NEW YORK CITY — The New York sales of Chinese and Asian paintings, sculpture, calligraphy and works of art dominated Asia Week during the week of September 9-15. Asia Week New York is a collaboration among Asian art specialists, auction houses and galleries in the metropolitan New York area. Sales of Asian works of art occurred in other cities as well, and on the following pages are some of the highlights at the major auction houses and gallery exhibitions. Prices given include buyer’s premium, as stated by the auction house.

Asian specialist and auction house owner Lark Mason stands with a pair of rare Chinese huanghuali continuous horseshoe back armchairs dating from the early Qing dynasty that were expected to bring up to $900,000 in sales that run through November 5.

Lark Mason Previews Asian, Ancient & Ethnographic Auctions

NEW YORK CITY — Although not part of the Asian art feeding frenzy during Asia Week in New York, Lark Mason’s iGavel.com, way uptown, was previewing a month-long series of Asian art sales that opened during September’s Asia Week.

The Asian, ancient and ethnographic works of art auction opened September 5, with sales running through November 5. One of the showstoppers Mason was showcasing in his gallery was a pair of rare Chinese huanghuali continuous horseshoe back armchairs dating from the early Qing dynasty ($600/900,000). Almost all horseshoe back armchairs have a sloping crest rail that terminates in scrolled handgrips, but an extremely rare version has the crest rail terminating into the chair seat frame, which this pair has.

Also shown here was an oil on canvas work by contemporary Chinese artist Yue Minjun, an example of his enigmatic “Laughing Boy” works, this one was titled “Hands Up, Don’t Move,” with China’s peak Mount Kailash looming in the background ($100/200,000).

A porcelain vase made to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek’s 60th birthday, descended in the family of Chiang Kai-Shek and is one of only a handful of similar vases in public or private collections ($20/30,000), a bronze Han dynasty figure of a horse ($100/150,000) and other porcelain, furniture and works of art were previewed as well.

In addition to these items was the Brow collection of Dong Son bronzes that were being offered September 5-26. James Brow, a self-trained authority on the subject, assembled the collection over decades. The bronzes were purchased from sources in Hong Kong and other locations. The highlight of this collection was a rare, large and early Dong Son bronze type 1 drum, dating to circa 500 BCE ($80/120,000).

For additional information, www.larkmasonassociates.com or igavelauctions.com.

“Ko (Sparkling Water)” by Otsuki Masako (b 1943), executed 2007. Silver with metal carving and gold decoration.

Contemporary Japanese Metalwork Shines At Onishi Gallery

NEW YORK CITY — Down in Chelsea, visitors to Onishi Gallery were regaled with “Gold and Silver Waves: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork.” The exhibition brought together ten metalwork artists, two of which were “Living National Treasures,” a designation of renown given by the Japanese government. Those included Nakagawa Mamoru and Osumi Yukie, the latter is the first female metalwork artist to ever receive that designation.

Also included in the exhibition were works by Otsuki Masako, Oshiyama Motoko, Hagino Noriko, Hata Shunsai III, Sako Ryuhei, Hannya Tamotsu, Hannya Taiju and Miyata Ryohei.

The works, largely from silver and gold, harped upon the natural rhythm and undulation of cresting waves and the patterns found upon the surface of water. This was seen in the silver vase “Ko (Sparking Water)” by Otsuki Masako, which featured carved silver ripples among gold decoration. It was also found in the work of Osumi Yukie, whose silver vase “Sea Breeze,” was hammered and worked with the nunomezogan technique, which is a textile imprint inlay, with decoration in lead and gold; and also in her work “Ocean,” which was created using the same methods. Sako Ryuhei’s “Mokume-gane Vase,” of silver, copper and copper alloys shibuichi and kuromido, featured a mottled patina that was not unlike a topographical map.

The gallery will be organizing a contemporary Japanese metalwork show at a major American museum in September 2020 that will last one year and will include a number of artists in this exhibition.

For additional information, www.onishigallery.com or 212-695-8035.

The top lot of the week was a rare and large parcel-gilt silver bowl, Tang dynasty, which realized $3,495,000 and set the world auction record for a Chinese silver work of art.

