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Lot 164
Leonard Rosoman (1913-2012)Looted Chinese Gravesigned (lower left)oil on canvas20.5 x 33cm. Provenance:The collection of Paul Whitfield (1942–2018).Paul Whitfield’s distinguished auctioneering career began in the furniture department at Christie’s in 1965 rising quickly through the ranks to become managing director at King Street by 1969. Later, he was instrumental in the setting up of Christie’s South Kensington. He was the son of the poet and writer Christopher Whitfield, an early friend of Michael Cardew in the 1920s, and a supporter of Frederick Landseer Griggs.After Christie’s, he worked in roles at Bonhams, Sotheby’s, and finally Phillips. Passionate about his craft, he had a deep knowledge of many areas, including bronzes, furniture, ceramics, and modern British painting. This passion was reflected in his own collection, avidly compiled over his lifetime and housed at his Cotswold home outside Chipping Campden.In retirement, he provided invaluable support to the north Cotswolds’ museums, as a trustee of the Guild of Handicraft Trust and the Court Barn Museum, as well as loaning works of art to the Winchcombe archive collection.
Lot 741
Alan Peters (1933-2009)'Chinese/Gothic' coffee tableyew and cherry woodstamped 'Alan Peters' to the underside42cm high, 142cm wide, 55cm deep. Provenance:The collection of Paul Whitfield (1942–2018)Paul Whitfield’s distinguished auctioneering career began in the furniture department at Christie’s in 1965 rising quickly through the ranks to become managing director at King Street by 1969. Later, he was instrumental in the setting up of Christie’s South Kensington. He was the son of the poet and writer Christopher Whitfield, an early friend of Michael Cardew in the 1920s, and a supporter of Frederick Landseer Griggs.After Christie’s, he worked in roles at Bonhams, Sotheby’s, and finally Phillips. Passionate about his craft, he had a deep knowledge of many areas, including bronzes, furniture, ceramics, and modern British painting. This passion was reflected in his own collection, avidly compiled over his lifetime and housed at his Cotswold home outside Chipping Campden.In retirement, he provided invaluable support to the north Cotswolds’ museums, as a trustee of the Guild of Handicraft Trust and the Court Barn Museum, as well as loaning works of art to the Winchcombe archive collection.Structually solid, minor surface ware but nothing major.
Lot 504
Charles Vyse (1882-1971)Vase, 1927with Chinese cizhou style decoration, lug handles to neckincised initials and date12cm high. Provenance:The collection of Paul Whitfield (1942–2018).Paul Whitfield’s distinguished auctioneering career began in in the furniture department at Christie’s in 1965 rising quickly through the ranks to become managing director at King Street by 1969. Later, he was instrumental in the setting up of Christie’s South Kensington. He was the son of the poet and writer Christopher Whitfield, an early friend of Michael Cardew in the 1920s, and a supporter of Frederick Landseer Griggs.After Christie’s, he worked in roles at Bonhams, Sotheby’s, and finally Phillips. Passionate about his craft, he had a deep knowledge of many areas, including bronzes, furniture, ceramics, and modern British painting. This passion was reflected in his own collection, avidly compiled over his lifetime and housed at his Cotswold home outside Chipping Campden.In retirement, he provided invaluable support to the north Cotswolds’ museums, as a trustee of the Guild of Handicraft Trust and the Court Barn Museum, as well as loaning works of art to the Winchcombe archive collection.Appears in good condition with no sign of damage or restoration. Minor rubbing the the decoration and some small firing dots.
Lot 303
A RARE BRONZE PERFUME FLASK AND COVERSui/Tang DynastyOf ovoid shape rising from a short tapered foot to a long waisted neck and flaring mouth rim, the domed cover surmounted by a lotus-bud finial, with mottled green and brown patina. 15cm (5 3/4in) high. (2).Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價隋/唐 銅長頸瓶Provenance: James Marshall Plumer (1899-1960), Michigan. 來源：James Marshal Plumer (1899-1960) 舊藏, 密歇根Exhibited: The Detroit Institute of Arts, 6 March- 8 April, 1962 (by repute)James Marshall Plumer (1899-1960) was a noted professor and expert on Asian art. Plumer undertook extensive studies abroad, visiting ancient temples and monuments in China, becoming fluent in Chinese, and working as an administrative officer with the Chinese government's Maritime Customs. He was a member of the American Oriental Society, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Chinese Art Society of America, the Japan Society, the Association for Asian Studies, and the Archaeological Society of America. After Plumer passed away, the Detroit Institute of Arts presented a memorial exhibition that featured his collection.For a related bottle vase, Tang dynasty, see also Bronze Articles for Daily Use: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2006, no.156. Another related bronze, Sui/Tang dynasty, is illustrated in Ancient Chinese Arts in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1989, no.330.Compare also with a similar bronze bottle vase, Tang dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 11 May 2021, lot 64.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 308
A RARE AND IMPORTANT SILVER-INLAID BRONZE FIGURE OF GUANYINHe Chaozong seal mark, late Ming DynastyThe exquisitely cast Goddess of Mercy standing on swirling clouds, swaying gently, her left hand gently resting on her right wrist, both elegantly raised with her fingers beautifully coiled, the benevolent facial expression with her eyes downcast in affectionate and meditative contemplation, her flowing robes inlaid with silver-wire patterned as continuous foliate lotus scrolls, cascading down to her feet, draped around the shoulders and open to reveal the chest with a beaded necklace attached with a ruyi fungus pendant, the back with seal mark. 60cm (23 1/2in) high.Footnotes:明晚期 銅嵌銀絲觀音立像「何朝宗印」篆書款Published and Illustrated: Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900, London, 1989, no.7.展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900》，倫敦，1988年，編號7 The present silver-inlaid bronze figure of the Goddess of Mercy is rare and only a few bronze figures of Guanyin of comparable size with similar hand gestures, dated to the Ming dynasty, seem to be recorded. The present lot also exhibits a similar thickness of the silver wire inlay, typical of late Ming dynasty bronzes. Whereas the silver inlay on later examples is usually much thinner. See three similar silver-inlaid bronze figures of Guanyin, Shisou marks, Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Guanyin in the Collection of The Palace Museum, Beijing, 2012, pls.43-45. Compare also with a 16th/17th century silver-inlaid figure of Guanyin, with two-character 'Shisou' mark, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 27th May 2021, lot 27; and another silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin, with four-character 'Yutang Shisou' mark, Qing dynasty, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th May 2014, lot 3529.He Chaozong was a celebrated early 17th century potter who specialised in blanc de Chine wares. Indeed, one can see a related blanc de Chine figure of Guanyin, He Chaozong mark, Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum I, Beijing, 2016, pp.43-45. One