Press release -
Asian Art Treasures at Auction
Yongzheng Porcelain, Shi Tao’s Landscape and Books About the Forbidden City. Once again, it is time for the year's first traditional auction of art and antiques from Asia at Bruun Rasmussen in Copenhagen, ranging in time from the 700s to the late Qing period of the 20th century.
"With three of the highlights at the auction, we dive into the years 1723-35, where Emperor Yongzheng ruled over a culturally progressive and diverse period in China's history. The Emperor himself was very much interested in art, and he became a leading advocate for a refined and innovative idiom that drew on the style of former dynasties as well as incorporating stylistic concepts from other cultures," says Ralph Lexner, head of the Asian art department at Bruun Rasmussen.
Porcelain from the period of Emperor Yongzheng
The time period represents one of the richest periods in China’s history, especially in the case of decorative art made of porcelain. This is evident in a set of 12 dishes, where the motifs depict the myth of the five-clawed dragon in the pursuit of the flaming pearl. The dishes originate from the collection of the Dane Ludvig Stenersen Münter, who was stationed in China with the Great Northern Telegraph Company during the first three decades of the 20th century.
As a contrast to the richly decorated and polychrome decorative art, the monochrome expression also found its way to the porcelain of the period, as can be seen in a bowl decorated with green celadon glaze and a pattern of chrysanthemum and tendrils. This bowl was brought to Denmark by the civil engineer Carl Gimbel, who worked as a math professor at the Imperial University in Beijing in the years 1910-1928.
The yellow colour was favoured in the Yongzheng period and has been stretched to its limits with the two lemon yellow porcelain cups from the collection of Karl Theodor Nielsen. Over time, Nielsen managed to become both the director of the East Asiatic Company and Nordisk Fjer (Nordic feather) in China during the first half of the 1900s.
Scrolls, books and bronze figures
The auction also presents a silk hanging scroll with a beautiful landscape from the Hunan Province. It was made by Chinese Shi Tao, who was born during the Ming Dynasty in 1642. He served as a landscape painter in the early Qing dynasty and is considered one of the most celebrated artists in the history of China. The hanging scroll was purchased in 1977 at the Milne Henderson Gallery in London by the museum director of The David Collection in Copenhagen, André Leth, on behalf of the current owner's family.
A unique set of books from 1906 with photographs and hand-coloured maps of the imperial palaces in the Forbidden City in Beijing has also found its way to the auction along with a Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze figure of the merciful Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara from the 16th-17thcentury. Both cultural treasures originate from the collection of the previously mentioned civil engineer Carl Gimbel.
Auction in Copenhagen
Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers, Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen
Preview: 24-28 May
Auction: 29 May at 2 pm
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Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers is one of Scandinavia’s leading international auction houses, and one of Denmark’s oldest. It all started on 6 October 1948, when Arne Bruun Rasmussen conducted the first traditional auction in the saleroom at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen. Today, Jesper Bruun Rasmussen stands at the helm of the family-run business together with the third generation of the family, his son Frederik and daughter Alexa, and the company’s CEO Jakob Dupont.
In 2004, the first online auction was launched, and today the auction house has expanded to include departments in Copenhagen and Aarhus and representations in Sweden, Germany, England, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Spain, Italy, Thailand and the US. About 100,000 lots are put up for auction each year at the traditional auctions and daily online auctions. Here you can bid on everything from art, antiques, modern design and jewellery to books, coins, stamps, wine and weaponry.