Christie’s Asian Art Week Live Auctions Total $41.6 Million

NEW YORK CITY — Christie’s Asian Art Week live auctions totaled $41,641,250, not including results from the online sales that continued through September 25. Deep bidding was witnessed for all categories with active participation from registered bidders spanning 36 countries and five continents. Exceptional results were achieved for the two collection sales, Masterpieces of Early Chinese Gold and Silver and Chinese Art from The Art Institute of Chicago, with many lots greatly exceeding their initial sale estimates. Throughout the week of sales, 11 new world auction records were set.

The top lot of the week was a rare and large parcel-gilt silver bowl, Tang dynasty, which realized $3,495,000 and set the world auction record for a Chinese silver work of art. Other notable results included a rare gold “dragon”-handled cup, Yuan dynasty, that sold for $2,535,000 and set the auction record for a gold work of art from the Yuan dynasty; a massive sancai-glazed pottery figure of a Fereghan horse, Tang dynasty, which realized $675,000; and a rare enameled famille rose mille fleurs lantern vase, Jiaqing iron-red six-character seal and mark of the period, that sold for $879,000.

Notable results were achieved for the South Asian Modern and contemporary art sale, led by Sayed Haider Raza’s monumental “La Terre” (1977), which realized $3,015,000. Additionally, within the sale nine new records were set for artists: Shakir Ali, Jyoti Bhatt, Bipin Goswami, Sarnath Banerjee, Naeem Mohaiemen, Mahbubur Rahman, RAQS Media Collection, Shumon Ahmed and Mrinalini Mukherjee.

Additional Asian Art Week highlights included an early work by Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), “Hibiscus,” dated 1948, which sold for $591,000; Wang Ziwu (b 1936), “Portrait of Cao Xueqin,” which sold for more than 20 times its low estimate, realizing $231,250; and a large gilt-bronze figure of Vajrasattva, which sold for $615,000.

On September 10, Christie’s sale of Chinese paintings totaled $2,341,750. The top lot was Daqian’s “Hibiscus.” Contemporary ink paintings performed with exceptional results led by Wang Ziwu’s “Portrait of Cao Xueqin.” Other notable results included Bada Shanren (1626-1705), “Bird and Rock,” which realized $175,000; Pu Ru (1896-1963), “Landscapes,” which sold for more than five times its estimate realizing $118,750; Ding Fuzhi (1879-1949), “Plum Blossoms” from the Irving collection, which realized $87,500; and Jia Youfu’s (b 1942) “Herding in the Mountains,” that sold for $25,000.

Christie’s sale of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian works of art on September 11 totaled $3,003,750. The top lot of the sale was a large gilt-bronze figure of Vajrasattva, which sold for $615,000. Other notable results included bronze figures from the Chola period, such as the bronze figure of Uma, South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period, that sold for three times its estimate, realizing $300,000, and a bronze figure of a Chakra, South India, Tamil, Nadu, Chola period, that sold for $100,000, more than doubling its estimate. Works presented from the collection of Dorothy and Richard Sherwood fetched exceptional prices, led by a large buff sandstone relief with seven Matrikas, Central India, that realized $275,000.

Masterpieces of early Chinese gold and silver crossed the block on September 12, totaling $12,163,750, more than doubling the sale’s overall low estimate. The top lot of the sale was the rare large parcel-gilt silver bowl, Tang dynasty, which set the world auction record for any silver Chinese work of art. Other notable results included the rare gold “dragon”-handled cup, Yuan dynasty, which set the record for any gold work of art from the Yuan dynasty; a rare turquoise-inlaid gold openwork chape, late Sixth–early Fifth Century, that realized $591,000; a decorated gold “peon”’ dish, Yuan dynasty, that sold for $591,000; and a rare silver spherical censer, Tang dynasty, which sold for $387,000. The group came from the collection originally formed by Dr Johan Carl Kempe (1884-1967), a prominent and celebrated collector of Chinese art.

