A calcified jade figure of a cicada Han dynasty | 漢 玉蟬

Tuyet Nguyet was a Vietnamese journalist who founded Arts of Asia with her English architect husband Stephen Markbreiter in 1970, combining her interests in Asian art and antiques with her journalistic background to promote an understanding and appreciation for Asian art and culture. Tuyet and Stephen were pioneers in travelling to China as early as 1965, before it opened to the world. Early issues included a focus on the Palace Museum, Beijing, and the Temple of Heaven.

The magazine quickly became recognised as the foremost international magazine of Asian arts and antiques, with the largest circulation of any Asian art magazine. Supported by leading museums, cultural organisations, auction houses and art dealers, and collectors and students of art, it offered essential reading for knowledge of Asian art and culture.

Both Tuyet and Stephen have now passed on, but Tuyet lived to enjoy the celebrations commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Arts of Asia in 2020, and the magazine continues to flourish in print and digital versions.

Tuyet and Stephen were indefatigable art lovers, collecting across a very broad range of categories. In October 2010, Sotheby's was privileged to be entrusted by the family with a group of six rare gilt-bronze Buddhist sculptures from the early Ming period, a highly successful 'white-glove' sale which fetched a spectacular total of HKD73million.

Sotheby's is delighted to be offering two sales here: the first, a collection of Buddhist metalwork sculpture; the second, a collection of jade carvings and China coast paintings. The scope of the Buddhist metalwork sale ranges from the Pala of eastern India, through the Khasa Malla kingdom of Western Nepal, to Tibet and finally China. Highlights of the sale include a powerful silver and copper-inlaid Pala figure of Manjuvajra and a magnificent large gilt sculpture of Shakyamuni Buddha. The group of Chinese jade carvings and China coast paintings encompass the breath of China's long history of craftsmanship as well as the fascinating period of early global trade in the Qing dynasty. Highlights in the sale include a yellow jade figure of a deer, a white jade figure of a boy on hobby horse, A Portrait of Howqua by Lamqua, A View of Hong Kong from the Victoria Harbour by Youqua, as well as a fine selection of paintings and drawings by George Chinnery.