ASIAN ARTS

What is referred to as Asian Arts is a collection of symbolic, ritual, cultural, spiritual, and artisanal expressions that emerged in Asia during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. Throughout their history, these expressions took on specific forms and developments, shaped by local cultures and permeated by multiple reciprocal influences. The two great Indian and Chinese civilizations, through their political, commercial, religious, and cultural influence, provided artistic models of representation to all Southeast Asian countries, extending to Tibet and China for the former, and to Korea, Japan, and Tibet for the latter. Asia's several-thousand-year-old culture and the multitude of masterpieces it has produced—painting, sculpture, and applied arts, lacquer boxes, porcelain vases, libation cups, and ewers, through to gilded bronze statues and large paintings on canvas—constitute the heritage of this great Buddhist, Hindu, and Shinto continent, which today ardently seeks these treasures of the past, currently held in the greatest European and American collections. The results of Asian Art sales, notably at Bonhams, Sotheby’s, Christie’s France, and the Hôtel Drouot, demonstrate the extent to which Asian buyers remain numerous in Paris, seeking carefully selected objects rarely seen on the market and originating from old French and European private collections with attractive estimates. The enthusiasm for Buddhist art, whether Chinese, Tibetan, or Nepalese, remains steadfast. The appetite of Chinese buyers for gilded bronzes and thangkas is well established; it goes without saying that many imitations are in circulation and that an expert's opinion and certificate are essential before any commercial transaction. The collection of opium smoking paraphernalia is a field that fascinates historians and lovers of old China.