Also on September 12, sold to benefit the Art Institute of Chicago’s Asian art acquisition fund was Chinese art from the institute. It was 100 percent sold and totaled $5,004,250. The top lot of the sale was a large Qianlong mark-and-period, blue and white “dragon” vase, tianqiuping, which sold for $519,000. Additional notable results included two Wanli wucai garlic-head vases, sold as separate lots, each realizing $399,000; a Qianlong mark-and-period, blue and yellow stem bowl, which sold for $375,000; a rare wucai “dragon and phoenix” dish, that sold for more than seven times its low estimate, realizing $187,500; and a rare Jizhou stencil-decorated pear-shaped vase, that sold for $150,000, against its low estimate of $20,000. Additionally, a selection of ceramics and works of art were presented in an online sale through September 17. The sale totaled $1,443,125.

Capping the series of live Asia Week sales on September 13, Chinese ceramics and works of art achieved a total of $11,622,500. The top lot of the sale was a famille rose mille fleurs lantern vase, Jiaqing iron-red six-character seal and mark of the period, which realized $879,000. Additional highlights included a massive sancai-glazed pottery figure of a Fereghan horse, Tang dynasty, which realized $675,000; a pair of rare ritual food vessels and covers on integral stands, fangzuogui, midwestern Zhou dynasty, that sold for $495,000; and a rare large Longquan celadon barrel-form jar, Southern Song-Yuan dynasty, that sold for $300,000.

Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For information, www.christies.com or 212-636-2000.

A Chinese imperial cloisonné enamel and cabochon-mounted gilt-bronze elephant censer, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, sold for $63,125.

Imperial Cloisonné Elephant-Form Censer Sits Atop Heritage’s Asian Art Auction

NEW YORK CITY — Multiple collectors made bids for a Chinese imperial cloisonné enamel and cabochon-mounted gilt-bronze elephant censer, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, until it sold for $63,125 to claim top-lot honors in Heritage Auctions’ fine and decorative Asian art auction September 9-10. The censer comes from a prominent southern California family of art collectors, who have owned it for about half a century. The elephant-form legs and the large elephant finial on the cover represent a motif that exemplifies the imperial style of the Eighteenth Century.

An imperial Chinese carved three-color lacquer nine dragons box and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, also drew bids from numerous collectors, climbing well past its estimate of $20/40,000 until it realized $52,500. A pristine example of the type of box that was used to present gifts of significant value or importance in the Chinese imperial court, such gift boxes now are appreciated as much as the gifts they contained — and with good reason, as the workmanship that went into creating such boxes was extraordinary. The lacquer was carefully applied in thin layers. Several base layers were applied, and then a layer of a different color would be added, followed by more lacquer, in a process that could be repeated multiple times. Once the desired number of layers of color and lacquer were applied, ornate designs were carved into the box, ultimately revealing intricate multicolor artwork, depending on the depth of the carving. In this case, the spaces carved into the red surface reveal brown and grey/black layers underneath.

One of the most popular lots in the sale was a pair of Chinese enameled porcelain plaques attributed to Liu Yucen, Republic period, which sold for $40,000, eight times the high auction estimate. Featuring a seal in red enamel, the tables measure 26 inches long by 18¼ inches tall by 13 inches wide. Liu Yucen (1904-69) was an innovator of the shuidian taohua method of fencai enameling, which helped him become one of the leading ceramicists working in Jingdezhen while still in his 20s.

A pair of Chinese carved white jade and partial gilt-carved hardwood table screens, from the late Nineteenth-early Twentieth Century, doubled its low estimate when it drew $30,000. The screens measure 12 inches high by 8¾ inches wide.

After Shen Quan, “Two Deer Under Pine,” Eighteenth Century is a hanging scroll, in ink and color on silk from the estate of Sumi Myazawa Harada in Piedmont, Calif., that sold at nearly triple its high auction estimate when it brought $27,500. Signed with three red seals of the artist, the work measures 104½ inches high by 48 inches wide; the image measures 76 inches high by 37¾ inches wide.

A few other top lots that rounded out the two-day auction conducted at the Ukrainian Institute of America at The Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion were a Chinese doucai enameled porcelain meiping vase, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period, with six-character wanli mark in underglaze blue and of a later period that sold at $25,000; an Eighteenth Century Tibetan painted silk lama thangka, 39½ by 23½ inches, realized $18,750; and a Chinese pale celadon and russet jadeite brush washer with fitted wood stand, late Qing dynasty, 4 by 8 by 5¼ inches with the stand, sold at $17,500.

