A JAPANESE BRONZE CROSS WITH AMIDA NYORAI (AMIDA BUDDHA) EDO PERIOD OR LATER, 18TH CENTURY OR LATER The central figure seated on a lotus throne, his hands clasped together in a gesture of prayer, a circular mandorla behind him with fleur de lys-shaped ornaments, the cross with four quatrelobed apertures to the ends, 25.3cm. See The Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, access. n. 2011-02283 for another example of Edo period cross with a central figure of Amida Nyorai. Also J Welsh, After the Barbarians II, Namban Works of Art for the Japanese, Portuguese and Dutch Markets, pp.278-281 n.34, where a comparable bronze cross is illustrated and discussed. Christianity first appeared in Japan in the 16th century with the arrival of Navarrese missionary Francis Xavier (1506-1552). It quickly reached the higher strata of society, with Daimyo families such as the Satsuma clan joining the faith, partly to have access to imported goods (such as guns) Portuguese Jesuits were trading in. Christianity was fully banned from Japan by Tokugawa after the Shimabara rebellion of 1637-38 during which Christian peasants rebelled against the Shogunate. Other factors led to the ban, including the possible involvement of Portuguese Jesuits and suspicions that converts were spies for foreign powers. The edict outlawed the promulgation of and adherence to the religion. It also marked the beginning of a long period of anti-Christian persecutions that lasted for two and a half centuries. Sign boards such as lot 266 where set up all over the country, encouraging people to report Christians to the authorities for various financial rewards (500 pieces of silver for a priest, or 100 for an ordinary convert). Symbols and objects used for Christian worship were destroyed or desecrated. Lot 268 is an example of this iconoclasm, with the inscriptions to the sides of the incense burner erased to hide its original use. Christian practitioners who refused to renege their faith had to go into hiding and worship in secret. Figures of Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, and of Amida Buddha (lot 267) were adapted to resemble Christian iconography and become the central point of focus of hidden altars. Crosses and figures of Christ (lot 269) were hidden in ordinary objects such as this fake smoking pipe. After the Meiji restoration and the re-establishment of religious freedom, more than 30,000 secret Christians came out of hiding in the 1870s.
We found 640875 price guide item(s) matching your search
There are 640875 lots that match your search criteria. Subscribe now to get instant access to the full price guide service.
Click here to subscribe- List
- Grid
-
640875 item(s)/page
TWO JAPANESE WOVEN BAMBOO IKEBANA BASKETS, HANAKAGO MEIJI PERIOD OR LATER, 20TH CENTURY The tallest with a square-section body and long vertical strips, tatezashi, with a tall loop handle above, the other with a bulbous body woven in a diagonal pattern, a bail handle of gnarly rootwood above, both unsigned, 49cm and 45cm.(2) Provenance: both from a Spanish private collection, Madrid. The tallest purchased from La Boutique Japonaise, Geneva, in the 1990s, and the other from Katie Jones Oriental Art, London, in June 1995. A copy of the original Katie Jones invoice is available. PLEASE NOTE THIS LOT IS TO BE OFFERED AT NO RESERVE.
A SMALL PARCEL-GILT BRONZE SAWASA BOX AND COVER 18TH CENTURY Possibly an incense or seal paste container, the flattened body raised on a short circular foot, the sides engraved with bands of chevrons and sprays of peaches, chrysanthemum and pine, the lid with shaped cartouche depicting a blossoming prunus tree and two birds, the inside gilded, 6cm. (2) Cf. The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Sawasa, Japanese export art in black and gold, 1650-1800, pp.107-110 nos.E.5.1 to E.5.7 for related examples of Sawasa boxes.
