Japanese Works of Art

Police are investigating the provenance of a collection of Japanese ivories in connection with a high-value burglary in Surrey.

Although catalogued as ‘a 19th century Japanese woodblock print’, the signature to a scene of a boat with Mount Fuji beyond gave a clue to its creator.

On November 18 Van Ham in Cologne will hold a Decorative Art auction which will include several more items from the collection of Thomas Olbricht.

Asian Art in London dealer Joost van den Bergh is launching a new website devoted to Art Deco and Modernist Japanese art to coincide with the event.

A selection of hammer highlights from recent auctions offering East Asian objects.

A selection of previews from auction houses either taking part in Asian Art in London (marked below with a *) or holding sales to coincide with the event.

A selection of previews from dealers taking part in the East Asian section of Asian Art in London.

Download our maps showing participants in the East Asian section of Asian Art in London, October 29-November 7.

Following on from the nominees for the best Indian and Islamic object (published in ATG No 2463), an equivalent shortlist has been announced for pieces in the East Asian category.

A collection of Japanese arms and armour is a key feature of Cowan’s arms and armour auction to be held in Cincinnati on September 2.

It was during the so-called Transitional period, the era of protracted civil war that marked the transition from Ming to Qing, that the centuries-old system of court-sponsored porcelain manufacture at Jingdezhen collapsed.

Two hundred eagerly awaited examples from Brockhaus collection generate suitable response.

Two very different Japanese works on paper performed with equal gusto at Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) recent Asian art sale, both making 10-times-estimate sums for a vendor from Hertfordshire.

While the Japanese woodblock print artist Okumura Masanobu (1686-1764) is credited with the first use of one-point perspective in the depiction of interior spaces, a technique previously known only in Western art, his colleague Utagawa Toyoharu (1735-1814) achieved even greater fame when he mastered the creation of perspective prints of outdoor scenes, known as Uki-e.

A cross-section of Asian art – Qing porcelain, Meiji Satsuma and Euro-Asiatic ivories – provided the prizes at Gorringe’s (21% buyer’s premium) spring sale held in Lewes.

David Lay’s (18% buyer's premium) second stand-alone Asian art sale held in Penzance was topped at £65,500 (estimate £3000-5000) by this shodana made in Meiji period Japan, c.1890.

Among the gems spotted in 2092 mixed lots at Stroud Auctions’ (18% buyer’s premium) year-opener on January 8, the best-seller was the final lot.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Alongside two key early maps of colonial North America (see News, ATG No 2422) the sale at Ramsay Cornish (20% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on December 7 was distinguished by five-figure bids for two rare items.