Chinese Guan Yin Figure Early Ming Dynasty

An early-18th century walnut wing armchair. Queen Anne/ George I-period, ca 1714. This fine English walnut wingback chair is raised on well-drawn carved cabriole legs. With a lovely kick on the back legs. Remarkably, after some 310 years, it still retains its original gros-point needlework upholstery in vibrant colors. Of superb proportions, color, figuring and patination. Measures: H 106 cm (42'') D 68 cm (27''). W 87.5 cm (34 1/2''). Seat H: 42.5 cm. (16 3/4''). Literature: Herbert Cescinsky 'English Furniture Of The Eighteenth Century', George Routledge & Sons (1911) vol. I, p. 81, fig. 105. ''A walnut easy chair'' dated 1710. Nb. A slightly earlier antique walnut and beech wing armchair with contemporary needlework, circa 1710, sold in Christies, Lot 164, October 2015 @ £48,350 -The Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sothebys sold a George II needlework...

A rare Chinese polychrome Coromandel or ‘Bantam Ware’ lacquer casket or table cabinet, Kangxi period (1661-1722). Circa 1700. This fine small Chinese-export lacquer fitted casket is decorated overall with polychrome incised decoration. Opening with two doors revealing a red interior with fitted drawers and a hinged rising top. In superb, almost entirely original condition, retaining its vivid colours and fine details with courtiers in a pavilion and on horseback amidst foliage and formal palace gardens. The small bun-type feet are historical replacements. Interestingly bearing an antique-script inventory #25 and A I on the base. Nb. Bantamwork or Coromandel lacquer, not to be confused with ‘japanning’, is the term applied to decoration that is cut into a layer of gesso and then lacquered in colours. Much of the lacquer was transhipped from China through Coromandel in India, or the Dutch colony Batavia, Java. References: Coromandel lacquer or 'Bantamwork', with its characteristic incised decoration, was made in Henan province in Northern China from the latter-part of the Ming dynasty and exported to Europe from the end of the 17th Century through the East India Company's and VOC trading posts on the Coromandel Coast of India. The technique consisted in overlaying a base of wood with a series of increasingly fine white clays and fibrous grasses. Over this surface, lacquer was applied and polished before the design was incised and the hollowed out portions filled with colour and gilt and finished with a clear lacquer to protect it. Although John Stalker and George Parker used the term 'Bantamwork', the contemporary layman usually called it 'cutt-work', 'cutt Japan' or 'hollow burnt Japan'. Stalker and Parker discuss two types of 'Bantam-work' - flat and incised - in their 'Treatise on Japanning and Varnishing' (1688), noting that it 'was done in colors mix't with a gum water'. They also considered that it was 'almost obsolete, and out of fashion, out of use and neglected....' although admitted that 'it was very pretty, and some are more fond of it, and prefer it to the other...'. This casket/ table cabinet now on offer is related to one formerly with Malletts and illustrated in A. Bowett, 'English Furniture 1660-1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne' (2002) p. 150, plates 5:9. A much larger yet closely-related Bantam work coffer with rising lid was offered in the 'Asian Art in Cologne' sale lot 114 on 11th December 2021. Estimated @ £ 60,000 - £79,000. Mme de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, was an avid collector and admirer of Chinese Coromandel or Bantam Work, and was probably largely responsible for the very high prices recorded for such pieces, sometimes 10 times or more the price of ordinary furniture of equivalent quality. A Coromandel cabinet...

A fine English mid-18th century mahogany secretaire / secretary / bookcase / china cabinet. Of lovely, deep, rich color, patina and quality. George III-period, circa 1760. The bold, detachable, swan-neck pediment carved with 'Gothic' open fretwork, spiral rosettes and a dentil cornice. The pediment is centred by a small platform below which is a fluted panel. The bookcase / china cabinet section with two, thirteen-pane glazed doors, with three original adjustable shelves with applied beadings for the display of china etc. The base with a pull-out writing section fitted with small drawers, two of which have secret releases. These secret drawers are faced with blind-fret 'Gothic' tracery, and centred by a carved, shaped arch. The base with three cock-beaded drawers, and raised on its original bracket feet which are faced with blind fret. This fine, sophisticated and well-proportioned example of a secretaire / secretary / cabinet / desk / bookcase is remarkable for having survived in its original state including all swan-neck handles and locks. Of superb quality, color, patination, and well figured throughout. With mahogany drawer linings: further confirmation of its superlative quality. Measures: 42" wide (107 cm) 23" deep 58.5 cm) 95" high (241 cm) - without cartouche. A related antique bureau cabinet...

An early-18th century Coromandel lacquer corner cupboard or cabinet. This is rare - high quality Coromandel lacquer work (incised decoration) - not to be confused with the usual English japanned versions. This is also referred to as Bantam work, originating in Bantam, Dutch East Indies, and China, for export to the European market. The subject matter is of a major pavilion with numerous courtiers - most unusual to see only females - it has been suggested that they may be concubines to a Mandarin. All of high quality and in the sought-after and refined chinoiserie taste. In very good unrestored state, retaining vibrant colours and all its original hardware. This is a chic antique, and makes a lovely chinoiserie drinks cabinet...

A Small Chinese Carved Timber Polychrome Figure, Ming Dynasty Provenance: Private Old Australian Collection Acquired in Beijing Market in 1980s. Description: The cavity in the back...

A Small Chinese Carved Timber Polychrome Figure, Ming Dynasty Provenance: Private Australian Collection Acquired in the Beijing Market in 1980s. Description: The cavity in the ba...

This Ching Dynasty carved polychrome seated altar god is a representation of Guan Yu. Guan Yu was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu ...

A stoneware shrine model with a figurine made in Ming dynasty (15th-17th century) in China and used as funeral burial objects. It is not known whether the two objects were originally associated, but they display similar glaze and oxidation and were in the same collection. The stoneware building is an architectural rendering of a typical ancestor shrine used at the time. It features a single room behind an elaborate front with double doors, under a multiple layered eaves. There are great architectural and decorative details throughout. The green glaze shows a wonderful silvery oxidation, an indication that the piece was buried in the ground. The side appears to be glazed lightly originally and some scrape marks and oxidized glaze residues remains. The back is unglazed. The figure is a typical tomb figurine...