From India to Japan, Christie’s experts share an exclusive look at highlights from Asian Art Week

‘This exceptionally rare, blue and white, reserve-decorated “peony” dish comes from the Xuande period (1426-35). Emperor Xuande’s reign in 15th century China lasted only 10 years, but his imperial blue and white porcelain has become one of the most esteemed treasures amongst collectors. This remarkable piece was formerly part of the collection of French aristocrat Guy de Villelume in his Château de La Gorgue in northern France.

‘Each motif on this dish is intentional. At the centre, a blossoming peony symbolises wealth and prosperity. Surrounding it, arranged clockwise, are branches of cherry, persimmon, peach, lychee, pomegranate and loquat. The back is further decorated with a delicate scroll of chrysanthemum flowers, along with the six-character mark indicating that it was made during the Xuande period of the Great Ming Dynasty.

‘The luxurious use of cobalt blue pigment combined with the refined anhua decoration and its excellent condition makes this dish truly one of a kind.’

‘Gandhara was the cradle of many different cultures before it became a predominantly Buddhist civilization. Notably the region was conquered by Alexander the Great, and his successors ruled the region until the fall of the Macedonian empire. Centuries later, its sculpture retained a Hellenistic quality — you can see it in the naturalistic modelling of the robe of this figure.

‘Gandhara is also the region where the earliest images of Buddha were made, probably around the first century CE, which then spread throughout Asia via the Silk Road. It is exceptionally rare to have an example of this quality that dates from this period. Most Gandharan artworks we appreciate today are from the third to fourth centuries. In addition to it being almost six feet tall, it is a remarkable sculpture.’

‘Souza was brought up Catholic, so the image of Christ and rituals surrounding Catholicism were always important in his work. In the early 1960s, he was deeply affected by the looming threat of nuclear armament and the Cold War. This deformed portrait of Christ, from 1962, recalls victims of nuclear fallout, which to me relates to a quote of his: “Renaissance painters painted men and women making them look like angels… I paint for angels, to show them what men and women really look like.”

‘Christ is portrayed in this canonical pose, his arm raised in benediction, the scar on his chest visible as he stands on the lid of his tomb, while the spiked whip in the corner suggests the flagellation. Essentially, Souza is mixing up episodes from The Passion to show Christ as a reflection of the current state of humanity.’

‘Vases such as these were primarily used as storage vessels, and occasionally as vases for floral displays at banquets and ceremonies. As such, from the 17th-19th centuries, these kinds of large, broad-shouldered, and narrow-waisted jars were popular throughout Korea. This late-Joseon period (1392–1910) blue-and-white vase is unique, however, due to the combination of the roundels of landscape decorating its surface, as well as the poem separating them. The Daoist-inspired poem written on the jar doesn't simply cite a famous Chinese poem, which is common on East Asian artifacts, but uses what is perhaps a Korean literati's original work in Chinese. Additionally, though the shape and glazing of the vase are undoubtedly inspired by Chinese porcelains, they retain the Joseon period’s unique aesthetic.

‘In terms of its collecting appeal, this jar is incomparable in its value. From the quality of its decoration, its elegant shape, and the uniqueness of the poem written on its surface, all of its elements come together in a way that is rarely seen in Joseon-era ceramics.’

‘It’s extremely rare to have four chairs like this still together. Often, a set of furniture like these this is split up between different family members as the generations pass. These four, in addition to being an intact set, are rare and unusual in their own right, as they have these marble back splats that have been polished to reveal an image.

‘The landscape effects, you can see on the marble are what make these chairs special. It almost looks like a Rorschach test at first glance, but then you begin to see the landscape views take shape. In some you can see mountains, while others have the appearance of waterfalls, or a mist rolling over the hills. Furniture like this transports you to another place like the misty mountains, or looking into the valley from above as the fog rolls in.’

‘This painting was executed by some of the finest 18th century artists working in Kangra and Guler, who were known as the first generation after Nainsukh and Manaku. There were seven of them in this generation, all cousins, and they created some of the most well-known series of Indian paintings, most famously the Tehri Garhwal Gita Govinda.

‘This painting of a birth scene is so intimate, and gives a taste of the workshop at the time, which favoured romantic subjects and court scenes. The woman is lying in bed, attended to by her maidens and someone who might be her mother. She’s getting a foot rub, and the prince is sitting next to her. It’s such a finely done piece, and you can see the details of the gold on everyone’s clothes. Beyond its artistic significance, it also gives a sense of what it was like for royal women of this period during childbirth, preserving that tenderness.’

‘Sabavala made this painting in 1963, when he was back in India after having studied in Paris. It crystallises his own version of Cubism by creating geometric wedges of colour to form landscapes. He was definitely influenced by the colours of Indian landscapes, but he was also drawing on the French academic styles of the time.

‘The title, The Radiant Spheres, refers to how he’s exploring light and its properties. We see the sun and the moon in the same image over this tranquil sea with sailboats in it. The painting is an exploration of the potential of colour and light to evoke a landscape and the mystical qualities contained within.’

‘Most of what we are familiar with from Hokusai's oeuvre are his woodblock prints, but he was also a painter. We don't often see examples of his painting come to market, but Swimming Carp is an exceptional example of of his skill in painting scrolls, as demonstrated by the fine details of the carp as it makes it way through the water. It can be compared to a similar example housed in the Okada Museum in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Today many of Hokusai's paintings are housed in museums and institutions, making the opportunity to acquire one rather rare.’

‘This vase was made in the period of the Yongzheng Emperor, and features three ram masks along its body. They are a rebus, referring to the New Year and the prosperity that comes with it. Though the emperor only had a short rule from 1723-1735, it was during this period that Jingdezhen in China really reached a highpoint in its porcelain production.

‘The emperor had a reverence for Lonquan celadon from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the 1720s, his kilns were making a similar kind of celadon as they had in the past, but they became even more refined, resulting in this beautiful greenish-blue glaze. The vase was acquired by Lucy and Fritz Jewett in 1978 from G.T. Marsh and Sons, whose store in Monterey, California, was built in 1928 by Japanese and Chinese craftsmen, and is now on the National Registry of Historic Places.’