A LARGE JAPANESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL PLAQUE IN THE STYLE OF ANDO JUBEI (1876-1953) MEIJI PERIOD, 19TH/20TH CENTURY Depicting a full moon on a dove-grey ground appearing from behind clouds, the scene subtly rendered in musen shippo (wireless) enamels, signed and with two red seal marks for Maruyama Okyo (1735-1795), the reverse with a pattern of V-shaped wires, 52cm x 36.6cm. Provenance: from the collection of Reverend Victor Farmer (1898-1977) and thence by descent. This large plaque features the complex technique of musen shippo or wireless cloisonn? enamels. Developed by the artist Namikawa Sosuke and his Shippo Kaisha studio in the late 1870s, the wireless technique allowed artists to create soft pictorial effects such as this diaphanous night scene. Many other artists, including those of Ando Jubei's studio, copied this style of cloisonn? by using a variety of methods. One approach was to temporarily attach the wires and remove them once the enamel powders had been applied before firing. Another method was to hide wires under subsequent layers, and a third was to dissolve the wires with sulfuric acid and fill the gaps with a final layer. In all cases the enamels had to be ground flat several times to create a smooth surface for the next layer to be applied; this would have been a time-consuming and painstaking process. Cloisonn? makers only rarely created grey monochromatic pieces and even fewer featured designs from Edo-period painters. Although this plaque doesn't bear a mark for the cloisonn? maker, it features the signature of the famous painter Maruyama Okyo (1735-1795). Okyo is commonly regarded as one of the greatest artists of 18th century Japan. Coming from a humble farming background, he made his way to Kyoto where he found work painting faces on dolls. Okyo then discovered optical devices featuring pictures with a European perspective, and from there grew his interest for Western paintings. His style developed to offer a unique marriage of Japanese aesthetics, traditional Chinese influence and Western naturalism. Okyo founded the influential Maruyama School of painting, encouraging his students to sketch from life, himself drawing nude figures in varying poses and superimposing clothes afterwards. His art grew enormously popular with the public and the Imperial court from which he would get many important commissions.
TWO JAPANESE CAST-IRON KETTLES AND COVERS, TETSUBIN MEIJI PERIOD OR LATER, 19TH OR 20TH CENTURY One with a rough ishime (stone texture) surface decorated with a dragon emerging from clouds, its curling tail visible on the reverse, the other with a pattern of raised dots, arare, and a seal mark underneath the spout, both lids with finials shaped as flower buds, together with an iron dish shaped as a large lotus leaf, signed Nobumitsu saku, in a fitted tomobako wooden box, 30cm max. (6) Provenance: from the collection of Mr Richard Nathanson (d.2018), London. The tetsubin with dragon purchased from Peter Sloane, London, on 3rd February 2016; the iron dish from Grace Tsumugi, London, on 8th February 2011. Copies of the original invoices are available. Richard Nathanson began his career at Sotheby's in 1966 and was immediately captivated by Impressionist and early 20th century art. He subsequently set up as an independent art advisor in that field, in which he became well respected and known, in particular for his involvement with the work of artists such as Sisley, Modigliani, Rouault, Bonnard and Albert Houthuesen. During his lifelong career in the art world, Richard expanded his expertise across time and space and gathered an extraordinarily eclectic collection of artworks which included classical, medieval, African, Asian and Oceanic pieces as well as folk art, natural forms and early toys. As he learnt more about these cultures and the art they inspired, his profound admiration for them grew, broadening his spiritual and philosophical outlook. He observed the intense affinities between these pieces, sometimes separated by millennia and thousands of miles and was fascinated by the conversations that arose between these various expressions of human experience. Richard felt that art had the ability to give hope and inspiration in the human quest for truth and beauty.
INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN All that relates to Guns and Shooting by Lt. Col. P. Hawker, 11th edition, edited by his son Major PWL Hawker; Partridge Driving by Charles E.A. Amington; The Moor and the Lock and minute instructions to all Highland Sports by John Colquhoun; The Art of Shooting by Charles Lancaster; and Shooting with Game and Gun with notes by Blagdon (5)
