Captain Wang Speaks: The Re-emergence of a Western Zhou Ding

by Jay Xu, Pritzker Chairman of the Department of Asian and Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago.

The Art Institute of Chicago acquired in December 2005 the Shi Wang ding, a well-documented bronze vessel of the Western Zhou period that has been known since the 19th century but does not appear ever to have been on public view. The re-emergence of this object provides an opportunity for the author to discuss its form and decoration and his examination of the content and style of the inscription places it within a large network of bronzes, including recent finds. Remarkable for its style and its inscription, the vessel fills a conspicuous gap in the Institute's collection of Chinese bronzes.

Shi Wang ding China, Western Zhou period, early 9th century BCE Bronze Height 49.5 cm, diameter at mouth 43.5 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, Major Acquisitions Centennial Fund 2005.426 (Photography by Robert Hashimoto)

by Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, Professor of East Asian Art at the University of Pennsylvania and Curator of Chinese Art at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

An exhibition `Dragons of Silk, Flowers of Gold: A Group of Liao Dynasty Textiles' on view until 11 November at the Abegg-Stiftung, a private foundation in Riggisberg, Switzerland, sheds light on the textiles and material culture of the Liao dynasty, two emerging fields in Chinese art history. From the institute's collection of seventeen recently conserved pieces which entered the collection in the 1990s, the author focuses on two striking robes which offer a contrast in terms of material, construction and decorative motifs.

Robe Liao period (916-1125) Embroidered silk Length 149 cm, width 239 cm Abegg-Stiftung (inv. no. 5238)

by Annette L. Juliano, Professor of Asian Art History at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Campus at Newark.

The exhibition `Buddhist Sculpture from China: Selections from Xi'an Beilin Museum', opening at the China Institute on 20 September until 8 December, emphasizes the broad range of images in the museum's collection, from the finest carved and gilded statues to the naively conceived and executed examples. The author has chosen seven of the seventy previously unpublished examples on view, to address important issues such as provenance and internal and external forces that shaped sculptural style in order to create a better understanding of the complexities surrounding the development of Buddhist sculpture and practice in Chang'an and throughout the Shaanxi area in ancient times.

Shakyamuni Part of a hoard unearthed at Wangjiaxiang, Lianchi district, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, in 1974 Northern Wei period, dated 462 (by inscription) Sandstone Height 63 cm Beilin Museum

Ink-rubbing of the back of Shakyamuni

by Katherine R. Tsiang, Associate Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia in the Art History Department, University of Chicago.

The Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan are among the major artistic achievements of the 6th century and one of China's most important cultural sites. In recognition of the historical importance of the caves and the urgency of recapturing and preserving the Northern Qi's aesthetic legacy, the caves have been made the focus of an international project based at the Center for the Art of East Asia at the University of Chicago. In addition to discussing the aims of the project and how the centre has recorded most of the sculptures from the caves in collections outside China, the author presents for the first time a group of large fragments that can be assigned to the Middle Cave at Bei Xiangtangshan, introducing important new discoveries and correcting previous mistaken attributions.

Bodhisattva at the south side of the Middle Cave entrance in a 1920s photograph (After Mizuno and Nagahiro, pl. 52)

Bodhisattva at the south side of the Middle Cave entrance in a recent photograph

by Audrey Yoshiko Seo, an independent researcher and consultant on Japanese art.

The author discusses the life and work of Konoe Nobutada, one of the most unusual painters in Japanese history who was remarkable not only for his choice of subject matter, but also for his innovative approach compositionally and stylistically. The illustrated works are evidence that even today he remains one of the most interesting masters of the brush who expressed his personal vision during a time of great historical flux.

Hitomaro By Konoe Nobutada (1565-1614) Hanging scroll, ink on paper Height 99.3 cm, width 43.5 cm Private collection

by Sandra Sheckter, an independent scholar specializing in Japanese ceramics and lacquer.

An article to mark the opening on 8 September of an exhibition `Black Robe, White Mist: The Art of the Japanese Buddhist Nun Otagaki Rengetsu' at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. In order to explore the nature of Otagaki Rengetsu and her relationship with her patrons, the author looks at the inscriptions which Rengetsu inscribed on her ceramics and suggests that these were private messages between potter and patron and, in the case of tea ceremony wares, between host and guest.

