Catalog (321)

From our Chinese Monochrome Collection, a fine and large lacquered carved wood stand, late 19th - early 20th century, elegantly constructed with four chilong / serpentine legs and carved with floral motifs.

Size and Condition: 30 inches tall, 22 inches across the widest span of the legs, 15 inches in diameter for the circular top. There is some minor scuffing to the wood and lacquer, but this is all commensurate with age and use and the stand is in excellent overall condition with no re...

From our Japanese Collection, a truly superb satsuma vase, Meiji period (1868-1912), of robust globular form, depicting seven separate circular reserves of figures set against a most unusual and very appealing variegated ground that morphs from emerald green, to celadon, to cream, and finally to brown, all heavily overlaid with a rich brocade of chrysanthemum heads and other floral and geometric motifs executed in gilt. The neck has a heavily gilded deep red ground which sets it off very nicely...

From our Indian Subcontinent Collection, a beautiful vintage Indian silk sari executed in a rich fuscia colored silk and using silver threads woven into floral and geometric motifs.

Size and Condition: This is a tremendous piece measuring 179 inches (15 feet) long and 44 inches (3 1/2 feet) wide. Due to its size it is rather cumbersome to photograph, and so the photos are showing the piece folded and at only a fraction of its actual size. But the sections photographed are fully repr...

From our Indian Subcontinent Collection, a beautiful vintage Indian silk sari executed in a rich and lively multi-colored palette. The central panel uses purple and red silks along with gold thread woven into elaborate floral and geometric designs, and the borders use blue and green silks along with gold thread as well.

Size and Condition: This is a tremendous piece measuring 196 inches (16 1/3 feet) long, and 43 1/2 inches (3 1/2 feet) wide. Due to its size it is rather cumbersome t...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an unusually fine and early Qianlong Period (1736-1795) Nanking meat platter, depicting a willow tree and scholar's table objects amidst a flowered outcropping as the central design, surrounded by an elaborate border of butterflies, buddhist symbols, scrolls, and floral motifs.

Like our similarly shaped Qianlong Period Tureen Base Item # 959327 (Sold), this piece is top quality in terms of "Nanking Ware" (not to be confused with Nanking Cargo Sh...

From our World Handicrafts Collection (ex-Asia), a very striking and highly unusual vintage silk on cotton kilim style rug, Persia, executed in a bold multi-colored palette of red, gold, purple, blue, rust, green, brown, peach, pink, cream, turquoise and black. It's a legitimate reflex to assume this unusual kilim comes from somewhere in the Caucasus Region, but further research suggests that the lion and double eagles in the center panel are actually Persian motifs de guerre. Additional anim...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine and well-painted Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish with apocryphal Chenghua Period mark, depicting two elegant ladies looking out over a terrace with banana leaf plants and trees. Cross-hatched motifs decorate the border along with four vignettes of peaches signifying longevity. The reverse is decorated with stylized mountains on the outer rim, and a six character apocryphal Chengua Period mark is contained within double circles in ...

From our Southeast Asia Collection, a large and absolutely stunning masterpiece of Annamese mother of pearl inlay work, 19th Century, Nguyen Dynasty Vietnam, depicting exquisitely rendered butterflies, flowers, crustaceans, scrolls, and geometric designs in superb quality mother of pearl inlaid against a dark brown rosewood base.

This fantastic tray truly represents the pinnacle of this art form. We have been fortunate to see the pieces held in the National Museum of Vietnamese History in...

From our Indian Subcontinent Collection, an exceptional Kashmiri kashkul or beggar's bowl, 19th century, modeled after the boat-shaped beggar's bowls used by Persian Sufi mystics. This fantastic vessel is composed of a metallic body, most likely copper alloy, that has been lacquered and then exquisitely painted with floral motifs in rich but subtle shades of blue, red, yellow, taupe, black, and with gilt highlights. It sits upon a slightly splayed foot and terminates in two dragon-head finials...

From our European Porcelain Collection, a lovely three-piece Dresden ensemble, 19th century, very finely painted in the Baroque style with a central scene of figures involved in musical pursuits, all executed in polychrome enamels against a deep cobalt blue ground surrounded by lavish gilding.

Size and Condition: The main tray is 12 3/8 inches wide, 9 5/8 inches deep. The cosmetics box and ring stand are each approximately 3 inches tall and 3 inches wide. Some minor rubbing to the gilding...

From our Chinese Polychrome Collection, a very rare and seldom seen Peranakan Chai Hup or ceremonial vegetable box, 19th century, used for food offerings to Tiangong, the God of Heaven, during traditional Baba Weddings.

The terms "Peranakan" or "Baba Nyonya" or "Straits Chinese" are often used interchangeably to describe the descendants of Ming Dynasty Chinese immigrants who settled along the Malay Peninsula, which encompasses parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. But the ethnograp...

From our Chinese Monochrome Collection, a large carved ivory elephant bridge, late 19th century, depicting a procession of eight individual elephants of graduating size, nicely carved from a single tusk. The elephants are well-rendered and the ivory has a good buttery patina somewhat better than the photos reflect.

Interestingly, the artist's decision to carve eight elephants here is no accident: Those familiar with Chinese mythologies and cultural superstitions will immediately recognize...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine and elegant Kangxi Period (1662-1722) phoenix bowl, early Kangxi Period circa 1675-1690, decorated with two well-painted phoenixes and a treed outcropping, all well-executed in a strong blue against a delicately potted pure white body with everted rim. The interior features a single flower encircled within a medallion of double lines. The base is plain. The footrim is especially finely cut and very neatly glazed exposing just a narrow swath...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a fine and large blue and white Ca Mau Shipwreck dish ex-Sotheby's, Yongzheng Period 1723-1735, datable more specifically to circa 1725. The scene depicts Europeans (most likely Dutch traders) on what was once mistakenly thought to be Deshima Island in Nagasaki Harbor Japan, but which recent scholarship now concludes is either a scene of Holland in the Netherlands, or Gothenborg in Sweden. We personally agree with the academic viewpoint that the scene dep...

From our Southeast Asia Collection, a very fine 19th century Thai Rattanakosin bronze Buddha exhibiting the rarely seen Pang Ham Phra Kaen Chan mudra, also known as the "Stopping the Sandalwood Image" mudra. This Buddha is especially well-cast with sharp details. It has just the right balance of wear commensurate with age combined with a good amount of retained original gilding, ultimately giving the piece its undeniable air of age and authenticity.

As stated above, this particular mu...

From our Japanese Collection, a superb Kinkozan satsuma vase of tapered ovoid form, Meiji Period 1868-1912, most likely 1880-1890, depicting a finely painted bijin on one panel along with finely painted roosters and flying birds in a garden setting on the other panel. Both main panels are separated by reserves of elaborate gilt work set against a rich cobalt blue ground. Kinkozan signature and impressed mark on the bottom. As with all of our satsuma offerings, this piece is of the highest qual...

From our Indian Subcontinent Collection, a large carved marble caparisoned elephant from Southern India. Naturalistically carved from a cream / off-white colored marble, this makes for a good decorator's item for those looking to add an Indian flair.

Size and Condition: 12 inches tall, 10 inches long, and 4 inches deep. A very heavy and substantial piece of marble at approximately 20 pounds.

Rare and out of print for many years, PJ Donnelly's treatise on Blanc de Chine was the first comprehensive book on this subject, and has become a collector's item in its own right. A must-have reference text for blanc de chine (dehua) collectors. Modern scholarship on blanc de chine has evolved considerably since Donnelly's time, but his work is an essential foundation, and this book remains the most thorough single issue treatment of this subject.

Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1st E...