Prices, with buyer’s premium, as reported by the auction house. For further information, www.ha.com or 877-437-4824.

Measuring 9-1/8 inches high, this Ming-style doucai vase stunned the room when it sold for $387,000 above a $3,000 estimate, finishing as the top lot at Doyle. The vase featured the Yongzheng six-character mark within double circles, circa 1723-35.

Doucai Vase Awakens At Doyle, Hits $387,000

NEW YORK CITY — Doyle’s Asian Works of Art auction on September 9 presented the arts of China, Japan and Southeast Asia dating from the Neolithic period through the Twentieth Century. Showcased were porcelains, jades, snuff bottles, bronzes, pottery, scholar’s objects and paintings from prominent collections and estates.

Highlighting the sale was a rare Ming-style Doucai vase with the Yongzheng six-character mark within double circles, circa 1723-35, that achieved $387,000. Measuring 9-1/8 inches high, the vase took several minutes to sell as determined bidders in the saleroom and on the telephones pushed the price higher and higher, generating a round of applause when it sold. The vase was decorated in Chenghua-style with an all-over design of Indian lotus bearing full formal blooms amid delicate curling stems and leaves.

An imperial Tibetan gold woven brocade hanging from the Qianlong period soared past its estimate of $10/15,000 to realize $46,875. Depicting the “Thousand Buddhas” symbolically destined to redeem the world in successive generations, the impressive hanging measured 57 by 128 inches. By repute it was presented to the emperor Qianlong by the Dalai Lama of Tibet for the Lamaistic temple in Beijing.

The auction saw strong prices for Chinese jades highlighted by a Nineteenth Century white jade figure of a mythological qilin that fetched $37,500, far surpassing its estimate of $600/800. Hailing from the estate of Elizabeth H. Fuller, the fearsome figure measured 4 inches in length.

From the estate of an Upper East Side collector were more than 20 lots of carved Chinese jade objects, featuring a Qing dynasty celadon jade bowl carved as a delicate lotus blossom with seeds in relief around the rim that sold for $21,250, ten times its estimate. The diminutive cup measured 2 inches in height.

The auction offered more than 100 lots of Chinese snuff bottles highlighted by property from the Kaufman collection and the estate of Mary Ann Bresee. Works of art in miniature, the snuff bottles were crafted in a wide range of materials, including jade, agate, amethyst, enameled porcelain, glass, coral, cloisonné and lacquer. Property from the Bresee estate featured a Qing dynasty celadon jade snuff bottle carved as a bottle embraced by a standing figure and decorated with a bat, and an Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century pink tourmaline snuff bottle carved in relief with a pomegranate, each estimated at $700-1,000, and each realizing $5,937.

All prices include the buyer’s premium. For more information, www.doyle.com or 212-427-2730.

The highest priced lot sold at Sotheby’s during Asia Week was “Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River in Cursive Script” by Zhe Yunming (1460-1526),” which made $1,580,000.

Asia Week Sales Total $37.4 Million For Sotheby’s

NEW YORK CITY — During a five-day stretch from Tuesday, September 10 to Saturday, September 14, Sotheby’s celebrated the fall 2019 edition of Asia Week with 1,227 lots offered that sold, cumulatively, for $37,445,250. Sotheby’s reported this as a 10.8 percent increase over Asian Art sales in September 2018.

“We are very pleased with the results of this season’s Asia Weeks auctions,” said Angela McAteer, Sotheby’s head of Chinese works of art department in New York. “Overall, works emerging from well-known and provenanced collections captured the attention and enthusiasm of the market, and we saw incredibly robust bidding on Chinese art on offer from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ancient art from the esteemed collection of Stephen Junkunc III, and works from a Pennsylvania cultural institution.”