Chawan (tea bowl) By Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) Glazed stoneware Height 7 cm, diameter 11.5 cm Private collection

In 2002, the Honolulu Academy of Arts organized the exhibition `Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the Mike Healy Collection', which subsequently travelled to the China Institute of America in New York and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; the show will open this autumn at the Museum of East Asian Art in Berlin (5 October 2007 - 6 January 2008), and will then move to the Museum fur Lackkunst in Munster (27 January - 9 March 2008). Forming one of the few Chinese lacquer collections in the US, the works were assembled over more than two decades, and range in date from the Han to the Ming period. Encompassing a broad spectrum of techniques, many were in collections in Japan for centuries. In this interview conducted in Santa Barbara, Klaus Naumann, himself a lacquer collector and a long-time friend of Mike Healy's, talks to him about the collection and his other interests.

Klaus Naumann and Mike Healy, Santa Barbara

Box Yuan period (1271-1368) Carved red lacquer Height 14 cm, diameter 35 cm (cat. no. 19)

Gerd-Wolfgang Essen, 1995 (Photography by Ruth Henss)

Hiram Woodward, Piriya Krairiksh and Henry Ginsburg on Hampstead Heath, London, August 2005 (Photography by M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati)

The elephant divinity Konchananeshvara on a black ground, in a dance posture, standing upon another many-headed elephant divinity, from Treatise on Elephants Bangkok, c. 1820-40 Manuscript painting, pigment on paper Walters Art Museum, W. 893, f.2 Gift of Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2002

In her review of Central Asian Textiles and Their Contexts in the Early Middle Ages which features the papers from a colloquium held at the Abegg-Stiftung, Susan Whitfield examines at length the various debates over the development of and influences on textile production of Central Asia.

Detail of a woollen hanging with a design of winged horses, showing Sasanian influence in its motif but probably of Egyptian origin based on its woollen warp and the S-twist of the wool Abegg-Stiftung, inv. no. 2191 (Photography by Christoph von Virag)

Frederick Baekeland discusses very briefly the contribution made by Stephen Addiss to the study of Japanese calligraphy from the 7th to 19th century in 77 Dances.

Clouds By Tokai Okon (1816-88) Hanging scroll, ink on paper Height 111.7 cm, width 57 cm (After Addiss, p. 95)

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston announced that the position of William and Helen Pounds Curator of Japanese Art has been assumed by Anne Nishimura Morse. Morse has been with the museum for 22 years. Hao Sheng has been named Wu Tung Curator of Chinese Art. He has been responsible for the care and documentation of the MFA's Chinese art collection since 2004, in addition to researching and recommending potential acquisitions.

Anne Nishimura Morse

Hao Sheng

Khanh Trinh has been appointed to the curatorship of Japanese art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Trinh was formerly assistant curator (1997-99) and curator (1999-2004) at the Museum of East Asian Art, Berlin.

Khanh Trinh

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has appointed Li Jian as E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art. Li joins the VMFA after 12 years at the Dayton Art Institute, where she was Kettering Curator of Asian Art.

Li Jian

The Portland Art Museum has announced that Maribeth Graybill will take up the position of Curator of Asian Art. She has been Senior Curator at the University of Michigan's Museum of Art since 2001. In addition to working on acquisitions, research and exhibitions, Graybill will be responsible for evaluating the collection and planning its reinstallation. She will also work with Curator Emeritus Donald Jenkins and Chief Curator Bruce Guenther to publish the Japanese print collection.

Maribeth Graybill

Following 12 years at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), Amin Jaffer has joined Christie's, London as International Director of Asian Art. In his new role, he will be particularly responsible for developing the firm's brand and business in India and among Indian communities globally.

