PHILADELPHIA — Freeman’s April 13 Asian Arts auction presents collectors of Chinese craftsmanship opportunities to add remarkable 17th- and 18th-century furniture and design objects to their collections. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
The sale is led by a pair of Chinese huanghuali, or fragrant rosewood, armchairs, elegant works crafted in the late Ming to Qing dynasty and offered at an estimate of $80,000-$120,000. This particular “Sichitou Guanmaoyi” design form (“official’s-hat chair with four protruding ends”) would have been reserved for the most important and most honored member of a household in 17th-century China. The chairs’ handsome, streamlined forms and unusual bowed splats will appeal to discerning collectors of Chinese furniture.
Pair of Chinese huanghuali armchairs, est. $80,000-$120,000
The April 13 Asian Arts auction also features two design highlights: richly decorated 18th-century Chinese vases. The first, a large and impressive Chinese gilt-repousse-embellished cloisonne vase, has both an intricate, multicolored lotus scroll all-over design as well as an auspicious five-clawed dragon snaking around the vase’s pear-shaped form, chasing a flaming jewel. Presented with an estimate of $40,000-$60,000, this vase’s gilt-repousse embellishment suggests Imperial patronage.
An exceptional pair of Chinese champleve cloisonne enamel gilt metal gu-form vases from the Qianlong/Jiaqing period, estimated at $50,000-$70,000, will also delight Asian art collectors. Along with the previously mentioned cloisonne vase, this elegant pair comes to Freeman’s from the collection of the late Norman Stanley Potter, a notable collector in New York who had a particular eye for Asian art and antiquities. Remarkable in both provenance and craftsmanship, these vases feature finely decorated enamel lotus-scroll forms throughout and an eye-catching gilt body.
The Asian Arts sale also features jade carvings acquired from leading American and British dealers, Imperial porcelains, Japanese lacquers and woodblock prints, silk-embroidered tapestries, and paintings by Qi Baishi and Wu Changshuo. The exhibition will be on view by appointment at Freeman’s 1600 West Girard Avenue location from April 8 to April 12, by appointment only. To make an appointment, please contact Xuanyu Li at xli@freemansauction.com.
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