NEW YORK – When Asian art collectors and museum curators visit New York for Asia Week, Gianguan Auctions will greet them with collections of headline-making Chinese ceramics, ancient and modern scroll paintings and works of art by court scholars, artisans and monks whose vision and craftsmanship inspired emperors and influenced style for generations. The Gianguan Auctions sale is Saturday, March 19, at 39 W. 56th St. and online.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The item to watch is Lot 155, a Qing Dynasty yellow-ground famille vase with garlic head and arched scroll handles valued at $15 million. The estimate reflects the sophisticated use of enameling and sgraffito – scratching the hard fired surface to tap the hue of a glaze or slip beneath. The abundance of precisely executed peonies and butterflies set beneath ruyi heads, floral scrolls and gilt rim belie the time and effort it took to create them. The 9-inch-tall vase bears the Qianlong six-character mark and is of the period.
Leading the Chinese paintings is Lot 78, Five Cattle (below) by Yan Ciping of the Southern Song Dynasty. The period was one of heightened appreciation for art. Fine paintings often inspired others to copy them, as is the case with this painting, which is after Han Huang’s earlier Five Cattle. It will command as much as $5 million.
The auction will begin and 10 a.m. Eastern.