Amin Jaffer

Christie's Hong Kong announced the appointment of Su-Mei Thompson as Senior Vice President, Director of Strategic Business Development, Asia, and Levina Li as Vice-President, Director of Business Development for Asia. Thompson will be responsible for strategic planning, business development, marketing and public relations in Asia, and will be in charge of the company's regional representatives. Li will oversee daily business development activities for the region.
Japanese art specialists Neil Davey and Suzannah Yip, both formerly of Sotheby's, have joined the Asian Art Department at Bonhams. Davey, an expert on netsuke, will act as consultant to the company worldwide, while Yip, who specializes in the pictorial arts, will become Department Director at New Bond Street.
This year's successful applicant for the Asia Art Archive Martell Contemporary Asian Art Research Grant is Rahul Bhattacharya, an independent art critic and curator working in Delhi and Mumbai. The US$10,000 grant will enable Bhattacharya to conduct a survey and historical study of performance art in India from the 1950s to the present.
A symposium from 14 to 16 September is being held in conjunction with Honolulu Academy's exhibition New Songs on Ancient Tunes: 19th-20th Century Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Richard Fabian Collection'. Invited speakers include Qianshen Bai, Britta Erickson, Chu-tsing Li, Shan Guolin, Michael Sullivan and Xue Yongnian, who will discuss related subjects such as the impact of calligraphy and seal carving on painting, the development of relationships between artists and patrons into wider networks of influence, artistic links between China and Japan, and the contextualization of this period in Chinese art history. For further information contact Rachel Farkas; tel: (808) 532 8779; e-mail: rfarkas@honoluluacademy.org.
Seattle Art Museum will hold a symposium from 30 November to 1 December to coincide with their exhibition `Japan Envisions the West: 16th-19th Century Japanese Art from Kobe City Museum'. It will include Japanese, Dutch and American scholars such as Ron Toby, Oka Yasumasa, Narusawa Katsushi, Christiaan J.A. Jorg, Kobayashi Yoriko and Mochizuki Miya. For further information contact the museum on (206) 654 3121.

Meri Arichi's gives an indepth analysis of the late spring auctions in London. The highlight in Bonhams' `Fine Asian Art' sale on 14 May was a late Ming rhinoceros horn libation cup (lot 75; estimate £20/30,000). Competition pushed the price to £108,000, the highest price for all categories in this sale.

In the Japanese section, a large Meiji bronze vase signed `Gyokutosai koku' and decorated in takazogan with monkeys playing in a cherry tree fetched the highest price of £36,000 (lot 203; estimate £18/25,000). The interest in good Meiji metalwork continues to play a significant role in the Japanese art market in the West. In the Southeast Asian section, a sandstone headless female deity from the Angkor period (lot 210; estimate £10/15,000) and a Gandharan grey schist standing bodhisattva (lot 211; estimate £7/10,000) both sold above the upper estimate, achieving £20,400 and £15,600, respectively. The sale total was just under £775,000.

Libation cup China, Ming period (1368-1644) Rhinoceros horn Height 13 cm Bonhams' `Fine Asian Art' sale, London, 14 May 2007, lot 75 Price: £108,000 (estimate £20/30,000)

East Asian buyers were active at Christie's `Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art' sale on 15 May. The highest price of the sale was the £333,600 achieved by a large Yuan blue-and-white moulded dish (lot 211; estimate £80/120,000) from a London dealer.

Dish China, Yuan period (1271-1368) Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration Diameter 41 cm Christie's `Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art' sale, London, 15 May 2007, lot 211 Price: £333,600 (estimate £80/120,000)

Sotheby's `Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art' sale on 16 May achieved a healthy £3,583,800 for 121 lots offered in the morning. The highest price was for a Yongzheng famille-rose `peach and bats' bowl (lot 104; estimate £400/500,000). A Hong Kong dealer had to go well above the upper estimate to secure it for £725,600.
The afternoon sale `Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art' also managed to clear the halfway mark, to make a total of £1,623,120. The first 24 lots came from the collection of Sir Herbert Ingram, one of the largest and most varied pre-war collections of Chinese and Japanese art. One of the most keenly contested lots in this section was an unusual Jun ware bottle vase (lot 216). Although the vase was sensibly estimated at £20/30,000, the competition pushed Littleton & Hennessy to go more than three times above the upper estimate to secure it for £96,000, the highest price of the sale.

Bowl China, Yongzheng period (1723-35) Porcelain with famille-rose decoration Diameter 14.5 cm Sotheby's `Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art' sale, London, 16 May 2007, lot 104 Price: £725,600 (estimate £400/500,000)

Christie's `Japanese Art and Design' sale, also held on 16 May, featured a number of fine 17th century porcelains, an area in which it is increasingly hard to find high-quality examples fresh to the market. The most significant piece was a nonagonal Ko-Kutani enamelled dish bearing the family crest of the Nabeshima clan, which had been in a private collection and out of the public eye since the 1950s (lot 30; estimate £200/300,000). The piece went to a European collector for £400,800, a world auction record for Ko-Kutani ceramics. High-quality 19th century lacquer in traditional taste performed well and almost all of a group of netsuke from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston found buyers. Both dealers and collectors from Europe and Japan participated actively in the room, reflecting the popularity of netsuke-collecting worldwide. Continuing strength in the sword section contributed substantially to the overall total of £1,739,388.