of the possibilities is that the bronze Guanyin was directly modelled after the blanc de Chine example. This is not unique; see for example, a related rare and large silver-inlaid bronze figure of Buddha, with inlaid He Chaozong seal mark, which was sold at Bonhams London, 11 May 2017, lot 108. The various examples of bronze and porcelain figures of Guanyin from this time related to the increased demand due to the spread of the Guanyin cult from the late Ming period onwards. This may in part have been spurred by images and statues of the Virgin Mary which were brought to China following Spanish and Portuguese presence in the region in the 16th century from Macau and the Philippines; indeed, there are striking similarities between ivory carvings of Guanyin and Christian iconography; see for example, an ivory carving of Guanyin with a boy in her arms, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Ming and Qing Chinese Arts from the C.P.Lin Collection, Hong Kong, 2014, p.297, no.179. Ultimately however, Guanyin was seen as a compassionate saviour who hears the woes of humankind, regardless of age, gender, or social class. Guanyin became a popular intercessor for humanity to understand divine salvation. In times of increasing political instability and social flux such as the late Ming period and early Qing era, Guanyin would have been a source of comfort for many on the margins of society. As the 'Bestower of Sons', Guanyin was venerated by women who sought to have sons of their own. In Confucian China, women were expected to stay within their domestic spaces, where such personal devotional objects offered opportunities to interact intimately with the divine. Perhaps the increased demand for bronze and porcelain statues reflects the growth of small household shrines, that would have allowed people to create a direct link as the faithful sought to emulate and aspire toward this image of divine compassion and motherhood.Due to the development of metallurgical technology, Ming dynasty bronzes ranked among the most exquisite and admired products of China's so-called 'second bronze age'; see China's Renaissance in Bronze: The Robert H.Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900 , Phoenix, 1993, p.11. The present lot encapsulates the high level of craftsmanship achieved at the time.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 309
TAI XIANGZHOU (b.1968)Cosmos Worlds 1 and 2, 2014Two paintings, ink on paper, each framed. 45cm high x 75cm wide (17 3/4in high x 29 1/2in wide). (2).Footnotes:泰祥洲(1968年生) 天象世界1和2 水墨紙本 鏡框 2014年作Born in 1968 to a scholarly family in the provincial capital of Yinchuan, Ningxia, in north-central China, Tai began his training in Chinese calligraphy at the young age of four. After studying interactive design in Auckland, New Zealand, he led successful careers in digital media and conservation, founding the cultural magazine 'Chinese Heritage'. In 2003, his encounter with the painter Liu Dan pushed him to further explore the techniques of traditional Song and Yuan dynasty paintings. By 2006, Tai had devoted himself to ink painting and had begun to investigate Chinese landscape paintings from the perspective of astrology. Under the mentorship of philosopher Bao Lin, he completed his PhD from Tsinghua University in 2012 with a dissertation entitled 'Phenomena of the Universe-The Concepts and Structure of Chinese Landscape Paintings.' This work was highly admired by renowned art historian Fang Wen, who recommended the book in the preface and recommended for publishing by the Zhonghua Book Company. Attending to the nature of the materials of painting, Tai has researched traditional papermaking techniques and now paints exclusively on paper and silk produced by tenth-century methods. He also only uses ink from the Qianlong era (1736-1795), which is considered to be one of the highest-quality inks. In addition to painting, Tai in 2010 created an interactive and multimedia installation based on classical Chinese cosmology, 'The Gateway of Expedient Means', modelled on medieval revolving repositories of Buddhist sutras and constructed in wood using traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Tai Xiangzhou's works are in the Art Institute of Chicago; the Arthur M.Sackler Museum, Harvard University; the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; the Brooklyn Museum; Princeton University Art Museum; and Yale University Art Gallery.For related paintings by Tai Xiangzhou, see Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, Stanford, 2018, pp.44-45.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 310
A BRONZE ARCHAISTIC PEAR-SHAPED VASEYuan/early Ming DynastyThe elegantly elongated ovoid body rising from a spreading foot with key-fret band to a tall cylindrical neck, the shoulders decorated with four long cicada lappets, flanked by a pair of taotie-mask handles issuing small loops, the bronze with a dark chocolate-brown patina. 25cm (10in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價元/明早期 銅蟬紋鋪首耳瓶Provenance: Ulrich Hausmann collectionSotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2014, lot 3394.來源：Ulrich Hausmann 舊藏香港蘇富比，2014年10月8日，拍品編號3394Similar decoration of divided lappets running up the shoulder can be found on a double-handled pear-shaped vase, Yuan dynasty, illustrated by M.Maucuer, Bronzes de la Chine Imperiale des Song aux Qing, Paris, 2013, p.136, no.86. Similar lappets are also found on a double-handled pear-shaped vase, Yuan dynasty, illustrated D.Failla, Food for the Ancestors Flowers for the Gods: Transformations of Archaistic Bronzes in China and Japan, Genoa, 2017, p.308, no.22.2. Another vase with similar lappets, 12th/14th century, is illustrated by R.Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, London, 1990, p.24, no.14.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 311
A BRONZE 'ARROW' VASESong/Yuan Dynasty Of archaistic form, the globular body cast with four edges and rising to a galleried square mouth rim, all supported on a spreading foot, the neck flanked by a pair of tubular handles cast with a leiwen ground, the upper neck with a band enclosing archaistic motifs against a leiwen ground, the body similarly cast with two further registers enclosing archaistic designs, the bronze patinated to a dark coppery-brown tone. 21.7cm (8 1/2in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價宋/元 銅夔龍紋貫耳方壺Provenance: Ulrich Hausmann collectionSotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2014, lot 3385.來源：Ulrich Hausmann 舊藏香港蘇富比，2014年10月7日，拍品編號3385The present lot's archaistic form, made for the altar or scholar's study, can be found in porcelain. For a closely related bronze 'arrow' vase of similar archaistic design, recently excavated from a chamber beneath the Zhenhai Pagoda, built in 1321 at Haiyan in Zhejiang Province, see R.Kerr, 'Rethinking some Later Chinese Bronzes' in Arts of Asia, Nov-Dec, 2013, pp.91-92, where she notes that the scholars who wrote up the excavation report considered the delicate bronze vessels of Song/Yuan date, such as the one mentioned above, to be among the most valuable relics in the 47 groups of objects.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 312
