16 Auctions Asian Art Fall Sales NEW YORK By Margaret Tao


DOYLE Asian Works of Art $758,813 (W/BP), 253 lots,


$809,400-1,204,900, 138 lots sold (55% by lot, 69% by value)


Te sale suffered from a growing trend the last few years,


which


persisted throughout the week – buyers are far more selective and solely tempted by the best examples and then only at what they consider an attractive price. Te result was a lower sell-through rate and high prices only for the top lots. Te sale’s strength was jades, but they are not as desirable as before, and showed weakness in all the auctions. Two 19th-century lots from a private collection from Minneapolis fared best. Te first, lot 160, a white jade covered censer (est $15/25,000) shot up to $87,500, while the second, lot 109, a celadon jade ewer, carved with lotus petals brought $28,125 (est $20/40,000). A doucai porcelain


‘birthday’ dish, lot 141, catalogued as 19th century, but with a Kangxi mark, (est $700/1,000) was spotted at the exhibition and sold for $34,375 despite condition problems. Some modern paintings also did well. Te inside cover,


lot 170, a


painting in ink and colour on paper of Morning Glories along a fence, signed and inscribed by Qi Baishi (1864-1957) fetched $46,875 (est $20/30,000). Lot 118A, four rubbings by Wu Tingkang (1799-1873), dated the 7th year of the Tungzhi period (1868), which had come from well- known dealer Grace Bruce and are newly sought after, brought $25,000 (est $8/12,000).


BONHAMS Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Dr Sylvan and Faith Golder Collection


$381,928.50 (w/BP), 126 lots, $334,000-511,000, 88 lots sold, (70.97% by lot, 84.79% by value)


Te first sale of the collection of Dr Sylvan and Faith Golder sold within the estimate. Enamoured of snuff bottles from the beginning and active in the Cincinnatti community,


cultural they assembled the


collection between 1967 and 2015 from many of the best dealers in the field. Nonetheless a number of bottles were unsold, and the atmosphere in the room was slower than three or four years ago. More bottles are available,


and there are fewer


collectors. Bidding online, especially by the quite numerous Chinese buyers is increasing. Te top lot was 9042, a very red 18th-century carved coral kuilong bottle acquired in 1979 from John Ford Associates, sold for $25,000 (est $18/25,000). Te most prized bottles were the hardstone examples. Another bottle from the same source as above, carved out of rich blue lapis lazuli, 1750-1800, and fairly uncommon, brought $20,000 (est $4/6,000). Among the jade bottles, several white or yellow and russet jade bottles were the most in demand, notably lot 9046, a white


ASIAN ART NOVEMBER 2017


and russet jade bottle, 1750-1800, of rounded square form, $18,750 (est $10/15,000).


fetching


BONHAMS Twentieth Century Chinese Painting


and Calligraphy $1,131,625 (w/BP), 48 lots, $858,000-1,242,000, 33 lots sold, (68.75% by lot, 78.47% by value)


Te sale concentrated on paintings by 20th-century artists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong reflecting the historical context of the period and organised chronologically. Te majority was from private collections. One of these, lot 8012, a framed work in ink and colour on paper, inscribed and signed Zhao Wangyun, dated 1956, Returning in the Snow, took highest honours, selling for $355,500, 10 times the estimate of $25/40,000. Te very appealing snow scene was from a UK private collection and had been exhibited there. In addition to their value as some of the best-known images by Gu Yuan, a major reason for the success of a group of 10 Yan’an woodblock prints, 1943-1945, by Gu Yuan (1919-1996), Yan Han (1916- 2011), Wo Zha (1904-1973) was their historical background. Printed in Yan’an and depicting the trials in the lives of the people at the time, they were given to the consignor’s father, Howard Hyman, as a gift by Mao Zedong, when he was invited to dinner at Mao and Zhou Enlai’s Hongyan Cun headquarters. Te woodcuts and dinner were in return for the cartons of cigarettes the young serviceman posted to Chongqing had left for them as a goodwill gesture. A photo taken at the dinner still hangs there, and an article in the July 1987 issue of China Reconstructs recounted the event. In spite of the prints being glued to boards and a few missing signatures, active bidding resulted in a very good price, $156,250 (est $30/50,000). Te abstract work by Taiwan artist Liu Guosong (b 1932), lot 8034, Which is Earth D, a large framed


private collector, who bought it for $205,500, considerably more than the $80/100,000 estimate. One of two sought after pieces from the Marilyn Ackerman Collection, a cylindrical enamel vase (lot 1012) decorated with a dense pattern of green bamboo leaves by Hattori Tadasaburo (died 1939) from about 1912, sold for $56,250 (est $50/70,000). Te second was lot 1050, a Meiji era (late 19th century) inlaid-iron


tetsubin,


decorated in gold and silver with boys pulling a flower cart by Aritatsu, purchased for $37,500 (est $15/20,000). Tetsubin have become popular in recent sales. As usual the Japanese print section,


for which


there is still quite a following, had the best sell-through rate, with the majority of the lots bought by the trade (60 out of 72).