On Tuesday, September 10, auctioneer and chairman of Asian art in Europe and the Americas, Henry Howard-Sneyd, initiated the marathon of sales with Chinese Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Florence and Herbert Irving Gift, a collection of 127 lots that was 91.3 percent sold by lot and totaled $8,274,875, doubling its estimate. A packed salesroom and heavy phone and online bidding contributed to a drawn-out session that took more than three hours to play out. Leading the sale and selling for 13 times its low estimate was a Qing dynasty massive spinach-green jade “dragon” washer ($100/150,000) that sold for $1,340,000 to a private Asian collector bidding on the telephone.

Howard-Sneyd followed the Irving gift on September 10 with part II of the collection of mostly archaic bronzes owned by Stephen Junkunc (d 1978). Sotheby’s offered an initial round of 44 lots from the Junkunc collection in March 2019, which realized $4,138,125; the 59-lot second part selling during this edition of Asia Week achieved an aggregate of $4,643,750 and was 71.2 percent sold by lot. A private Asian collector bidding on the telephone secured the top lot for $620,000, a Tang dynasty beige and brown jade camel ($200/300,000).

The final session of September 10 was “Bodies of Infinite Light,” featuring a collection of Buddhist figures formerly in the collection of the Chang Foundation. Department specialist Phyllis Kao conducted the sale to a sparsely populated salesroom, selling the top lot — a gilt-bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara Padmapani — within estimate ($500/700,000) for $620,000 to a private Asian collector on the phone. The 31-lot sale grossed $3,460,250 and was 61.3 percent sold, by lot.

Thirty lots of Chinese and Korean art from a Japanese private collection started the second day of sales on September 11. A Hongzhi green-enameled “dragon” dish topped the sale at $275,000 against an estimate of $60/80,000. The sale was 86.6 percent sold by lot and finished with a total of $2,020,000. The rest of the day was taken up by more than 340 works of Chinese fine and decorative arts ranging in age from the Neolithic to the Republic periods, including early ceramics from the Art Institute of Chicago. Of the 342 lots offered, 210 sold for a sell-through rate of 61.4 percent, with the sale bringing in a total of $10,345,750. A large blue and white “Immortals” vase with Qianlong seal brought $1.4 million, the top price of the sale against an estimate of $200/300,000.

The top price achieved by Sotheby’s during the week was $1,580,000 for “Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River in Cursive Script” by Zhe Yunming (1460-1526), which unfurled easily past its $800,000–$1.2 million estimate. It was one of 68 lots offered in a sale of classical Chinese paintings and calligraphy on September 12 that yielded $3,549,375. Only half of the works offered sold.

Bringing Sotheby’s Asia Week to a close on Saturday, September 14, was a session of nearly 600 lots of fine and decorative Chinese works of art, including Chinese art given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the collection of Florence and Herbert Irving, early pottery from the Art Institute of Chicago, works of art from the collection of Henry Arnhold and Tang to Qing dynasty ceramics from the collection of Dr and Mrs Gregory F. Sullivan. The top lot of the sale — a Qing dynasty sky-blue glazed canteen-shaped vessel — came a few lots from the end of the sale but was apparently worth the wait as it sold for more than 100 times its estimate ($2/3,000) to finish at $225,000. The sale contributed a solid $5,148,875 to the tally for the week and was 84 percent sold by lot.

Sotheby’s is at 1334 York Avenue. For information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com.

A huanghuali “Southern Official’s Hat” armchair, Nanguanmaoyi, Seventeenth/Eighteenth Century, sold for $375,075.

Huanghuali Armchair Is Top Lot At Bonhams Asian Art Sales

NEW YORK CITY — On September 9 and 11, Bonhams conducted four auctions for Asian Art – Chinese snuff bottles, Chinese works of art and paintings, property from the collection of Drs Edmund and Julie Lewis, Part I, and Japanese and Korean art. The top lot of the four sales was a huanghuali “Southern Official’s Hat” armchair, Nanguanmaoyi, Seventeenth/Eighteenth Century, which realized $375,075 in the Chinese works of art and paintings sale.

Dessa Goddard, director, US head, Asian Art Group, commented: “We are delighted by the solid prices achieved across the Asian art sales, especially for the fine huanghuali armchair as well as the modern Japanese screen by Morita Shiryu from the collection of Drs Edmund and Julie Lewis. We look forward to the next Asian Art sales in October in Hong Kong.”

