Page 26 - Chinese Export Art Christie's New York, Jan 21, 2016

THE SOWELL COLLECTION

MANDARIN & MENAGERIE:
THE JAMES E. SOWELL COLLECTION, PART III

Over a period of twenty years James Sowell slowly assembled the
best collection of Chinese porcelain birds, animals and figures
in the country. Not only comprehensive, the Sowell Collection
features jewels of top quality in each category it encompasses, from
important, large pairs of majestic birds, courtiers and exotic animals
to charming and colorful figures of laughing boys and courting
couples.

The collection resided happily in the Sowells’ Dallas home
surrounded by classic English furniture of the Georgian period. In
2008 the export collection was published by Sowell’s dealers and
advisors Cohen and Cohen in a lavishly illustrated and researched
book, Mandarin and Menagerie.

A thread running through all of the Sowell Collection is stellar
provenance. With acquisitions from landmark London and
Paris auctions as well as from top European dealers, the Sowell
Collection represents the enduring pleasures of the finest works of
art. Christie’s is very pleased to bring this last tranche of the Sowell
Collection to market, so that other collectors can enjoy these
intriguing and appealing porcelains.

38
A RARE JAPANESE PORCELAIN
RECUMBENT CRANE
ARITA, CIRCA 1800
With one wing raised and the head looking
back, finely modeled neck and breast feathers
and the crown in iron-red

9Ω in. (24 cm.) long

$10,000-15,000

PROVENANCE:

Acquired with Joshua Sinai, New York.
Bonhams, London, 2004.

LITERATURE:

op. cit., pp. 253, no. 17.7

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