Bonhams Hong Kong 30 May 2017 (3 AUCTION CATALOGUES: The Songzhutang Collection of Early Jades from the Neolithic Period to The Yuan Dynasty; Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art; and The Skinner Moonflasks)

English and Chinese text.; Paperback (3 catalogues); 21 x 27 cm.; 1.8 kg; Used with minor signs of wear on the exterior, namely edge wear. Small bump on the the Songzhutang catalogue. Interior in very good condition.; 3 auction catalogues held at Bonhams Hong Kong on the 30 of May 2017: The Songzhutang Collection of Early Jades from the Neolithic Period to The Yuan Dynasty - 66 lots, 122 pages with colour illustrations; Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art - 145 lots, 134 pages with colour illustrations; and The Skinner Moonflasks - fosusing only on lot 120 - 47 pages.; "The master of Songzhutang is an overseas collector, within This collection of antiquities, Chinese jades of archaic periods and of the later Ming Qing dynasties occupy a large fraction. Chinese jade collections are scattered all over the world, in public institutions as well as in private custody. While it is generally known that both authentic and fake-copies are in present-day circulation, it can also be said that the owner of Songzhutang is considered to be rather successful in differentiating them, with his cautious scrutiny. The collection of Songzhutang, spans the Neolithic to the Qing periods, including typical representative samples of successive eras through the passage of time, it should be recognised as a systematic collection with a direction. The jades in this collection cover both those extant, having never been buried underground, and excavated finds. Excavated jades retain their original palettes, and examples are found in the collections of international museums and institutions involved with archaeological excavations. In contrast, jades that have never been buried have gone through time suffering the effects of handling, dyeing, and exposure to air. These two aforenamed varieties have different qualities, and preference is a matter of a collector's individual taste. Nevertheless, 1 can, without qualification, attest to the fact that the Songzhutang collection dwelts evenly on all the diverse groups of jades, hence manifesting his dedication and effort in adhering to his objective. This collection does exemplify the significant historical stages in the evolution of jade production, and specimens well qualified as typical examples." excerpt from the text by Zhang Guangwen, Palace Museum, Beijing of the catalogue The Songzhutang Collection of Early Jades from the Neolithic Period to The Yuan Dynasty.; "In the photographs of the Great Hall taken in the early 1930s we have the first record of the moonflasks in the Skinner collection. The most likely date of acquisition seems to be the 1909 trip, as the purchase does not appear in later journal entries, making it nearly 100 years that the flasks have been in the Skinner family. The flasks descended to Belle's sister, Katharine Skinner Kilborne (1873-1968), then to Katharine's granddaughter Belle Skinner Kilborne Taylor (1926-2016), and now from her estate. William C. had moved to New York City during the rise of the so-called Gilded Age (1870s to about 1900), a time of great prosperity that saw wealthy families building grand mansion in the city, particularly in his neighborhood of the Upper East Side, who owners were steeped in the collecting of Chinese art. They were also building country homes that rivaled those in New York, in Newport, Rhode Island, on the Gold Coast north of Boston, and in the Berkshires, the bucolic mountains of western Massachusetts. The flasks were, maybe appropriately, placed under the portraits of the patriarchs of the family, William and Sarah Skinner, in Wistariahurst, as if offerings on an ancestral altar. The next owner will be acquiring not only pair of important and impressive Imperial flasks, but also the rich history behind the flasks, unknown prior to the ownership by the Skinner family but part of a rich pattern of collecting in the Gilded Age of the United States." excerpt from the text by William R. Sargent from the catalogue The Skinner Moonflasks.…