Masks, Jade & More

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The New York Sun

While all eyes are on the athletes at the Olympic Games in Beijing, collectors of Chinese art and antiques will have a chance to flex their competitive muscles, too. On August 24, the I.M. Chait Gallery’s International Fine Arts Auction in Beverly Hills, Calif., will feature sculpture, porcelains, and a substantial cache of jade carvings. The Chait Gallery customarily holds the majority of its sales in New York City, but this month’s sale is located on the West Coast to accommodate the growing number of collectors from China.

“Five years ago, most of our buyers were Americans from the East Coast, with some Europeans thrown in. Now there are as many Chinese buyers as there are Americans,” the director of operations for the I.M. Chait Gallery, Joshua Chait, said. “Many of them don’t speak a word of English, but they’re here bidding on works that they want to bring back to China.”

And high on that list is jade in just about any shape. “In an auction earlier this year, I saw carvings with estimates of $1,000 sell for $15,000,” Mr. Chait said. “The wealthy in China were buying these figurines to give as gifts to friends and visiting dignitaries during the Olympics. It’s a very interesting development.”

A fine example of jade carving is the spinach-jade Guanyin (a Chinese female bodhisattva) standing beneath a pine tree. The entire carving is about 6 inches high and sits on a wooden stand. Despite its small size, it displays breathtaking details. The Guanyin holds a bunch of peaches and stands next to a small deer. The carving is estimated to sell for between $800 and $1,000.

Olympic gifts aside, the Chait sale includes some spectacular Tang and Han dynasty pottery that collectors won’t be passing off to visitors. That’s certainly true of a pair of Bactrian camels from the Tang period (618–907 common era). Both camels kneel on their front legs and arch their backs in extraordinary poses. Each camel stands more than 2 feet high and has a rider sitting on a saddle blanket. The pair is estimated at between $65,000 and $75,000.

“We sell a lot of Tang pottery, but I’ve never seen anything like these camels,” Mr. Chait said. “Their size and level of detail is unique, and camels from this period are usually prancing or upright.” All of the pottery in this month’s auction comes from the private collection of just one consignor.

Tang pottery represents the sweeping social developments in China at the time. Until that era, it was common for a rich man to be buried with all of his possessions, including servants. By the dawn of the Tang dynasty, noblemen would be buried with pieces of pottery that represented the various servants and animals. “These camels suggest the person they were buried with was very important,” Mr. Chait said.

Important ivory carvings are well-represented in the Chait sale. A complete set of 18 ivory equestrian statuettes consists of men seated atop horses, oxen, deer, elephants, and other animals. Mr. Chait said he expects the set to fetch between $35,000 and $45,000.

A phoenix in flight adorns an early-18th-century Yongzheng doucai porcelain jar with a domed lid (estimated at $60,000). Doucai combines blue underglaze with vibrant glazes; this lot has blue, green, white, and red scrolling foliage around the phoenix.

Emperors through the ages chose from different religions, all of which add to the variety of styles in art and pottery. An antique Taoist temple scroll painting has three rows of major Taoist figures depicted in brilliant colors standing on a cloud, estimated at between $1,500 and $2,000.

The auction also includes some contemporary paintings, as well as furniture, jewelry, and watches.


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