Additional highlights are worth noting. From Japanese and Korean art, “Kanagawa-oki nami-ura (Under the Wave off Kanagawa)” by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Edo period (1615-1868), circa 1830-31, sold for $237,575.

From Chinese works of art and paintings, two rare famille rose chicken cups, Yongzheng six-character marks and of the period, realized $231,325, more than three times their high estimate.

From property from the collection of Drs Edmund and Julie Lewis, Part I, “Ryu chi ryu (Dragon knows dragon),” 1967, a large four-panel screen by Morita Shiryu (1912-1998), fetched $187,575, more than twice its high estimate.

From Chinese snuff bottles, a faceted blue jadeite snuff bottle, imperial, Palace Workshops, Beijing 1750-1830, sold for $65,075.

Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house.

For additional information, www.bonhams.com or 212-644-9001.

Hanging on the walls are preparatory drawings and their accompanying prints in “Brush – Block – Baren: Japanese Woodblock Printmaking.”

Scholten Draws On Japanese Printmaking

NEW YORK CITY — On West 58th Street, Scholten Japanese Art mounted “Brush – Block –Baren: Japanese Woodblock Printmaking.” The show explored the first step in the process of woodblock printmaking, displaying drawn works that artists would submit to publishers who would then contract them out to woodblock carvers and then on to printmakers.

Though all uncolored, these drafts would sometimes include written words connecting to certain areas of the work, indicating specific hues of colors to be used there. Color choice decisions had long been thought to be in the domain of the printmaker, but these works indicate that the artist made, at the very least, suggestions, and detailed ones at that.

Included in the exhibition was a group of 15 drawings by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) with Hokutei Bokusen (1775-1824) related to pages in Ehon “Chinese Verses And Joruru.” Other works included the preparatory drawing with the final print, such as Yoshu Chikanobu’s (1838-1912) “Annual Events And Customs Of The Eastern Capital: Third Month, Hina Matsuri.” Even more rare was an original keyblock with print for “Mirror Of The Ages: Lady In Jikyo Era” by Yoshu Chikanobu (1838-1912). Scholten’s director Katherine Martin said that this was the first block she had ever had with a corresponding print and it sold to an educational institution.

Martin said, “We had some trepidation that our exhibition was a bit too academic for our market, but I’m pleased to say that it was well-attended, and sales have been moving along. Our collection of 15 drawings by Hokusai sold quickly, and drawings by other artists across the board have also sold, with inquiries still coming in. I’m only hoping now that a few museums that hold prints related to these drawings will take notice before they all disappear back into private collections.

“Over the weekend, the onsite printing by the artist Paul Binnie brought in numerous collectors and scholars, resulting in a lively exchange and debate of the history of the woodblock printing process and varying nomenclature, the result of which we’re still processing!”

For additional information, www.scholten-japanese-art.com or 212-585-0474.

“Swing” by Kiruma Kazuyo (center back) and Tsujimura Kai’s “Iga Flower Vase,” (far right) both with Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd.

Whispering Ash: Unglazed Japanese Ceramics At Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd

NEW YORK CITY — Yakishime, or “whispering ash,” is an unglazed ceramic that has been fired in a kiln and whose unadorned surfaces perfectly embody wabi-sabi’s reverence for natural imperfection.

Works by Tsujimura Shire, Kaneshige Kosuke, Isezaki Jun, Tani Q, Yokoyama Naoki, Yamamoto Izure, Tsujimura Kai, Shimizu Keichi and Kohara Yasuhiro were on view September 5-20 at Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. The exhibition revised the primitivist traditions of modern art to make clay sing and ash dance upon the surfaces.

Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd, is at 18 East 64th Street.

For additional information, 212-230-1680 or www.daiichiarts.com.

Hanging scrolls, ceramics and other works of art were featured in “Sightings: Birds in Chinese & Japanese Art.”