ZHANG HUAN (b.1965)Untitled, 2006Ink on paper, framed. 119cm long x 80cm wide (46 3/4in long x 31 1/2in wide).Footnotes:張洹（1965年生） 無題 水墨紙本 鏡框 2006年作Provenance: Galerie Volker Diehl, BerlinSotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2016, lot 581 (part lot)Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Chinese Ink Paintings Now, New York, 2010, p.234.來源：Galerie Volker Diehl, 柏林香港蘇富比，2016年4月4日，拍品編號581（部分拍品）Zhang Huan was born in Anyang, Henan Province in 1965. He is an internationally recognised artist whose versatility is evident in performance, photography, sculpture, and installation.After graduating from Henan University, Kaifeng, and teaching art and art history for three years, Zhang moved to Beijing in 1991. He studied oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Actively involved in the avant-garde while living in the famous Beijing East Village, a dilapidated cluster of houses inhabited by young artists in the early 1990s, Zhang moved away from classical art in 1992 and started his signature performances that explore how the body could be a material for art. He continued his performances involving feats of endurance after he moved to New York in 1998 and soon earned international recognition. A survey exhibition was held in New York at Asia Society in 2008.Since moving to Shanghai in 2006 and opening a large studio, Zhang Huan has also explored the possibilities of ink, which he had studied in college. His works in ink and acrylic, or simply ink on paper are visual metaphors of a persistent theme in all of his art, namely the question of the nature of reality and the power of culture. In one untitled work of 2006, for instance, the face of a naked male figure, almost submerged in water, is obliterated by blotches of ink and a horse is placed on his shoulders. It is another example of Zhang Huan's interpretation of the body as a tool which can amplify one's understanding of life; see U.Grosenick and C.H.Schubbe, China Artbook, Cologne, 2007, pp.595-599.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 313
A RARE BRONZE TALL OCTAGONAL CUPYuan DynastyCrisply cast with eight tapering sides rising from a spreading foot, the exterior with panels enclosing a diamond-pattern, the bronze of chocolate-brown tone. 12.1cm (4 3/4in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價元 銅菱形紋八角杯During most of the Song dynasty, ceramic vessels were circular or lobed in section, but in the Yuan dynasty, a secondary, parallel taste emerged for polygonal vessels, evinced by several 14th century blue and white octagonal bottles and jars from Jingdezhen. For a discussion on this, see China's Renaissance in Bronze: The Robert H.Clague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900, Phoenix, 1993, p.33.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 315
LI XUBAI (b.1940)Lush Mountain in Smoky Clouds, 2015Ink and pigment on xuan paper. 178cm long x 97cm wide (70in long x 38 1/4in wide).Footnotes:李虛白（1940年生） 雲煙翠嶂 水墨設色紙本 立軸 2015年作Li Xubai was born in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, 1940. He moved to Hong Kong in 1979, where he has been the editor of art magazines such as 'The World of Collectors' and 'Dragon Roots Art Magazine'. He moved again in 1996, but this time to Canada, where he now lives. Although he began his artistic career by teaching himself Western-style painting, he was interested in Chinese classical literature, poetry and landscape painting since the 1960s. His paintings are influenced by the Song masters of the 12th century, but he maintains his connection with the contemporary world by creating a seemingly flat pictorial space and a pixilated effect that reminds one of digital media. By choosing to paint in a classically derived style, Li Xubai asserts his cultural identity while working in a foreign land. The poems he inscribes on his paintings in traditional literati fashion usually mention his foreign residence, echoing numerous inscriptions by painterly predecessors who wistfully invoked their own political exile. In the present lot for example, Li wrote in the Song dynasty lyric-metre-style. According to the inscription, this painting and the poem were made in Canada at his home.Li's works have been exhibited widely, including at the University Museum and Art Gallery at the University of Hong Kong, Saatchi Gallery in London, and the He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen.Compare with a related painting by Li Xubai, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2022, lot 1010.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 318
TONG YANGTZE (b.1942)Not Acting Does Not Imply an Inability to do so (Mencius), 1996Ink on paper, framed. 69cm long x 137cm wide (24 1/4in long x 54in wide).Footnotes:董陽孜（1942年生） 是不為也，非不能也（孟子） 水墨紙本 鏡框 1996年作Born in Shanghai in 1942, Tong Yang-tze begn to practice calligraphy at the age of eight in the styles of the fourth century Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303-361) and Tang dynasty governor Yan Zhenqing (709-785). She received her BFA from the National Taiwan Normal University, and later studied oil painting and ceramics at the University of Massachusetts, where she received an MA degree in 1970. Tong, who currently lives and works in Taiwan, has gradually developed her own visual language that benefits from her previous training in different mediums and art-forms. Inspired by philosophical works like the Dao De jing and texts from Confucius and Mencius, Tong creates powerful calligraphic works in cursive style (caoshu) that reach toward the extremes of abstraction. Characters are dramatically distorted but usually remain decipherable so that there is a sustained dialogue between content and style, meaning and autonomous gesture. Variations in the width and character of the lines/strokes serve to sustain the effect of movement generated in the execution of each character and contribute to dramatic overall visual effects. Moreover, Tong's works - titled with the phrase calligraphed - are not only visually beautiful but are also profound in content.Tong Yangtze's works are in several important museums and collections, including the Kaohsiung Fine Art Museum, Taiwan; Taipei Fine Art Museum; the Olenska Foundation, Geneva; City University of Hong Kong; and the Taiwan National College of the Arts. See a related work by Tong Yangtze, illustrated in Ink Worlds: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, Stanford, 2018, pp.166-167.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 320
A BRONZE 'ARROW' VASEYuan DynastyFollowing the archaic bronze hu prototype, the finely-cast pear-shaped body decorated with archaistic designs of birds reserved on key-fret ground, stylised swirls and scrolls, supported on a spreading foot with a band of archaistic pattern above a row of rope twist, flanked by a pair of tubular handles with key-fret pattern at the neck. 18cm (7in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價元 銅仿古鳥紋貫耳壺Compare with a very similar bronze arrow vase, Southern Song to Yuan dynasty, illustrated by Sydney L.Moss Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, Hong Kong, 1991, no.72.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 321
A BRONZE 'ARROW' VASEYuan DynastyThe pear-shaped body finely decorated in relief with horizontal bands of kuilong, wan character diaper, and geographic pattern designs, flanked by a pair of tubular handles, all supported on a slightly splayed foot cast with a band of lappet and a band of key-fret pattern. 19.5cm (7 3/4in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價元 銅仿古夔龍紋貫耳壺See a very similar bronze arrow vase, Southern Song to Yuan, illustrated by Sydney L. Moss Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, Hong Kong, 1991, no.73.Compare also with a similar bronze archaistic 'arrow' vase, Song/Yuan Dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2014, lot 3384.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 323
