SPECIALIST: JOHN AXFORD +44 (0) 1722 424 506 johnaxford@woolleyandwallis.co.uk


The Chinese department at Woolley and Wallis continues as a force in the market. Our November auctions fetched over £3 million, and were led by the small pair of doucai porcelain wine cups featured on the catalogue front cover, which achieved a price of £453,840.


We already have an encouraging start to our spring sale with the fine jade peach,


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lotus and lingzhi carving (image 2), which was given to the current owner by Adrian Maynard, the chairman of Spink in the 1960s. The Tibetan thangka (image 1), comes from the collection of Hinton Daniel Stewart (1835-1926), whose very fine Imperial white jade teapot Woolley and Wallis sold for £2 million in 2011.


JADE A fine Chinese pale celadon jade carving of peaches, Qianlong 1736-95, a lotus seed pod and flower to one side, a small chilong clambering to the other beside a lingzhi fungus, 10cm. Estimate: £20,000 - 30,000


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THANGKA Thangkas most commonly depict Buddhist deities or lamas, and are used to teach about the life of the Buddha, historical events, and mythological stories. They are also used, through meditation, to help with the journey to enlightenment. This 19th century Tibetan thangka (image 1) depicts a central figure of Tsong Karpa, the leader of the Gelupka school of Tibetan Buddhism, surrounded with scenes of his life, 81cm x 53cm. Estimate: £3,000 - 5,000


INRO Traditionally suspended from the sash, or obi of a man’s kimono and used to carry small objects, Japanese inro are formed from compartments and are typically made in lacquer, though examples are also found in wood, bronze or ivory. They became obsolete in the 19th century, when the Japanese started to wear Western outfits with pockets. The fine Japanese gold lacquer Shibayama saya sheath inro, Meiji 1868-1912, (image 3) is decorated with oni, long-nose bakemono, adults and children playing in a continuous mountainous scene and is unsigned, with a wood and lacquer ojime in the shape of a war drum, and an ivory netsuke shaped as an oni examining a massive oni mask, signed Gyokuzan, 11.2cm. Estimate: £3,000 - 5,000


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ASIAN ART | 21


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