LÊ QU0C L0C (VIETNAM, 1918-1987) – A Mekong river landscape with a village
Described as rare and important this six fold Mekong river scene by Le Quoc Loc made a hammer price of €360,000 at the James Adam sale of Asian art in Dublin today. This screen is typical of the artist’s work, in the sense that the predominant tones are red and dark brown combined with gilt. It depicts a bird’s eye-view animated landscape, as seen from the top of a hill, crossed by Mekong river arms. The in-depth perspective is created by a succession of grounds. In the first two the artist used a gilt lacquer to depict trees, including palm trees. In the middle on the left, is a traditional thatched houses hamlet. Then come Mekong river arms. The composition may roughly be described as being divided into two parts by a diagonal going from the upper left corner to the lower right corner – thereby creating two triangular shapes – and playing with empty and full. The estimate for the screen was €200,000-€400,000.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for June 25,2022)
STONE-EMBELLISHED GILT COPPER ALLOY FIGURE OF AN ELEVEN-HEADED AVALOKITESVARATIBETO CHINESE / SINO-TIBETAN, POSSIBLY 18TH CENTURY
This mercury gilt and stone embellished figure made a hammer price of €19,000 at the opening day of three days of sales of Asian art at Adams in Dublin today. It was formerly by repute in the collection of Juan Carlos Katzenstein (1925-2018), Argentinian diplomat and ambassador in Beijing from December 1975 to January 1978, and later to the Holy See (Vatican) and to the Sovereign Order of Malta from 1989 to 1991. The upper estimate was €15,000. The auction kicked off with the sale of a white jade melon and butterfly linked box and cover from an Irish collection for €15,000 over a top estimate of €8,000. A Famille Vert Month cup with Kangxi mark and seal mark reading ‘Shang’ with a top estimate of €2,000 made €33,000 at hammer.
Lacquered wooden panel of a seated young beauty with flowers by Alix Ayme. UPDATE: THIS MADE 80,000 AT HAMMER
The fabulous arts of Asia – magnificent, rich, colourful, symbolic, auspicious – will come under the hammer at three days of sales at James Adam in Dublin kicking off next Tuesday. More than 1,000 lots including newly discovered masterpieces of fine Chinese and Himalayan art will feature in two Asian Spring auctions and one of decorative Asian art. There will be global interest in an auction series which has been already previewed at the Pagoda Fair in Paris. Irish collectors and those dipping their toes into this market for the first time will find plenty of opportunities at sales where estimates range from €80 to €400,000.
In an era of fakes, knockoffs and forgeries seasoned collectors of Asian art value provenance very highly. These auctions are rich in works from well known collections like that of Carlos Alfredo Tornquist Altgelt (1885-1953); Juan Carlos Katzenstein (1925-2018); Jorge Casares of Buenos Aires and Canadian industrialist Baron Sir Duncan Orr-Lewis. The top lot of the auction is a rare six panelled lacquered wood screen of a Mekong River landscape with village by Vietnamese artist Le Quoc Loc (1918-1987). This 1943 panel is estimated at €200,000-€400,000. From snuff bottles to carved animals to screens and vases there is enough jade to make one green with envy. On day one there are Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze figures, rock crystal censers, blanc de chine porcelain vases, Chinese export porcelain, silver, cloisonne ware, an opium tray, furniture, art and scrolls.
Le Quoc Loc – Six panelled lacquered wood screen of a Mekong River landscape with village. UPDATE: THIS MADE 360,000 AT HAMMER
The emphasis on Wednesday is on Vietnam, Indochina, Asian painters and Japan. There are some Japanese prints along with a selection of art and artefacts headed by the six fold lacquer screen by Le Quoc Loc and a beautiful lacquer panel with a Byzantine inspired gold ground by Alix Ayme (1894-1989), professor at the Indochina Fine Arts College in Hanoi. The artist, once a pupil of Maurice Denis, was instrumental in the revival of the ancient art of lacquer which she taught in Hanoi. On Thursday the sale of decorative arts is brimful of interest. The Chinese incorporate auspicious symbols in nearly every aspect of life, including arts and culture. All sorts of symbols represent their aspiration for a longer, more prosperous and happier life. Lot 701 is a Famille Rose eight boys bottle vase. Three of them are climbing up the vase, and the depiction of five on the shoulders is particularly auspicious as it signifies the saying “wu zi deng ke” referring to the supreme achievement of one family whose five sons passed the civil service examination. (In my view the most auspicious thing about this is that they did not live next door!).The catalogue is online and viewing is underway at St. Stephen’s Green.
A JADE SNUFF BOTTLE CHINA, LATE QING DYNASTY. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This jade snuff bottle is lot 11 at three days of sale of Asian art at James Adam in Dublin next week. The catalogues for Asian Spring 1, Asian Spring 2 and Decorative Asian Art are online and in person viewing gets underway at St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin on June 24. The auctions, which feature lots from noted collections, have already been previewed at the Pagoda Fair in Paris.
