ASIAN ART AND BONSAI:
A GARDEN AUCTION
An exhibition and auction not to be missed given the enchanting scenery that will be the backdrop for the autumn sale of Asian art 2020: the Crespi Bonsai Museum in Parabiago, one of the Great Italian Gardens.
of
Scarlett Ariosto
It will be the Crespi Bonsai Museum in Parabiago to host, on Sunday, October 18 , the autumn auction of Asian art by Bertolami Fine Art, the final event of an exhibition that will end on Saturday, October 17.With its 1,000 square meters of gardens and the important collection of bonsai, the largest and most complete outside Japan, the museum founded by the Crespi family is an enchanting place, since 2011 not by chance included in the circuit of the Great Italian Gardens. "Working in partnership with Luca and Susanna Crespi, the sons of Luigi, one of Europe's leading Bonsai experts, has allowed us to complete the long chased project of an Asian art auction with a section dedicated to the exquisite botanical art of miniature trees" - explains Francesco Morena , head of the Asian and tribal art department of Bertolami Fine Art, who will dedicate a conference to that refined art on Saturday 17th October at 11.00 a.m. (admission by appointment only).
Not only bonsai, however, in the auction catalogue, 470 lots in all, with lots of China and Japan: porcelain, jade, ivory, lacquer, paintings and relics of Japanese military art, those perfect armor and cutting weapons that are one of the many prides of the ancient civilization of the Rising Sun.
THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AUCTION:
from the porcelain of Napoleon's sister to one of the most important bonsai trees in Europe, a 250-year-old pine tree from the famous Daizo Iwasaki collection.
THE CUP THAT BELONGED TO ELISA KISSES
What makes the piece unique is above all its history. The first documented owner is Elisa Baciocchi, Napoleon Bonaparte's strong-willed sister who, between 1805 and 1814, was placed to rule the fate of a large part of the Tuscan territory as Princess of Lucca and Piombino and Grand Duchess of Tuscany. From Elisa's treasure came into the hands of a high official of the Kingdom of Italy, Francesco Lugrammi, becoming a sort of family relic, handed down from generation to generation until the recent decision to reintroduce the formidable heirloom on the market.
The arrival in Europe of elegant Chinese porcelain is, however, largely prior to the Napoleonic period. Whoever observes the technical and stylistic characteristics of the frame that supports it sees the hand and taste of a goldsmith of the late Renaissance. Recent studies trace the fine composition in gilded silver engraved and chiselled with motifs of fruit, shells, grotesques, lionine masks and bacchanal to Elizabethan England, to be precise, to the 80s of the 16th century. This was the period in which Elizabeth I achieved one of her great economic policy successes: the establishment of formal diplomatic and commercial relations with the Ottoman Empire. During the masterpiece negotiations masterfully conducted by the merchant William Harborne - the first English ambassador to Turkey - many gifts arrived at the Queen from Sultan Murad III and, among them, Chinese porcelain, still rare in Europe, but piled up in large numbers in the warehouses of the Ottoman sovereigns. The cup put up for sale by Bertolami Fine Art could therefore have arrived in England from Turkey, in the trousseau of gifts destined for Elizabeth or, in any case, as part of the fervour of trade established after the conclusion of the treaty.
The circular red medallion decoration on the outside wall of the bowl is typical of a group of porcelain produced in Jingdezhenin the mid-16th century. A product in great demand and appreciated abroad, so much so that the Japanese term akadama (red spotted decoration) is used to define it. Porcelain from the same family appears in the decorative arts collections of the world's most important museums. Very close to this one are, for example, a cup from the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul and another, which belonged to Ferdinand I de' Medici, kept in the Pitti Palace . All are dated to the period between 1522 and 1566, the years of the reign of Jiajing, the eleventh emperor of the Ming dynasty.
A RARE XIX CENTURY KOREAN VASE
Large size, cobalt blue decoration with dragon ornament, maebyeongshape (small base and rounded neck): features that, when brought together, is rare to find in a Korean vase of the nineteenth century
A TAIHU ROCK
The beautiful Taihu rocks are named after the Tai Lake near Suzhou. They are characterized by the presence of holes, the result of erosion by the water in which they have been submerged for very long periods.
THE BICENTENNIAL PINE
A specimen from the estimated age of 250 years that comes from the collection of Daizo Iwasaki, one of the world's most famous and important collectors. Japanese white pine, especially among the most appreciated in exhibitions and collections, is for age, size and old age one of the most important bonsai trees hosted in Europe.
THE AZALEA OF THE KANUMA NURSERY
Important specimen of Rhododendron indicum that comes from the famous Kanuma nursery of the Kobayashi family. The Kinsai azalea variety is one of the most appreciated in the world thanks to its bright red frayed flowers.
TINY AND MIGHTY
The bonsai of Taxus cuspidatasibonsai also has a prestigious origin, that of the celebrated Urabe nursery, near Osaka. It stands out the scaly bark - without sharie jin (dry woody part) despite the maturity - and the elegant and powerful double trunk structure, sokan, characteristics that confirm its uniqueness.
BFA ASTA 82
ASIAN ART AND BONSAI
18 October 2020
11.00 am lots 1-202
15.00 hours lots 203-470
Exposure:
from 14 to 17 October 9.00-12.30 /14.30-19.00 hours