The Ruth and Carl Barron Collection of Fine Chinese


CHRISTIE’S


Snuff Bottles: Part V $870,125 (w/BP) 157 lots, $900,000-1,300,000, 157 lots sold, (100% by lot, 100% by value)


Te fifth sale of the varied and well- known Ruth and Carl Barron collection, sourced over 20 years from the top dealers in the field and sold without reserve, did not quite reach the low estimate,


reflecting the


A group of 10 Yan’an woodblock prints (1943-1945) by Gu Yuan (1919-1996), Yan Han (1916-2011), Wo Zha (1905-1973), sold for $156,250 (est $30/50,000), Bonhams


horizontal painting in ink and colour on paper, dated


1969, was hotly


competed for. Acquired by a New York collector at Te Laguna Beach Gallery in 1972, it sold for $175,000 (est $100/150,000). Te market for his work is strong.


Fine Chinese Paintings $2,674,625 (w/BP), 113 lots, $1,500,000-2,700,000, 86 lots sold, (76% by lot, 85% by value)


CHRISTIE’S


Coral ‘kuilong’ snuff bottle, 18th century, height 5.8 cm, sold for $25,000 (est $18/25,000), Bonhams


While some of the prices in this sale were totally anticipated, such as the $1,068,500 (the week’s highest price for a Chinese painting) realized by the cover lot, lot 13, a pair of large hanging scrolls, Luohans, in ink and colour on paper, by Ding Yunpeng (1547-1628) and Sheng Maoye (active 1607-1638), had an estimate of $200/400,000, several others were unforeseen. Formerly in the collection of artist John Franklin Koenig, who had found them in Japan in the 1950s/60s, they were both important and had an old Japanese provenance. Although it was noticed as a work of quality during the sale viewing, an album of 10 double leaves in ink on silk/gold-fleeced catalogued as (attributed to


paper (lot 17)


‘Chen Juzhong, ‘Southern Song


dynasty)’, the $81,250 price bore little relationship to the estimate ($4/8,000). Despite its poor condition,


several bidders went after lot 40, a two-panel screen in ink on gold on silk, Calligraphy in Seal Script by Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), and it fetched


$68,750 (est $2/3,000).


Among the predominantly modern works in the sale, lot 74,Lady Holding a Cat, a hanging scroll in ink and colour by much favoured artist Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) was the leader, selling for $112,500 (est $112,500). Works by Pu Ru (1896-1963) also did well.


Japanese Works of Art $1,025,906, 372 lots,


BONHAMS


$1,200,000-1,700,000, 196 lots sold, (53% by lot, 65% by value)


Bonhams remains the only New York auction house to hold Japanese works of art sales the same week as other Asian art sales, but this market is still a difficult one. Few Japanese or UK collectors and dealers in this field were in town, which was reflected in the results. While they still yield the highest prices, Meiji period (1868- 1912) decorative arts did not fare as well as hoped but were nonetheless the top sellers. Te sale’s highlight, lot 1286, was an early 20th-century Meiji period square Satsuma vase by famed potter Yabu Meizan (1853-1934) decorated with raised enamels. Its large size and rarity (only one other of this scale is known) appealed to a UK


current market. Although a number of bottles sold below the estimates, there were highlights among the jade, glass and porcelain bottles. Te top price, $47,500, was achieved by lot 217, a large carved gray, black and white jade bottle, Master of the Rocks School, 1740-1840 with a landscape scene, which had passed through the hands of Robert Kleiner, Robert Hall, and Hugh Moss (est $24/34,000). Among the glass bottles, for which this collection is known, lot 224, an enamelled white glass bottle by famous Beijing snuff bottle artist, Wang Yisan, executed 1964-1966, stood out, selling for $40,000 (est $20/30,000). Leading the porcelain bottles was lot 228, a lovely famille- rose bottle from the Jingdezhen kilns, with a Qianlong mark and of the period (1760-1799), fetching $38,750 (est $15/20,000).


CHRISTIE’S South Asian Modern +


Contemporary Art $9,885,625 (w/BP), 75 lots, $8,030,000-10,720,000, 62 lots sold, (83% by lot, 89% by value)


Christie’s were pleased with the results of this sale. More than 45% sold above the high estimate. Works by important Modernist artists were in great demand. Te saleroom was full, and the crowd stayed until the end. Tere was also a lot of action on the internet, which clients from India are already very familiar with. Te cover lot, lot 414, a major and well- known work by Vasudeo S Gaitonde (1924-2001), Untitled, an oil on canvas, exhibited in the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi’s


1996 exhibition


commemorating 50 years of Indian independence,


fetched $44,092,500, the second highest price for the artist


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