For some years, Oriental specialist Roger Keverne has held a Summer Exhibition of Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics at his gallery on the second floor of 16 Clifford Street, London W1. This year's opens on June 10 and runs until the end of the month.
On offer is a varied collection of some 130 items ranging from Neolithic jades of the third millennium BC to 9th century textiles. Prices start at £1000 and there are a few pieces at around £120,000, but the majority of work is under £30,000 with plenty under £10,000.
On offer is an archaic bronze ding from the 13th century BC, and from the Ming dynasty comes a large bronze figure of Zhenwu, an important Daoist god, which is dated 1544 and seated on a separately cast throne, which is rare.
A good group of Tang ceramics includes an imposing glazed camel and a court lady of the type unflatteringly known as "fat ladies". Later porcelains feature a pair of Kangxi (1662-1722) blue and white dishes, formerly in the collection of the famed scholar Sir Harry Garner.
Mr Keverne is a published expert on jades and admits this is a field which has been troublesome in recent years. So he is very happy to bring to the market a group with an impeccable provenance, having formerly been in the collection of a Far Eastern museum.
Outside of the museum collection, though, one of the star jade pieces is a superb 18th century small spinach jade brush pot while a highlight of the lacquers is a rare, painted black lacquer brush pot dated 1693.
A fully illustrated catalogue is now available.
