The whimsical extravagance of Chinese literati culture from a bygone era will take center stage at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Chinese Works of Art sales in early June.A particular highlight of Sotheby’s June sales of Chinese art this year is the “Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection — Playthings” session on June 2. This will be the fifth sale from a stellar collection of scholarly objects associated with the Chinese literati culture of an elite coterie of Ming and Qing dynasty aesthetes that first started to be assembled in the 1960s.Although the translated English term “playthings” has a frivolous, trivial ring to it, the equivalent Chinese term yiwan has a rather more specific set of connotations pertaining to small, finely worked ornamental items whose owners appreciated their visual, textural, or tactile attributes.Among the exquisite highlights from this group of “playthings” are An Inlaid ‘Hunters’ Zitan Box and Cover (est. HK$2 – 3 million / US$260,000 – 390,000), attributed to Ming dynasty master carver Zhou Zhu, known for his consummate technique of inlaying a diverse assortment of materials including coral, silver, malachite, horn, and even gilt bronze onto wood and lacquer. The box depicts master archer Yang Youji tackling the task of shooting a white monkey assigned to him by the emperor.Another highlight from this section is A Large Gold-Splashed Bronze Incense Burner and Stand from the late Ming-early Qing Dynasty (est. HK$500,000 – 700,000 / US$65,000 – 91,000).Meanwhile, the Chinese Art sales, divided into three sessions on June 2 and 3, comprise several private collections of Song ceramics from Europe and Asia, a private collection of jade carvings assembled since the 1970s, Ming and Qing porcelain pieces, and most significantly, a selection of rare ceramic plaques and screens by the Zhushan Bayou (Eight Friends of Zhushan) from the Republican period, from the Riyue Xuan Collection.The Eight Friends of Zhushan, a coterie of porcelain artisans based in Jingdezhen who had mastered both classical fencai painting techniques in addition to being acutely aware of the contemporary Western and Japanese painting movements of the time. This section is being led by A Famille-Rose ‘Zhong Kui’ Screen by the group’s founder, Wang Qi (1884-1937) (est. HK$500,000 – 700,000 / US$65,000 – 91,000). With its adoption of Western perspective and use of color typical of Western porcelain painting, Wang was considered a maverick and innovator in Jingdezhen pottery at the time.Click on the slideshow to see some of the highlights from the sale.
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