November 2024 highlights !
Discover a selection of our “highlights” currently on display in the following three galleries: Gregg Baker Asian Art (Brussels), Sue Ollemans (London) and
Bertrand de Lavergne gallery (Paris).
GREGG BAKER ASIAN ART
Brussels
Gregg Baker Asian Art, founded in London in 1985, now located in Brussels, has for specialty Japanese art. Its main mission is to promote the beauty and versatility of Japanese art focusing on antique Japanese screens, early Buddhist sculpture and classical works of art.
With over 35 years of experience in traditional Japanese art, the gallery also carries out works from the post-war era, presenting abstract painting, sculpture and calligraphy by leading Japanese artists of the mid-20th century. This is an important area of Japanese art which now being rediscovered by art lovers across the globe.
To raise awareness of Japanese art, Gregg Baker has lectured to students of the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, SOAS (University of London), Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Christie’s Education, sharing his passion for this iconic art form with an ever-widening audience.
A WOOD FIGURE OF DAINICHI NYORAI (MAHĀVAIROCANA)
Japan, 10 th /11 th century
Heian period
H. 67.5cm x W. 49.5cm x D.34cm (263⁄4; x 191⁄2 x 131⁄2)
A wood figure of Dainichi Nyorai (Mahāvairocana) wearing flowing robes and seated in kekka-fusa (lotus position), his hands in chiken-in mudra (Mudra of the Knowledge Fist), the hair is arranged in a tall standing top knot above the crown.
The arms and wrists are decorated with carved armlets and bracelets and the chest is bejewelled with a gilt metal munakazari (pectoral ornament) with semi-precious stone beads. On the inside of the figure are two illegible characters inscribed in ink.
Dainichi Nyorai (Mahāvairocana)
Dainichi (Great Sun) is the central and supreme deity of the pantheon of Esoteric Buddhism. In origin he has been linked to an ancient sun cult and to the Zoroastrian god of light, Ashura Mazda. In Brahmanical literature the appellation Vairocana (primordial or supreme Buddha) appears, for example, as the name of a legendary king and of the king of the Ashura. In Buddhism he assumes a central role in Esoteric Buddhism he eventually took the place of Shaka (the Historical Buddha), as expositor of the Buddhist teachings, becoming the central figure in the Esoteric Buddhist pantheon as represented by the Taizokai Mandara (Womb World Mandala) and Kongokai Mandara (Diamond World Mandala). In Japan Dainichi also figures among the so-called Jusanbutsu (Thirteen Buddhas), presiding over the memorial service held on the 12th anniversary of a person’s death.
Dainichi differs iconographically from other Buddhas in that he is represented in the form of a Bosatsu, seated, wearing silk robes and accessories such as armlets and bracelets, and having long locks of hair. He also wears a Gochi Houkan (five-wisdom bejewelled crown) on his head, symbolising his identity with the Gobutsu (Five Buddha) and Gochi Nyorai (the five wisdoms) attributed to them.
Dainichi may be identified by his distinctive hand-gestures: in the Taizokai Mandara he forms the hokkai jouin (Concentration seal of the Dharma-realm), with both hands lying on his lap, right on top of left, palms upward and thumbs touching, while in the Kongokai Mandara he forms the chiken-in (seal of the knowledge fist), with the clenched right hand posed over the extended index finger of the otherwise clenched left hand.
More information : Gregg Baker Asian Art
SUE OLLEMANS
London
Sue Ollemans specializes in ancient jewelry from all over Asia. She deals with pieces dating from as early as the 2nd century BC through to the 19th century CE from Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Jewelry reflects the society it was made for. It gives an insight into status, wealth, and tradition of the community for whom it was made.
Gold has been treasured since the beginning of time. In China, Gold, jade, Silver, and Silk ornaments were essential additions to the clothing of the elite and aristocratic women’s attire and were closely associated with the ideal of feminine beauty. no more so than during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE). Gold craftsmanship achieved unparalleled
luxury and delicacy reflecting the Golden Period of Chinese Art.
One of the first measures taken by the Ming emperors upon their accession to power was to restore the customs and clothing of the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, considered the paragons of Chinese tradition. Jewelry was subject to the sumptuary laws detailing what was appropriate to wear depending on your social status. The choice of motifs was of great importance during the Ming Period. Each conveying a talismanic message of luck, wealth, happiness, health, or longevity. The double gourd or calabash represents abundance and prosperous descendants. fertility, immortality, prosperity, and high social status.
A PAIR OF DOUBLE GOURD EARRINGS (ERHUAN)
Ming Dynasty 16/17th Century
Length : 5cm approx.
These hollow flanged double gourd earrings are capped with lotus-leafed calyxes, pendulous leaves, and flowers. The large pins are S -shaped and serve as a counterbalance for the weight of the earrings.
This type of earring first appeared in the Yuan Period and became the most popular form of earring during the Ming Period. Yang Zhishui states in Zhongguo Gudai Jinyin Shoushi (Beijing: Gugong, 2014) that the gourd-form earrings are a commonly seen design during the Ming dynasty. Such design was developed from the Yuan Dynasty prototype (vol1 pp 601-609).
Similar to the pair of gold flanged gourd shaped earrings found in the tomb of Xu Fu in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Examples of related form are seen in Adornment for the Body and Soul, Ancient Chinese Ornaments from the Mengdiexuan Collection, Emma C. Bunker et. al. (Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong Museum Society, 1999), pp. 282-283, pl. 124 & 125. Compare also a pair of gold double-gourde ear pendants from the Carl Kempe Collection, sold at Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 2324.
More information : Sue Ollemans
GALERIE BERTRAND DE LAVERGNE
Paris
Galerie Bertrand de Lavergne presents a fine collection of Chinese export porcelain from the 16th to 18th centuries, and is one of the few French galleries specializing in Chinese snuff bottles issued from the Qing period.
Its director, Bertrand de Lavergne, is an expert with the National Chamber of Experts, a member of the National Union of Antique Dealers, the Belgian Royal Chamber of Art Dealers, the National Company of Experts and founder and General Secretary of the Association of Specialists in Collector's Ceramics. He is also a member of the Baltimore- based International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society.
The gallery has participated in BRAFA (Brussels), since its creation twenty years ago, as well as in the “Circuit of Ceramics” in Paris. It has also taken part in the “The Collector's Show”and the “Antique Dealers Biennial” at the Grand Palais, both taking place also in Paris.
"GREEN FAMILY" CUP KANGXI PERIOD 1662/1722
China, Kangxi period (1662-1722)
Diameter: 27.5 cm.
Provenance: important private collection, France
A “famille verte” porcelain fluted cup decorated with a novel scene consisting of four figures in the center, and on the rim, landscapes in reserves spaced with different flowering branches (peony, lotus, chrysanthemum and prunus) and Buddhist symbols on the border.
More information : Bertrand de Lavergne | Paris