A 250-year-old lotus vase and a virtuosic 20th-century ink scroll will be up on the block at Tokyo Chuo Auction’s 2016 Spring Sales in Hong Kong, running May 29 and 30 at the Four Seasons Hotel.These masterpieces are just two highlights among the more than 500 pieces of traditional Chinese art up for sale at the auctions. Prospective buyers will have the opportunity to choose from a diverse collection that includes ink paintings, fine ceramics, period furniture, and jewelry.Produced in the Qianlong period (1736-1795), the lotus vase is rendered in the doucai style, in which enamel is painted over a blue cobalt underglaze. With its delicate iron-red dragon handles and elaborate decorations, the vase exemplifies the best of Qianlong ceramics. It is listed with an estimate of $774,000 to $1,032,000.Another can’t-miss lot is “Year of the Great Harvest,” 1948, a whimsical ink scroll from master ink painter Qi Baishi. This work, which carries an estimate of $361,200 to $645,000, depicts a group of rats feasting on ripened rice grains. In a press release, the auction house notes that while the subject matter seems grotesque, Qi approaches it from a novel perspective, and that “under his brush, the scene becomes an adorable, almost comical snippet from nature.”The auction house has divided the lots into five categories: Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy, Fine Chinese Modern Paintings, Fine Scholar’s Objects, and a themed sale titled Ichigo Ichie — The Art of Tea Ceremony.Tokyo Chuo Auction’s 2016 Spring Sales run May 29-30 at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.
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