The Manfred Arnold collection features 132 examples acquired over a span of 50 years. He purchased his first bottle in 1966 while strolling along Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The Emily Byrne Curtis collection numbers 92 bottles in a range of different mediums. Highlights in the sale include a rare inside-painted ‘portrait’ glass snuff bottle by Ma Shaoxuan (1867- 1939), one of the most technically accomplished artists of the Beijing School of snuff-bottle painting.
Monochromatic portrait bottles of leading Qing officials and personalities are his most famous creations, including an example dated 1925 depicting the Beijing actress Hua Dan Qin Xuefang (1905-31).
Estimate $15,000-20,000.
Monkey outwits turtle
Bonhams’ Fine Japanese and Korean Art sale on September 22 includes a collection of surimono. These woodblock prints (surimono literally means ‘printed thing’) were typically privately commissioned for the literati and this more experimental in subject matter and extravagant in printing technique than commercial prints. Many leading artists produced them from the 1790s to the 1830s.
A woodblock print view of a monkey on a turtle by Katsushika Hokusai is guided at $8000-12,000 at Bonhams.
At 91 lots the George Crawford collection, assembled over 40 years, is one of the largest ever to come to auction and includes works by renowned artists like Katsushika Hokusai, Totoya Hokkei, Yashima Gakutei, and Kubo Shunman. Estimates range from $1000-20,000.
A view of a monkey on a turtle by Hokusai is guided at $8000- 12,000. The print illustrates the popular folk tale of a monkey that outwits a turtle who tries to drown him at sea. Measuring 8 x 7in (21 x 18cm) it comes from the series Mukashi-banashi, chi jin yu (Old Tales of Wisdom, Benevolence, and Valor) published in 1818-1823
