Sotheby's Hong Kong - Spring Sales 2008 Sotheby’s Hong Kong is proud to announce that its Spring Sales 2008 will be held at the Grand Hall of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from 8th to 11th April 2008.
and was modelled on its predecessor, Ru ware, the official
ware of the Northern Song court (960-1127). Originals of this
quality are exceedingly rare and today not more than a dozen
vases are preserved worldwide, virtually all in museum collections.
The present guan vase is unique not only in its shape, but also in
bearing on the base an incised identification of its erstwhile
location at the Southern Song Imperial court. The three characters yu jin yuan refer to one of
Hangzhou’s Imperial parks, ‘Jade Stream Garden’, which had been built by the Gaozong
Emperor in 1147. The Emperor is known to have used this garden for archery banquets on New
Year’s day. It is expected to fetch in excess of HK$55 million.
(C) TAO – The Jiansongge Collection
The thirty pieces which form the Jiansongge collection
document China’s precocious taste for abstraction and
embody, in aesthetic terms, the principles of Taoism, which
centres on an organic harmony between man and the natural
order. Indeed, Taoism, throughout the centuries, had a
profound impact on aesthetic trends and particularly from the
Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties onwards, the
cultural elite - comprising emperors and the leading painters of the day - started appreciating
natural rock formations, as microcosms of the universe and vehicles of meditation.
These rocks brought the natural world inside the home or studio,
providing imaginary travel to lofty peaks and cave paradises. The
Chinese literati mostly prized the formal qualities of the rocks and
indeed they may well rank among the world’s earliest abstract
sculptures.
(D) Splendors of the Qing Court
Following the resounding success of our ‘Lost Treasures’ sale in October last year, we will offer
again an impressive selection of objects made for the court of the Qing Emperors, including
superb examples of Imperial glass, jade, cloisonné and furniture.
The highlight in this sale is the Extraordinary Large (51.5cm) Imperial
Gold, Cloisonné and Beijing Enamel Ewer from the Qianlong
period (estimate upon request). It remains one of the most extravagant,
complex and, no doubt, costly objects produced at the court during the
18th century. The body of the vessel is made out of 22-carat gold and decorated with cloisonné
enamels and delicate Beijing enamel panels of flowers, figures and landscapes. Only two other
similar gold-bodied ewers of this size are known, one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, the
other in the Pierre Uldry Collection, in Zurich.
FINE CHINESE PAINTINGS SALE
Following the success of the 2007 Autumn sale of Fine Chinese paintings, Sotheby’s Hong Kong
continues to showcase the best of Chinese classical and modern paintings sourced from various
collectors in Europe. Celebrated works by Zhang Daqian, Fu Baoshi, Li Keran, Xu Beihong and
many more will feature alongside works from the mid-Ming to the beginning of the Qing dynasty.
Over 260 lots are valued at an estimated total of nearly HK$90 millon.
Hengguan Mountain Road is a magnificent
splashed ink and colour on paper work by
Zhang Daqian (Est. HK$4-6 million).
Considered to
