Ten Works from '5000 Years' — Specialist's Favourites | Chinese Works of Art

W ith works of art spanning the Neolithic period in the third millennium BCE right through to the end of the Qing dynasty, Sotheby’s auction 5000 YEARS opens on 5 June, bringing together a broad range of the rich heritage of Chinese art, while also exploring the flourishing and dramatic innovations evidenced through a variety of mediums. The sale features archaic jades, Ming and Qing imperial porcelain, masterworks of Chinese painting, and Buddhist art. It is an abundance of riches. Deputy Director and Specialist Vivian Tong highlights ten pieces that have caught her eye – works of particular beauty and appeal, not to be overlooked by collectors as they explore the many treasures within this fine assemblage.

Floral Cup
'Buffalo' Cups
Jade Scraper Blade
Table Screen
'Phoenix' Pendant
Sparrow And Lotus
Zhadou
Octagonal Box
Crystal 'Peach'
Scholar's Object

An Agate Bamboo-Handle Floral Cup

_{17TH CENTURY}
_{Estimate: HKD 60,000-80,000}

This translucent walls of this elegant vessel is infused with the subtle glow of twilight, bringing to mind Tang dynasty poet Wang Han's fine wine in a luminous goblet (夜光杯) from the "Liangzhou Verse." Modelled in the form of a five-petal mallow flower, the agate cup is set with a beautifully detailed, segmented bamboo handle.

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A Pair Of Famille-Rose 'Buffalo' Cups

_{SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD OF DAOGUANG}
_{Estimate; HKD 150,000-200,000}

In the fields, a herd boy rides atop a buffalo as he tends to two goats. The landscape scene yearns for gentler bucolic days, where life is in complete harmony with nature. This fine vessel with a gently flared rim and delicately enamelled painting is a masterpiece of the nineteenth century.

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A Small Jade Scraper Blade

^{NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LONGSHAN CULTURE}
_{Estimate: HKD 20,000-30,000}

The translucent colours and warm tones of the Longshan culture jades provide a tantalising glimpse into the history of the earth from which ritual and utilitarian pieces were unearthed, and suggest the mysteries of a long vanished culture that flourished in Neolithic northeast China.

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A Wood-Mounted Grisaille-Decorated 'Bogu' Table Screen

_{SIGNED BI ZHEN (WANG QI)}
_{Estimate: HKD 200,000-300,000}

This minimalist rendering of archaic vessels achieves both a sense of antiquity and modernity. The panel of the 'Bogu' table screen reaches thousands of years back to depict ancient shapes and, yet, regards these objects in a manner akin to the modern still life.

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A Black And White Jade 'Phoenix' Pendant

_{WESTERN HAN DYNASTY}
_{Estimate: HKD 20,000-30,000}

The phoenix coils around its body, completing the circle. The jade stone's variegated black and white tone creates an striking contrast that is in perfect harmony with its crisply detailed plumage.

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Xie Yuemei

_{SPARROW AND LOTUS}
_{Estimate: HKD 20,000-30,000}

Depicted in this hanging scroll is a blue lotus, intricately rendered, along with, a furled leaf in inky shades. Perched above is finely feathered single sparrow seen from below in an interesting perspective.

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A White-Glazed Zhadou

_{JIN DYNASTY}
_{Estimate: HKD 70,000-90,000}

“The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history.”― Oscar Wilde

This zhadou is an unadorned beauty – its elegant curves shown to ever more alluring effect with its thin, transparent white glaze.

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A Mother-Of-Pearl Inlaid Lacquer 'Figure' Octagonal Box And Cover

^{YUAN – MING DYNASTY}
_{Estimate: HKD 80,000-120,000}

The cover depicts a scene of three scholars on horseback in a courtyard of a pavilion, and each side panel details the scholars engaged in leisurely pursuits. The piece is inlaid with wafer-thin shells that allow the creation of complex pictorial scenes which include architectural details and nuances of human figures.

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A Rock Crystal 'Peach' Box And Cover

_{QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD}
_{Estimate: HKD 120,000-150,000}

The rock crystal approaches perfection. Gracefully worked into the form of a peach with naturalistic rendering of foliage around the sides, the box and cover are from the Qianlong period, but the beauty of the piece is truly timeless.

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A Bronze 'Monkey And Prunus' Scholar's Object

_{17TH CENTURY}
_{Estimate: HKD 8,000-12,000}

This is an intriguing object for the scholar’s table. These two delightful monkeys are sure to amuse as they play and perch atop a gnarled prunus tree. The attractive patination to the contorted surfaces of the bronze adds colour to the piece.

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