A fine Chinese Qianlong period jade brush pot will headline the highly-anticipated Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale at Christie's on September 13-14 in New York.
![]() The brushpot features an intricate scene with six Confucian scholars |
The auction is the final instalment of Christie's celebrated Asian art week, which will consist of five auctions spread across four days. The sales follow on from the hugely successful Asian art week back in May, which saw Christie's propelled to the forefront of the Asian art market.
The brush pot was created between 1736 and 1795 under the rule of the Qianlong Emperor, the sixth leader of China's Qing dynasty. It is superbly carved with a scene of the Six Scholars of Zhuxi, which is reminiscent of a traditional scroll painting. The pot originates from the collection of Heber R Bishop, whose spectacular jade pieces now comprise a large part of the Metropoliatan Museum of Art's collection.
The brush pot will sell with a $600,000-800,000 estimate and can expect impressive results, with fine quality jade items always selling particularly well at auction.
The brush pot's estimate will be matched by an incredibly rare and important archaic bronze wine vessel, or zun, which dates from the 11th or 12th century BC. The magnificent zun was once housed in the collection of Count Inoue Kaoru, an influential Japanese figure who owned one of the biggest collections of art in the Meiji period. Featuring an image of a turtle encircled by two dragons biting each other's tails, the vessel is unusual in its considerable width.
You can see our complete preview of Christie's Asian art week here.
Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for a round-up of the week's top articles.