Page 16 - Asian Decorative Art Bonhams Dec 20 16

PROPERTY FROM ANOTHER OWNER
9031
A BLUE AND WHITE CERAMIC FIGURE OF DRAGON
Vietnam, Nguyen dynasty
The dragon arching its back as it strides upon an irregularly modeled
base of swirling water or clouds, the whiskers and mane, scales and
claws on the dragon separately applied and various details drawn
in faint underglaze cobalt on the creamy white glazed surface, the
underside left unglazed (chips, old repairs).
15in (38cm) long
US$1,500 - 2,500
Provenance
originally purchased, Hong Kong, 15 April 1979.
The delicate underglaze cobalt blue lines to the details as well as
the general look and feel to the paste seems to share a strong
affinity with other Vietnamese ceramic figures going back as far as
the 15th-16th centuries. See for example the incense burner in the
form of a bearded man as well as the kneeling figure with ceremonial
headdress as published in John Guy and John Stevenson,
Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition (Chicago: Avery Press,
1997), 369. There do not seem to be other published examples of
dragons of this complexity from that early date.
However, elaborate dragons of this type with flaring whiskers,
fetlocks and manes are ubiquitous throughout Vietnam adorning the
eaves of temples and tombs. For just one example, see the Phuoc
Hai Pagoda of Ho Chi Minh city built in 1906 as published in Vo
Van Tuong, Viet Nam Danh Lam Co Tu [Vietnam’s Famous Ancient
Pagodas] (Hanoi: Nha Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Xa Hoi, 1993), 216, as
well as other examples passim.
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF A PROMINENT BAY AREA
COLLECTOR
9032
A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE DEEP DISH
Vietnam, 15th/16th century
Thickly potted and painted in underglaze blue with a leaf scroll band
along the stepped rim, a flower head and leaf band on the curving
well and a large composite chrysanthemum spray filling the center
roundel, the reverse enlivened with a jeweled lotus band on the walls
and a chocolate brown wash to the recessed base (chips, hairline
crack).
14 3/4in (37.5cm) diameter
US$800 - 1,200
9033
A GROUP OF NINE BLUE AND WHITE CERAMICS
Vietnam, 15th/16th century
Including one tall-footed bowl with brown wash to the base; one
deep saucer dish with flared walls, peony flower central medallion
and brown wash to the base (rim ground); on shallow saucer dish
with cursorily drawn flower and leaf roundel and brown was to the
base (foot ground down); three covered boxes of differing shapes
with and decoration (wear, staining); and three jarlets of varying sizes
with similar flower and leaf spray decoration (minor chips.)
4in (10cm) height of tallest
6 1/8in (15.5cm) average diameter of saucer dishes
US$800 - 1,200
14 | BONHAMS
9034
A GROUP OF SEVEN THAI CERAMICS
15th/16th century
Including two celadon glazed wares: the first a large bowl with
a decorative combed band on the interior walls and vertical ribs
finishing the exterior walls, the second a compressed globular jar
with two loop handles and incised overlapping leaf pattern on the
wide shoulder; and five ceramics with iron decoration including first
a wide bowl with striping and grass-patterned bands, the second an
extremely compressed globular jarlet and cover with leaf scroll and
overlapping lotus petal decoration (possibly assembled), the third a
compressed globular box and cover with flower head bands beneath
an pale opalescent blue glaze, the fourth another box of similar form
but with flat cover and painted with large-scale foliate scroll patterns
(cover retouched and repaired), the last covered box molded with
faceted walls and edges to the cover (all with degraded glazes, some
with old chips).
11 3/4in (30cm) diameter of the celadon glazed bowl
US$800 - 1,200
PROPERTY FROM ANOTHER OWNER
9035
A GROUP OF THREE LARGE UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND
ENAMELED DISHES
Vietnam, late 15th/early 16th century
Painted in a combination of underglaze blue and traces of overglaze
enamels with a bird on a flowering branch on two dishes, two birds
on a fruiting branch across the third, cloud patterns filling the interior
walls, traces of a lotus petal band encircling the exterior walls and
brown wash applied across the recessed bases (extensive degrading
to glaze and enamels moderate to extensive staining).
13 7/8, 13 5/8 and 13 1/2in (35.3, 35 and 34.3cm) diameters
US$700 - 900
Provenance:
Butterfields, San Francisco, sale 7178O, 3 December 2000, lot 6354
(one dish illustrated)
PROPERTY FROM JADESTONE, PORTLAND, OREGON
9036
A SMALL COPPER ALLOY BUDDHIST SHRINE
Myanmar
Executed in a Shan state style, depicting a Buddha with his right
hand lowered in dhyana mudra, seated at the center of on openwork
square plinth that is covered by an elaborately roofed edifice rising
above openwork walls, the cover meant to recall the ‘House of
Jewels’ in which the Buddha meditated (losses to roof, corrosion and
burial soil adhering).
8in (20.2cm) high
US$700 - 900