|
|
DOYLE NEW YORK TO AUCTION THE FLORENCE AND RALPH SPENCER COLLECTION OF CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN ON OCTOBER 27, 2004 Featuring Over Sixty Lots of Chinese Porcelain from the Kangxi Period Special Previews by Appointment during the Week of Asian Sales in New York from September 20 through 24
Completely fresh to the market, the Florence and Ralph Spencer Collection was assembled during the 1960s and 70s on the Spencers‚ frequent trips abroad. Acquiring through such prominent dealers as Bluett & Sons, John Sparks and S. Marchant & Son in London, as well as Chait Galleries in New York, Mr. Spencer built a very traditional, scholarly collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain, at a time when many notable collections were coming onto the market. Included in the Spencer Collection are objects that were exhibited by the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, or were formerly in the internationally renowned Edward Gow Collection. One of the highlights of the Florence and Ralph Spencer Collection is a pair of Chinese blue and white ovoid vases, Kangxi Period, measuring 17 1/2 inches in height. They are decorated with scrolling foliage on a blue ground between ruyi collar borders at the shoulder and foot (est. $20,000-30,000). The Collection also features a pair of Chinese blue and white square form vases, Kangxi Period, decorated with figures in a garden setting below a floral motif on the shoulder and auspicious objects on the neck. The base is impressed with the Xuande four-character mark, and the vases measure 11 1/2 inches in height (est. $10,000-15,000). Noteworthy is a pair of Chinese blue and white chargers, Kangxi Period, measuring 13 5/8 inches in diameter and decorated with a central scene of mounted hunters bordered by cartouches of mounted hunters and diaper patterning (est. $8,000-10,000). In addition to Chinese porcelain, the Spencer Collection also offers other Asian works of art, including a pair of early 18th century Chinese cloisonné yen yen vases decorated with scrolling lotus and auspicious objects on a blue ground, height 18 1/2 inches (est. $20,000-30,000). Interestingly, The Florence and Ralph Spencer Collection was being formed during the same approximate time span as another prominent American collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain – The F. Gordon Morrill Collection. In
September 2003, Doyle New York held the highly successful auction of
The F. Gordon Morrill Collection of Chinese and Chinese Export Porcelain.
The Morrill Collection comprised over thirty lots of Yuan and early
Ming blue and white porcelain, a group of fine Qing porcelain, and a
large selection of very early Chinese export porcelain. With intense
competition from important collectors, prominent dealers and distinguished
museums from around the world, as well as the newly emerging collectors
from the Chinese mainland, the Morrill Collection fetched a staggering
$12,046,669. A very rare Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain 'pilgrim'
flask from the mid-1300s sold for $5,831,500, setting a new world auction
record for a piece of Chinese porcelain. The Florence
and Ralph Spencer Collection of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain to
be offered with EXHIBITION INFORMATION CATALOGUE MEDIA
CONTACT
|
)
)
