Specialties
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Large Chinese Cizhou Jar with Carved Floral Pattern
Catalogue:
Antiques:
Regional Art:
Asian:
Chinese:
Pottery:
Pre AD 1000 item# 621822
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$8400.00
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This large Chinese jar dates to the Yuan Dynasty, circa 1260-1368 A.D., and it is an impressive 18 inches high. This piece is a Cizhou storage jar and is extremely thick walled (.75 inches) and is very heavy. This piece is in superb condition and has no breaks and/or repair. This piece has looped handles and an attractive ovoid body that tapers inward toward the flat unglazed base. The exterior surface is covered with a beautiful chocolate brown slip glaze and there is a carved detailed floral pattern that runs around the vessel. This piece is a superb example for the type and is seldom seen on the market in this condition. There are attractive spotty dark blue manganese and white calcite deposits seen on sections of the vessel. The dating for this piece is also consistent with the TL results obtained from Oxford Authentication Ltd., U.K. (no.P198m83.) Ex: Butterfield & Butterfield Fine Asian Works of Art auction, San Francisco, CA., Nov. 1998, no. 4304, 10K-15K estimates. Ex: Private CA. collection. I certify that this vessel is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Attractive Pink Sandstone Post-Gupta Male Torso
Catalogue:
Antiques:
Regional Art:
Asian:
Indian Subcontinent:
India:
Pre 1492 item# 738399
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$2675.00
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This attractive pink sandstone torso is from the Post-Gupta period, circa 9th century A.D., and is from central India. This piece is approximately 14 inches high and is mounted on a custom metal stand. The male seen here may be Vishnu, the preserver, and is probably the most widely worshipped of the Hindu deities in India, and although he is seen as representing stability, he has, through his avatars, a multifaceted character. Over the centuries, he has managed to absorb other cults, making them part of his essential oneness. He is seen here wearing a collar and an intricate three-part jewelled belt, and his posture is centered towards the viewer. This piece has spotty white calcite deposits and has more wear at the back of the piece. This indicates a burial pattern with the front of the piece probably lying face down, and with the back side exposed to the elements. This burial pattern and the calcite deposits are excellent indications of authenticity, and this is very important, given the large number of fakes on the international market. This piece is also a scarce depiction of Vishnu, as he is seen as an over-weight older male. This piece has a great deal of eye appeal and is an excellent example of medieval period Indian art. Ex: Arthur Millner collection, London. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Superb Red Sandstone Stele Fragment: 8th-9th Century AD
Catalogue:
Antiques:
Regional Art:
Asian:
Indian Subcontinent:
India:
Pre AD 1000 item# 661705
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
$3675.00
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This superb red sandstone fragment is from central India and dates to the Post-Gupta period, circa 8th-9th Century A.D. This piece is approximately 16 inches high and is mounted on a custom metal stand. This piece may originally have been part of a stele and/or a temple. There is a section on the right side of this piece that is flat, and this side may have been the inner part of a doorway. There are also four smiling Nagas seen on this piece with intertwined serpent tails and cobra hoods above their heads. Their raised clasped hands are seen in the Anjali Mudra position, and they are positioned at an angle so that they view the person that would pass through the doorway. There is also an elaborate foliage pattern seen on the edge, and the overall design of this piece is very esoteric. There is an analogous piece that is seen in the Mr. and Mrs. Harold P. Ullman Collection and is published in "Art of the Indian Subcontinent From Los Angeles Collections", Ward Ritchie Press, 1968. This piece may be a part of the same building and/or stele, as this piece also forms part of a door jam. This piece, and the piece offered here, are both extremely fine examples of ancient Indian art and are in superb condition with clear detailed carving. These carvings are highly spiritual, and were intended to protect the viewer, as this was the reason for the depiction of the Nagas. A nice heavy piece with a high degree of spiritual feeling. Ex: Sotheby's New York, "Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art", March, 1990. Ex: Private Los Angeles collection. I certify that this piece is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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Fantastic Ordos Gold Gilt Bronze Buckle Plaque
Catalogue:
Antiques:
Regional Art:
Asian:
Central Asian:
Metalwork:
Pre AD 1000 item# 616351
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Apolonia Ancient Art
303-321-7351 gallery
Price on Request
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This fantastic piece is from a culture known as the "Ordos" culture that lived in central Asia in the region south of the Gobi Desert, Anhui province, China. This piece dates circa 2nd-1st century B.C., and is approximately 3.5 inches long. This piece is thought to have come from Shouxian, or possibly Xian, as there is an analogous example seen in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, Xian. This piece is a bronze buckle plaque that has gold gilt and is in the form of a recumbent yak/bull. Bovine creatures were popular for the Xiongnu people who lived in northern China, and there is an almost identical example attributed to this culture that is in the Ostasiatiska Museet, Stockholm. Another analogous example is seen in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Collection and is published in "Glories of the Past, Ancient Art from the Shelby White and Leon Levy Collection", Dietrich von Bothmer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Abrams Pub. 1990, no. 49. An additional published example is from the Norbert Schimmel Collection and is seen in Sotheby's Antiquities, New York, Dec. 1992, no. 21. The piece offered here was also offered in Sotheby's, and can be seen in the New York Antiquities auction, Dec. 1996, no. 177. ($6,000.00-$8,000.00 estimate and realized $6325.00) This piece is in much better condition than the other three known examples noted above, as the gold gilt is more complete, as well as the piece itself. The engraving on this piece is more detailed as well, and it is superb, as there are engraved lines that represent muscles and the hair of the animal. The position of the facing head and the legs of the yak/bull animal shows a great deal of tension, and may represent the moment of sacrifice, for in antiquity - the bull's blood is the food of the gods below. The Ordos culture is thought to have transferred the art of working metals from Scythia to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty, as they were pastoral nomads who roamed the Eurasian steppes for most of the first millennium before our era. The animal art of this culture is not only very realistic, but it is also very much alive, and their knowledge of metallurgy was of the highest degree for any ancient culture. Qualitative X-Ray flourescence spectrometry has shown that the metal alloy in brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) and the gold gilt, as seen on this piece, was fused together and was achieved by the "mercury gilding process". This process was known to only a handful of ancient cultures, and represents the highest of technology relative to ancient metallurgy. The object offered here also represents the material wealth of this culture, and this wealth was made into objects that could move with the people. This piece has some light green deposits, and it is in superb condition. Ex: Private New York collection. Ex: Sotheby's Antiquities, as noted above. Ex: Private Swiss collection. I certify that this object is authentic as to date, culture, and condition:
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