LIU DAN (b.1953)Old Cypress from the Forbidden City, 2007Ink on xuan paper, signed in lower right corner. 259.1cm high x 137.2cm wide (102in high x 54in wide) Footnotes:劉丹（1953年生） 紫禁城御花園古柏 水墨紙本 鏡框 2007年作Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Chinese Ink Painting Now, New York, 2010, p.71.Michael Goedhuis, Ink: The Art of China, Saatchi Gallery, London, 2012, p.75.展覽著錄：《當代中國水墨畫》，紐約，2010年，第71頁。Michael Goedhuis著，《Ink: the Art of China》， 薩奇美術館，倫敦，2012年，第75頁。Liu Dan is one of the most internationally renowned painters of his generation, known for his meticulously detailed ink paintings of rocks, trees and flowers that combine literati traditions with western hyper-realism. Liu Dan's paintings of trees are rare, and most of his work usually depicts rocks or flowers. The present lot depicts a specific cypress tree in the Imperial garden of the Forbidden City. The garden, which is at the rear of the palace, was a private retreat for the Imperial family. Many of the trees planted there date to the Ming dynasty and are living time capsules of history. Indeed, the cypress in Chinese is baishu (柏樹) which is homophonous with bai (百) 'hundred', and so symbolises longevity as well as virtue. The present painting therefore, seems to capture the essence of China's long and textured history. Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, in 1953, Liu studied the Confucian classics, poetry, painting, and calligraphy with his grandfather at an early age. After the disruption of the Cultural Revolution and joining the Nanjing Red Guards, Liu returned to traditional painting under Ya Ming (1924-2002) at the newly reopened Jiangsu Academy of Chinese Painting, Hangzhou, from 1978 to 1981. He later moved to Hawaii and studied Western art. Liu then moved to New York in 1992, and after fourteen years there, he returned to China in 2006.Despite his highly privileged training with noted ink painter Ya Ming, and years of study at the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Painting in his native town of Nanjing, Liu Dan's work departs from the dramatic expressive qualities of the brush and brushstrokes that were central to his education. Having mastered the art of self-expression via the brushstroke, for centuries regarded as key to the most sophisticated Chinese ink painting revealing the hand and heart of the artist, Liu Dan rejected it in favour of a focus on structure. There are three reasons why Liu's painting moved away from brush-strokes to hyper-realism: Firstly, he found it imperative to reconnect with an original pure creative spirit and for this reason he delighted in the less self-conscious forms of classical and medieval Western art, and Chinese art of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and earlier. Secondly, while living in the West - primarily Hawaii and New York, from 1981 until moving to Beijing in 2006 - he concluded that most twentieth-century Chinese art had been produced in response to external pressures. He aspired to be an agent of self-directed creativity rather than reactive production. Thirdly, he developed a personal philosophy of nature's generative force, observing that natural forms evolve and duplicate on a grand scale, such that rocks can be considered the 'stem cells of landscape, see, C.von Spee, Modern Chinese Ink Paintings, London, 2012, p.101. Liu Dan explains his doctrine as an artist: 'Your one responsibility as an artist is changing the visual experience of people, the way they look at things. Your one purpose is to encourage an openness of mind that allows them to look beyond everyday concerns and think freely.' Liu Dan's ink paintings, whether of landscapes, scholar's rocks, or old cypress trees in the Forbidden City, are all fastidiously conceived, complex works which highlight his concern to emphasise underlying compositional structure over virtuoso expressions of brushwork. Liu's paintings are collected globally and can be found in many prestigious museums and collections including the British Museum; the Musée Guimét, Paris; The Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum; the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; and the San Diego Museum of Art. See a painting of a poppy by Liu Dan, which was sold at Christie's New York, 16 September 2016, lot 1118.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 324
A RARE BRONZE 'NINE-BAND' PEAR-SHAPED VASE, HUSong/Yuan DynastyRising from a flared foot with a band of stylised wave pattern, the pear-shaped body decorated with nine horizontal registers separated by plain strips, the registers cast in low relief with designs of lozenges enclosing the swastika motifs, wan-character diaper, phoenix, cranes amidst clouds, floral and foliate patterns, with chocolate-brown patina. 21cm (8 1/4in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價宋/元 萬字紋仿古銅壺 Published and Illustrated: Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900, London, 1989, no.42.展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900》，倫敦，1989年，編號42The dynamic design around the exterior of the present lot owes much to contemporaneous designs used for ceramics, notably Qingbai wares. See for example, a related floral pattern illustrated by J.Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, Goteborg, 1970, fig.7a. See also a related bronze pear-shaped vase, Song/Jin dynasty, illustrated by M.Maucuer, Bronzes de la Chine Imperiale des Song aux Qing, Paris, 2013, p.135.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 325
A RARE BRONZE 'CHAMPION' VASEMing DynastyComposed of two tubular pedestal vases flanking an eagle with extended wings outstretched across both vases, standing on the head of a bear with outstretched limbs, its hindquarters and bifurcated tail protruding at the bottom on the back below a chilong joining the vases. 16cm (6 1/4in) high.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價明 銅英雄雙聯瓶Vases of this form are known as 'champion vases', which refers to the vessel's twin-tubular compartments connected by an eagle (ying) and a bear (xiong), together forming the pun yingxiong 'champion' or 'hero'. In form, the vase was inspired by earlier bronzes, such as the Tang dynasty 'champion' vase depicted in the Xiqing Gujian, 1751, illustrated by M.Wilson, Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p.106, pl.107, which itself draws on Western Han dynasty examples. See a related inlaid gold and silver bronze 'champion' vase, Song to Ming dynasty, illustrated in The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, London, 1991, no.35.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 326
