Poly Hong Kong Spring 2021 Auction Fun Window: Literati Furnishings and Buddhist Art
Preview | April 18 – April 20
Location | Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
Auction | April 21 10:30 a.m. Bypass
Location | Poly Hong Kong Art Space
This year’s spring auction was carefully planned by the Chinese Antiques and Treasures Department
“Fun Window: Literati Representations and Buddhist Art”
A series of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, literati and Buddhist art collections will be presented, providing collectors with an artistic life. The biggest highlight of this special scene is the late Ming Dynasty Huanghuali Bawangtang large painting table, which is large, precious materials, rich in pulp, and stable in color. There is also a late Ming Dynasty Huanghuali four-headed official hat chair, the whole material is well-selected, and the backrest and seat surface are composed of independent boards, which is very rare.
LOT 3409
Late Ming Dynasty Huanghuali Bawangtang Large Painting Table L 191.5cm W 84cm H 80cm Source: Hong Kong Private Collection
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 – 8,000,000
The structure of the drawing table is flat on four sides, without a waist, the overall body is simple and bright, and the four sides are plain. The pulp is lush, and the color is calm. The table top is grooved with standard lattice tenon and grooved flat panel cores, and the delicate yellow pear texture is clear and beautiful, and the wood grain flows through the clouds and water, and changes like an undulating mountain. The four-sided flat is the standard Ming-style furniture manufacturing method, characterized by large edges, wiped heads and legs and feet level, connected by rice horn mortise, of which there are three types: four-sided flat with dental plate, four-sided flat toothless and variant four-sided flat method, this example is the latter. The legs and feet intersect with the tenon and tenon of the tooth and combine with the tabletop. The spray surface is slightly larger than the four-sided tooth plate and legs and feet, and the warranty effect is better than the rest of the four-sided flat system. Five strap supports are placed at the bottom of the table, and two curved square timber overlord supports are applied on the side, and Rio Tinto is attached to the left and right straps and fixed with wooden nails. The square legs are supported, and the lower horseshoe feet land on the ground, Cheng is flat and short, and the end of the foot shows the traces of erosion and wear and tear of the old years. Similar cases can be found in: Wang Shixiang, A Study of Ming-style Furniture, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 95, fig. 79.
LOT 3410
Late Ming Dynasty Huang Huali Four Heads Official H Chair L 63.5cm W 56cm H 123cm Source: Hong Kong Private Collection
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 – 2,200,000
The high-back four-headed official hat chair is made in a flat cut, the whole body is light, the shape is simple and eternal, and the shape is slender and straight, highlighting the authority and status of the occupant. The whole device is well-selected, and the backrest panel is composed of a single board with smooth wood grain, in which the fluorescent water ripples are all over the place, and the texture is crisscrossed. The seat surface is a rare board surface and a very common rattan surface, with a lattice angle mortise side frame, equipped with a single board sitting surface, four corners of copper to consolidate the structure, and two lower with support to strengthen the support. Under the chair plate, the same method is adopted on the left and right, and the back is equipped with a vegetarian tooth strip. The upper part of the seat plate is round, and the lower part is outer and inward, which contains the great wisdom of square circle, and vividly reflects the combination of rigidity and softness. The application of backgammon between the legs, that is, the tube legs rise step by step from front to back, in addition to structurally avoiding mortise concentration, but also expressing the owner’s prayer for the journey.
LOT 3408
Late Ming Dynasty Huanghuali inlay wood small square table L 63.5cm W 45cm H 81cm Source: Hong Kong private collection
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 – 2,000,000
Small square made of a few yellow flowers and pears, with clear texture. Several sides are grooved with lattice tenon edges, flat inlaid veneer wood surfaces, and the lower side is worn with support. The square structure is a four-sided flat shape, no waistband, the tooth strip and the leg and foot lattice angle intersect, and the inner digging round angle can be seen in the ingenuity and exquisite design. Several sides are combined with the tooth leg foot, slightly ejected, and extended to the bottom to close the square wood inverted horseshoe foot, straight and slender, strong and powerful. Rub the pot between the legs and feet to strengthen the connection and avoid excessive space under several sides. The shape of this square is simple, the four-sided flat production method makes the warranty effect better, the design is elegant and simple, small and cute, flexible and carryable. The common structure is mostly a table, square table examples, this size can be used as an incense table, Ming-style rectangular incense table is a table-shaped structure, placed on incense utensils, often placed separately.
LOT 3411
Ming Seventeenth Century Huanghuali Ruyi Tattoo Head Case L 113.5cm W 42.3cm H 85cm Source: 1. Alice Boney Collection (based on tags) 2. Sotheby’s New York, May 11, 1978, number 3083. H. Woods Wilson, London 4. Sotheby’s New York, March 16, 2016, number 2855. Shao Xue Zhao, Hong Kong
LOT 3429
17th-18th century Rosewood circle chair pair L 62.5cm W 68cm H 100cm Source: 1. Christie’s, New York, 16 September 1998, number 562. North American Ten-Faced Lingbi Mountain House Collection, purchased from Eskenazi, number EK25
Estimate: HK$300,000-400,000
LOT 3430
17th century Huanghuali square stool pair L 57cm W 46.5cm H 53cm Source: North American Ten-faced Lingbi Mountain House Collection, purchased from Eskenazi, number EK123
Estimate: HK$700,000 – 900,000
LOT 3432
17th-18th century Huanghuali Ruyi Head Flat Head Small Painting L 120cm W 64cm H 86cm Source: Hong Kong Private Collection
LOT 3433
18th century Yellow and pear goose egg dwarf old bare-body circle chair pair L 61cm W 65cm H 98cm Source: Hong Kong Private Collection
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 – 1,500,000
LOT 3434
18th century Huanghuali sitting stool pair L 63cm W 63cm H 51cm Source: Hong Kong Private Collection
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 – 1,800,000
This opponent’s stool seat is wide and much larger than the size of ordinary square stools, and should be a sitting stool. The stool is framed with standard lattice angles, and the inner edge is eyed to create a soft, which not only soothes the cold of the wood, but also enhances the comfort of the seat.
LOT 3414
Late Ming to Early Qing Dynasty Huanghuali Huang Cypress Hexian Table L 71.5cm W 43cm H 83.5cm Source: 1. Purchased in Ian McLean, early 90s 2 Private collections of important collectors in Hong Kong
Estimate: HK$60,000 – 120,000
LOT 3112
Qing Huanghuali Winged Wood Flathead Case L 158.5cm W 43cm H 83cm Source: 1. Private Collection of England 2. North American Ten-Faced Lingbi Mountain House Collection, purchased from Eskenazi, number EK127
Estimate: HK$800,000 – 1,200,000
LOT 3113
Early 18th century Chicken winged wood joint bib Rohan bed L 209cm W 104cm H 90cm Source: North American Ten-Faced Lingbi Mountain House Collection, number WZ235
Estimate: HK$150,000-200,000
LOT 3110
18th century camphor wood large four-piece cabinet a pair H 290cm W 69.5cm L 168cm Source: 1. Ansiyuan Private Collection, New York 2. Collection of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture in Renaissance, California, acquired by Robert Burton from 1987 to 19943. Christie’s, New York, 19 September 1996, number 734. North American Ten-Faced Lingbi Mountain House Collection, No. CH106 Publication: 1. Orientations, Hong Kong, January 1991 2. Asian Art: East Asian Furniture, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1991, p. 473. Sarah Handler, “Proportion and Joinery in Four-Part Wardrobes,” Chinese Furniture: Selected articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 36-37
No reserve price
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 – 2,200,000
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 – 2,000,000