Dish Japan, 17th century Ko-Kutani ware, porcelain with polychrome enamel decoration Diameter 32.5 cm Christie's `Japanese Art and Design' sale, London, 16 May 2007, lot 30 Price: £400,800 (estimate £200/300,000)

Sotheby's `Japanese Works of Art, Prints & Paintings' sale on 17 May was a sad occasion. The auctioneer, Neil Davey, who has conducted every Japanese sale for the past decade, announced the closure of the auction house's Japanese section, and that this would be its last sale of Japanese art. The decline of the Japanese economy following the burst of the `bubble' in the early 1990s caused a serious change in the art market, and the lack of top-quality works in European auction rooms has been clearly noticeable in recent years. However, the decision to close the department altogether seems rather short-sighted when the Japanese economy is finally showing signs of steady recovery and there is renewed interest in Japanese culture among the younger generation. Fine-quality Japanese art is still relatively affordable, and there are opportunities for new collectors.
The most appealing ceramic was a late 17th century Kakiemon enamelled recumbent elephant (lot 923; estimate £45/55,000). The auctioneer opened the bidding at £30,000, but two telephone bidders equally determined to obtain it pushed the final price to £108,000, with the lot going to a US collector.
Competitive bidding from Russian, Japanese, British and European collectors made the swords and sword guard section particularly successful, with almost all the lots finding buyers. The highest price here was achieved by a 14th century Bizen Osafune blade attributed to Kanenaga, which fetched £24,000 (lot 1098; estimate £22/25,000). Animal netsuke were again a favourite, early Kakiemon porcelain saw a great deal of interest and bronze decorative pieces were also strongly contested. The total was £1,306,140.

Elephant Japan, 17th century Kakiemon ware, porcelain with polychrome enamel decoration Length 20.3 cm Sotheby's `Japanese Works of Art, Prints & Paintings' sale, London, 17 May 2007, lot 923 Price: £108,000 (estimate £45/55,000)

Sotheby's `Contemporary Art' sale in London on 21 June raised a record total of £72,427,600. The sale featured seven works by Chinese artists from European collectors who acquired them in the 1990s. These lots were selected as they were judged, according to specialist Alexander Branczik, `strong enough to stand alongside established contemporary artists'. And indeed, Yue Minjun, Zhang Xiaogang, Liu Ye and Fang Lijun held their own against the likes of Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko and Damien Hirst. Artists' and media records were established for Yue, Liu and Fang. Yue's The Pope, a 1997 oil, sold for £2.148 million, placing it above Andy Warhol's 30 Multicoloured Maos on the top ten list (lot 67; estimate £700/900,000). Branczik noted that the buyers are primarily collectors from Europe, the US and Asia (Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the mainland), as the high prices no longer support a margin for dealers.

Sandrine le Marchand gives a detailed summary of the trends at the spring Paris auctions. Pescheteau Badin held a small but interesting sale on 30 May at Hotel Drouot which included five important modern Chinese paintings by Fu Baoshi and Qi Baishi. The conservative estimates probably encouraged bidding. The paintings were acquired directly by the owner's husband when he was posted in the 1940s to the French embassy in Chongqing and dedicated to him. The depiction of a lady with a fan painted in Chongqing during the winter of 1944 attained €82,000, the highest price of the group (lot 103; estimate €12/15,000).

At Tajan's `Art d'Asie' sale on 12 June, Chinese works of art fetched high prices. Although only 191 of the 374 offered sold, a total of €2,725,859 was achieved. The sensation of the sale was the cover lot (101), a Yuan period blue-and-white dish with a foliate rim, which was acquired in 1935 in the Middle East and had since been kept in the same family (unpublished estimate €50/400,000). London dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi placed the winning bid of €1,656,250, underbid on the telephone by a Taiwan dealer. The surprise of the day proved to be a Qianlong-marked blue-and-white vase with deer under pines (lot 51; estimate €4/5,000). New York-based dealer John Berwald was very happy to secure it for €253,594.

