BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – On Sunday, March 26, the management and staff of I.M. Chait Gallery of Beverly Hills will greet international buyers en route home from Asia Week New York with this year’s edition of what many say is the most rewarding Asian-art buying opportunity of the entire year. The company’s Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art Auction has become a mandatory last-chance stopover for connoisseurs of fine Asian art, and perennially draws raves from Asia-based dealers and collectors who traverse the United States to attend Asia Week events. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
After they’ve concluded their week of shopping in New York, Asian buyers look forward to the comfortable sanctuary and warm hospitality that awaits them at family-owned Chait gallery.
“Stopping over and spending time in Beverly Hills before concluding their journey home is a relaxing way to break up what otherwise would be at least a 14-hour flight,” said Josh Chait, director of operations at I.M. Chait. “We make sure all of our guests feel welcome at our gallery, with Chinese translators on hand for any who may require assistance. Some auction guests have been our good friends for many years – some even going back to when my father, Isadore Chait, started the business in 1969. We always look forward to their visits.”
No stone is ever left unturned in preparing for the annual event. “We choose carefully and offer pieces that are historically significant, which is what Chinese buyers prefer,” Josh said. This year’s auction headliners include a Yongle blue and white charger, a Yongle brushwasher, and a 15th-century Imperial Jiaqing famille rose dish. Also, the sale features exquisite fine jewelry, silver, luxury goods, and both Asian and European decorative art.
An especially strong selection of Chinese ceramics is led by a rare and important form, the aforementioned porcelain brush washer from the Ming Dynasty Yongle Period (below). Of a wide, compressed form, its circular design incorporates six floral sprays of lotus, chrysanthemum, peony, rose, plum and magnolia blossoms. With provenance from the Wolch Collection of Los Angeles, the early 15th-century vessel carries a $200,000-$250,000 estimate.
A massive and wonderfully detailed Ming Yongle Period blue and white charger displays a central motif of willowy lotus blossoms, with a lavishly decorated border of scrolling foliate and floral embellishment. Measuring 17¼ inches in diameter, the charger is expected to sell for $80,000-$100,000.
Another Ming treasure, a wucai enameled porcelain bowl of squared form is whimsically decorated with images of sea life (below). A single sinewy carp surrounded by sea plants appears on the interior face of the bowl, while additional swimming carp attractively adorn each of the four exterior sides. The estimate is $50,000-$60,000.
A rare and beautifully detailed Chinese Qing Dynasty famille rose enameled porcelain dish (below) presents to the viewer a poem written in coral-hued Chinese characters. Translated, it pays tribute to a “tea of the first picking” and describes the atmosphere in which the drink to “dissipate the early winter chill” is being prepared. Bordered by bands of scrolling floral design on a yellow ground, the scalloped dish holds immense eye appeal. With a Jiaqing mark and of the period, it is estimated at $30,000-$40,000.
The connoisseur’s selection of jewelry includes such highlights as a fine, unmounted 6.25-carat cushion-shape diamond, J color and SI1 clarity, $90,000-$100,000; a superb platinum ring with a squared, cushion-shape solitaire diamond, approximately 5.30 carats, of J color and VS1 clarity, $70,000-$80,000; and both gentlemen’s and ladies’ watches, including models by Rolex, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet. A sparkling Art Deco bracelet with 19+ carats of diamonds has star quality written all over it and comes to auction with a $30,000-$35,000 estimate.
Two matching Chinese huanghuali-wood stacked rectangular cabinets are finished with handsome bronzed-metal hardware. The doors to each of the cabinets (below) open to reveal a shelf with two shallow drawers and other storage compartments. They are a pair and will cross the auction block with a $25,000-$30,000 estimate; while a circa-1790 English George III mahogany dining table with eight Hepplewhite dining chairs will be introduced with a $20,000-$30,000 estimate.
Also for the home, the auction offers a Chinese scholar’s desk pieces, including carved jades; dynastic Chinese pottery (Tang, Ming and Sui), and a collection of Japanese cloisonné enamel vases. There are also ancient antiquities, including Egyptian, Roman and Greek wares. Noteworthy in this group is masterfully carved first century A.D. marble torso of Venus, estimate $20,000-$40,000. A large collection of vintage African and Oceanic carvings from the Los Angeles estate of Ralph Turner is sure to be of interest to buyers of ethnographic art.
The Sunday, March 26, 2017 auction will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific Time (2 p.m. Eastern), with Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
For information on any item offered in the auction, contact Josh Chait, tel. 310-285-0182, or email josh@chait.com.
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