I hope that everyone enjoyed the northern hemisphere spring period despite the rather mixed weather that we have been having.
I had a busy period after my return from Australia, which included a trip to Durham for the opening of the new Malcolm MacDonald China gallery and I helped to arrange a handling session for young auction house specialists and museum staff at the East Asian Art Museum in Bath.
I also viewed most of the spring London auctions for clients, which I have covered in some detail.
I wish everyone a relaxing summer season and look forward to seeing some of you over this period.
Best wishes,
Robert Bradlow, July 2024.
26 March – Opening of the Malcolm MacDonald Chinese Gallery, Durham Museum
On 26 March I travelled up to Durham to the opening of the new Malcolm MacDonald China Gallery at the Oriental museum in Durham.
On arrival Dr Craig Barclay, Head of Museums, Galleries & Exhibitions and curator Dr Qin Cao gave the opening address to the large group of attendees and a bit of history to the gallery.
Malcolm John MacDonald (1901-1981) was the son of the first Labour prime minister Ramsay MacDonald and had a successful career in the diplomatic service which included postings to South East Asia, and Africa. He later followed in his father’s footsteps and became an MP and cabinet minister in the 1930s and later served as the British High Commissioner to Canada from 1941 and Governor General in Malaya in 1946.
He began collecting his greatest love – Chinese Imperial ceramics, after being posted to Singapore in 1948 as Commissioner General. He was reported as being a rather eccentric diplomat and supported the peaceful end of the Empire. His personal relationships would prove to be key to his success as a diplomat and collector.
The China gallery is located in the lower ground gallery and the exhibits were arranged in chronological order in the long continuous glass cases, set against the back wall. Beginning with early bronzes and jades and then ceramics running from the Han dynasty through to some contemporary Dehua ceramics.
Of the Song ceramics, the large Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) Ding dish is a particularly fine example and is freely carved to the interior with lotus. Next to this is a small, bright blue-glazed Northern Song dynasty Junyao dish, a small Southern Song dynasty (1127-1275) faceted Guanyao bottle vase and a beautifully crackled foliate Ge washer, dated Song to Yuan dynasty.
Another Song dynasty highlight is the striking Cizhou ‘peony’ meiping vase. The decorator has created a particularly dramatic effect by carving through the upper black slip, to reveal the creamy white slip ground below.
The layout of the works of art including early and later jades, scholars objects, metalwork, currency and lacquer are distributed throughout the gallery in free standing cabinets, or ones against the opposite wall.
Through the numerous information boards, caption cards and the chronological and thematic approach to the exhibits, the gallery is ideally suited to students from Durham University and local schools.
Early Ming dynasty blue and white is represented with a Xuande mark and period (1426-1435) ‘lotus bouquet’ dish, a Xuande mark and period stembowl, dou, and a Yongle Period mantouxin bowl.
Later Ming dynasty examples include an unusual Wanli mark and period (1573-1620) wucai fish jar, painted with large lively fish swimming amongst breaking waves.
Two yellow ground pieces are also of note, one being the Hongzhi mark and period (1488-1506) dish painted with underglaze blue gardenias. The other piece is a Zhengde mark and period (1505-1521) zhadou, painted with lively five-claw dragons.
A stand out piece in the Qing dynasty imperial ceramics is the small Qianlong mark and period pilgrim flask. The shape and the decoration is based on slightly larger early Ming dynasty examples. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, great control was achieved in firing copper-red pieces and the colour in this example is very consistent throughout.
There were a number of contemporary ceramics at the end of the long walled cabinet, with some examples from the Dehua kiln. I have illustrated one figure below as a contrast to the more familiar Guanyin figures that one sees from this kiln.
I believe that the curators have created a well lit and attractively laid out gallery that successfully tells the story of Chinese Art, from the earliest Neolithic period to the 21st century.
12 April – Handling Session at the Museum of East Asian Art Museum, Bath
The second handling session for younger members of the art market and museums was held at the East Asian Art Museum in Bath on Friday 12 April. It is an independent museum, that was founded by Brian McElney OBE (1932-2023). He was born in Hong Kong and ran a successful law practice there after gaining his qualifications in London. It was around this time that he began collecting Chinese and East Asian art and he was a founder member of the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramics Society, which was established in 1974 and the only Western member of the prestigious Min Chi Society.
After his retirement, McElney left his collection to the Museum, which opened in 1993 as an independent charity. The collection has been added to since then and now houses nearly 2000 items.
Dominic Jellinek, Stuart Balmer and I had visited a month earlier to make a selection of objects from the Sydney Smith (1911-1988) study collection. Smith was a professor of zoology at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge and a connoisseur of fine wine, who left his study collection to the Museum (via Bluett’s). 1.
The session was held in the offices at the top of the building at a long table. At first we looked at a number of works of art and of particular note, was the contemporary carved bamboo veneer wrist rest. It was beautifully worked in shallow relief depicting a praying mantis amongst branches of flowering passion fruit.