Dish China, Yuan period (1271-1368) Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration Diameter 46.5 cm Tajan's `Art d'Asie' sale, Paris, 12 June 2007, lot 101 Price: €1,656,250 (unpublished estimate €350/400,000)

Christies `Art d'Asie' and `Cloisonnes d'Exception - Collection Juan Jose Amezaga, Partie I' sales on 13 June achieved a total of €17,104,600, a record for Asian art sales in France.
The various-owners sale achieved €3,885,960, with 203 of 285 lots selling. Buyers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and from America, Russia and Europe reflect the strong international market for Asian, especially Chinese, art. White jade was much sought after with an American dealer paying €396,000 for a large circular box and cover from the Paris collection of Florence van der Kemp (lot 98; estimate €20/30,000).
The sale of 43 cloisonné objects from the Spanish collection of Juan Jose Amezaga was even more successful. It raised €13,218,640, the highest total for a sale of Chinese art in Paris. Three pieces crossed the €1 million threshold, and only one lot failed to sell. The highlight was an exceptional pair of foreigners and their original carved wood stands, formerly in the Kitson collection (lot 27; unpublished estimate €1.5/2 million). Eskenazi was the winner at €6.528 million, establishing two auction records - one for Chinese art in Paris and the other for a Chinese cloisonné. He also bought the second top lot: a Qianlong birdcage with a colourful bird for €2.048 million (lot 38; estimate €70/100,000).

One of a pair of foreigners China, Qianlong period (1736-95) Cloisonne Heights 63 cm and 68.5 cm Christie's `Cloisonnes d'Exception - Collection Juan Jose Amezaga, Partie I' sale, Paris, 13 June 2007, lot 27 Price: €6.528 million (unpublished estimate €1.5/2 million)

Sotheby's worked hard to market their first `Art d'Asie' sale in Paris. Held on 13 June, it achieved a respectable total of €2,754,480 for 120 of the 182 lots. The decision by the consignor to withdraw the star lot, an early Tang sandstone sculpture of a seated Buddha (lot 71; estimate €300/350,000) was a disappointment as was the failure of the cover lot (161), an enamelled ruby-ground peony falangcai bowl with a Kangxi mark (estimate €150/200,000). The top lot was an early Ming cloisonné zun, which was bought by a US dealer for €432,000 (lot 58; estimate €150/200,000).

Piasa's `Art d'Asie' sale on 16 June was a modest one, realizing €594,475 for 276 of the 407 lots offered. There were several surprises especially for Chinese paintings. Two on silk depicting 36 scenes from Confucius's life, signed Wang Zhenpeng but actually 18th/19th century, fetched €58,900, making them the sale's top lot (lot 324; estimate €6/8,000).

Detail of 36 Scenes from Confucius's Life Signed Wang Zhenpeng, 18th/19th century Ink and colour on silk Height 39.6 cm, length 1110.6 cm Piasa's `Art d'Asie' sale, Paris, 16 June 2007, lot 324 Price: €58,900 (estimate €6/8,000)

Delorme Collin du Bocage's sale `Estampes, Tableaux et Dessins Anciens et Modernes, Extreme-Orient, Mobilier' on 4 July featured an important Korean gilt-bronze bodhisattva. The statue was thought to be either from the Silla period or a later copy of the 7th century style. Tests carried out by the auctioneer before the sale were not conclusive, and the results of the carbon-14 dating could not be guaranteed. Eventually, expert-in-charge Thierry Portier published the piece without a date in the catalogue. A Chinese investor was willing to take a risk. He paid €228,630, vastly exceeding the estimate of €30/50,000.

The `33rd Special Auction of Asian Art' at Nagel Auktionen in Stuttgart on 11 and 12 May did better than expected. Major Hong Kong and Chinese collectors were in attendance, which brought heated bidding for a number of lots, resulting in a sales total of €4.57 million. Almost all the cloisonné sold well above estimate, with Robert Chang paying an astounding €253,000 for a Kangxi/Yongzheng period pilgrim's bottle (lot 1104; estimate €30/50,000), as well as €146,000 for a pair of Qianlong table screens (lot 1122; estimate €20/30,000). Buddhist sculpture also did well and in the jade section, a Hong Kong private collector purchased an imperial-style square seal with a double dragon knob for €120,000 (lot 1526; estimate €3,000).

