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Thursday, March 28, 2024


Auctions - Asia

Curiosity IV

Sotheby’s
5/F One Pacific Place,
88 Queensway, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Apr 02, 2018


Detail: Our enthralling cabinet of curiosities encompasses material from the Cretaceous period 70 million years ago to the present, from civilisations and cultures that once flourished and have now vanished, from the Okvik civilisation in the Bering Sea to Egypt’s new Kingdom, from the Olmec in Mexico to Kamakura Japan. Particularly noteworthy are two masterpieces created eight centuries and some four thousand miles apart, when Tang dynasty China and renaissance Europe were reaching their respective pinnacle. The singularly beautiful fragmentary limestone figure of avalokitesvara standing in most sensuous contrapposto ranks among the finest sculptures from the high Tang period ever to come to the market, while there is no comparable for the extraordinary rhinoceros horn dragon carved in Prague towards the late 16th century, either for royal patronage or for the cabinet d’amateur of a great collector, except for a crystal vase similarly shaped as a flying dragon in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Phone No.: +852 2524 8121
Fax: +852 2810 6238
Site URL: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2018/curiosity-iv-hk0793.html



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