. stand), 93.5 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
Ardhanarishvara is a composite form of the Hindu deity Shiva joined with his consort Parvati. The figure is typically shown split vertically down the middle, embodying half-male and half-female features. This powerful icon represents the inseparability of Shiva and Shakti, illustrating the harmonious balance of masculine and feminine energies in the universe. Typically, Ardhanarishvara is portrayed standing or kneeling. The present figure, however, is rendered in a dynamic dancing pose—a treatment of the theme that is exceptionally rare in Khmer art and adds a striking vitality to this profound symbol of divine unity.
Literature comparison: Compare a related sandstone figure of Ardhanarishvara, Baphuon style, 69.5 cm tall, in the National Museum of Cambodia, inventory number Ka.2734. Compare a related sandstone figure of a female dancing deity, Koh Ker style, 135 cm high, in the Musée Guimet, accession number MG 18096, illustrated by Helen Jessup and Thierry Zephir in Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia: Millennium of Glory, Paris, 1997, p. 213, cat. no. 43.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 18 October 2005, lot 152
Price: EUR 26,290 or approx. EUR 42,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A Khmer, Angkor Vat style, sandstone dancing male deity, 12th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar pose and crown. Note the smaller size (55 cm).
Estimate EUR 20,000
Starting price EUR 10,000
A RARE AND IMPORTANT SANDSTONE FIGURE OF VISHNU, ANGKOR PERIOD, PRE RUP STYLE
Khmer Empire, mid-10th century. Gracefully carved, standing in samabhanga, wearing a short sampot neatly incised with parallel pleats, secured by a belt with double fishtail folds falling to the front and a butterfly knot at the back. The mustachioed face with serene expression, almond-shaped eyes, gently ridged brows, and full lips forming a subtle smile, flanked by elongated earlobes. The hair coiffed in a tiered faceted chignon behind the flared foliate tiara.
Provenance: From a private collection in Belgium, assembled in the 1970s and 1980s, and thence by descent. Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age.
Expected wear, obvious losses, the neck with an old repair, chips, nicks, scratches.
Weight: 53.6 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 116 cm (excl. stand), 121 cm (incl. stand)
Mounted on an associated metal stand. (2)
This fine sacred image representing the four-armed Vishnu most likely dates from the Pre-Rup period (944-968). Its style borrows from earlier Bakheng (889-928) and Koh Ker (928-944) stone examples. The result is a technical superb sculpture being less hieratic than examples from these earlier periods. The body appears to be more elegant and less sturdy and powerful than examples from these mentioned styles. The continuing eyebrows above the almond-shaped eyes seem to be less ridged than comparable examples from the Koh Ker period. All these elements together suggest that this great sculpture can be stylistically placed around the mid-tenth century.
Literature comparison: Compare a closely related larger sandstone figure of Vishnu, dated c. 950, 226 cm tall, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, accession number M.76.19.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 11 December 2013, lot 342
Price: EUR 121,500 or approx. EUR 149,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare and important sandstone figure of Vishnu, Khmer, Pre-Rup style, mid10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, stone, subject, and size (121 cm).
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Paris, 10 December 2014, lot 353
Price: EUR 71,100 or approx. EUR 86,500 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare sandstone figure of Vishnu, Cambodia, Khmer, Pre-Rup style, mid-10th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, stone, and subject. Note the size (102 cm).
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A POLISHED SANDSTONE BUST OF BUDDHA MUCHALINDA, ANGKOR WAT STYLE, FIRST HALF OF THE 12TH CENTURY
Khmer Empire, Angkor period. Powerfully sculpted, the face with downcast eyes in a benevolent expression, pursed lips in a wide smile, flanked by elongated earlobes, the hair pulled into a conical chignon and secured with a wide tiara, backed by the multi-headed naga hood, their bodies decorated with sun wheels and scales meticulously incised.
Provenance: From the private collection of Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024), Belgium, and thence by direct descent to her grandson, the present owner of this lot.
Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929-2024) together with her grandson, the present owner of this lot, 1980s
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Expected wear, obvious losses, cuts, nicks, scratches, chips, signs of weathering and erosion, encrustations. The surface of the stone and the smooth, unctuous polish are particularly well preserved.
Weight: 25.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 56 cm (excl. stand), 59.5 cm (incl. stand)
With a modern metal stand. (2)
Literature comparison: Compare a related sandstone sculpture of Buddha Muchalinda, dated to the Angkor period, late 12th-early 13th century, 88.9 cm high, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 36.96.5.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s Amsterdam, 31 October 2000, lot 136
Price: NLG 175,530 or approx. EUR 313,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A fine Khmer, Angkor Vat style, sandstone head of Buddhamuchalinda
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling, manner of carving, and subject. Note the smaller size (42 cm) and lesser state of preservation.
Estimate EUR 15,000
Starting price EUR 7,500
A BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA MUCHALINDA, ANGKOR PERIOD, BAYON STYLE
Khmer Empire, 12th-13th century. Powerfully cast, seated in dhyanasana on the scaled coils of Muchalinda, his hands lowered in dhyanamudra, richly adorned with jewelry. The face with downcast eyes in a benevolent expression, flanked by elongated lobes with pendant earrings. The hair pulled into a conical chignon and secured with a wide tiara, beneath the well-detailed seven-headed naga hood, their bodies decorated with sun wheels.
Provenance: The collection of Gérard Wahl-ditBoyer, Paris, acquired between 1970-2000 and thence by descent to his wife Madame Claudine Perrot. A copy of a provenance statement written and signed by Claudine Perrot, dated 20 November 2024, and confirming the above accompanies this lot. Gérard Wahl-dit-Boyer, affectionately known as ‘Bébérose’ (19442014), was a well-known French art dealer and collector based in Paris.
Gérard Wahl-ditBoyer, affectionately known as “Bébérose” (1944–2014)
Condition: Good condition with wear and casting irregularities. Few small losses, scattered minute nicks, encrustations, and minor warping to the base. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with vibrant malachite and cuprite encrustations.
Weight: 2,455.5 g
Dimensions: Height 29.2 cm
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related bronze of Buddha Muchalinda, dated to the second half of the 12th century, 20.3 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, accession number 54.2730. Compare a closely related Khmer bronze figure of Buddha Muchalinda, 12th-13th century, 41.6 cm high, in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession number 99.216.3a-c (fig. 1)
Compare a closely related bronze figure of Buddha Muchalinda, Angkor Wat period, dated to the 12th century, 58.4 cm high, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 1963.263 (fig. 2) fig. 1 fig. 2
Estimate EUR 10,000
Starting price EUR 5,000
A POLISHED BLACK STONE HEAD OF SHIVA, BAKHENG STYLE, ANGKOR PERIOD
Khmer Empire, late 10th century. Sensitively modeled, the serene face with narrow almond-shaped eyes with incised pupils, gently arched eyebrows, a broad nose, and full bow-shaped lined lips framed by an elegantly curving moustache. The finely incised hair arranged in braided rows rising to a tall cylindrical chignon decorated with a crescent moon to the front and secured by a foliate tiara with a chevron trim.
Provenance: An old private collection in France, built since 1970, and thence by descent. The stand with a label inscribed ‘SB 195’.
Condition: Good condition with expected wear, obvious losses, traces of weathering, few small chips, structural fissures, the crown with a minor old repair. The stone with a fine, unctuous polish overall.
Weight: 3.7 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Height 27.8 cm (incl. stand), 18.7 cm (excl. stand)
The rigorous stylized treatment of the features with the sharp ridged eyebrows and the highly polished surface, imparts a degree of severity to the sculpture which is a characteristic of the Bakheng style.