A MASSIVE CHINESE BLACK AND CELADON JADE 'YINGXIONG' GROUP QING DYNASTY The stone skilfully worked with a single-horned mythical beast carved from the black section of the stone whilst an eagle is predominantly picked out in celadon, both creatures stand side by side gazing backwards with well-defined bulging eyes, the eagle with its left leg raised and talons tightly clasped, with an old paper label to the shoulder of the lion-like beast, all raised on a rocky platform, the black and celadon areas of the stone both with white and russet markings, 34cm, 10kg. The imagery depicted is an interpretation of the motif of an eagle, ying, and a bear, xiong, which together form the word yingxiong, homophone for 'hero'. The theme of an eagle and bear first appeared on Western Han dynasty bronze 'champion' vases. This developed throughout later periods into more stylised representations where the bear is often rendered as a mythical beast resembling a lion and the eagle is sometimes portrayed as a phoenix. Provenance: from the collection of Reverend Victor Farmer (1898-1977) and thence by descent. Whilst Farmer sold several Chinese ceramics at Sotheby's in 1961, he was primarily a collector of Chinese hardstones and other works of art. Much of his collection was also sold at Phillips on 15th February 1978. Cf. A Forsyth and B McElney, Jades from China, p.292, no.292 for a Ming dynasty jade carving of an eagle perched on a lion-like mythical animal in the collection of The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath; see also Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st December 2016, lot 172 for another Ming piece with a comparable subject matter and lot 203 for a related small 17th/18th century yellow jade 'yingxiong' carving depicting a bird of prey with a similarly rendered mythical beast.清 糖色玉雕英雄擺件來源：Reverend Victor Farmer （1898-1977）收藏，1961年Farmer曾經在蘇富比出售過他的瓷器收藏，1078年2月15日在Phillips上拍過他的玉石收藏。
A CHINESE GUAN-TYPE ZHADOU QING DYNASTY The lobed compressed circular body surmounted by a tall neck and flared foliate rim, the interior and exterior both covered with a pale blue crackled glaze, the base with a paper label for the Seligman collection, 18.3cm. Provenance: formerly the Seligman collection; and then an English private collection since 1965. Brenda Zara Seligman (1882-1965) and her husband Charles Gabriel Seligman MD FRS (1873-1940) were clients of Bluett's and travelled to China and Japan between 1929 and 1930, recording their purchases in journals. In 1966, the Arts Council organised an exhibition of 351 exhibits from 'The Seligman Collection of Oriental Art' and a number of items were donated to the British Museum.清 仿官釉渣斗來源：Seligman舊藏，1965年英國私人收藏。
A LARGE CHINESE AUBERGINE AND GREEN GLAZED 'FIVE DRAGON' DISH SIX CHARACTER KANGXI MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1662-1722 The centre finely incised and enamelled in aubergine with a five-clawed dragon in pursuit of a sacred pearl amidst flames and stylised clouds, the design encircled by two dragons, with a further two dragons chasing flaming jewels above a band of lappets to the exterior, all against a vivid green ground, the base glazed white and with the reign mark in underglaze blue, 31.4cm. Cf. Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain: The S C Ko Tianminlou Collection, Part.2, p.132, no.87 for a dish of the same design; see also B Yang, The Tsui Museum of Art: Chinese Ceramics IV Qing Dynasty, no.115 for another example; see also Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th October 2007, lot 1612 for a comparable dish. 清康熙 綠地褐彩趕珠龍紋盤《大清康熙年製》青花楷書款
A RARE CHINESE FAMILLE VERTE 'SCHOLARS' BOWL KANGXI/YONGZHENG The deep U-shaped body supported on a short tapering foot and rising to a flared everted rim, finely painted with two seated scholars relaxing and drinking tea by a cluster of rocks and shrubs, with an attendant standing to the side ready to assist, the reverse inscribed with a poem, with a six character Hongzhi mark to the base, 11.5cm. Provenance: given to the current owner in Hong Kong in 1980 by Brian McElney, founder of the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath. 清康熙/雍正 粉彩高士詩文碗《大明弘治年製》青花楷書款來源：1980年在香港由巴斯東亞藝術博物館創始人Brian McElney贈予現藏家。
