St George Street Sale: Chinese Art

St George Street Sale: Chinese Art

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  A Blue and White 'Lotus' Cup, Yongzheng Mark and Period.
  Estimate £15,000–20,000.

  Porcelains produced during the Yongzheng Emperor's reign (1723-35) are characterised by a serenity which stems from the masterful delicacy of potting and painting. This bowl is a charming example of such porcelain, with thinly potted walls and decorated in subtly pencilled outlines of a lotus scroll filled with soft washes of cobalt blue.  
  
  

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  A Carved Celadon Jade Ruyi Sceptre, Qing Dynasty, 19th Century. Estimate £10,000–15,000.

  Ruyi sceptres are highly auspicious objects which represent the propitious expression 'as you wish', and embody the abundance of the Qing Empire in both material wealth as well as craftsmanship. Large flawless jade boulders required to produce sceptres of this type are rare, and its long narrow shape resulted in the wastage of a significant portion of the precious material. Thus such pieces were exclusively made for the emperor or a high-ranking member of the Imperial family. 
  
  

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  A Bronze 'Lion' Tripod Censer, 17th Century. Estimate £10,000–15,000.

  The rich patina of the plain body of this censer provides an attractive contrast with the crisply cast heads that form the handles and legs. Bronze vessels of this period were produced in a variety of different forms which combined archaism with innovation. This censer appears to derive from the Neolithic ritual bronze liding which has been modernised through the altered proportions and style of decoration.
  
  

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  A Rare Sancai-Glazed Pottery Horse, Tang Dynasty. Estimate £8,000–12,000.

  Horses of this type are modelled after the fabled ‘celestial’ Ferghana horses, introduced into China from Central Asia during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and immortalised in Chinese literature and the arts. This sculpture would have been created for a wealthy person as horses have long been a symbol of status and were an aristocratic privilege. Furthermore, sancai ware was used in both daily life and as funerary goods and primarily by the upper and wealthy classes.
  
  

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  A Nanmu Daybed, Qing Dynasty, Late 18th/Early 19th Century. Estimate £5000–7000

  Attractive for its simplicity of form, this bed is based on bamboo versions which were popular from the Ming dynasty. As bamboo beds were less durable, hardwood versions that closely followed the original were constructed. For example, the struts encircling the apron which were an integral structural component of the bamboo beds have been retained as a decorative element in the hardwood versions.
  
  

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