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Robust demand for historical Asian art informs Strauss & Co’s April offering

14 Apr 2022

The sale presents a striking assembly of Asian periods and artisanal techniques, including Chinese silverware, jade, stoneware, ceramics and paintings, alongside a concise selection of Japanese, Indian, Burmese and South-East Asian pieces.

“The market for Asian art is a very buoyant market right now,” says Sophie-Louise Froehlich, a specialist with Strauss & Co’s decorative arts department. Earlier this month, 250 bidders from a dozen countries helped Strauss & Co surpass pre-sale estimates for a single-owner collection of Asian art offered in its inaugural live sale. “But it is not exclusively a sellers’ markets. The current online sale includes a number of keenly priced pieces for starter collectors.”

The majority of the lots in this Asia-focussed online-only sale were consigned by a knowledgeable Cape Town collector who built up their collection over a number of years. The single-owner collection is strongly orientated towards historical Chinese and Japanese pieces, but also includes attractive examples of Indian and Burmese silverware.

Noteworthy Chinese pieces from the single-owner collection a pair of yellow, green, cream and aubergine glazed Dogs of Fo (estimate R2 000 – 3 000), a Chinese famille-verte and black-glazed bottle vase, Qing Dynasty, 19th century (R5 – 7 000) and a pair of ink on paper portraits of courtiers (estimate R8 000 – 10 000). The paintings form part of a small consignment of Chinese and Japanese paintings, items rarely seen in the South African art market.

The single-owner collection also includes fine examples of nineteenth-century silver, notably a Chinese export silver box and cover by Chinese silversmith Wang Hing and unusually shaped and highly decorative Indian silver spice box. A highlight of the Japanese pieces is an Edo-period Ko-Kutani iridescent yellow, purple and black enamel dish (estimate R3 000 – 4 000).

The eight jade lots in the sale include a Qing Dynasty jade carving of a Dog of Fo (estimate R6 000 – 8 000), consigned by an individual seller. The sale comprises a number of unusual and unique pieces, among them a pair of Chinese burnt orange-glazed and gilt vases, an unusual hardwood carved Mahjong set (estimate R4 000 – 6 000), a Japanese Hirado blue and white lamp base, a set of four South East Asian mirror-black and brown bottle vases and a highly decorated Burmese silver bowl.

Bidding for the lots in Strauss & Co’s online-only sale of Asian art concludes on Monday, 25 April.