XUE SONG (1965-) MONUMENT ON GREY BACKGROUND A Chinese painting, mixed media on canvas, signed Song 98, with inscriptions on the back dated 1998 and signed in Chinese, Xue Song 1998, 180cm x 150 cm. Provenance: from an English private collection, acquired from ShanghART Shanghai on 10th October 1999 for $7,000, a copy of the original invoice is available. Experiences are often the source of artistic creation. When Xue Song's studio burned to the ground, the accident inspired him to use ash and soot as a symbol of rebirth in his art. Xue uses charred and burned fragments of his previous works, newspapers and books to create collages of iconic politicians, calligraphy, Western art icons and pieces inspired by classical Chinese watercolour paintings. In Monument on Grey Background, Xue draws from one of Xu Beihong's famous horse paintings, reconstructing its iconic imagery using hundreds of prints of historically and politically famous figures, whilst prints of early Chinese stone rubbings are used for the background. In doing so, Xue attempts to generate a conversation with the old masters, creating a discourse between the old and the new, and building bridges between the East and the West. 薛松（b.1965）底座是灰的紀念碑 混合材料畫布 畫框款識：松，98，《底座是灰的紀念碑》薛松，1998。來源：英國私人收藏，1999年10月10日以7000美金的價格購於香格納畫廊（附發票複印件）。
λ A CHINESE RHINOCEROS HORN 'MAGNOLIA' LIBATION CUP 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY The flaring body shaped as a magnolia flowerhead, the exterior carved in relief with blossoming magnolia and flowerbuds, the twisting branches forming a short foot, together with an openwork wood stand carved with flowers and branches, 9.5cm, 68g. (2) Provenance: from the collection of Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart, OBE, CIE, and thence by descent. Stuart was in India between 1928 and 1949 and he was a State Magistrate in the Indian Civil Service. After retiring he returned to Edinburgh. Cf. Asian Art I, 12th November 2014, lot 155 for a similar example sold in these rooms. Please note that an export licence will only be granted for rhinoceros horn pieces should the hammer price meet or exceed the value of 100 USD per gram of the item's weight.十七/十八世紀 犀角雕玉蘭花杯來源：Malcolm Moncrieff Stuart收藏，1928年至1949年Stuart曾任印度地方法官。
A RARE CHINESE IMPERIAL INSCRIBED TWO-COLOUR LACQUER TEA BOWL SIX CHARACTER QIANLONG MARK AND OF THE PERIOD 1736-95 The deep bowl flaring at the rim, carved to the exterior in cinnabar lacquer with the poem Sanqing Cha ('Three Purity Tea') composed by the Qianlong Emperor, the verse dated to the bingyin year corresponding to 1746 and followed by the seal marks Qian and Long, with bands of ruyi-heads encircling the rim and foot, all reserved on a black lacquer leiwen ground, the interior in black lacquer, 11.1cm. The Qianlong Emperor is believed to have written the poem Sanqing Cha in the bingyin year on his birthday whilst drinking tea on a cold day. During a visit to the sacred mountain Wutai Shan, the Qianlong Emperor drank tea brewed in snow water, which is believed to give the tea a unique flavour and purity. The poem describes this tea, which was made with prunus blossoms, finger citron and pine nut kernels. A translation of this poem by C F Shangraw is published in Chinese Lacquers in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Orientations, April 1986, p.41. Provenance: purchased from Gerard Levy, Paris, c.2007, and by repute formerly the collection of Ernest Grandidier (1833-1912). Cf. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, museum no.FE.63-1974 for another bowl of this type; see also Zhongguo qiqi quanji ('Complete series on Chinese lacquer'), vol.6, pl.211 for a pair of related bowls in the Tianjin Municipal Art Museum. See also Christie's Hong Kong, 2nd December 2015, lot 3163, Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th October 2007, lot 1644, Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3rd April 2018, lot 3441, and Bonhams San Francisco, 21st June 2011, lot 8237 for further examples. This design is also found on blue and white and iron-red porcelain. See S Marchant & Son, Exhibition of Qing Mark and Period Blue and White, 1984, no.26 for a bowl inscribed with Sanqing Cha in underglaze blue.清乾隆 剔紅御題詩碗款識：梅花色不妖，佛手香且潔。松實味芳腴，三品殊清絕。煮以折腳鐺，沃之承筐雪。火候辨魚蟹，鼎煙叠聲滅。越甌潑仙乳，氈盧適禪悅。五蘊凈大半，可悟不可說。馥馥兜羅遞，活活雲漿澈。據佺遺可餐，林逋賞時別。懶舉趙州案，頗笑玉川譎。寒宵聽行漏，古月看懸玦。飲飽趁幾余，敲吟與無竭。乾隆丙寅小春禦題。此诗为乾隆皇帝于乾隆十一年（1746）秋巡五台山，回程至定兴遇雪，于毡帐中以雪水烹煮三清茶时所作。來源：2007年購於巴黎Gerard Levy，Earnest Grandidier（1833-1912傳）。
A CHINESE CLOISONNE 'BUDDHIST LION' BOWL MID 16TH CENTURY The exterior decorated with lotus flowerheads, the interior with a roundel enclosing fish encircled by four lion dogs, 22.5cm. Cf. R D Hickman and C Brown, Chinese Cloisonne, The Clague Collection, Phoenix Art Museum, pl.8 for a comparable bowl.十六世紀 銅胎掐絲琺瑯折枝蓮花紋撇口碗
Liberty style Art Nouveau display cabinet, the sweeping pierced three-quarter galleried top with floral marquetry inlaid roundel to the centre, the lower section with two floral marquetry inlaid panelled cupboard doors above a lead glazed cupboard door with fruit and leaf decorated marquetry inlay to the lower panels, flanked by two shaped shelves and square pilasters, on square tapering legs and chamfered square feet, 105cm wide by 179cm high
Loading...-
640875 item(s)/page