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Xugu (1823/4-1896) and Wu Changshuo (1844-1927) Rock and Bamboo, 1887. Estimate: $8,000 - 10,000.

Court and temple

One of the earliest known brass sculptures of the goddess Vajravarahi from 11th century north-eastern India; a beautiful 10th century lacquered wood sculpture of Amida Buddha; and a wonderful grouping of Ming and Qing lacquer wares from the Collection of Robert W. Moore, make star appearances at Asia Week New York which runs from 11-20 March. The very rare figure of Vajravarahi (pictured above)– who has been the most important female meditational deity in Tantric Buddhism in north-eastern India since the 11th century – is offered in the Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art sale on 16 March. It is an exceptionally expressive sculpture, with its complex iconography recalling the Indian myth of the Earth Goddess, envisioned as a young girl rising from the depths of cosmic waters. The alluring buttery patina on the figure suggests it was taken to – and cared for – in Tibet in the 11th or 12th century. In Japan, the first golden age of Buddhist sculpture was during the Heian period (794-1185), which produced the important 10th-century lacquered wood sculpture of Amida Buddha that is offered in the Fine Japanese and Korean Art sale on 17 March. The soft lines, voluminous body and limbs, and almost child like appearance of this representation of the Buddha, with his gently serene expression, are typical Heian features and central to the development of a native
Japanese style
Finally, the Chinese Works of Art and Chinese Paintings sale on 15 March is rich in intriguing collections, but none perhaps finer than that of the legendary Californian collector, consultant and dealer in Asian art, Robert W. Moore. His Ming and Qing lacquer wares include a superb 15thor 16th-century Ming mother-of-pearl and black lacquer octagonal tray that is exquisitely inlaid with a courtly scene of figures at a lakeside pavilion.

Bonhams Asia Week New York sales run from 15 to 17 March at the Madison Avenue saleroom.

True Impressions
Alfred Sisley was unusual among his fellow French Impressionists. For one thing, he wasn’t French. Although born and raised in Paris, his parents were British, and he remained a British citizen his entire life. In his early days as a painter, while others struggled, he enjoyed a comfortable existence thanks to an allowance from his wealthy silk merchant father; yet, after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 ruined his father’s business, Sisley lived in near penury until his death. And, unlike other painters of the group such as Pissarro, he remained true to the original tenets of Impressionism. He continued to paint en plein air, for example, long after his fellow students at the École des Beaux Arts, Monet and Renoir, had largely turned away from the practice. There is no dispute, however, that his work, which sold poorly during his lifetime, deserves to be ranked with that of his greatest contemporaries. Le Chantier de Matrat à Moret-sur-Loing, offered in the Impressionist and Modern Art sale in London in March, is quintessential Sisley. Painted in 1889, it is one of several depictions of the village and its surroundings, paintings that are among his most popular works. He was to capture this scene several times from different angles and in different weather, but never perhaps as ravishingly as here.

Enquiries: India Phillips
+44 (0) 20 7468 8328
india.phillips@bonhams.com

Alfred Sisley, Le chantier de Matrat à Moret-sur-Loing. Estimate: £550,000-750,000

Portrait of an African Soldier by an anonymous artist. Estimate: £100,000-150,000.

A man of two worlds
The Persian city of Isfahan was a melting pot of cultures during the late Safavid Empire in the late 17th/early 18th centuries. Here Europeans and Jews mingled with Armenians and Africans; ambassadors rubbed shoulders with traders; scholars visited – and some stayed and settled. A portrait of an African soldier, offered in the Islamic and Indian sale in March, perfectly captures this cosmopolitan atmosphere. The (unknown) artist was Persian and has created a picture rich in fascinating detail – with typically Persian weapons and equipment borne by a man wearing a European-influenced uniform and hat. Several clues suggest the work was painted for export. The subject is a type, rather than an individual’s portrait, and is painted in oil on canvas rather than being the more usual miniature on paper. But the most telling feature is its shape: most paintings for domestic consumption had a pointed top, so the rectangular shape of this one strongly implies a European client.

