PRESS RELEASE: The Marie Theresa L. Virata Collection of Asian Art: A Family Legacy
‘A benchmark of quality and refinement’ — the Virata Collection
New York – Christie’s presents The Marie Theresa L. Virata Collection of Asian Art: A Family Legacy, which will be offered on March 16, 2017 during Christie’s Asian Art Week. This collection of over 80 works is one of the most significant private collections of classical Chinese furniture, and also includes an exceptional range of ceramics, Japanese screens, Chinese carpets, and works of art with estimates from $200 to $2,000,000. Proceeds from this auction will be donated to charitable organizations including Child Protection Network, ICanServeFoundation, Inc., and Cribs Foundation, Inc.
Over the course of the last fifty years, the Virata family has assembled one of the most significant collections of Asian art in the Philippines. For Marie Theresa L. Virata, also known as ‘Bebe’, collecting was rooted in her interest in archaeology and her desire to connect to the past as well as her interest in history and culture. In 1966 she sponsored a school at the site of one of the most important excavations in Philippine history. Her interest in early export Chinese ceramics led to a friendship with Sir John Addis, the British ambassador to the Philippines at the time, a keen collector of Chinese furniture.
The legendary dealer and collector Robert Hatfield Ellsworth was a close friend and also a major influence in the shaping of Bebe’s collection. His striking New York apartment on Fifth Avenue was an inspiration for her interiors, in which Chinese furniture and objects complemented Japanese screens, Asian and European decorative arts and paintings.
The Virata family focused on works with distinguished provenance, superior condition and esteemed publication history. Many of the furniture pieces have appeared in major international exhibitions of Asian art, and previously belonged to important collectors and scholars in the field. Highlights include a pair of very rare 17th century huanghuali ‘southern official’s hat’ armchairs (estimate: $600,000- 800,000), which come from the collection of Gustave Ecke, and appears in the groundbreaking 1944 book Chinese Domestic Furniture, as does a huanghuali lamp stand (estimate: $120,000-180,000), formerly of the famed Pan-Asian collection; a very rare huanghuali kang table dating the Wanli period (1572-1620) (estimate: $500,000-700,000); a rare pair of zitan ‘offical’s hat’ armchairs, sichtuguanmaoyi (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000); and an important zitan luohan bed, luohanchuang, 18th century (estimate: $2,000,000-3,000,000).
Additional highlights demonstrating the range of objects on offer in this sale include Sunrise Over Water, a hanging scroll by Qi Baishi (1864-1957) (estimate: $500,000-700,000); a Flambé-Glazed Vase, Qianlong mark and of the period (1736-1795) (estimate: $30,000-50,000); a 'Goloubew' Five-Medallion daybed cover carpet, Ningxia, North China, Kangxi Period (1662-1722) (estimate: $20,000-30,000); and an Imperial Yellow-Glazed Cup, Yongzheng Mark and of the period (1723-1735) (estimate: $30,000-50,000).
About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s has achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019).
Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.
Recent innovations at Christie’s include the groundbreaking sale of the first NFT for a digital work of art ever offered at a major auction house (Beeple’s Everydays, March 2021), with the unprecedented acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability by reducing our carbon emissions by 50% and pledging to be net zero by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change.
Browse, bid, discover, and join us for the best of art and luxury at: www.christies.com or by downloading Christie’s apps. The COVID-related re-opening status of our global locations is available here.