Under the Hammer

This May, Bonhams will hold a series of three Asian Art auctions in London, presenting a vast array of lots that span geographies, time periods and mediums. Commencing the season on 9-10 May, the Asian Art auction will take place in our Knightsbridge saleroom before the Fine Chinese Art and Polish and Poise: Japanese Art across the Centuries sales on 12 May in New Bond Street, London.

Ahead of the auctions, we spoke to the specialists behind each sale about their top picks going under the hammer, from a Ming Dynasty bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni to an exceptionally polished lacquer panel by Japanese artist, Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891).

A Pair of Cloisonné Enamel 'Double-Gourd' Vases

The shape of a double-gourd - so-called for its resemblance to the climbing vine plant, bottle gourd - was particularly favoured for its auspicious association with fertility and longevity. Since bottle gourd fruits contain numerous seeds, this shape was often used to symbolise a prosperous lineage with many descendants. Echoing these associations, the extensive network of vines and tendrils on this very fine pair of vases again symbolises the continuity of generations and descendants. As with this pair, double-gourd-shaped decorative objects and vessels made for the Qing court often bear the characters da ji, heralding the coming of 'great fortune'. 

A Massive Famille Rose Pair of 'Wu Shuang Pu' Baluster Vases

This pair of vases are decorated with figures taken from the Table of Peerless Heroes. Also known as Wu Shuang Pu, Table of Peerless Heroes is a book of woodcut prints that was first published in 1694. In painting, prose and poetry, the album details the life and accomplishments of forty well-known figures in Chinese history dating from the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) to the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD). The original album was illustrated by Jin Shi of the Qing Dynasty, a noted figure painter who studied with fellow artist Chen Hongshou.

Widely disseminated, the Table of Peerless Heroes was also used in decorations of Chinese porcelains beginning in the late 17th century. The current pair of vases are impressive both for their size and finely detailed depictions of the numerous characters - with inscribed scrolls, tablets, coins, and chains identifying each figure - in rich famille rose enamels.

A Rare and Fine Spinach-Green Jade Carved ‘Eight Luohan’ Table Screen

This green jade is exquisitely carved with eight Luohans at leisure in a rocky grotto, each with their respective attributes. Luohans, known as 'Guardians of the Buddhist law', became popular in China in the 7th century as figures who attained the fourth stage of enlightenment. Gilt inscriptions incised on the reverse of the screen display poems written by the Qianlong emperor, identifying and eulogising each Luohan, which makes it likely that this jade was specially commissioned by the emperor or presented to him as tribute.

This lot is one of the highlights from the Wilson Collection of Chinese Art, formed by James Basil Wilson and Julia Wilson in the 1970s and kept within the family for over four decades. The collection comprises a select group of rare jade carvings, most of which date to the Qianlong reign, the zenith of jade carving during the Qing Dynasty.

An Exceptionally Rare Large Imperial Yellow-Ground Silk Brocade ‘Dragon’ Altar Cover

Superbly woven with a profusion of gold and silver, this magnificent altar cover is a splendid testament to the scale and opulence of the Court during the Qianlong reign. Writhing dragons ride the heavens amidst vaporous clouds and rolling waves. The underneath of the cover carries the original Court storage labels reading 'Number Three on the Eastern Side’, which indicates its original use on a large altar table in one of the main halls of an Imperial residence.

Coming up in the Fine Chinese Art auction, this exceptionally rare altar cover has been selected by Linda Wrigglesworth, who has curated a selection of exceptional textiles in the sale. Before Wrigglesworth, the altar cover was formerly owned by Major General John Heron Maxwell Shaw Stewart (1831-1908), the nephew of the 6th Baronet of the Shaw-Stewart Baronetcy of Scotland.

Similar examples to the present alter cover are the yellow-ground silk altar and seal chest covers in the Palace of Earthly Repose, in the Forbidden City, Beijing, where sacrificial banquets were held and Imperial seals were stored.

A Very Rare Large Gilt Bronze Figure of Buddha Shakyamuni

Conveying a high degree of power and presence, this large-scale figure of Buddha Shakyamuni is notable for its crisp casting and meticulous attention to detail in the gentle folds of the elegant monastic robes, foliate scrolls, and diaper patterns. The figure was consecrated through religious ritual, with yellow textiles from the consecration ceremony still remaining in the hollow of the figure.

Alongside the figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, The Dr Walter Rieder Collection of Chinese Art covers over 70 lots offered in both the Fine Chinese Art sale in New Bond Street, London, as well as the Asian Art sale in Knightsbridge, London. Dr Walter Rieder (1890-1986) formed his collection whilst serving as a teacher in the Swiss East Asia Mission (SOAM) in Qingdao, Shandong Province, between 1930 and 1951. As such, the objects offer a unique window into the antiques available on the market in Qingdao in the second quarter of the 20th century.

Something to Crow About: Lacquer Panel by Japanese Artist Shibata Zeshin

This striking image by Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891) inspired the theme and title of our upcoming Japanese Art sale, ‘Polish and Poise’. Starting in the 1870s, Zeshin — a genius who’d already revolutionized the traditional world of Japanese lacquer — began to experiment with horizontal panels that aimed to emulate the scale and impact of framed Western-style oil paintings.

This masterpiece, created during the closing years of Zeshin’s long career, uses a combination of highly polished lacquer with intricate carving to render the distinctive plumage of a crow seen against a night sky, which is contrasted with scattered, shimmering snowflakes and chilly mist suggested by silver flakes and powders. The rough rocks at the right are rendered in sabiage, one of Zeshin’s trademark finishes made from a mixture of raw lacquer and charcoal or grindstone powder, here worked in high relief and embellished with fragments of iridescent shell. A faint streak of red — the only non-metallic colour used, apart from black — indicates the crow’s tongue and raucous cawing.

During his own lifetime, Zeshin’s panels were selected for display at government-sponsored international and national exhibitions. They were mostly purchased by rich landowners and industrialists such as Iwasaki Yanosuke, a founder of the Mitsubishi business empire; today, only a very few remain in private hands.

Set of Miniature Masterpieces
by Shibata Zeshin

These tiny, enchanting images show a facet of the protean creativity of Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891) that contrasts strongly with the bravura of his crow panel. Depicting the 12 animals of the traditional East Asian zodiac, they’re executed in urushi-e, literally ‘lacquer painting’. This technique was developed by Zeshin during the 1870s in which the viscous sap of the lacquer tree is used in place of sumi (traditional ink made from pine soot and animal glue) and applied directly to the paper with a painting brush, thereby bypassing all the elaborate processes needed for conventional lacquer work.

During his last decade or so, Zeshin used urushi-e to celebrate a range of traditional Chinese and Japanese themes, often binding the pictures into little albums like this one. The albums seem like nostalgic farewells to a vast heritage of culture and myth that were fading from view during the late 19th century, a victim of Japan’s headlong embrace of the modern world.

Here, Zeshin not only applies the principle of shasei (‘drawing from life’ or ‘naturalistic drawing’) that he had absorbed during a long period of study in Kyoto early in his life, but also conveys each of the 12 creatures with affectionate detail. Each animal is enhanced by touches of lacquer so deftly executed that the images still glow, just as they did 130 years ago.