Asian Art

This month’s Asian art series in New York could be the last sales to avoid the new trade tariffs that have been imposed by the Trump administration.

The Northern Wei dynasty (386-534 AD), founded by the nomadic Tuoba clan, was the most long-lived and most powerful of the northern dynasties prior to the reunification of China under the Sui. Most importantly for Chinese art history, the ruling royal family were converts to Buddhism.

Two very different Chinese vases took the limelight at a recent sale Fieldings (24% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Stourbridge.

Indian miniatures are a common sight at UK auctions. With a keen, dedicated and often very knowledgeable collecting base, they remain a somewhat independent but active sub-set of the art market.

South London auction house decided to press pause but was rewarded with a bumper result

An intriguing Indian miniature portrait drew strenuous competition against an estimate of just £30-50 at Clarke’s (18% buyer’s premium) in Shaftesbury, Dorset.

Although hampered by Covid-19 and the ongoing issues surrounding imports of Chinese works of art, the September series of Asian art auctions in New York appears – like most sales in the US – to be remarkably unscathed by recent geopolitical events.

Delay due to lockdown turns out to be a blessing in disguise in terms of consignments

A pair of Chinese export black lacquer chinoiserie decorated cabinets on stands came for sale at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in Wisborough Green, West Sussex on August 11 with a blue-chip provenance.

This 7in (18cm) Satsuma 'koro' is modelled in the form of a 'yoroi bitsu' (Samurai armour storage box) with the 'kabuto' (traditional Japanese helmet) forming the lid.

Solid selling punctuated by a number of estimate-eclipsing bids made the July 17-18 sale a very welcome return to business for Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).

In Tibetan Buddhism the elephant-headed deity Vignataka is treated with considerable ambivalence.

Included in the Asian art section of the Kendzia two-day sale in Hamburg on September 4-5 is this set of nine Kangxi blue and white plates painted with a design of a lotus pond with flowers and insects.

A collection of Japanese arms and armour is a key feature of Cowan’s arms and armour auction to be held in Cincinnati on September 2.

Asian Art in London (AAL) is returning this year with a new format that splits the long-running event between Indian and Islamic art and east Asian art.

Some aspects of the traditional antiques market continue to perform with zest – and ‘folk art’ is among them.

A pair of imperially inscribed Qianlong (1735-96) mark and period famille rose wall vases set a house record for Asian art at Roseberys.

It was during the so-called Transitional period, the era of protracted civil war that marked the transition from Ming to Qing, that the centuries-old system of court-sponsored porcelain manufacture at Jingdezhen collapsed.