Framed Chinese Calligraphy Scroll, circa 1920s

Beautifully detailed and masterfully painted, this painting dating from the turn of the 20th century centers its expressive composition upon a rondel of Chinese symbols. Representing...

Chinese scholars used natural imagery and scenery to aid in contemplation within the walls of their studios. The complex beauty inherent to landscapes and natural forms inspired clea...

This intricately detailed composition is a late-Qing dynasty ancestor portrait depicting several generations of a family's male ancestry. Or...

Believing that the departed continue to hold influence over the lives of the living, many Chinese households honor their ancestors in private family rituals, invoking their spirits f...

Believing that the departed continue to hold influence over the lives of the living, many Chinese households honor their ancestors in private family rituals, invoking their spirits for long life, health, and prosperity. Commemorative portraits, which came into vogue in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, were commissioned specifically for ancestor worship and were believed to house the spirits of the deceased. When properly cared for, one's ancestors were believed to be a powerful source of honor, protection, and good luck. This pair of ancestor portraits was hand-painted in the late-19th century and beautifully depicts a Qing-dynasty couple. While some ancestral portraits offer a more stylized representation of one's ancestors, this particular pair is painted with incredible realism and life-like expressions. Rather than depict the pair in a regal hall wearing elaborate finery, the couple is shown in a quiet home environment, seated at either end of a square tea table. Their surroundings are minimal, practically undecorated, and they wear simple, matching blue silk robes. Two young children stand beside them, each trying to capture the attention of their grandparent. We love the painting's close attention to detail and the glimpse it offers of Qing-dynasty interiors - from the carved apron of the marble-top table to the red silk lotus slippers...

This colorful painted scroll is a Taoist ceremonial painting attributed to the Yao or Mien minority culture of southern China, northern Vietnam and other neighboring regions. The sma...

Nagasaki School (EARLY 19TH CENTURY) Opperhoofd Hendrik Doeff with Javanese servant Kakemono, watercolor on paper, mounted on silk and textile covered paper scroll, not signed....

Anonymous Japanese painter (MEIJI PERIOD, LATE 19TH CENTURY) Portrait of Takeaki Enomoto (1836-1908) Ink, color and go fun on silk, framed. Painting: 79.5 x 50 cm With fram...

A pair of Chinese red and black signs from the early 20th century with hand carved and lacquered calligraphy. Created in China during the first quarter of the 20th century, each of this pair of vertical signs captures our attention with its carved calligraphy, lacquered in black and standing out beautifully on a red ground, sprinkled with golden touches. With their nice dimensions and contrasting colors, this pair of Chinese calligraphy signs...

Original 1950s Japanese people drawing with giltwood frame Frame measurements: 32x42x1cm.  

Theo Meier (1908-1982) “A Balinese woman with offerings” Signed, dated '36 and annotated Mankok (the name of the sitter) lower left Sanguine on paper, measures: 57 x 41.5 cm In a handmade and hand painted frame with address: Max Kno¨ll, Herberggasse 4/1, Basel. Provenance: Private collection, Basel (acquired directly from the artist) Private collection, London Note: Theo Meier was born in Basel, where he attended art school and became a successful portrait painter. However, after visiting an exhibition in Basel of Tahitian paintings by Paul Gaugin, he decided to follow in Gaugin’s footsteps and go to the South Pacific. To finance his voyage, he founded a club in which every member pledged a monthly sum in return of which they could choose one of Meier’s paintings upon his return. In 1932, at the age of 24, he embarked on his voyage to the South Sea. In Tahiti, he certainly discovered the beauty of the colours of the tropical world but the simplicity of the inhabitants, he had seen in Gaugin’s paintings turned out to be more in the artist’s fantasy than in reality. He returned to Basel but in 1935 again was on his way to the South Sea. In 1936 he arrived in Bali, planning to stay there for two or three weeks, but thirty years later he was still there. In Bali “a delirium laid hold of me which even today has not subsided”, he was to write much later. The present drawing was made during his first “delirius” year in Bali. In Bali, he settled and found inspiration and friendship with other artists including Walter Spies...

Five Chinese paintings of western people by an unknown artist China, circa 1760, captions later All in giltwood frames. “A woman with Portuguese hairdo, with gold, silver and gemstone necklace, a skirt under a vest, a koi on her back, called a cloak, a woman customarily inherited the family business, the male humble, to the threshold (Qianlong year, circa 1735).” Gouache on silk, measures: 32 x 25.4 cm “He is a Westerner who had a white skin. He does not have a heavy beard but plaits his hair. He wears a triangular black hat, short jacket, leather shoes and long stockings...