The Chinese & other Asian Works of Art sale at Bonhams will feature an elegant jade water pot as its top lot on September 5.
 Bonhams' sale preceeds two major auctions from Christie's and Sotheby's |
The auction, which will be held in Bonhams' London showroom, comes days ahead of the highly-anticipated Asian art week at Christie's and an important two-day sale of Chinese ceramics at Sotheby's, both of which will be held in New York.
The jade water pot will star in Bonhams' sale with a pre-sale estimate of £30,000-40,000 ($47,000-63,000). Dating from China's Qing dynasty (specifically 17th-18th century) and crafted from semi-translucent, pale green stone, the pot takes the form of a lotus leaf, its edges curling to form a large vessel.
Another fine jade item will follow, this time an ornate incense burner that also originates from the 18th century. Decorated with ritualistic taotie masks and other archaic motifs, the burner is beautifully carved from pale green stone with veins of russet and areas of speckled black and white. It will auction with a £20,000-25,000 estimate.
Elsewhere, a deeply carved bitong, or brush pot, will command bids in the region of £16,000-18,000. The pot is unusual in its squared design and boasts two layers of laquer, the uppermost a cinnabar-red colour that reveals a dark green layer beneath.
Another brush pot will headline Christie's Fine Chinese Ceramics sale on September 13-14, with an estimate of $600,000-800,000. Chinese brush pots have proved themselves as popular collectibles in recent years - Christie's saw an imperial enamelled example sell for an impressive $8.7m in 2007.
Paul Fraser Collectibles will be bringing you the results of all the upcoming Chinese art sales so be sure to check back with us regularly.
