China and Japan, the leading duo

Collectors selected porcelain for Vietnam and an album by Hiroshige and Eisen.

With more than 90% of lots sold, Asian art totaled nearly €620 ,000 . A porcelain bowl (diam. 26.6 cm), made in China for a Vietnamese imperial residence, attracted the interest of a dozen buyers, mainly Vietnamese, both in the room and on the telephone. This dynamism enabled this beautiful18th century object to fetch €141 ,680 . It stands out for its exceptional dimensions, its underglaze incisions and the rarity of its blue decoration. It features two beneficial celestial animals, the dragon and the phoenix, emblems of the emperor and empress respectively. Japan followed close behind, at €104 ,480 , for an album of prints (23.9 x 36.1 cm – see Gazette no. 42) dedicated to the Kisokaido, the country’s second most famous road during the Edo period. Its oban yoko-e are by two masters of ukiyo-e, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) and Keisai Eisen (1790-1848). The complete album was published around 1836-1837 by Iseya Rihei’s young publishing house. Vietnam, meanwhile, was evoked by Woman and Child in a Garden (55 x 23.5 cm), ink and colors on silk marouflaged on cardboard, attributed to Luong Xuan Nhi (1914-2006), dating from the 1930s and whose softness seduced at €25,760.