AUCTION RESULT COMPARISON
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s New York, 29 March 2006, lot 197
Price: USD 108,000 or approx. EUR 150,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: Head of a female deity, Sandstone, Khmer, Bakheng Style
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and manner of carving with similar facial features and the style of the headdress and hair. Note the larger size size (34.3 cm).
Estimate EUR 5,000
Starting price EUR 2,400
A TERRACOTTA FIGURE OF A MALE DEITY, NOK CULTURE, NIGERIA, 500 BC-200 AD
Scientific Analysis Report: An old TL test, dating from 25 February 1999, sets the age of the present lot at 2300 years, consistent with the dating above.
Finely modeled to depict a tall slender figure with one knee raised, adorned with twine-form bindings at the knee, ankle, and chest and a thick rope that snakes around the torso. The face modeled with large triangular eyes with pierced pupils, a wide nose, and large forehead, topped by a hat, and framed by tightly coiled curls.
Provenance: Moussa Saibou, Lagos, Nigeria. Gert Chesi, acquired from the above for the Museum der Völker, Schwaz, Austria, and subsequently de-accessed.
A private collection in Vienna, Austria, acquired from the above. Gert Chesi (b. 1940) is an Austrian photographer, author, and art collector. In 1995, Chesi founded the Haus der Völker (now named the Museum der Völker) in Schwaz, Tyrol, a museum of art and ethnography whose collection consists mainly of objects acquired during Chesi’s travels through Africa and Asia.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, firing irregularities, obvious losses, age cracks, old repairs around the waist, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Nigerian Export License: Clearance Permit, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, no. 00515, dated 4 December 2000, has been granted. A copy accompanies this lot.
Weight: 16 kg
Dimensions: Height 75 cm
Nok terracottas are the earliest known sculptures from ancient Nigeria. Sculptures of this kind were first discovered in 1943 by Bernard Fagg near the northern Nigerian village of Nok, after which the culture that produced them was named.
Most Nok sculpture is hollow and coil-built like pottery. Finely worked to a resilient consistency from local clays and gravel, the millennia-long endurance of these ancient objects is a testament to the technical ability of their makers. This is not to say that Nok sculpture has survived unchanged by time. The slip of many Nok terracottas has eroded, leaving a grainy, pocked exterior that does not reflect their original smooth appearance. Most of the Nok sculpture found consists of what appear to be portrait heads and bodies fragmented by damage and age. The recovered portions of the baked clay bodies that have survived show that they were sculpted in standing, sitting, and genuflecting postures.
LITERATURE COMPARISON
Compare a closely related male figure, Northern Nigeria, Nok Culture, date ca. 195 BC -205 CE, 49.5 cm high, in the Kimbell Art Museum, accession number AP 1996.03.
Estimate EUR 12,000
Starting price EUR 6,000
Gert Chesi in the Voodoo forest
Museum der Völker, Schwaz, Tyrol
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Private Estates and Collection Provenances
Alain Presencer (born 1939), UK
Alexis Mertens de Wilmars, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Ambrose Congreve, Waterford, Ireland
Andrea Loseries-Leick, Austria
Anthony Lovett, UK
Arnaud Kurc, Paris, France
Arthur Huc (1854–1932) and Marcel Huc, France
