Bonhams & Butterfields’ auction of Fine Asian Works of Art, to be held in San Francisco on Monday, June 29, 2009, features Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Himalayan works of art — offered predominantly from estates and private collections throughout the United States.
Highlights from this 360-lot auction include Chinese and Himalayan art from a Southern California collector who acquired them from Orlando A. Beltran, an associate of Manley P. Hall and the founder of the Philosophical Research Society of Los Angeles. Gilt bronze and polychrome wood deities will be offered, including a large 17th/18th century Sino-Tibetan partial gilt bronze figure of Buddha, 13-inches high and seated in the posture of meditation on a triangular double-lotus throne (est. $8/12,000).
Important Chinese ceramics and porcelain to be offered include blue and white porcelain from the Estate of Elise Mudd-Marvin, a Southern California philanthropist and the daughter of the founder of Harvey Mudd College. Offered will be a grouping of blue and white square bottles, a Qianlong blue and white porcelain meiping nearly 21-inches high (est. $3/4,000), and an assortment of desirable ewers, bowls and pots. A pair of blue and white porcelain pricket candle stands, Jiaqing mark and period, are painted in deep-hued blue with classic lotus flowers and leaf scrolls surrounding precious symbols. Fifteen inches tall, the candle stands should bring $20/30,000.
Described as unusual is a pair of 19th century chestnut glazed pottery models of oxen from the Mudd-Marvin Estate. The oxen stand at rest with their hooves attached to a low plinth and their heads turned slightly forward. The pair could sell for as much as $12,000.
Indian miniatures and paintings from the estate of San Franciscan Lowell Groves, an avid collector of paintings and objects from the British Period, will be offered as part of the Indian paintings and sculpture in the sale. A set of ten framed and glazed Indian European subject matter miniature paintings, Rajasthani School, 18th century, each depict a varied European architectural setting with figures clothed in 18th century attire and rendered in a Western painting style. Gouaches on paper, each is approximately 10 x 15-inches, the set estimated at $7,000 to $9,000.
A rare collection of 18th century Korean academic paintings should be a highlight of the Korean paintings and porcelain to be sold. Estimated at $30/50,000, the works are mounted as a ten-panel screen. A portfolio of fine watercolors by the Japanese Artist Chiura Obata is expected to intrigue collectors, four modern prints from Obata’s World Landscape series could bring $8/12,000. As many as 31 Obata prints are featured, along with Japanese paintings and screens from the Edo period.
The illustrated auction catalog for this sale is online for review and purchase at www.Bonhams.com/us. Previews open to the public on June 26-28 in the Bonhams San Francisco gallery and salesrooms.
http://www.bonhams.com/usasian