FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Josh Chait
310.285.0182
josh@chait.com

GRAND TURN-OUT FOR I.M. CHAIT GALLERY’S ASIAN AND INTERNATIONAL FINE ART SALE IN BEVERLY HILLS!

View Sale

Lot 198A

Important Qianlong Yuhuchunping
18th Century Chinese
Sold for $44,062.50

Beverly Hills, CA, November 15th, 2005 - Over five hundred in room, absentee, phone, and internet bidders from around the world participated in I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers’ highly successful Asian and International Fine Art Sale on Sunday, November 13th. Collectors vied for the chance to own a piece of the fine and eclectic collection of over four hundred lots. “There was interest from all over. We had almost 350 registered bidders on EBay alone. I am very pleased with the outcome of the sale,” offers Mr. Isadore Chait.

The auction opened with an elaborate gathering of netsuke of varied materials, antique ojime, fine jades, carvings and delicate snuff bottles. Lot 48, a delicate pair of antique jade toggles of fruit, circa 18th Century, sold for $2,767.50. Lot 71, a finely hollowed and rare carved Suzhou School-type black jade snuff bottle sold for $1,468.75.

Together with art and artifacts from Asia, the sale offered a number of stunning European pieces. One of the most celebrated artists of the 19th and 20th century is Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919). Renoir was one of the iconoclastic pioneers of the Impressionist movement, a small group of men and women of artistic genius that included Monet, Degas, Boudin, Pissarro, Degas, Morisot among others. It is hard to believe that what is now one of the most beloved genres in art was once staunchly rejected by the juries of The Salon. An excerpt of Emile Cardon’s review in La Presse of the Impressionists’ “Exhibition of the Revoltes” in April, 1874 in Paris reads “Dirty three-quarters of a canvas with black and white, rub the rest with yellow, dot it with red and blue blobs at random, and you will have an impression of spring…” Critics notwithstanding, the Impressionists soon gained favor in the art world and garnered a loyal following. The works of Manet, the Father of the Impressionist movement, Monet, Renoir, etc. now sell for tens of millions of dollars and the artists remain arguably the most well-known and loved across the world.

The sale offered a magnificent Bronze after Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Richard Guino (Spanish, 1890-1973). Entitled La Petite Laveuse, the stunning piece depicts a nude woman picking up a cloth and measures 10 5/8”. Inscribed Renoir and with the Guino-Renoir monogram, the bronze sold for $5,875.00.

Perhaps one of the most exhilarating moments of the sale came as the items from the Estate of celebrated Chinese-American actress and dancer Noel Toy Young (December 1918-December 2003) came up the auction block. The collection consisted of antique Chinese hardstone screens, a beautiful antique dressing mirror, fine silk gowns, among other collectibles. The unmistakable highlights were three ornate Antique Imperial Guard costumes that together sold for nearly $75,000, far beyond projected estimates. Lot 305 an elaborate and antique Chinese embroidered silk, ten-piece garment of an Imperial guard or officer sold for $22,325.00. Lot 307, an eleven-piece, antique and very elaborate guard costume with a delicate, matching design of a circular dragon sold for an impressive $25,850.00.

Other items of interest include:

Meizan Satsuma Bowl
Sold for $3,818.75

Lot #102
OUTSTANDING MEIZAN SATSUMA BOWL
Superbly decorated, Japanese Satsuma bowl; the interior with Arhats, various panels, the exterior with continuous design of deities, children, birds, etc., other intricate designs allover, signed in gilt seal mark Meizan, Circa 1900; D: 4 3/4"
Sold for $3,818.75

Lot #198
LARGE MING WANLI 100 CRANES JAR
Massive, fine Chinese Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain jar, stoutly potted form, with design of "100 Cranes", Wanli Mark and of the Period 16TH CENTURY; H: 14"
Sold for $9,693.75

Lot #202
IMPORTANT BRAOJOS SCULPTURE
Important Silver, mineral and stone limited edition sculpture by Amador Braojos (Spanish, b. 1947); modeled as a Sterling Silver eagle's head, down-turned with fierce expression and open beak, surrounded by calcite and quartz crystal clusters and supported on an amethyst geode, #3/7, 1982; H: 20"; Provenance: from an exclusive Collection retailed by Garrard The Crown Jewelers, London.
Sold for $9,400.00

Lot #207
IMPORTANT ARMORIAL CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN
Important antique armorial Chinese export porcelain centerpiece, the large dish with a frog cover, both the dish and frog bearing MacDonald accollée with the Forbes family; depicting two foliate gilt branches, with grapes and sepia leaves, joined by a banner, 18th Century; L: 17 1/4"; Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, London; Literature: Howard, David S., Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Fig. F11, p. 279
Sold for $2,937.50

Lot #213
ART DECO “STELLA” BY GUIRAUD RIVIERE
Art Deco sculpture entitled, "Stella" by Maurice Guiraud Riviere (French, b.1881): of silvered bronze, the nude female dancer wearing an exotic feathered turban, balancing on one leg, the other bent and resting on her knee, with one arm outstretched and one bent supporting an onyx ball, standing on a Star of David, signed Guiraud Riviere and Etling Paris, on a marble base; H: 24 3/4"
Sold for $12,925.00

Lot #246
MASSIVE WHITE JADE GUANYIN
Finely carved and massive, Chinese white jade model of a Guanyin in the position of Royal Ease; with ruyi scepter on stylized lotus base, flanked by lotus blossoms and leaning against a large lotus pad; H: 12 1/2", carved wood stand in the form of "waves"
Sold for $4,700.00

Lot #267
ART DECO DIAMOND BRACELET
Art Deco platinum and diamond bracelet, circa 1920: of flexible design and set with round and old European-cut diamonds, weighing together approx. 8.25 Cts. and accented with lines of calibré-cut emeralds; L: 7"
Sold for $7,637.50

Lot #376
CHINESE LACQUER TABLE AND STOOLS
Chinese carved cinnabar lacquer table and four stools: all with cloisonné enamel tops depicting dragons and flaming pearls amid waves; the round table with openwork apron above a single support on hexagonal base; four matching stools of openwork barrel form D: 35 3/4" (table), H: each stool 19"
Sold for $7,050.00

Lot #440
EARLY REPUBLIC PERIOD VASE
Chinese Early Republic Period, Famille Rose enamel footed porcelain vase; of mallet-form with bat flange handles, the body with very ornate figural garden scene, the neck dense with emblems and florals, early 20th Century, sealmark; H: 8 7/8"
Sold for $8,225.00

I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers is scheduled to have the next Asian and International Fine Art sale on December 11, 2005. On December 18, 2005 the Gallery presents a magnificent array of museum quality fossils: Sabre-Toothed Tiger Skull from the famed La Brea Tar Pit Formation, dinosaur skeletons, along with a comprehensive collection of meteorites, minerals, gemstones and jewelry during the Gems, Minerals and Natural History sale. For more information on these and other sales, or to order a catalogue, please call 310 285 0182, or visit our website at www.chait.com.