Luohan China, 14th/15th century Bronze Height 81 cm Nagel `33rd Special Auction of Asian Art' sale, Stuttgart, 11 May 2007, lot 1440 Price: €439,000 (estimate €58,000)

Paris-based Pierre Berger & Associes held a well-received inaugural sale on 23 and 24 May which included an Asian Section. Although only 125 of the 431 lots offered were Asian, they achieved €488,914. Two of the top lots were Chinese objects from a Belgian family. The highest price achieved was for a Qing period ruyi sceptre with four-clawed dragons and bats flying amongst clouds, carved from a single block of light celadon jade with traces of honey tones (lot 442; estimate €15/20,000). A Chinese dealer placed the winning bid of €198,500.
Galerie Koller, Zurich's second auction of contemporary Chinese art, held on 23 June, did well, with many works finding homes with East Asian buyers. The highest-selling lot was Snowy Landscape by Lake Geneva, a 1967 work in oil on canvas by Chu Teh-chun, which went to a Taiwan collector for CHF522,500 (lot 106; estimate CHF300/400,000). A collector from Moscow purchased a depiction of a laughing man in bathing trunks by Yue Minjun for CHF154,500 (lot 150A; estimate CHF115/140,000). The auction saw a turnover of CHF2.45 million, with 25 per cent of lots selling above estimate.

Snowy Landscape by Lake Geneva By Chu Teh-chun (b. 1920), 1967 Oil on canvas Height 160 cm, width 129 cm Galerie Koller `Contemporary Chinese Art' sale, Zurich, 23 June 2007, lot 106 Price: CHF522,500 (estimate CHF300/400,000)

How can I tell you? By Feng Shuo (b. 1970), 2007 Oil on canvas Height 155 cm, width 270 cm Marlborough Gallery

The third Salon du Collectionneur, in partnership with the Grands Ateliers de France, take places from 15 to 23 September at the Grand Palais, a new venue that will provide a majestic setting for this exposition of artworks.
Gisele Croes has chosen to present the diversity of themes embraced by Chinese culture, with particular emphasis on the Liao period. She will be showing some gold and silver works, often set with semi-precious stones. Her piece de resistance is a monumental Han period door gable with a central `mask' of a fabulous beast, flanked by two dynamic dragons issuing clouds of flames.
Susan Ollemans's collection of Mughal jewels includes an interesting turban ornament in the form of a bird, with a flower and pearls dangling from its beak. She will also feature 19th century ivory miniatures concentrating on the portraits of the emperors and princes.
Christian Deydier has two limestone sarcophagus panels with traces of red and black paint, each more than two metres long, dating from Northern Wei China. The panels are carved in low relief with a dragon and a tiger, each ridden by an immortal and flanked by three others.
Galerie Kevorkian will be focusing on ceramic objects and tiles from Persia and Central Asia. A highlight is a Safavid panel of three stone-paste cuerda seca tiles from 17th century Iran, probably made for a palace or pavilion.
Sara Kuehn's `Treasures from Central Asia' will include a rare collection of Bronze Age objects, among them a copper-alloy mirror with handle in stylized anthropomorphic form, as well as objects of adornment and compartmented loop-handled stamp seals, in a variety of media.
Gallery Jacques Barrere has a group of Indian sculptures dating from the 10th to the 14th century. Granite sculptures of Ganesha, Parvati and Skanda epitomize the South, while a range of Pala steles demonstrates the art of the North, and an image of Bhairava illustrates the central subcontinent.

Door gable China, Han period (206 BCE-CE 220) Grey stone, with traces of red pigment Length 170 cm Gisele Croes

Parcours des Mondes will take place from 12 to 16 September in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area. Fifty specialist dealers have been selected as participants. Pre-classical cultures from Mongolia to Indochina and tribal Indonesia are the particular focus of Davide Manfredi's exhibition.
Marcel Nies is showing a 2nd/3rd century Amaravati torso in marble and a circa 16th century figure of Shakyamuni from Laos, in bronze with silver inlay. Highlights being show by Tony Anninos include an early Pala stele of Manjushri as a young prince from around 800, probably from the environs of Nalanda, as well as a 9th century Buddha head from Central Java, from a monument built by the Sailendras. The head was part of a Dutch collection before entering an American collection, where it has been for 36 years.

