Page 32 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Important Chiense Works of Art
P. 32

fig. 1                                            fig. 2
                               எӬ                                                எՀ
         3009

         A VERY RARE WOOD STANDING FIGURE OF GUANYIN                   ٬೐   ᕲ㢰⿮㦉
         NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY (AD 960-1127)
                                                                       ϝᬝ
         The bodhisattva is modelled wearing loose flowing robes, and a dhoti tied with a
                                                                       㫶ᚺሂ卿㙤ऒ䁗卿    ჺս߿ݣ⻦
         sash at the waist, standing on bare feet above a large lotus flower raised on a stem for
                                                                       Ⴃ㿰ᇪ㷥റ卿Ƕ0CKFUT E’"SU EF MB $IJOF
         attachment. The head is tilted slightly forward with a rounded face under the long
         hair swept up into a topknot and secured with a diadem. The eyes are downcast to   $PMMFDUJPO 1BVM )PVP .JOH 5TF EF 1FLJOǷ卿
         provide an expression of deep meditative contemplation.           ჺ ᝲ     ᚚ卿ᐽ৅  ⽚卻ॲː卼
         22 in. (57 cm.) high                                          Ⴃ㿰ᇪ㷥റ卿    ჺ  ᝲ ᚚ卿ᐽ৅  ⽚
                                                                       4BN .ZFST ֖ܿ
         HK$2,000,000-3,000,000                     US$260,000-390,000
         PROVENANCE                                                    ൣ⿫
         Collection of Paul Houo Ming-tse, acquired prior to 1930      㞖㏋‰⧻ワ㱦卿ᮣሲై卿Ƕ'SPN UIF -BOET PG
         Objets d’Art de la Chine, Collection Paul Houo Ming-Tse de Pekin, sold at Hotel   "TJB  5IF 4BN BOE .ZSOB .ZFST $PMMFDUJPOǷ卿
         Drouot, 14-17 February 1932, lot 86 (fig. 1)
                                                                           ჺ ᝲ ᚚ  ᝲ  ᚚ卿ཿ㈇எ㢙㮰
         Sold at Hotel Drouot, 7 October 1987, lot 70
         Sam and Myrna Myers
                                                                       ֩Ḝ
         EXHIBITED                                                     㫶ᚺሂ卿Ƕ㙤ऒ䁗ऒ㌴㢙Ƿ卿࢈ჹ卿
         Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, From the Lands of Asia: The Sam and Myrna Myers   ჺ卿எ‸ ⽚卻ॲ̤卼
         Collection, 4 March – 19 August 2018, Catalogue, p. 132
                                                                       + %FTSPDIFT⤔卿Ƕ5XP "NFSJDBOT JO 1BSJT
         LITERATURE                                                    " RVFTU GPS "TJBO "SUǷ卿Ⴃ㿰卿    ჺ卿㮰
         Paul Houo Ming-tse, Preuves des Antiquités de Chine, Peking, 1930, pl.4 (see      卿எ‸   ⽚
         illustration fig. 2)
                                                                       㫶ᚺሂ卿⊂ᙻ    ჺ卿᱆ᮅ⢆⯞՞೥ǯᭆஇᛞឆᙻ࢈
         Two Americans in Paris – A Quest for Asian Art, ed. J. Desroches, Paris, 2016, p. 113,
                                                                       ՗⣌Ῡऒ⅊ᄕǸ㙤ऒ䁗ǹ卿ԖῩऒ⟐Ǯ㬪㠩Ǯ㪃≢ࣿ
         no. 210
                                                                       㫌౯ǯݯ՞⬛༶ᅓ卿⯝⎑ㇼ㏟⫤Ք჎ᝳᇁ׹卿ᘢ⣌
         The present figure was in the collection of the scholar-dealer Paul Houo-ming-tze (Huo
                                                                       ᏛӶཐ᝖ӽഞⅧ卿ᝤᛓᓠ࡚Ի᪹ᰲཌԋஇណ㫌ד۬
         Mingzhi, b. 1879), whose family home was Shaoxing in Zhejiang province. During the
                                                                       ⎏ᘘ⻦ǯ㉓അ㫶᭄⣌Ꮫ⎏໬ջណ㫌ك׹⯇ྒྷ㇛ǯ
         Republic period he managed a famous and successful antique shop in Beijing, called the
         ‘Studio for obtaining antiques’ where he specialised in selling books, bronzes, ceramics   ჺ卿ݯඋ㉂⡥⡙ + $  .PSHFOUIBV   $P  ᐽ㐈㙤ऒ䁗
         and sculptures. Due to his influential connections at all levels of the antiquarian world,   ⻦৅卿Ԇ⊇ᐽ㐈Ꮢᇑशԋஇᒝ㐩㙓ࢨ։ऒⶸࣿऒ⟐੓
         including the Chinese nobility, he was able to obtain fine works of art objects. It was in   ទǯទཉ㈊㮥ᝪߒᙻ㫶᭄    ჺ߅‸⎏㞒㇝எ㢙Ƕ㙤
         the area of Buddhist art that he played a significant role and facilitated many Buddhist
                                                                       ऒ䁗ऒ㌴㢙Ƿǯ
         wood sculptures, many of these were from the Shanxi province, into collections around
         the world. The present figure was illustrated in Houo’s major publication, the catalogue   ទཉ㈊㮥ᇌἃ⧻இ4BN .ZFST ֖ܿⅧ⻦ǯ.ZFST֖ܿ
         Preuves des Antiquités de Chine, which was published in Beijing in 1930. In 1932, on
         Houo’s instruction, the majority of his items excluding this piece were sold at auction by   ᙻ    ჺջ☭཰Ⴃ㿰卿ཌែᙹ⻱ワ⊄⊂ԻḼ࣡⎏⯞
         J. C. Morgenthau & Co., in New York. The proceeds of that sale enabled Houo to donate   㑪卿㙊⩧ᅤ⛁Ի㎒༛ࢴ㑘⎏ᘘ⻦ǯ    ჺ⧻இᇪ႔ᮣ
         more than a thousand antiques and rare books that sale to the Chinese State.    ᙱై㞖㏋‰⧻ワ㱦ᝪἃ.ZFST֖ܿԠែᙹ⻱ワ⻦৅⯟
                                                                       㗤Ի⁞ཿ卿ݯԋ࣊ࡺᑐԻទཉ㈊㮥ǯ
         The present figure later entered the collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, an American
         couple who moved to Paris in the mid-1960s where they built an extraordinary collection
         focusing on Asian art.
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