NEW YORK – On Saturday, July 29, Jasper52 will conduct an online auction of Asian decorative art and antiques in which nearly half of the catalog is devoted to fine Japanese items. The auction will also feature several beautiful thangkas, which are Tibetan paintings on cotton, or silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
The thankga that carries the auction’s highest estimate – $2,000-$2,500 – is by the artist Urken Lama. The scene (below) depicts the Buddha Shakyamuni’s nirvana, his passing from earthly life to the ultimate goal of an enlightened being: “released from the bonds of existence through negation of desires that cause life’s intrinsic suffering.”
Turning to the Land of the Rising Sun, the auction offers a late Meiji scroll painting (below), ink on paper, of a classic mountainous landscape, which that extends nearly 6 feet high. It is an excellent painting for a tea ceremony.
A Japanese pottery Oribe ware chaire, a jar for storing powdered green tea used in tea ceremony, has a characteristic rich green crackled glaze and an underglaze brown painting of pine saplings (top). Oribe ware, named after Furuta Oribe, a famous 16th-century tea master, was produced in the Mino and Seto kilns during the late Meiji period. It is particularly Japanese in taste and was not made for export. The stoneware body has concentric lines, stamped with the seal of the potter by the bottom. Just 3 1/2 inches high, this beautiful piece in Japanese taste comes with new box and wrapping cloth.
Also from the late Meiji period is a charming netsuke in the form of a seated tanuki, a Japanese raccoon dog. In Japanese folklore the tanuki is a notorious trickster, who drums with his paws on his belly, imitating the sounding of gongs in temples and inns, and leading tired travelers astray in the darkness. This netsuke is skillfully carved in ittobori (one cut) style characteristic of the Hida school with clever use of wood texture to add to the charm of the piece. It is signed “Kazuyuki,” an artist listed in Netsuke & Inro Artists and How to Read Their Signatures by George Lazarnick.
Menuki are ornaments that fit into the palm for grip on a Japanese sword. Several pairs of menuki are offered in the auction. One pair (below) depicts armed samurai in bronze with silver inlays and gilding.
From 19th-century China is a scholar’s brush rest / scholar’s rock made of rootwood, which looks like a craggy mountain range. Fashioned from the natural root of a tree, the piece exhibits old cracks, nicks and scratches, adding to its wild energy.
With its tradition of elegant simplicity, Asian decorative art and antiques draw an international audience of collectors. The items in this auction showcase the rich history and cultural variety of Asia.
The auction will begin Saturday, July 29, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
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