A. J. T. Schoormans, Netherlands
Benny Rustenberg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ben Essex, UK
Bentley Collection, UK
Birgitta Berg, Sweden
Brigitte Mavromichalis, Switzerland
B. Strongin, USA
Charlene Tyler Marshall (1945–2024), New York, USA
Cindy Elden, New York, USA
Cornelis Johannes van der Ploeg Zoeterwoude (1907–1973),
Netherlands
Count Federico Augusto Zichy Thyssen (1937–2014), Paraguay
Cyrus Churchill and Mildred Churchill, with Daniel Churchill, Concordia House, Illinois, USA
Daniel Wolf (1955–2021), USA
Darwin Freeman, USA
David Taylor (1876–1958), UK
Didrik Carl Bildt (1879–1933), Sweden
Dionysia Wilhelmina Everwijn (1923–2011), Stilte-Stichting
Landgoed Den Bosch Collection, Netherlands
Edith Frankel and Joel Frankel, New York, USA
Emmanuel Tiliakos and Argie Tiliakos, Winchester, Massachusetts,
USA
Émile Robin (1884–1971), France
Ferdinando Cappelletti, Rome, Italy
Ferdinand Thaler and Gudrun Thaler-Szulyovsky, Austria
Frederick Konig (1867–1940), UK
Françoise Leroy-Laveissère, Paris, France
Francine Wald and Bernard Wald, USA
Friedrich Otto Hasse (1886–1964), Bremen, Germany
Gert Chesi (born 1940), Schwaz, Austria
Georg Stichel, Hamburg, Germany
Gérard Wahl-dit-Boyer and Claudine Perrot, Paris, France
Ghezzi Family Collection, Zurich, Switzerland
Gottfried Henrich Crone (1884–1961), Amsterdam, Netherlands
Harry Arvid Uggeldahl (1931–1991), Sweden
Helga Wall-Apelt, Germany and USA
Howard Phipps (1881–1981), Erchless, Old Westbury, USA
Jacques Grosbusch, Luxembourg
Jean-Marc Andral, Belgium
Johan Carl Kempe (1884–1967), Sweden
John Menke (1919–2009), USA
John Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913), New York, USA
John Ross Sr. and John Ross Jr. (1928–2019), USA
J. P. Islef (died 1954), France
Jucker Collection, Ettingen, Switzerland
Kate Kemper (1908–2004), Switzerland
Karl Lunde, New York, USA
Karl Springer, New York, USA
Klaus Nierhoff (1926–2011), Wiesbaden, Germany
Koos de Jong, Netherlands
Law Collection, Cotswolds, UK
Liselotte von Rantzau-Essberger, Hamburg, Germany
Lothian Toland (born 1937), California, USA
Louis Regenstein and Helen Regenstein, Atlanta, USA
L. Kalina, USA
Marie Louise Alexienne Vanleew (1929–2024), Belgium
Mario Tazzoli, Milan, Italy
Martin Lerner (born 1936), USA
Mons Fischer, Vienna, Austria
Moussa Saibou, Lagos, Nigeria
Mr. and Mrs. Sergeant, Ghent, Belgium
Mr. Raimann, Germany
Myrna Myers and Sam Myers, Paris, France
Nicholas Douglas (1944–2012) and Christi Douglas, New York, USA
Nicholas John Squire (1949–2024), Suffolk, UK
Paolo Bertuzzi (1943–2022), Bologna, Italy
Patrick Dupont, Brussels, Belgium
Paul Atkinson, UK
Paul Victor Jamin (1807–1868), Paris, France
Peter Fussel, London, UK
Peter Kienzle-Hardt (born 1946), Radevormwald, Germany
Peter Schmidt (1937–2025), Germany
Peter Tillou (1932–2025), New York, USA
Philip Kotler (born 1931), Florida, USA
Philippe Deridder (1950–1988), Belgium
Pierre Vellones (1889–1939), France
Pu Hua (c. 1834–1911), China
R. M. Collection (1933–2023), with Marie-Anne Lefevre, SintPieters-Leeuw, Belgium
Raimann Family, Germany
Richard Blum and Senator Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco, USA
Richard Dickes and Ruth Dickes, USA
Robert Hafter, Küsnacht, Switzerland
Robert Kuo, RenLu Collection, Los Angeles, USA
R. Unger, USA
R. W. B., Haiku, Hawaii, USA
Theos Casimir Bernard, USA
Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton (1915–2009), Montreal, Canada
T. T. Tsui, Hong Kong
Yen Sheng-Po (1910–1994), China
Yvette Starck, Luxembourg
Provenance list starts on the inside front cover