Flying Cranes's exhibition `A Reign of Gold' runs until 30 September. A highlight among 85 lacquers from the 18th and 19th centuries is a document box by Mitsugaku, lacquered with inlays of gold, silver, shakudo, coral and mother-of-pearl. The lid features Bugako imagery while the interior is decorated with a teahouse surrounded by willows and maple.
Carlton Rochell's show, `Pantheon of the Gods', from 11 to 28 September, will feature around eighty works from India, the Himalayas and Southeast Asia, many from US private collections. Of particular is a 14th century Nepalese gilt-bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, with black paint and inlaid with semi-precious stones from the Zimmerman family collection. Also of interest is a group of Company School paintings. Included are pages from the Fraser Album, commissioned by James and William Fraser in the 18th century, which was rediscovered in their Scotland attic in 1979.

Avalokiteshvara Nepal, 14th century Gilt-copper alloy with black paint and inlaid with semi-precious stones Height 30.5 cm Carlton Rochell Asian Art

In the spirit of the late Northern Song poet-collector-connoisseur Mi Fu, who was once so enraptured by a particular rock that he called it `Elder Brother', Kaikodo conceived the theme of their exhibition `Paying Homage to Stones'. Scholar's rocks and paintings depicting rocks are on view. In a portrait of Gu Ying from 1358, the eminent scholar is seated in a garden on a rock platform, while in an 18th century painting by Jianxi, probably a self-portrait, a group of rocks rising from waves becomes the alter ego of the painter. On a 14th century fan, a female immortal steps on a path through a fantastic landscape of prunus and blue rocks reminiscent of the Tang `blue-green' style. The exhibition runs from 15 September to 18 October.
`A Celebration of Japanese Masterworks', on show at Erik Thomsen Asian Art from 16 September to 31 October, features tea ceramics, paintings, screens, signed baskets and lacquer objects, A Taisho period box decorated with old pines in high relief with inlaid details, in excellent condition and among the contemporary works is a porcelain sculpture by Kyoto-based contemporary artist Sueharu Fukami.
The autumn exhibition at E&J Frankel, from 20 September to 28 October, features works purchased by Mr and Mrs Vance Hall in Korea between 1958 and 1967. Among the 34 pieces are a Goryeo bronze mirror cast with a military subject and two beige buncheong dishes inlaid with white clay.
J.J. Lally's autumn show, entitled `Ancient Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: Recent Acquisitions', will feature ceramics from the Song period and earlier, as well as sculptures and bronzes. Highlights are an Eastern Wei limestone mandorla fragment with apsarases and an unusual Warring States bronze fanghu on a high pedestal.

Fanghu China, Warring States period (475-221 BCE) Bronze J.J. Lally

Among the recent acquisitions of Tang and Song period ceramics at Eric Zetterquist are a large Ding ware basin carved with lotuses and a Jizhou meiping with a ruyi design. Japanese pieces will include a Kamakura period storage jar from Tokoname, of strong form and with a lavish green-and-blue natural ash glaze.
Tea bowls will be the theme of Richard Gien's autumn show.
Throckmorton Fine Art will have some new acquisitions on view, including a group of unglazed Tang horses and Chinese Buddha sculptures from the Northern Wei to the Tang. Chinese photographer Kao Yuan is also represented.

Buddha China, Northern Qi period (550-77) Limestone Height 91.2 cm Throckmorton Fine Art

Asiatica will have their autumn `trunk' show at the Surrey Hotel from 12 to 28 September, featuring clothing made from vintage and contemporary Japanese fabrics.
Michael Cohn combines stone and bronze sculpture from Cambodia with photographs of Angkor by Kenro Izu and rubbings from reliefs at Angkor Wat.
Andrew Kahane offers a fine small selection of Song ceramics from various American private collections.
Among Weisbrod Chinese Art's recent acquisitions are a pair of Qianlong cloisonné white elephants from a British collection, a large famille-verte rouleau vase formerly in the Edwards Collection, St Louis, Missouri and a Kangxi jar and cover in an archaic hu form covered with a sancai glaze formerly from the Nellie Ionides Collection.
KooNewYork's exhibition titled `Shapes of Motion' introduces four Korean artists to the US. Photography of Bae Bien-U, Park Hongchun and Kim Dokyun and ceramics by Lee Young-Jae and Yi Yoonshin underlines the commonality of contemporary artists working in different media and their ability to capture the essence of time and motion with literal and figurative means.

Joan B. Mirviss

by Elaine Kwok, who recently completed her MBA at Stanford University, and holds an MA in Chinese Art from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.