Two of my favourite works of art were boxes and covers in the form of crabs. They were beautifully carved from horn and bamboo respectively and appeared really lifelike when held in the hand.
The first piece of the ceramics that created some discussion, was a large doucai dish. The decoration was quite unlike anything we had seen previously. It was painted with a doucai thin border at the rim and a design of prunus predominantly in iron-red and gilt. The painting, the glaze and general feel of the dish left some question marks as to its dating, which we generally felt was later than the Kangxi period.
We then compared a Kangxi period aubergine-glazed dish to a Jiajing period blue-glazed one. Both examples have a central dragon to the interior with others below the rim, but the Jiajing period example faces the viewer and the Kangxi example is seen from the side chasing a flaming pearl.
The Kangxi period doucai jar and cover and the small peach decorated dish were both finely painted and really good handling pieces. The former was decorated with scholars in a fenced garden unfurling a scroll and playing a qin and the latter with branches of fruiting peaches. The decoration of the dish is predominantly in underglaze-blue and green enamel, with just a hint of red in the fruit.
The famille rose floral decorated bowl with a Yongzheng mark encouraged a lot of discussion. The decoration was not in the style of the Yongzheng period but looked 20th century. The mark, the footrim and the glaze all looked period, which led to the conclusion that this was most likely a fired blank, which had been later decorated.
The last group of decorated pieces were the three doucai month cups and it was instructive being able to compare examples from the Kangxi (1662-1722), Daoguang (1820-1850) and the Tongzhi (1862-1874) periods. All were quite different in their quality, painting style and shape.
Finally we looked at some white wares, with a Kangxi mark and period anhua dragon bowl and two Dehua bronze form censers. The Kangxi bowl was beautifully potted and the well written mark in underglaze blue to the base contrasted well with its white ground.
We were really grateful to the staff at the East Asian Art Museum in Bath to have had the opportunity to handle such interesting pieces from their study collection and to have shared them with young members of the business.
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19 April – Two Chinese lots at the Christie’s The Collector sale, London.
Whilst I was in London on 19 April, I popped into Christie’s, to view the Chinese pieces in their online Collector sale.
The first of the two pieces that caught my eye was lot 139, a rare pair of Kangxi mark and period famille verte dishes painted with birds perched on branches of prunus. They had originally come from the London dealer John Sparks Ltd and carried an estimate of £8,000-12,000, but not surprisingly sold well beyond this at £69,300.
The other piece was lot 178, a silver-gilt mounted 17th century Dehua teapot. The mounts were believed to be Dutch, dating to around 1680, which really complimented the creamy-white glazed ovoid body. It sold for £6,930 against an estimate of £6,000-8,000.
The Spring London and Regional Chinese Sales.
16 May – Bonhams Fine Chinese Art
Bonhams London’s sale began with 52 lots from the collection of John Bodie OBE.
John had begun collecting art in the mid 1950s after being invited to the country home of the property developer Harry Hyams. After the purchase of his home he made contact with Peter Vaughan of John Sparks Ltd, who helped him fill two niches on either side of his fireplace with Chinese porcelain. This was the beginning of John’s fascination with this field.
He was to go on to buy some important imperial pieces, as can be seen from some of the highlighted examples below. He bought a number of these at auction from Sotheby’s and from London dealers such as William Clayton Ltd, Bluett & Sons, Roger Keverne and Marchant.
I first met John early in my time at Sotheby’s London, around 2008 and after updating his valuation, we developed a friendship that lasted right up to his death in September last year. I have many fond memories meeting John at his regular table at Wiltons in Jermyn Street, where he would quiz me on my latest travels and exploits in the Chinese world. He was a very good listener and alway excellent company and would often surprise me with his knowledge of numerous subjects and people from the property world to growing alpine plants.
John generally bought what caught his eye and what he liked – the act of a true collector and he was often humble about his view of his collection. When it came to its sale in May, the 106 lots were split between Bonham’s Bond Street (52) and Knightsbridge branches (54) and in total sold for £2.25 million (with buyers premium), which would have no doubt surprised and amused him.
The sale also featured 21 lots of imperial porcelain from a European collection. I have highlighted a couple of the more unusual pieces, such as lot 100, the Kangxi period copper-red beehive water pot, painted with Magu in a chariot being pulled by a deer. It sold for £23,040 against an estimate of £5,000-8,000.
Lot 109, a rare blue and Yongzheng mark and period white ‘dragon’ meiping vase was quite unusual in that the dragon incised into the body was highlighted in blue. This is quite different from the usual painting onto the surface of the piece and the effect is rather subtle. It sold for £25,600 (Estimate £20,000-30,000). The collection made just under £600,000 with buyer’s premium.
Another interesting group in the sale was 14 lots from a Princely Collection. A number of pieces from this collection have come up at auction in recent years at Christie’s and Bonhams. The top selling lot of this group was lot 81, a Qianlong period Yixing stoneware slip-decorated brushpot, bearing a three character makers mark of Yang Jichu. Yang Jichu was recorded in the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods for creating fine quality brushpots in slip-painted decoration. It sold for £178,200 (Estimate £120,000-180,000).