Enquiries: Oliver White
+44 (0) 20 7468 8303
oliver.white@bonhams.com

Culture trip
As a young man, Claude de Marteau travelled from his home in Belgium overland to Asia on a voyage of discovery that would change his life forever. The art he encountered on his trip became a lifelong passion.Entirely self-taught, yet famous for his great eye, de Marteau became a respected dealer and eminent authority on the Hindu and Buddhist cultures that once flourished in India, Nepal, Tibet and China. A deeply private man, he spent his later years in seclusion in Brussels in his mansion on the exclusive Avenue Molière, where on his death five years ago the basement was found to be full of astonishing treasures. Starting in March 2022, Bonhams will present the first of four sales dedicated to the Claude de Marteau Collection. Highlights from the collection will embark on a world tour this year that begins in de Marteau’s Avenue Molière house (14-23 May). The exhibition then moves to Paris and Geneva in June, New York in September, and Hong Kong in December. Lots include this magnificent 15th/16th century Tibetan gilt copper alloy figure of the 9th century Buddhist master, Virupa.

Enquiries: Edward Wilkinson
+852 2918 4321
edward.wilkinson@bonhams.com

Barry Flanagan (1941-2009) Harebell on Portland stone piers 1983. Estimate: £300,000-500,000

March Hare
When the daring conceptual artist Barry Flanagan decided to turn his attention to creating bronze sculptures of hares in 1979, some thought it was an eccentric move. But Flanagan would go on to create his playful sculptures – with dark, folkloric overtones – and for the next three decades, his famous leporids leapt into museums across the world. Now his Harebell on Portland Stone Piers – from the same edition on public display the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden – is set to star in Post-War & Contemporary Art sale in London in March. The work, which was created in 1983, comes from the Estate of Gerard L. Cafesjian.

Enquiries: Ralph Taylor
+44 (0) 20 7447 7403
ralph.taylor@bonhams.com

Master of arts
In an age where overuse has diminished the word ‘genius’, Pablo Picasso restores to it some of its former impact. A painter, etcher, illustrator, draughtsman, jeweller and ceramicist, he was never one to underestimate his own worth, and had a shrewd commercial brain to match his restless urge for experimentation. Picassomania – a new sale at New Bond Street on 23 March – shows the master at his most expansive. Here you’ll find the stunning lithograph Visage Marie-Thérèse, one of Picasso’s many portraits of MarieThérèse Walter, his companion and inspiration in the late 1920s and ’30s; Jacqueline au Chevalet, a silver plate bearing the image of his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, of whom he created more than 400 images; Scène bacchique, an etching from the famous Vollard Suite, which was commissioned by Picasso’s Paris dealer Ambroise Vollard; and a work not by Picasso but of him – Robert Capa’s famous photograph of the artist with the painter Françoise Gilot (who is still very much alive at the age of 99) on the beach at Golfe-Juan. A carefree Françoise is the largest figure in the delightful picture, but it is Picasso – impassively holding an enormous parasol – who, as he did all his life, takes centre stage.

Enquiries: Lucia Tro Santafe
+44 (0) 20 7468 8262
lucia.trosantafe@bonhams.com

Robert Capa, Picasso and Francoise Gilot, 1948

Dunrobin Castle

King of the castles
Ever wondered what it was like to live – upstairs and down – in a ducal palace? The Dunrobin Attic sale in Edinburgh in April gives you a chance to find out. Dunrobin Castle – family seat of the 25th Earl of Sutherland – is a jewel in the crown of Scottish ancestral houses, and a decluttering of its attics and cellars has yielded treasures ranging from paintings, portraits and historic photographs to picture frames, marble sculptures, crested dinner services and an array of fascinating objects from the castle’s kitchen. Estimates have been set at a level that will enable as many people to take part as possible. They range from £8,000-12,000 for a portrait of the Duke of Brunswick by the Dutch Golden Age painter Jan van Ravesteyn and £8,000- 10,000 for a pair of Scottish all-metal flintlock belt pistols, made by Alexander Campbell of Doune in the third quarter of the 18th century, to £80-120 for a collection of pewter sugar moulds. Many of the items have been hidden away in Dunrobin Castle for generations and have never before been seen on the open market. The sale promises to be the highlight of the auction calendar, providing a glorious opportunity to purchase a piece of history from one of Scotland’s grandest and most historic castles

Enquiries: Charlie Thomas
+ 44 (0) 20 7468 8358
charlie.thomas@bonhams.com