Bonhams will hold a preview of three of its most important upcoming sales in Amsterdam from 7 – 9 March. The preview will feature the Mühleib collection of European Glass, Chinese Works of Art as well as works from the Barbanson Collection of Japanese Art. World authority on Asian Art and Bonhams Deputy Chairman, Colin Sheaf will be attending the preview on the 7th, where he will be providing valuations by appointment.
Sheaf was responsible for the landmark sale of the ‘Nanking Cargo’ in 1986. This unique sale consisted of some 150,000 pieces of ‘new’ Chinese export porcelain and gold salvaged from the Dutch East India Company’s ship Geldermalsen, sunk in 1752. The sale achieved a world record total in excess of £10 million.
The Mühleib Collection of European Glass is one of the finest single-owner collections of European glass ever to come to market, and is estimated to achieve in excess of €1,000,000 when it goes under the hammer at Bonhams New Bond Street saleroom on the 2nd May. The collection includes fine Dutch glass by the likes of Willem van Heemskerk, as well as rare Venetian Renaissance glass along with one of the earliest examples of copper-wheel engraving.
The Barbanson Collection of Netsuke is expected to fetch £250,000 at Bonhams 13 May sale. Bonhams recently achieved the world record for this art form with a £265,000 price at the Harriet Szechenyi Collection of Japanese Art which took place in November 2011. Indeed, the record for netsuke was actually smashed three times over the course of the sale.
The 16th May, Chinese Works of Art sale being previewed will feature a number of items that would have been reserved for the exclusive use of the Chinese Imperial Family: A stunning ‘boys’ vase (£200,000-250,000); An exceptional white jade lion (£140,000-160,000); And a rhino horn libation cup ( £200,000-300,000).