This portrait of a young lady with a blue scarf is the catalogue cover lot for the James Adam sale of Fine Asian Art in Dublin next Tuesday (November 23). It is by Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000) who graduated from the fine arts school of Hanoi in 1931, in which year he participated in the Paris International Exhibition. He settled in France where he was mostly known for his sculpture. Influenced by Fauvism and the Paris School his creations lie on the edges of Asian traditions, particularly Chinese and Vietnamese art. This c1950 portrait is estimated at €30,000-€50,000. The sale of 440 lots is split into four sections, Arts of China and Himalaya, Arts of Vietnam and South-East Asia, Asian Painters and Arts of Japan and Korea.
The global search for collectors of rare precious objects marks one way in which the auction world has adapted very quickly to changed circumstances. In 2021 there is nothing particularly unusual about the fact that an Irish firm –James Adam – has already held a Paris preview for a sale of Fine Asian Art due to take place in Dublin on June 29 and 30.The Paris view is not entirely unconnected to the fact that Adams has created its own Asian department and appointed Thibault Duval as its Dublin based head. M Duval was latterly head of the Asian Art Department at Drouot in Paris. This appointment marks a recognition of sorts that if major auction houses in Ireland are to survive and prosper in the 21st century they must open out to the new global realities and view Brexit as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Qing Dynasty russet and white jade group. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000 AT HAMMER
A company like Sheppards in Durrow, Co. Laois with a track record of breaking records for Asian objects and then breaking them again has amply demonstrated that if you can produce the goods the buyers will come.
Adams has some interesting goods to offer in its sale on Tuesday and Wednesday week. Notable consignments include a collection of rare Chinese antiques from the estate of Carlos Alfredo Tornquist Altgelt (1885-1953), a hound scroll painting inscribed with the signature of Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione, also known as Lang Shining, from the collection of Juan Carlos Katzenstein (1925-2018) who served as Ambassador to the Holy See and a wooden ruyi scepter from the collection of Nadezhda, widow of the Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov. There is a famous portrait of Madame Rimsky-Korsakov by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in the collection of the Orsay Museum. In Chinese Buddhism a ruyi can be a ceremonial scepter or a talisman symbolising power and good fortune in Chinese folklore.
Chinese School scroll by Giuseppe Castiglioni known as Lang Shining (1688-1766). UPDATE: THIS MADE 110,000 AT HAMMER
There are Chinese jades last seen at auction at Drouot in 1925 and a jade horse formerly in the collection of Baron Pierre DeMenasce who contributed to an exhibition at the V & A Museum in 1975. A collection of Chinese Republican Period porcelains and an 18th century Meiping vase will feature among the 550 lots on offer.
A total of 144 lots of Asian Art from a private collection in Wicklow will come under the hammer at Sheppards in Durrow on February 20. The selection is broad and encompasses everything from tiny foo dogs to brush washers, monochrome and polychrome porcelain, cloisonne vases, jade pendants, bowls, censers, jardinieres and a couple of lots of Chinese lacquered furniture. Oriental art and porcelain has become a growing sustainer of auction houses in Ireland and it is probably not unfair to remark that in this context Sheppards leads the field.
This pink ground Famille Rose tea tray is among the top lots at the James Adam sale of Asian Fine Art, Oriental sculpture and ceramics in Dublin on November 5. The tray, with Jiaqing mark, dates to 1796-1820. The central reserve has an Imperial poem relating to tea preparation and date corresponding to 1797. It is estimated at 20,000-30,000.
UPDATE: The tray was unsold, a Qianlong Imperial Seal made 32,000 at hammer.
The sale of Asian art at James Adam in Dublin on November 3 features Chinese porcelain from a variety of periods and in various colours, Japanese woodblock prints and some lots of furniture and jewellery in a selection of 336 lots. The most expensively estimated lots are a Yongzheng (1723-1735) green chrysanthemum dish (40,000-60,000) and a blue and white bulbous Zhadou with the mark of Zhengde (1506-1521) and a mid 14th century blue and white peony jar, each estimated at 30,000-50,000.
Yongzheng (1723-1735) green chrysanthemum dish (40,000-60,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 36,000 AT HAMMER
ARE BLUE AND WHITE PEONY JAR, ‘Guan’ mid 14th century (30,000-50,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 240,000 AT HAMMER
The Asian Art section at Sheppards three day sale at Durrow, Co. Laois in September will have its own fully illustrated catalogue. This is the first ever such publication for an Irish auction house. The third day of The Legacy of the Big House sale on September 29 will be devoted to Asian Art and will feature 453 lots out of total 1853 lots for auction.
In May Sheppard’s broke the Irish record set by them for a Chinese object of art when they sold a pair of bottle-shaped vases from the Daoguang period for €200,770. The three day sale runs from September 27-29.
See antiquesandartireland.com for May 13.
A Chinese apple water pot, with veiled design of dragons amongst floral medallions Kangxi six-character mark and of the period 7 cms. high Estimate: €4,500 - 6,500. (Click on image to enlarge).
Pair of Chinese saucer dishes, each delicately painted in iron red with a dragon flying amid fire scrolls. The cavetto of each pierced and decorated with translucent cells and with a six-character Yonghzheng mark in under-glaze blue to the base Each 18 cms. diameter Estimate: €5,000 - 8,000. (Click on image to enlarge).