LI HUAYI (b.1948)Landscape, 2010-2011Ink on paper, signed on the bottom right, framed and glazed. 180cm high x 91cm wide (71in high x 36in wide). Footnotes:李華弌(1948年生) 山水 水墨紙本 鏡框 2010-2011年作Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Michael Goedhuis, The Ink Art of China, London, 2019, pp.18-19. 展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《水墨中國》，倫敦，2019年，第18-19頁Li Huayi is internationally renowned for his meticulously detailed landscape paintings that are reminiscent of masterworks from the Song dynasty (960–1279). He was born in Shanghai in 1948. As a child, Li began studying ink painting with a family friend, Wang Chuantao (1903-1978), as well as Western-style painting with Zhang Chongren (1907-1998), who had trained at the Royal Academy of Arts in Brussels. Li was thus trained well in the technical skills of European painting and traditional Chinese painting. Li can thus be said to have inherited Shanghai's cosmopolitan past. As a young man growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution, however, artists and art students were expected to produce the Socialist Realist propaganda images demanded at the time. By the time the Cultural Revolution ended following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, young artists were eager to experiment and develop new ideas about making art. The open-door policy initiated in 1979 opened up new possibilities and in 1982, Li Huayi emigrated to the United States to find an art world in transition from abstraction to post-modernism. During his graduate studies at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, he began to concentrate on subtle abstract compositions, unlike anything he had attempted in China. After a decade in San Francisco, Li Huayi's artistic experimentation and transformation bore fruit. Li travelled to China's famous mountains and to the Buddhist caves of Dunhuang, as a means of rejuvenating his art through the inspiration of natural beauty. He once again turned his attention to the classical masterpieces of Chinese landscape painting - in particular the masters of Northern Song dynasty monumental landscape painting such as Fan Kuan (c.960-1030), Li Cheng (919-967), and Guo Xi (c.1020-1090); see Eskenazi Ltd., Waterfalls, rocks and bamboo by Li Huayi, London, 2014, p.11.Li Huayi's careful study of the classics of Chinese and European painting, as well as the modern American practice of abstraction, yielded paintings that are at once firmly rooted in the history of Chinese art and instantaneously meaningful to contemporary viewers. As Li said himself: I began to incorporate elements from traditional Chinese arts in my own works. Tradition is the spiritual core of every form of Chinese art – porcelain, pottery, rubbings, carvings, everything. But each of these arts also contains an abstract side; see M.Knight, The Monumental Landscapes of Li Huayi, San Francisco, 2005, p.2.The solid pine, the mist that both divides and unites the mountain peaks, the overhanging cliff, the tree clinging to rocky precipices, all echo the most potent motifs of Northern Song painting. Li's synthesis of styles is achieved through fastidiously rendered brushstrokes and a unique sense of composition that is inspired by the past and wholly his own. The dreamlike contrasts of pale mist and dark mountain cliffs also resemble works of the seventeenth century artists of the weird and fantastic, most notably Wu Bin (1573-1620) and Gong Xian (1618-1689), who created bizarre images of completely impossible mountains and rocks. The meticulously detailed trees and rocks in Li Huayi's paintings are convincingly naturalistic, but they are placed in impossibly dangerous mountain settings. Clearly imaginary, they are powerfully persuasive.Li applies ink on the paper first, and then allows the composition to take shape in response to the density of the ink. This element of chance brings his work close to late or post-modernist ideas. His success at unsettling or disturbing the viewer seems grounded in our shared conviction that the universe is indeed an orderly one and that both artist and viewer share this knowledge. This order, so well understood and recreated by the great landscapists of the Song dynasty, has in the artist's work, slipped only temporarily out of our grasp, like an interrupted dream. As modern as they are antique, these paintings persuade us that they are part of a cosmic whole and that they exemplify a universal harmony.Li Huayi's paintings are in many prestigious museums across the world, including the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the National Museum of Tokyo; and Brooklyn Museum, New York. See a related landscape painting by Li Huayi, painted in 2008, which was sold at Christie's New York, 10 November 2022, lot 180.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 329
A BRONZE 'BUDDHIST LION' INCENSE BURNER AND COVER17th centuryThe beast exquisitely cast with arched back with finely detailed curls, the head turned to the left and serving as the cover with large bulbous eyes beneath curling bushy brows and mane, the jaws agape beneath ruyi-snout revealing fangs and tongue, all supported on long legs, plastic stand. 25cm (10in) high. (2).Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價十七世紀 銅獅形香爐帶蓋Compare with a related pair of bronze seated Buddhist lions, 16th/17th century, illustrated by Syndey L.Moss ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, London, 1991, no.14.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 330
A BRONZE 'BUDDHIST LION' INCENSE BURNER AND COVER17th centuryWell cast as a playful lion rising up on its hind legs, its front paws clutching a ball issuing a ribbon reaching to the creature's left foot, the cover formed as the head with mouth agape, large bulbous eyes beneath bushy brows, ruyi-snout and curly mane, a knobbly spine extending down the back with further curls of hair, leading to a large bushy tail, the body with well defined ribs. 20.5cm (8in) high. (2).Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價十七世紀 銅獅戲繡球香爐帶蓋See a related pair of bronze seated Buddhist lions, 16th/17th century, illustrated by Sydney L.Moss, Ltd., The Second Bronze Age: Later Chinese Metalwork, Hong Kong, 1991, no.14.Compare with a related large bronze 'lion' incense burner, 17th century, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 11 May 2016, lot 88.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 331
XU BING (b.1955)Happy the Man, 2019Ink on paper, signed by the artist and with two seals, framed. 60cm high x 100cm wide (23 1/2in high x 39 1/2in wide).Footnotes:徐冰（1955年生）快樂的人 水墨紙本 鏡框 2019年作Xu Bing, born in Chongqing, Sichuan Province, is one of modern China's internationally acclaimed artists. He originally entered the Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, in 1977, and eventually began to teach and acquired his Master of Fine Arts there. The work that made Xu Bing's name however, was the monumental installation Tianshu (1987-1991), now known as Book from the Sky; woodblock printed books containing thousands of invented characters that cannot be decoded. The artwork raised fundamental questions about the Chinese identity and its relationship to the written word. In 1988 he participated in the pioneering and seminal Chinese contemporary art exhibition 'China Avant-Garde' at the National Gallery, Beijing. A year later, Xu became honorary fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and moved to the United States. Starting in 1993, the year in which Xu moved back to Beijing, he began to exhibit widely throughout the world and gained international prominence as an artist and educator.Xu is perhaps most famous, however, for his square-word calligraphy, as exemplified in the present lot. Square-word calligraphy, also known as New English calligraphy, is a way of presenting English or other words of the Roman alphabet as Chinese characters. The appearance of the writing is very close to that of a Chinese text; yet closer inspection shows that each 'character' is composed not a brushstroke components representing the radical or phonetic elements of a Chinese character, but letters of the Roman alphabet organised in a way that resembles the shape and proportions of Chinese characters. The present lot in fact is from the poem by John Dryden (1631-1700), 'Happy the Man'. Square word calligraphy forces the viewer to readjust their reading, and raises questions about cultural assumptions regarding language. It perhaps gives the viewer the feeling of learning to read again; see Xu Bing: Landscape/Landscript: Nature and Language in the Art of Xu Bing, Oxford, 2013, p.149.See a related piece of Square-word calligraphy 'On Returning to the Wheel Rim River', by Xu Bing, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1 October 2018, lot 584.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 333
A PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE FIGURES OF SHANCAI TONGZI AND LONGNU16th/17th centuryThe figure of Shancai tongzi with three tufts of hair rising from his head, dressed in a billowing scarf and a tunic, his hands held upward with palms facing; the figure of Longnü elegantly cast with hands draped with a presentation cloth, supporting a flaming pearl on a offering dish, wearing ruyi-cloud collar, the gentle sway of the full sleeves and flowing scarf imparting a sense of motion to the figure. 15.5cm (6in) high. (2).Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價十六/十七世紀 善財童子和龍女鎏金銅像一對The present lot may be identified as Sudhana, known in Chinese as Shancai tongzi, and Longnü, daughter of the Dragon King. They would have stood to the left and right of bodhisattva Guanyin as attendants. According to the Flower Garland Sutra (Huayan jing), Sudhana studied with fifty-two learned teachers and became enlightened. Guanyin was one of his teachers. Longnü, a young girl, is often shown with Sudhana as a visual response to texts claiming that Guanyin taught an invocation to a Dragon King and his daughter while visiting their underseas realm. For a related gilt-bronze example of Sudhana, Qing dynasty, see Selected Gems of Cultural Relics - newly collected in the Palace Museum in the last fifty Years, Beijing, 2005, pp.130-131, no.168.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 334
HUGH MOSS (b.1943)Realizing the Self in the Stone (One of the Five Strange Stones of the Neidan Alchemist), 2005Ink and colours on cloud-dragon paper mounted on xuan paper, with three seals of the artist. 137cm long x 68cm (54in long x 26 3/4in wide).Footnotes:The artist requests that the present lot be sold without reserve. 藝術家要求本拍品不設底價Hugh Moss (1943年生) 內丹煉丹師的五奇石之一 紙本設色 立軸 2005年作Inscription: Perhaps the strangest and most exciting of the five stones I found on my second visit to the gorge-side retreat in the Mountains of Shu of the Neidan Alchemist seemed to depict him as part of the stone gazing intently at a matching form above him. It was so compelling that in making a root stand for it I decided to elevate it to a greater height than normal balance would dictate. The image was somewhat unsettling so I also placed it in an unsettling manner. Alchemists appreciate strange transformations. Inscribed by the Master of the Water Pine and Stone Retreat at the Garden at the Edge of the Universe in the autumn, 2015Hugh Moss, also known as the Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat occupies a unique position as both a highly respected dealer of Chinese art and a master of the literati tradition of ink painting. The present lot depicts a scholar's rock and exhibits the artist's deep understanding of literati culture and rock appreciation. Throughout the centuries both emperors and the scholar-elite have considered the rocks' unusual forms worthy of contemplation in both an exterior garden setting as well as inside the home. Enjoyed for their dynamic shapes that could be judged with similar criteria used for calligraphy — traditionally the highest art form in China - or appreciated for their resemblance to lofty mountains or coiled dragons, fantastic rocks (guaishi) were prized for their abstract qualities as well as their inspiration for imagination. The present lot is unique in that the calligraphy is in English, although at first glance, it may perhaps look like cursive caoshu calligraphy.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 335
A RARE BRONZE GOAT-FORM RETICULATED INCENSE BURNER AND COVERMing DynastyGracefully cast in the form of a recumbent sheep, the cover formed as the head with pronounced large eyes and mouth agape with flaring nostrils and long beard, the collar issuing a bell decorated with diaper-pattern, the back with a pierced saddle rug cast with auspicious lingzhi fungus, the legs folded beside the rotund body terminating with a shaggy tail. 23cm (9in) long. (2).Footnotes:明 羊形銅香爐帶蓋Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900, London, 1989, no.16.展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900》，倫敦，1989年，編號16The character for sheep or goat, yang (羊), appeared as early as the Han dynasty as a pun for the character xiang (祥) meaning auspicious or lucky. By the Ming period, the image of sheep had become heavily associated with yang (陽), another homophone but signifying the sun or warm, positive, masculine force in Chinese cosmology.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 338
LI JIN (b.1958)Health, 2005Ink on paper, with calligraphic inscription and seal of the artist, glazed and framed. 45cm wide x 38cm high (17 3/4in wide x 15in high). Footnotes:李津（1958年生） 中華有神功 水墨紙本 鏡框 2005年作Li Jin and his work belongs to the 'New Literati' movement of Chinese ink painting but are more quirky than most, exuding a hedonistic and charming appreciation for the simple things in life, notably food, wine and sex, but also bathing and sleeping etc. Before his study in the Painting Department at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, where he now teaches, Li Studied dyeing and weaving at the Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts, which partly explains his mastery of pattern and colour. His aunt was Zhou Sicong (1939-1996), an important ink painter who often made use of bleeding colour or ink. This technique can often be seen in Li's own paintings which hint at insouciance but, like all good literati painting, could not be created without mastery of the brush. Li Jin gradually formed his uniquely playful style in the early 1990s, and is now famous for his humour and seductive depictions of the good life. In contrast to the formality and stereotyped subjects of historical literati paintings - often derived from famous texts, pictures by earlier masters, or both - food and wine and the simple things in today's life are Li's subject matter. The Falstaffian figure that appears repeatedly in his work is modelled on himself. For more on Li Jin, see China Onward: The Estella Collection, Chinese Contemporary Art, 1966-2006, Humlebaek, 2007, pp.148-150.The present lot is typical of the artist's humour. The inscription reads: 中华有神功, which may be translated as 'Amazing Kungfu in China' and is actually taken from a popular song by Tu Honggang. It depicts an ailing figure with pain in his expression as the skin on his back is pulled by the heated glass bulbs for moxibustion, exhibiting Li Jin's unique mix of tradition, modernity and humour.Li Jin's paintings are in several important institutions and collections globally, including the National Arts Museum, Beijing; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Olenska Collection, Geneva; Seattle Art Museum; and the Berkeley Art Museum.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 339
