Top lot in the sale was a Chinese scroll painting from the Eighteenth Century. The oil on linen, 39 by 22 inches, surpassed its $800-$1,000 presale estimate to sell for $16,640. Depicted was a central seated deity surrounded by seven bodhisattvas around the edges.
Review by W.A. Demers; Photos Courtesy Eldred’s
EAST DENNIS, MASS. — Eldred’s spring Asian auction delivered solid results June 15-16, with most of the marquee lots performing on the first day. Online, absentee and phone bidding was available for this sale; there was no in-person bidding. Top lot in the sale was a Chinese scroll painting from the Eighteenth Century, an oil on linen that surpassed its $800-$1,000 estimate to sell for $16,640. The 38-by-22-inch painting depicted a central seated deity surrounded by seven bodhisattvas around the edges.
Japanese porcelain figures, Persian floral paintings, Chinese and Indian bronzes were also strong in this sale. A pair of Japanese Satsuma oversized porcelain standing bijin figures from the Meiji period stood tall against a $3/5,000 estimate to sell for $12,800. In the Japanese language, “bijin” means “a beautiful person.” One of the figures holds a mirror looking down at a cat at her feet and the other holds a peach. Both wear an elaborate and finely decorated headdress and robe. Signed on the base of one, each was approximately 22 inches high.
Two Nineteenth Century Persian floral paintings on hand-painted cardstock were notable, rising from $200/250 to finish at $7,680. One depicted a purple iris seemingly beckoning a butterfly and the other pictured with a white dahlia. Each featured a Sanskrit border and measured 16 by 11 inches, unframed.
The Buddhist deity Tara is an important figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Two Chinese bronze Tara sculptures did just that by surpassing their $800-$1,000 estimate, leaving the gallery at $7,040. The Nineteenth Century figures were 5 inches high, both seated with an implement. One wore a headdress with green stone cabochons, and each was on a double lotus base with incised lotus decoration.
“Beautiful persons,” the Japanese term “bijin” was assigned to this pair of Japanese Satsuma oversized porcelain standing figures from the Meiji period. Against a $3/5,000 presale estimate, the pair realized $12,800.
Another bronze performed well, this one an Indian example from the Nineteenth Century depicting a god. Estimated $800-$1,000, it did much better, earning $4,160. At 7¼ inches high, the figure was seated with a double vajra and skull cup on a lotus base.
Fetching $4,160 was a Japanese six-panel screen from the Eighteenth Century depicting a winter-to-spring landscape with a willow tree over a stream. The far left panel was signed “Aseiseido,” and the screen’s dimensions were 55 by 105 inches. From a private Greenwich, Conn., collection, it had provenance to Naga Antiques, New York, 1989.
Boatmen on a river was the subject of a Chinese porcelain tile painting that took $4,840 against a $200/300 estimate. The late Nineteenth Century tile was framed, measuring 15 by 11 inches.
This evocative porcelain tile painting from the late Nineteenth Century depicting boatmen on a river found favor, bid to $3,840 against a $200/300 estimate.
Also eclipsing its $500/800 estimate, a pair of late Nineteenth Century Chinese famille rose porcelain painted tiles finished at $3,712. The tiles were painted with Mandarin ducks in floral and sea grass landscapes and presented in open-carved wood frames with leaf, berry and vine design. Each frame measured 12½ by 12 inches.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house, For information, www.eldreds.com or 508-385-3116.
