Asian Art

Glasgow saleroom Mulberry Bank will offer a late 18th century Qing famille rose bottle vase with an estimate of £1.5m-2m in its October 20-21 auction.

Initially described as a 19th century glass font for an oil lamp and pitched at £40-60, this bell-shaped vessel drew wide interest before the September 1 sale at Tring Market Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire sold a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period dish for £230,000 (plus premium) on September 29.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong autumn series posted benchmark sums in two Chinese works of art categories. Records were broken for both ceramics and carved jade.

A collection of early 20th century Chinese silver attracted wide interest at Catherine Southon’s (18% buyer’s premium) September 6 sale at Selsdon, south London.

A selection of good online illustrations plus a brief noncommittal description can be the regional auctioneer’s safest route when offering Chinese works of art. It proved successful when a porcelain bowl was consigned to the September 7 sale Greenslade Taylor & Hunt (19% buyer’s premium) held at Taunton.

Tapering cabinets or yuanjiaogui were valued by the Ming and Qing for their practical use, as the primary place of storage for clothes and linen, and also paintings and books.

Paul Moss chose an unorthodox route to move the family firm into its second century. Here he discusses his passion for ‘great’ Asian art, the ebbs and flows of the market and succession planning.

This rare 17 x 2ft 8in (43 x 82cm) Korean cinerary chest dates from the Koryo period. This kingdom effectively united the Later Three Kingdoms in AD936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until the Koryo dynasty was removed by the founder of the Choson in 1392.

This 17th century Indian painting attributed to one of the finest artists of the Mughal court was recently discovered in a private collection in Suffolk. Sworders will offer it for sale in their December 5 Country House Sale with an estimate of £10,000-15,000.

Traditional tastes and newer trends were in evidence at auctions in London, the regions and overseas during the past 12 months. Here ATG selects its hammer highlights...

More than 300 auctioneers outside China and Hong Kong conduct regular sales of Asian art – many of them in the market centres of France, the US, Germany and the UK. Here we present a selection of forthcoming events from around the world.

Every work of art speaks about the culture from which it came, the artisans who made it or the history of collecting and artistic appreciation. Rather than huge commercial worth or ostentation, a strong narrative is the defining feature of so much Asian art.

Different regions of the world conduct their main Asian art series at different times of the year. Here ATG focuses on some of the main events on the calendar.

Lazarus Halstead, head of Asian art at Chiswick Auctions, describes this 33ft (10m) long handscroll as “both a work of art and an historical document”.

Welcome to Antiques Trade Gazette’s annual barometer of Asian art, in which we read the runes of this most fascinating of markets.

A long tradition of trade between China and Java culminated with the establishment of a trading colony in 1297, early in the Majapahit period (1292-1500).