LI JIN (b.1958)Reading at Night, 2005Ink on paper, signed and dated, with calligraphic inscription and seal of the artist, glazed and framed. 38.1cm wide x 44.5cm high (15in wide x 17 1/2 high).Footnotes:李津（1958年生） 夜讀圖卷 水墨紙本 鏡框 2005年作The inscription on the present lot reads: 夜讀圖卷, which may be translated as 'Scroll of Night Reading'. It depicts a man sitting before an open book, but his mind wanders as he gazes up. A cat sleeps beneath the table echoing the figures' idleness and leisure.Li Jin and his work belongs to the 'New Literati' movement of Chinese ink painting but are more quirky than most, exuding a hedonistic and charming appreciation for the simple things in life, notably food, wine and sex, but also bathing and sleeping etc. Before his study in the Painting Department at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, where he now teaches, Li Studied dyeing and weaving at the Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts, which partly explains his mastery of pattern and colour. His aunt was Zhou Sicong (1939-1996), an important ink painter who often made use of bleeding colour or ink. This technique can often be seen in Li's own paintings which hint at insouciance but, like all good literati painting, could not be created without mastery of the brush. Li Jin gradually formed his uniquely playful style in the early 1990s, and is now famous for his humour and seductive depictions of the good life. In contrast to the formality and stereotyped subjects of historical literati paintings - often derived from famous texts, pictures by earlier masters, or both - food and wine and the simple things in today's life are Li's subject matter. The Falstaffian figure that appears repeatedly in his work is modelled on himself. For more on Li Jin, see China Onward: The Estella Collection, Chinese Contemporary Art, 1966-2006, Humlebaek, 2007, pp.148-150.Li Jin's paintings are in several important institutions and collections globally, including the National Arts Museum, Beijing; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Olenska Collection, Geneva; Seattle Art Museum; and the Berkeley Art Museum.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 342
A RARE GOLD AND SILVER-INLAID BRONZE TAPIR-SHAPED VESSEL AND COVER, XIZUNMing/early Qing DynastyThe stocky, tapir-like mythical beast heavily cast standing foursquare with head raised, ears pricked and tail pointed downwards, the body inlaid in silver and gold with geometric scrolls, the head cast in relief with curved brows and a collar encircling the neck, the hollow body fitted with a cover on its back surmounted by a bird finial, the cover inscribed with an archaistic symbol. 27.8cm (11in) long. (2).Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價明/早清 銅錯金銀犧尊This rare zoomorphic vessel is based on ancient prototypes which originated from at least as early as the Western Zhou dynasty. Tapir-form bronze vessels of this type began to appear in greater numbers in the Eastern Zhou dynasty; compare with a tapir-form vessel, Spring and Autumn or Warring States period, finely inlaid with gold and silver geometric designs, illustrated in Masterworks of Chinese Bronze in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1969, pl.25.The examples from the Bronze Age appear to have found favour with the Northern Song Emperor Huizong (r.1100-1126), who was a very keen antiquarian and who instigated the publication of illustrated catalogues of the items in his collection. One of these, the 'Xuanhe Illustrated Collection of Antiques' (Xuanhe Bogu tulu), included an illustration of such an early bronze vessel. While the original edition would not have been readily available to later craftsmen, it was reprinted on a number of occasions, and the illustration of this zoomorphic vessel appears, for example, in the 1528 edition, known as the Bogu tulu.The name xizun appears in both the Bogu tulu, compiled during the Northern Song dynasty, and the 'Catalogue of the Antiquities in the Xiqing Pavilion', (Xiqing gu jian), compiled in the eighteenth century. The word xi meaning 'sacrificial victim', often refers to an ox or another animal.Vessels shaped as tapirs are often dated to the Yuan and Ming dynasties. See, for example, a related bronze 'tapir' vessel inlaid with gold and silver, Yuan dynasty, from the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis (acc.no.273:1919), illustrated by P.K.Hu, Later Chinese Bronzes: The Saint Louis Art Museum and Robert E. Kresko Collections, St. Louis, 2008, p.45, fig.3, and another Ming dynasty example, similarly inlaid in gold and silver, in the collection of the Cernuschi Museum, Paris, acc.no.M.C.583.Compare with a similar gold and silver-inlaid bronze tapir, Song/Ming dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 3 November 2022, lot 117.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 343
GU WENDA (b.1955)Forest of Stone Stele #16, 2000,Ink rubbing on rice paper, edition 2 of 25, framed. 180cm high x 97cm wide (71in high x 38in wide). Footnotes:谷文達（1955年生） 碑林#16 拓片 版次2/25 鏡框 2000年作Gu Wenda was a leading figure of China's 1980s 'New Wave' art movement, and later a prominent member of China's art diaspora when he moved to New York in 1987. He originally studied traditional ink painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and achieved a superlative degree of technical skill which he put to devestating effect during the exciting era of China's opening-up policy. His early landscapes, such as Ink Valley and White Water (1986), illustrated in China Onward: The Estella Collection, Chinese Contemporary Art, 1966-2006, Humlebaek, 2007, p.89, show an understanding of historical masters but feature iconoclastic compositions and surreal spaces, reflecting the mentality of Chinese society and idealist art of the 1980s, when huge social changes took place. By combining different character components, Gu has invented unreadable characters to investigate the power of the written word. In most of these works, he places these powerfully symbolic pseudo-characters in vast surreal spaces. See for example, The Mythos of Lost Dynasties, C Series No.6: Cloud and Water, 1996-1997, illustrated in Chinese Ink Painting Today, New York, 2010, pp.152-153. For more information about Gu Wenda, see also W.Hung, Contemporary Chinese Art: A History, 1970s>2000s, Singapore, 2014, pp.314-315.Gu Wenda's works are in many prestigious collections and museums globally, including the Guggenheim Museum, New York; The British Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland; Shanghai Art Museum; China National Art Museum, Beijing; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 344