‘Sightings: Birds In Chinese & Japanese Art’ At Kaikodo

NEW YORK CITY — Asian art gallery Kaikodo mounted “Sightings: Birds in Chinese & Japanese Art,” including Chinese paintings that dated from the Thirteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries. The Japanese section included works such as Tadanaga’s “Hawk in Oak” and Morikage’s “Swallow on Lotus,” “Hawk in Winter” by Chikuto and “Pheasants” by Baiitsu. A hanging scroll from an anonymous Chinese artist from the Fifteenth to Sixteenth Century, “Pheasants on Rock beneath Bamboo,” was an early sale at the exhibition.

Of these works, the gallery said, “Many of the subjects are presented in such natural habitats as ponds and forests or woodlands, as if the viewer were a birdwatcher happening upon a scene.”

Following the week, gallery director Carol Conover told Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “We saw less traffic, which is typical of September compared to March. The auctions offered a huge amount of material which made it difficult for us to stand out. We did, however, sell enough to make our beautiful exhibition worth it.”

Also included in the exhibition were Chinese and Japanese ceramics and works of art, including an Annamese underglaze blue-decorated stoneware jarlet dating to the Fifteenth Century from the later Le dynasty, a Cizhou painted pear-shaped bottle with abstract bird décor dating to the late Thirteenth to early Fourteenth Century from the Yuan dynasty, and going back to the Second to First Century BCE was an owl-shaped painted earthenware vessel from the Western Han dynasty.

The show continues through December. For more information, www.kaikodo.com or 212-585-0121.

Ogata Kamio with “Lunar Landing,” 2019, marbleized stoneware, 10¼ by 10½ inches.

Contemporary Japanese Ceramics: Kishi Eiko & Ogata Kamio

NEW YORK CITY — The two contemporary Japanese ceramicist exhibitions on view at Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd, through October 25 are “Waves of Optical Illusion: Ogata Kamio” and “Composite Memories: The Clay Art of Kishi Eiko.”Ogata Kamio’s marblelized stoneware pieces have been descr

ibed by Louise Nicholson as “Fortuny creations in clay.”
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Writer Jeffrey Hantover views Kishi Eiko’s minutely carved multi-plane architectonic creations as “the love-child of Cubism and Futurism.

”Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd, is at 39 East 78th Street. For additional information, 212-799-4021 or www.mirviss.com.

“Ptarmigan and Her Chicks” by Tamai Keisen (1889-1960). Painted screen, exhibited at the National Exhibition of Tokyo in 1929.

Animals Come Out To Play As Thomsen Gallery Has Inaugural Exhibition In New Space

NEW YORK CITY — Erik Thomsen launched his inaugural exhibition at his new gallery space at 9 East 63rd Street, showing “Animals in Japanese Art.” The exhibition coincides with the opening of “Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art,” which opened at LACMA September 22. That show is an abbreviated version of the blockbuster exhibition “The Life of Animals in Japanese Art” which ran at the National Gallery of Art this year.

The gallery’s exhibition features work in an unusual variety of media, from painted silk scrolls and screens through miniature lacquers, cast and chiseled bronze alloys and silver, to a large-scale composition that captures the spirit of the dragon through a forceful calligraphic rendering of the character used to write its name.

Thomsen told Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “Many visitors came for our opening reception and made positive comments about our new space. Sales reflected the range of ages of the exhibited works, from an Eighteenth Century scroll painting of a cat to modern bronze vases by Yasumi Nakajima and contemporary paintings.”

The exhibition is on view through November 8.

For additional information, www.erikthomsen.com or 212-288-2588.

Qing dynasty large Qiangjin Tianqi lacquer dragon box with cover finished at $26,000.

Dragons Prevail For Gianguan Auctions

NEW YORK CITY — A highlight of Gianguan Auctions’ September 9 sale was an Eighteenth Century large lacquer box, carved with the labor intensive art of incising and inlaid of gold foil and color pigments on the lacquer surface, a unique achievement in lacquer art in China, starting from the Song Dynasty and flourishing in the Qing period.

Decorated with Five dragons representing longevity and fecundity, the box sold for $26,000, to a collector from the West Coast. The dragon box will be placed in a wall unit overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, an appropriate home for the imperial dragons.

Gianguan Auctions is at 39 West 56th Street. For additional information, 212-867-7288 or www.gianguanauctions.com.

Senior executive vice president Rodney Lang called the sale from the podium. — Doyle