Another fine example of Yixing stoneware, was lot 84, the early Qing dynasty double-gourd shaped brushwasher with the seal mark of Cheng Mingyuan. The carving of the form and the leaf carved in relief is of the first quality. It sold for £70,250 (Estimate £30,000-40,000). Both of these lots had previously been offered by Bonhams Hong Kong in November 2011 as part of the collection of the retired London dealer Gerard Hawthorn.
The most significant lot in the sale was lot 92, an extremely rare imperial Yongzheng period yellow-ground embroidered silk ‘dragon’ robe, jifu. No identical example exist in public collections and this is one of the earliest know robes of its type made for an Empress or Empress Dowager. It was also in remarkably good condition and unsurprisingly it sold for £368,700 against its presale estimate of £60,000-80,000.
The sale realised £4.85 million with buyers premium and an impressive sell through rate of 85%.
13 to 14 May – Bonhams Knightsbridge Asian Art Sale
The beginning of the first day of the Bonhams Knightsbridge sale also (as mentioned) featured 54 lots from the John Bodie OBE collection. The collection was split between the two salesrooms on the basis of their quality and rarity.
However, the top selling lot of the sale was lot 488, a Yongzheng period yellow-ground underglaze blue floral vase, yuhuchunping. It had been slightly cut down at the neck and the mark most likely removed. However, the well organised design was finely painted and contrasted well with its yellow ground. It sold for £71,520 against its presale estimate of £1,500-2,000.
Another highlight piece from the sale was lot 554, the Ming dynasty gilt-bronze figure of Weito Pusa, who stands with his left hand raised and stares intently into the distance. It also sold a long way above the estimate at £28,160 (Estimate £3,000-5,000).
The sale realised £1.85 million with 86% selling by lot and the week of Asian sales at Bonhams realised £7.34 million.
15 May – Roseberys
I viewed Roseberys during the Asian Art week and was quite surprised to see such a large collection of unglazed Han and Tang dynasty pottery figures, some of which were of fine quality. Most were purchased from galleries in Hong Kong, Japan and Europe in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The most interesting and top selling lot of the sale, however was lot 49, the pair of blue and white and iron-red double-gourd sectional wine warmers, ewers and covers. They were dated as Mid-Qing dynasty, one with Yang he tang hallmark and the other with apocryphal Yongzheng marks. They sold for £338,240 against their presale estimate of £6,000-8,000.
The two day sale achieved £1.41 million with buyers premium.
17 May – Chiswick
Chiswick Auctions sale this season featured 14 lots from the renowned collection of Basil and the Hon Nellie Ionides. My pick of the lots from the sale was two Kangxi period famille verte dishes, lots 21 and 22, which were painted with two ladies, one depicting them seated on a rocky bench and reading, the other depicting one reclining, whilst the other is seated holding a fan. They sold for £15,120 and £16,38 respecitlvey.
The other highlight lot from the same collection was lot 25, two 18th century large and rare soapstone standing court figures. Unusual in being quite so large, they depict an official and a court lady. The figures were carved in naturalistic poses and their robes were finely detailed with dragons and floral roundels. They sold for £20,160.
21 and 22 May – Dreweatts
I attended the London viewing of Dreweatts, who had an interesting selection of Chinese ceramics and works of art. The top piece in their sale was lot 130, a rare Jiaqing to Daoguang period imperial ‘twelve symbol’ blue ground gold silk kesi dragon robe, longpao. The robe had been brought back from China in 1913 by Eric Hyde Villiers (1881-1964) as a gift for his father. It had been kept wrapped up in a tailor’s box until it was discovered recently. It sold for £150,000 against its presale estimate of £30,000-50,000.
Other highlights included lot 34, a large and rare Qianlong mark and period ‘imperial tribute’ Canton enamel tripod censer, lot 98 an 18th century rectangular bronze ‘archaistic’ censer and lot 198, a 17th/18th century Dehua figure of Guanyin.
The two day sale achieved £1.59 million with buyers premium.
21 May – Woolley & Wallis
Woolley and Wallis held their sale on the same day and featured some early jades from the collection of Professor Peter Hariolf Plesch (1918-2013) and Gerta Regina ‘Traudi’ Plesch OBE (1921-2013). The top selling lot from this group of 31 lots was lot 4, the Song to Ming dynasty creamy-white jade figure of a chimera, seated on rockwork, with its head facing back. It sold for £41,580 against a presale estimate of £10,000-20,000.
The top selling lot of the sale was lot 66, a rare Nepalese gilt-copper figure of Indra. It is seated in the ‘royal ease’ pose and the head is slightly lowered with the face in a serene expression. It sold for £100,800 (Estimate £80,000-120,000).
The three days of Asian sales realised over £2.2 million with buyers premium.
Notes
- Davids, Roy, Jellinek, Dominic, Provenance, Collectors, Dealers and Scholars: Chinese Ceramics in Britain and America, p. 403.