GU WENDA (b.1955)Storm Clouds Gathering Over a Small Hut, 1993Ink on paper, signed by the artist, framed. 68.5cm high x 99cm wide (27in high x 39in wide). Footnotes:谷文達（1955年生） 曲徑通幽處 水墨紙本 鏡框 1993年作 Gu Wenda was a leading figure of China's 1980s 'New Wave' art movement, and later a prominent member of China's art diaspora when he moved to New York in 1987. He originally studied traditional ink painting at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and achieved a superlative degree of technical skill which he put to devastating effect during the exciting era of China's opening-up policy. His early landscapes, such as Ink Valley and White Water (1986), illustrated in China Onward: The Estella Collection, Chinese Contemporary Art, 1966-2006, Humlebaek, 2007, p.89, show an understanding of historical masters but feature iconoclastic compositions and surreal spaces, reflecting the mentality of Chinese society and idealist art of the 1980s, when huge social changes took place. By combining different character components, Gu has invented unreadable characters to investigate the power of the written word. In most of these works, he places these powerfully symbolic pseudo-characters in vast surreal spaces. See for example, The Mythos of Lost Dynasties, C Series No.6: Cloud and Water, 1996-1997, illustrated in Chinese Ink Painting Today, New York, 2010, pp.152-153. For more details about Gu Wenda, see also W.Hung, Contemporary Chinese Art: A History, 1970s>2000s, Singapore, 2014, pp.314-315. The present lot is titled and inscribed with a line from a Tang dynasty poem by Chang Jian 常建 (708-765) which may be literally translated as 'the winding path leading to the dark and secluded place' (曲徑通幽處).The painting thus encapsulated Gu's understanding of traditional art and literature, with his innovative spirit. Gu Wenda's works are in numerous prestigious collections and museums globally, including the Guggenheim Museum, New York; The British Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland; Shanghai Art Museum; China National Art Museum, Beijing; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Compare with a related painting by Gu Wenda, which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5 October 2015, lot 2803.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 347
A RARE 'FOREIGNER TRIBUTE-BEARERS' BRONZE INCENSE BURNERXuande cast six-character mark, 17th centuryCast with plain slightly tapering sides rising from four bracket feet, the handles formed as a pair of turbaned Western Asiatic figures carrying the rectangular vessel, with bulging eyes and bushy beards and brows, the ears with large earrings, their squat bodies clad with billowing scarves and tunics. 20.3 cm (8in) wide.Footnotes:Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價十七世紀 銅雙胡人托長方形爐 「大明宣德年製」楷書款Figures of foreigners depicted with large round eyes and bushy eyebrows have been a popular subject in Chinese art dating from at least the Tang period, when the increased presence of foreigners in China prompted a new fascination and a gradual stylisation of the image of the foreigner in Chinese art. Painters of Buddhist luohan and tribute missions to the Imperial Court continued the fascination with the exotic in subsequent periods.The strong facial features, curly beards and hair closely resemble four small foreigners with bare chests kneeling to support a gilt bronze and cloisonné enamel incense of burner, late Ming dynasty: see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Metal-Bodied Enamel Ware, Beijing, 2011, p.273, no.144.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 348
CHUN-YI LEE (b.1965)Painting in Poetry, 2012Ink on paper, hanging scroll. 152.4cm long x 68.6cm wide (60in long x 27in wide). Footnotes:李君毅（1965年生）詩中有畫 水墨紙本 鏡框 2012年作Born in Taiwan in 1965, Chun-Yi Lee moved to Hong Kong in 1970 and graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he was deeply influenced by his teacher Liu Kuo-sung. Lee obtained his MFA from the Graduate Program of Fine Arts of Tunghai University in Taiwan. Inspired by the ancient technique of Chinese ink-rubbing, at a distance, his landscapes appear to be timeless archetypal landscapes reminiscent of traditional Chinese paintings that symbolise harmony with the cosmos. Upon closer inspection, however, one realises that the landscape is not created by brushstrokes but a stunningly meticulous grid-like structure. Eschewing the brush, Lee Chun-yi creates monumental yet intricately pixelated ink paintings produced by repeatedly imprinting small cubic stamps made of soft wood or cork. Lee's process is inspired by engraved stone steles from the Northern Wei period (386-535) and the seals affixed to Chinese paintings or carved woodblocks used in traditional printmaking. This creates apparently ordinary yet deconstructed landscapes. Literally building up a visual composition through words, his paintings function as symbolic poems, with the strength of the stamp indicating the intended tone of expression.As a native of Taiwan and student in Hong Kong following the years of cultural unrest in mainland China, Lee positions his works between history and the current situation between the straits. By depicting the landscape as a fragmented whole, Lee illustrates an interpretation of nationalism. While the landscape acts as a symbol of history and cultural identity, Lee breaks down the whole into a fragmented puzzle and a state of confusion. Lee's art, masterfully executed and thoughtfully conceived, is thus both nostalgic and revolutionary, forging an entirely unique and contemporary visual language even while evoking the past.The title of the present lot, 'Painting in poetry' is taken from the Northern Song dynasty literatus Su Shi (1037-1101) who commented on a the work of Tang dynasty poet and painter Wang Wei: 'in poetry there is painting, in painting there is poetry' (詩中有畫，畫中有詩). Lee takes this to a new level however, as his paintings are literally made of characters.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: W TPW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.TP For auctions held in Scotland: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Constantine, Constantine House, North Caldeen Road, Coatbridge ML5 4EF, Scotland, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please refer to the catalogue for further information.For all other auctions: Lots will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Lot 349
HUGH MOSS (b.1943)Dancing with Unfettered Time The Inner Life of Strange Stones, no. 11, 2016Ink on cloud-dragon paper, with four seals of the artist. 95.5cm high x 185.5cm wide (37 1/2in high x 73in wide)Footnotes:The artist requests that the present lot be sold without reserve. 藝術家要求本拍品不設底價Hugh Moss (1943年生) 與無拘無束的時光共舞：奇石的內在生命，no.11 水墨紙本 鏡心 2016年作Inscription: Inside the Stone inhibition evaporates, revealed, if considered at all, to be no more than a vague memory of connected symbols that once seemed to mean something elsewhere. Inside the stone one dances freely, whether with a fellow stone eremite, an Immortal, a strange beast or alone. Although, of course, one is never alone in the Realm of the Stone; once the egoic self is transcended in the process of uniting with the stone there is no distinction between self and other and a myriad amiable companions await. Are they separate or aspects of the self? Ah! Beyond the Stage of Time questions evaporate as readily as inhibitions. Who will come dance with me? Inscribed by the Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat, at the Garden at the Edge of the Universe in the Summer of 2016.Hugh Moss, also known as the Master of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat occupies a unique position as both a highly respected dealer of Chinese art and a master of the literati tradition of ink painting. The present lot depicts what appears to be a mountain landscape, but in fact is in fact an imaginary representation of a scholar's rock. Scholar's rocks, placed on the desk, were indeed objects to meditate on and escape by imagining oneself in a mountain landscape.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: WW Lot is located in the Bonhams Warehouse and will only be available for collection from this location.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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