Sotheby's Results - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art - March 18, 2008 Sotheby’s spring sale of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art in New York totaled $11,091,263.
included works from a Mid-Western Collector, including a fine and rare spinachgreen
jade brushpot, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, which achieved $433,000, selling to an Asian
buyer (lot 16, est. $250/350,000). At 6", the exterior is beautifully carved and undercut with four scholars
and their acolytes in a mountainous landscape.
The sale also included a selection of over 30 lots of superb bamboo carvings from the Walter and
Mona Lutz Collection, which performed exceptionally well. The highlight of the 33 lots was an
important bamboo carving of the ‘Eight Daoist Immortals Crossing the Sea’, Qing dynasty,
18th/19th century, which sold for $217,000 to an Asian Private buyer (lot 52, est. $40/60,000). These
works, collected over half a century, comprised brushpots, figures, and other scholar’s articles. The
collection started in 1945 during Mr. Lutz’s time as an American military officer in Asia; together with his
Japanese wife, they amassed a formidable collection. Many of the works have been published and were on
exhibition in the Denver Art Museum.
Other highlights of the sale included a scroll by Zhu Yunming, ink on paper, which sold for $361,000 to
Arnold Chang Inc., many times above its high estimate (lot 69, est. $50/70,000); a gilt-decorated brownground
‘three boys’ vase, Qianlong seal mark and period, which brought $361,000, selling to Chak’s
Company Ltd. (lot 117, est. $150/200,000); and a fine blue and white ‘Lianzi’ bowl, Xuande mark and
period, which achieved $265,000, selling to a Japanese dealer (lot 114, est. $120/150,000).
Rounding out the sale was a collection of Japanese arms and armor, comprised of approximately thirty
pieces including complete suits, breastplates, helmets, masks and swords, a number of them signed by
armorers, including the Saotome family. Highlighting the pieces, which ranged in date from the late 16th to
19th centuries, was a russet iron Kasa-type Suji Boshi Helmet, signed Saotome, 17th century, which
sold for $79,000 (lot 268, est. $25/30,000). Acquired over the past two decades by French painter and
sculptor Armand P. Arman, the collection was being offered by The Armand P. Arman Revocable Trust
and brought $824,688 (lots 261-289, est. in excess of $400,000).
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
Sotheby’s New York Spring 2008 Asian Art Auction Schedule:
March 17 C
ontemporary Art Asia: China Japan Korea
March 18 Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
March 19 Indian Art
March 19 Indian and Southeast Works of Art, Including Miniatures
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring 2008 Auction Schedule at the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Centre:
April 8 Fine Chinese Paintings
April 8 Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings
April 9 Contemporary Chinese Art
April 10 Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite
April 10 Important Watches
April 11 Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Sotheby’s London Spring 2008 Asian Art Auction Schedule
May 14 Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Sotheby’s Paris Spring 2008 Asian Art Auction Schedule
June 12 Arts of Asia
**Sales information and dates are subject to change**
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