 UNGLAZED POTTERY MODEL OF A CAMEL Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 1.UNGLAZED POTTERY MODEL OF A CAMEL. CHINA.TANG DYNASTY.618 - 907 AD. L: 59 CMS, 23 INS.H: 74 CMS, 29 INS. A magnificent pottery model of a Bactrian camel with a foreign rider, probably a Sogdian groom, seated with his arms raised as if grappling with the reins, dressed in characteristic full length Central Asian jacket with wide lapels and long boots, his bearded face with large eyes under bushy brows, a large beaked nose and a thick curling moustache, astride a large detachable saddle bag slung between the camel’s humps, rendered in accurate detail with various attachments including a flask and rabbit skin to each side, the animal superbly modelled as if striding forwards with beautifully sculpted head, the braying mouth wide open to reveal realistically rendered teeth, palate and tongue, with wide eyes and flaring nostrils, the upturned neck with bushy mane, the strong slender legs with well delineated tendons and padded feet, the dark grey earthenware body with traces of white slip remaining. For travellers and merchants along the Silk Road, camels provided the most dependable means of transportation, as they were able to carry heavy loads and survive the rigours of thirst, heat and cold. They have often been described as ‘Ships of the Desert’. Heading west, camel cargoes contained silk, but also ceramics, spices and tea. On the return trips they were loaded with treasures from the western world including gold, coloured glass, pigments for glazes and exotic furs. For a comparable figure of a camel with a Central Asian rider, see fig. 241 in Hao Qian et al, Out of China’s Earth: Archeological Discoveries in the People’s Republic of China. London: Frederick Muller; Beijing : China Pictorial, 1981. A remarkable example of a unglazed camel with rider holding an owl was sold at Sotheby’s in New York, March 2002, for US$412,750, Lot no 55, sale no N07771. For a detailed history of pottery figures of camels, see E. R. Knauer, The Camel’s Load in Life and Death, Zurich: Akanthus, 1998.Age verified by four point Oxford Thermoluminescence Test C106j52.PROVENANCE: Private French collection.
|  STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 3.STUCCO HEAD OF BUDDHA.NORTHWEST PAKISTAN OR AFGHANISTAN.GANDHARA.4TH - 5TH CENTURY.H. 24 CMS, 9 ½ INS.A serene, elegant white stucco head of the Buddha, the eyes down cast in meditation and the mouth set with a gentle half smile, the hair rising in waves to a bun-shaped usnisha; traces of pigments remaining.The use of stucco and terracotta as a substitute for the grey schist of many early Gandhara sculptures led to a greater freedom of expression and innovation. Perhaps the finest of all the many examples of stucco Buddha heads is the one in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Widely published and admired, it is variously ascribed to either Hadda or Taxila - see catalogue no. 120 in Stanislaw Czuma, Kushan Sculpture: Images from early India, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1985.
|  TABERNACLE WITH SEATED BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 6.TABERNACLE WITH SEATED BUDDHA.THAILAND.LOPBURI STYLE.12TH – 13TH CENTURY.H. (OVERALL) 65 CMS, 25 ½ INS.W. (BOTTOM OF BASE) 23 CMS, 9 INS.An exceptionally rare and important bronze tabernacle of four parts, containing a crowned and jewelled Buddha seated in bhumisparsimudra (the gesture of ‘summoning the earth to witness’) on a tall pedestal decorated with dancing apsaras and the demons of Mara’s army, wearing a three-piece monastic robe, elaborate crown, necklace and earrings once set with precious or semi-precious stones, the central figure enclosed by a naga arch and a flame-edged aureole; the entire ensemble surmounted by a stylised bodhi tree containing three further Buddhas and a circular boss representing the sun.This outstanding, elaborate image has a glossy, greenish-black patina and represents the final week of the Buddha’s fast as he overcomes Mara and attains enlightenment. During the early part of the 13th century the central Thai province of Lopburi shook off its domination by the Khmers and enjoyed a brief period as an independent kingdom. Works of art produced in Lopburi during the 12th to 13th century are heavily influenced by Khmer idioms and include a number of examples (such as this one), of crowned and jewelled Buddhas seated within tabernacles, or ‘jewelled houses’. After the founding of Ayutthaya in 1350 Lopburi succumbed rapidly to its more powerful neighbour and was incorporated into that kingdom. Large, complete tabernacles of this type rarely appear on the art market - the last that I am aware of was in 1998 - see Spink, The Lion of the Shakyas, cat. no. 6. For an almost identical example in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, see cat. no. 118, p. 108 in G. Kreisel, Linden-Museum Stuttgart: Südasien-Abteilung, Linden-Museum Stuttgart, 1987 (also published in Spink, Exhibition: Indian Influence on Art in South-East Asia, London, 1970). The L.A. County Museum of Art has a fine double-sided example – see no. 131 in P. Pal, The Sensuous Immortals: A Selection of Sculptures from the Pan-Asian Collection, L.A. County Museum of Art, 1977. For two smaller, less elaborate examples see nos. 13 and 14 in P. Krairiksh, Khmer Bronzes: A Selection from the Suan Phka Tevoda Collection, Lugano, 1982.
|  SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 8.SANDSTONE HEAD OF BUDDHA. CHINA.PROBABLY FROM SHANXI PROVINCE.NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY.960 - 1127 AD.H. 32 CMS, 12 ½ INS.An over life-sized pale sandstone head of Buddha, sensitively modelled with a benign, tranquil expression, the eyes cast downwards in meditation, the hair arranged in bands of snail shell curls rising to a domed usnisha; with traces of pigment in the recesses.For a prototype of this style, dated to the Liao dynasty (1038), please compare with the painted clay figure of Buddha with attendants in the Huayan Temple (Datong, Shanxi Province) – see page 375 in A.F. Howard et al, Chinese Sculpture, Yale University Press, 2006.
