A familiarly rosy story

The Telegraph reports on another story of an unexpected "find" at auction. This is becoming quite a familiar story, but it's perhaps less of a surprise as it came from a serious collector.

Fish dish

Japanese Porcelain Covered Tureen, molded as a stack of oval dishes with the cover topped by the figure of a fish with an open clam shell as the finial, decorated in famille rose enamels with scattered floral decor, h. 3-1/4", l. 9-1/4" for sale at New Orleans Auction Galleries on 9 April. 

Pair of Japanese Imari Porcelain Fish-Form Serving Dishes, 20th century, each decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gilt with details of scales, fins, mouth and eyes realistically rendered within the fish-form outline, h. 1-1/2", w. 6-1/4", l. 9", for sale at the St Charles Gallery Inc in New Orleans on 3 April.

Let's hope these are not the only fish dishes available from Japan in the coming weeks, months or even years.

Karma

I paired this ceramic Kenzo lotus flower with a Thai green celadon offering bowl, mirroring both the green and the pink in my sitting room colour scheme. In Buddhism the lotus flower symbolises purity, acknowledging that it grows from a muddy pond to produce this divine beauty. The fact that the flower blooms and sheds it seeds at the same time also reflect the theory of karma - what goes around comes around.

This bowl with its lotus petal decoration, has on its base the blue seal mark for the Qianlong period (1735-1795), but is probably much later, and is for sale at auction on Saturday. Although very pretty, in its shape as much as the colour combinations, how many decorative bowls does one need?

How does your garden grow?

27 Piece Fine Continental Porcelain Centerpiece

in the shape of garden statuary, can be arranged in numerous shapes, to depict one large centerpiece or two smaller ones. Includes figures on pedestals, urns with lids on pedestals, planters; some straight, some curved. All with raised decanthus and leaf designs. Tallest 6.75" H. Good condition, 2 heads repaired, several small chips on urn lids and fingers of figures, minor staining, green felt on bottom of most pieces. Estimate USD400-600, Midwest Auction Galleries, Oxford, MI.

 

The concept of this changeable centrepiece is rather charming, but possibly too twee and fiddly to be practical, and if you had guests who were bored, they might start re-arranging it during dinner, which could be very tiresome.

Counting ones chickens

When I first saw this picture I thought that the drought that I have experienced as far as pictures I like being available for auction had at last come to an end. It was described as:

framed oil on canvas, ''The Witty Countess of Dorchester, (Catherine Sedley), Mistress of King James II''  after Sir Peter Lely (British, 1618-1680), unsigned, titled on label affixed verso, sight: 17.25''h x 14.25''w, overall: 22.25''h x 19.5''w.

In doing my research I found that this (above) was what the artist copied - the portrait by Lely at the National Portrait Gallery in London, which Treasure Hunt informs me is on loan to the National Trust at Lyme Park.

There is of course a world of difference between the two pictures, and I know which one I would rather have. Perhaps a case of "If you liked the book, you'll love the picture", (the book being the copy). So of course my enthusiasm waned slightly, but nonetheless I decided to bid, within a sensible limit, reflecting the fact that this would be a decorative acquistion, rather than one made on the merit of investment. When I checked the auction house site the next day, (the auction takes place whilst I am pushing up Zs), it appeared the picture had been sold at my limit. But at that stage there was no breakdown of who bid what. When that was posted later in the day, it revealed that because of the order of bidders, my last bid was just short of my limit, and the final bid price was made by someone on the floor.

So, it slipped away. In the circumstances, I am not overly sad, and one has to take the view that it was not meant to be.

In the same auction there was a portrait of King Charles II - "after" Sir Godfrey Kneller, as below:

Initially I was quite keen on this picture too, but there were dissenting voices in the household, so it never progressed. Sir Geoffrey Kneller completed two portraits of Charles II. One of them is written about by Treasure Hunt in the arcticle aforementioned, and this is another:

in which the emphasis appears to be on the king's fine legs, however bizarre that looks today. But apart from the connection of the countess being the mistress of Charles's younger brother and his successor as king, the plan went no further. Both prices achieved reflect that copies (or "after" pictures), whilst not without some value, cannot compete with originals as far as investment and prices.

Asian roar

Thai Giltwood and Mirrored Figure of a Winged Dragon, the elongated figure in a crouching position with raised head, open mouth, raised wings and feathered tail, the body applied with mirrors representing scales,

l. 27-1/2". ESTIMATE USD50 - 100

Large Japanese Cast-Bronze Figure of a Lion, by Genryusai Seiya Sei, Meiji Period (1868-1911), the figure standing foursquare with head slightly thrown back with mouth open in a roar, the details realistically rendered and the patina dark brown, presented on a freeform wooden stand, h. 15-1/2", l. 26". ESTIMATE USD6000 - 9000

I'm not entirely sure if a dragon roars, but whatever the correct term, this Thai version of the mythical creature is attractive because of its stylised depiction, and a lot of objets in gold and with shiny bits, look attractive. There is a profusion of them here, so I'm less wowed by the piece, but it's worthy of comment.

The Japanese lion is however in a different class, and this is reflected in its price. Both items are for sale on 31 January, at New Orleans Galleries Inc. 

Pointing the finger

This must be one of the best stories around of this genre, as reported in The Times.