With nearly 380 lots, HVMC will bring collectors on a transcendent journey. Divided into three categories including Art of Asia, Old Drawings and Paintings and Furniture, this quality sale will be held in two shifts, one at 10 h, the second at 14 h 30.
China
Let’s start without further delay with Asian Art, and more particularly from China, with a remarkable selection of snuff bottles. The snuffbox appeared in China during the Quing dynasty, around 1644, following the increase in tobacco consumption in the territory.
Chinese snuffbox is a small vial that is used to transport and store snuff. It has a small spatula (usually ivory) that extends the cap to be able to scrape the tobacco in the bottle before ingesting.
This white jade snuff box, estimated between 1,200 and 1,500 euros, represents a set of finely carved colocynth, as well as a tourmaline stopper. The snuffbox was worn mainly by the people of high society because they were the only ones who had the means to consume the rare commodity. The small vial becomes more than a mere utility object, it becomes an accessory that highlights the person who wears it and its meticulous manufacture quickly enters the field of craftsmanship.
Among other wonders of the Middle Kingdom, libation cups of finely decorated rhinoceros horn will also be presented. For these prodigious pieces of crafts, HVMC hopes to see an auction ranging from 15,000 (left image) to 30,000 euros (right image). The libation cups were designed for sacred rites and served to pour wine or any other liquid in honour of a divinity. Often carved with characters, creatures or landscapes, these divine objects are today, like many other pieces of craftsmanship in China, very popular with collectors.
Japan
A small detour through the country of the rising sun with a beautiful collection of Inro also called Sagemono. These Japanese creations are small boxes, containers that were used to carry everyday objects such as money, a calligraphy kit or tobacco. The Sagemono is originally designed to deal with a practical problem, it is hooked to the Obi (belt) of the traditional Kimono.
Thereafter, it becomes a real object of art that craftsmen strive to reinvent. It is secured under the Obi with a cord, but especially thanks to a Netsuke, a miniature sculpture that often takes the form of zodiac animals or characters from everyday life.
Some Sagemono, among those that will be presented at HVMC, is equipped with a Netsuke, like this example in natural wood sculpted in relief which presents a dragon passing through clouds. The Netsuke is made from ivory and has the signature “Okatomo”. The estimate is fixed between 1,500 and 2,000 euros.
There are also beautiful models of Thangka, whose estimate hovers over 4,000 - 6,000 euros (for the most expensive). Thangka is a painting on canvas derived from Tibetan traditions which usually represents a divinity, Buddhas or mandalas. The term “Thang-Ka” means in Tibetan “recorded message”. The pieces presented at HVMC date back to the 18th and 19th centuries.
Paintings and Ancient Art
As for old paintings and objets d’art, the private collections of Monsieur X and Monsieur P include real treasures, such as this ebony cross painted on both sides, dated around 1620. From the school of Séville, the Virgin is crowned with angels on one side and Christ on the other.
Home to an incredible Dirck painting by Quade Van Ravesteyn dating from 1565-1620. Entitled “Allegory of Fertility and the Senses”, the work is painted in the refined style of the Prague school and presents the pearly colours characteristic of Prague artists. Dirck de Quade Van Ravensteyn is also one of the main painters of the court of Rodolphe II, whom he joined in 1589.
A bit more modern, this canvas signed Adolphe Louis Gaussen will pass under the hammer HVMC with a base price of 15,000 euros. Gaussen (born in 1871) studied at the Beaux-Arts in Marseille and quickly became a local celebrity through several exhibitions in his region. He is known to have painted many times the beaches and ports of the Côte d’Azur, and exhibits at the Salon of French Artists (of which he is a member) from 1893. “The Prado beach in Marseille” is one of the oils on canvas characteristic of his masterpieces.
Furniture
We finish with the furniture and this exceptional flat desk in Boulle marquetry. Dating from the early eighteenth century, this large model has ebony and copper parts and counterparts, which form arabesques reminiscent of those Berain. The estimate is between 50,000 and 70,000 euros.
Lots 301 to 380 that will close the sale constitute the entire furniture of a luxury apartment. Among them are several objets d’art, antique furniture and sculptures and statues of all kinds.
There is still a lot to see in the catalogue, on 16th June at 10am take a look at Hotel des Ventes in Monte-Carlo to discover all the secrets.
