Asian art: at 'Asian Art in London' this month, a phenomenal range of objects is on show—but art from China will sell best, thanks to a rise in Chinese collectors

Apollo, Nov, 2004 by Philippa Scott

'Asian art' encompasses many fields and disciplines, ranging from Central Asia and the Silk Roads, through Tibet and the Indian sub-continent, to the countries and cultures of the Par East. I he art market is always led by economic circumstances, and currently the strongest market force is China, while as a consequence of the dip in Japan's economy, the previously high prices achieved in Japanese art have seen a downward fall, thus making it currently very desirable for anyone looking for longer term investment. According to Colin Sheaf of Bonhams, 'A collector who wanted to focus where there is market potential would be well advised to look towards Japan, where the boom and bust of the early 90s is still affecting a domestic market, as a result of which objects such as lacquerwork and fine decorative seventeenth-century Arita big jars and dishes are currently undervalued and offer excellent investment possibilities. Many areas of Japanese art are currently undervalued, but bound to come back because of their superb craftsmanship and design.'

Archaeological artefacts and sculptures from the Indian sub continent, which includes Gandharan objects, and those from Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia currently appeal most strongly to collectors in the west, and the minority collecting areas of south east Asia, such as classical period tenth twelfth century sculpture from Cambodia, offer much scope. John Eskenazi's November exhibition, 'Recent acquisitions', at 15 Old Bond St, London, offers some superb sculpture, including a splendid first-century

AD yellow/pink sandstone figure of Maya, the mother of Buddha, from central or north east India. Another important piece is an eleventhcentury black chlorite figure of the god Shiva as Bhiksatana, from Karantaka, the western Deccan region of India (Fig.1.

The taste of Chinese mainland collectors, however, leans towards Chinese guanyao, 'official wares'. These are secular objects, as opposed to religious items and those intended for rituals of death and interment that are preferred by European and American collectors. 'Official wares' include jades, ceramics, lacquer, items intended for domestic use, articles from 'the scholar's table', intended for the elite in Imperial China--the so-called scholar gentry class. If these come with a provenance from an old, established European collection, so much the better, and this holds true in auctions internationally. Set on a table or desk. such objects evoke the importance of solitude for spiritual regeneration. In their 10 November London sale Sotheby's offer a Qianlong-period table screen from the estate of the late John Clive Court, lot 575, of white jade with finely delineated figures and boats in a landscape of mountains and rivers, estimate 7,000 [pounds sterling]-9,000 [pounds sterling].

Because of its hardness and apparent indestructibility, jade has long been associated with immortality, and its special qualities set it in a class apart from other objects. Roger Keverne's 'Winter exhibition of fine and rare Chinese ceramics and works of art', 16 Clifford Street, London, includes a selection of fine jades, including a magnificent imperial boulder (Fig. 3), incised with a poem of the Emperor Qianlong (1736-95), formerly in the collections of Floyd Segel and Major John Court. Also in the exhibition are a fine group of pre-Han jades, and several from the Ming and Qing periods.

Provenance is also important because there are so many fakes and forgeries in the market, as well as a wealth of items illegally excavated and exported. Export wares, originally manufactured for the western market, hold comparatively little appeal for Chinese buyers, and these remain very much a western taste. The most highly sought-after items are those created for patrons within Chinese court circles, but unsurprisingly, anything linked to the Chinese imperial household and the Summer Palace is guaranteed to attract top prices and huge excitement.

In recent years, the expanding Chinese economy has resulted in an increased number of Chinese dealers, from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan (where there are some particularly strong buyers) travelling to New York for its 'Asia Week' in March, and 'Asian Art in London' (4-11 November). With many new wealthy individuals within China, the strong international presence of Chinese dealers in the art market is undoubtedly spurred by these individuals stocking up before local auctions held in Shanghai, Beijing, and other centres. In April 2004, the Chinese presence in the rooms was such that auctioneer Anthony Lin, chairman of Christie's Asia, who was taking the Chinese Works of Art sale on 24 March, began to speak to the bidders in Chinese. Collecting has always been a strong interest in China, and as long ago as the tenth century Chinese scholars were publishing catalogues of objects from bronze age cultures.

The biggest and one of the most imposing jades sold recently is a black and grey water buffalo, late Ming/early Qing dynasty (Fig. 2), sold at Sotheby's on 9 June 2004. From a private UK collector, this was sold previously at Sotheby's in 1952 from the Somerset de Chair collection. It attracted strong UK interest and was sold to a private buyer for 470,000 [pounds sterling] plus premium.