Peranakan pieces up for auction at Galeri Prima
KUALA LUMPUR: Artworks by top Malaysian and Southeast Asian artists and Peranakan artifacts will come under the hammer at Galeri Prima on Nov 12.
The auction by Henry Butcher Malaysia will feature 141 paintings and 92 artifacts, put on display for potential buyers at the gallery at Balai Berita Bangsar starting last night.
The auction, being the second after the first phase was held in April, will focus on old collections (paintings) from the 1960’s to the 1980’s.
Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers director Sim Polenn said the art auction would also feature contemporary artworks to cater to a wider audience.
“More than 80 per cent of the artwork featured are by Malaysian artists, and the remaining ones are from Southeast Asian artists.
“Among the art pieces featured are the highly sought-after ‘Essence of Culture’ series, dated 1988, by Awang Damid Ahmad, and this are the most expensive art pieces, which begin their bids at RM75, 000.
“We hope almost 80 per cent of the artwork auctioned can be sold off, and hopefully we will be able to fetch RM1.5 million from this art auction,” said Polenn during the preview night of the Malaysian and Southeast Asian Art Auction and Treasures of the Peranakan World and Straits Chinese, held here.
Henry Butcher Asset Auctioneers chief operating officer, Tang Chee Meng, said this year’s auction places heavier emphasis on porcelain ware and jewellery, which have greater appeal and interest to the local collectors’ community.
“The highlight for this auction would be the rare famille rose white base giant kamcheng, which features ice-crack borders, and illustrations of children at play.
“This is quite unusual for Peranakan ware, where motifs are typically of phoenixes, birds and peonies.
“A similar kamcheng was featured in books by Professor Ho Wing Meng and Datin Seri Kee Ming-Yuet, both authors being acknowledged authorities on Peranakan culture and artifacts.
“We hope that the response from the collectors will be good, as we have put in a lot of effort to collect the artifacts,” said Tang.
The value of the artworks and items featured in the auction ranges from RM900 to RM75,000.
The exhibition will be open daily from today until Nov 11, from 10am till 7pm, and the auction will be held on Nov 12, 10.30am for the Peranakan artifacts and 1.30pm for the artworks.