Bonhams is presenting a large selection of about 300 lots of Asian art in its Period Art & Design auction, July 22-23 in San Francisco. The sale will also include offerings in the categories of Silver, Pacific Voyages & Hawaiiana, European Paintings, American Art, Modern & Contemporary Art, Prints, Native American Art, Wine, Rugs and Carpets and Furniture and Decorative Arts – making it one that will cater to myriad collecting interests and collecting levels.
The spotlight of the auction will shine upon examples of Asian art, with such lots as a gilt laquer wood statue of a Buddha from the Edo period (est. $6,000-8,000); a contemporary patinated metal seated figure of a Chinese emperor (est. $5,000-7,000); and a pair of late 20th century famille noire enameled porcelain jardinières, whose exteriors display blossoming prunus trees and whose interiors are painted with goldfish and water weed, together with a pair of Lucite stands (est. $3,000-5,000).
Silver highlights will include a sterling vase with two handles in the art nouveau taste, chased with roses, by Gorham Mfg. Co., of Providence, Rhode Island, dated 1904 (est. $2,000-3,000); a sterling pair of bud vases with acid etched and applied decoration by Tiffany & Co., New York, NY, circa 1875-1891 (est. $800-1,200); and a Mexican sterling set of eight water goblets with chased and applied decoration, of Sanborns, Mexico City (est. $2,200-2,800).
Hawaiiana and South Pacific items in the auction will include Hawaiian imprints, Pacific travel, missionary material, books on Polynesian art and culture, important 19th century Hawaiian periodicals, and more.
Top furniture highlights will include a Napoleon III gilt bronze and brass marquetry mounted ebonized center table from the third quarter of the 19th century (est. $1,200-1,800) and a Victorian parcel gilt, ebonized, painted and shell inlaid papier mache side table, depicting a Norman style castle at a riverside, beneath mountain crags (est. $1,000-1,500). Other furniture examples of note will include a 19th century British colonial hardwood caned daybed (est. $500-700) and a pair of Louis XV style walnut double caned children’s bergères (est. $400-600).
Decorative arts in the auction will include unique bronzes by Margaret Larson, including such examples as a bronze chimp (est. $400-600) and two early 20th century bronze primates (est. $300-500). Also on highlight will be five Meissen porcelain reticulated dessert plates decorated with putti, of the late 19th century (est. $800-1,200); a French Esthetic brass and champleve enamel three piece clock garniture, of the late 19th century (est. $1,200-1,800); a carved wood and painted carousel horse in the style of Marcus Illions (est. $800-1,200); and an early 20th century English silver cased miniature carriage clock by Charles Frodsham, London (est. $500-700).
The sale’s illustrated catalog will be available online in the weeks preceding it, for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/perioddesignusa.com.