|  BRONZE OCTAFOIL MIRROR Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 12.BRONZE OCTAFOIL MIRROR.CHINA.TANG DYNASTY.618 – 907 AD.D. 11.5 CMS, 4 ½ INS. . An octafoil mirror decorated with a pair of Mandarin ducks and a pair of swans surrounding a central knob in the form of a crouching animal, the outer rim raised and border decorated with floral sprays. The silvery colour is due to a high tin content in the bronze. For a comparable mirror, see fig. 68, page 75 in Chou Ju-Hsi, Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. See also fig. 59, A. Soper, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Bronzes, Rome, 1966. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  QINGBAI COSMETIC BOX AND COVER Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 15.QINGBAI COSMETIC BOX AND COVER.CHINA.SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY.1127 – 1279 AD .D. 8 CMS, 3 1/8 INS. A porcelain box and cover of circular form, the slightly domed cover mould stamped and sculpted with a spray of flowers within a foliate rim, a pale blue (Qingbai) glaze covering the lid and sides of the base, leaving the rims and base unglazed to show the white clay body. Women of the Song dynasty favoured small boxes to contain different cosmetic materials. For a similar box decorated with flowers see fig. 290, page 161, He Li, Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide, Thames and Hudson, 1996. There are comparable examples of cosmetic boxes in the British Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ashmolean Museum and the Barlow Collection, University of East Sussex; all illustrated as plates 100, 103, 104 and 105 in Stacey Pierson, Qingbai Ware: Chinese Porcelain of the Song and Yuan dynasties, Percival David Foundation of Art, 2002. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL AND COVER (DING) Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 16.ARCHAIC BRONZE RITUAL FOOD VESSEL AND COVER (DING). CHINA.WARRING STATES PERIOD.475 - 221 BC.H. 20 CMS, 8 INS. W. (ACROSS HANDLES). 24.2 CMS, 9 ½ INS. A fine archaic bronze ritual food vessel and cover (ding), the globular body standing on three cabriole legs and set with two upright arch handles with rope-twist borders; the gently domed cover set with three loop finials, the body divided by a horizontal ridge separating two finely cast bands of dragon scrolls in flat relief, the cover with three further bands of dragon scrolls, the bronze bearing a greyish-green patina with some areas of brighter encrustation. Note: The three loop finials on the cover are for use as feet when the vessel is upturned as a dish. For a similar example see no 61A in William Watson, Ancient Chinese Bronzes, Faber and Faber, 1977. For another vessel in the Stuttgart Museum, see fig. 11 in J. Kalter et al, Ferne Völker Frühe Zeiten: Kunstwerke aus dem Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, 1982. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  PAIR OF CROUCHING MYTHICAL BEASTS Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 17.PAIR OF CROUCHING MYTHICAL BEASTS. CHINA.WARRING STATES PERIOD.475 – 221 BC. L. 10 CMS, 4 INS. A pair of striking bronze mythical beasts, each animal cast in a crouched position with legs tucked underneath and tail curled around its haunches as if the animal is waiting to pounce, its head held low with nose upturned, teeth bared and ears flat, a central horn curling between the ears; their bodies exquisitely inlaid with decorative silver spirals. These bronze mythical beasts were probably used as weights. Compare to a bronze ox dating to the Warring States period, unearthed in 1956 in Shou County, Anhui province and illustrated as cat. no. 4-1-10, page 63, National Museum of Chinese History, Exhibition of Chinese History, Beijing: Morning Glory Publishers, 1998. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  GREEN GLAZED YUEYAO CARVED BOWL Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 18.GREEN GLAZED YUEYAO CARVED BOWL.CHINA.SOUTHERN DYNASTIES.420 - 589 AD.H. 12.7 CMS, 5 INS. A globular jar, finely carved and incised around the body with beautiful overlapping lotus petals, the interior and exterior covered in a finely crackled pale olive green glaze; the glaze pooling to the base to reveal a pale grey porcellaneous body. During this period freely carved, overlapping lotus petals appear quite frequently on celadon vessels such as bowls, jars and vases. PROVENANCE: Private English collection. Acquired by the owner’s father during employment with the British Foreign Service during the 1950s or 1960s.
|  LONGQUAN CELADON BOWL Current and Past Exhibitions
Catalogue no. 19.LONGQUAN CELADON BOWL.CHINA.SHANXI PROVINCE.SOUTHERN SONG DYNASTY.12TH - 13TH CENTURY.H. 7 CMS, 2 ¾ INS.D. 18.4 CMS, 7 3/16 INS.A longquan celadon bowl, the exterior moulded with lotus petals at the base beneath a floral band at the rim, the interior with a single incised peony spray within a central medallion, the soft sea-green glaze suffused with clear crackle and thinning to white at various parts of the moulding.Longquan wares were mostly decorated with a greenish glaze and were made at kilns centred in the Longquan area of southern Zhejiang province, from the Song to the early Qing dynasty.For a similar bowl see fig. 269, He Li, Chinese Ceramics: The New Standard Guide, Thames and Hudson, 1996. There is also a similar example in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. PROVENANCE: Private French collection.Previously sold at Christies Hong Kong, 18th March 1991, Lot 507.
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BRILLIANCE FROM THE EAST: AN IMPORTANT EXHIBITION OF INDIAN, SOUTHEAST ASIAN AND CHINESE ART.