Remarkable single-owner Chinese porcelain up for grabs

Two remarkable single-owner collections of Chinese porcelain and works of art, one assembled by a storied Plettenberg Bay family, the other drawn from the property of a lady connoisseur with an exclusive period focus, will go under the hammer in Strauss & Co’s first marquee sale of 2021.

The three-day sale, which will be livestreamed via Strauss &

Co’s updated website, includes a day devoted to the decorative arts and jewellery.

Scheduled to take place on Monday, highlights from the three sessions include a diamond ring featuring a flawless emerald-cut diamond weighing 2.55 carats and a Cape silver commemorative cup awarded to a Burgher Cavalry officer in 1805.

The Property of a Connoisseur comprises sixteen lots dating from the mid-17th to mid18th centuries and includes a richly decorated famille-verte Chinese rouleau vase (estimate R280 000-R320 000) and rare Chinese famille-verte dish enamelled with the Chinese deity Magu beside a cart bearing gifts of longevity, luck and happiness (estimate R450 000-R550 000). Many of the works in this exacting collection, such as lot 210, a Chinese celadon-glazed brushpot with incised motifs (estimate R200 000-R250 000), were acquired from reputable English and Swiss dealers like Bernheimer Fine Arts and John Sparks. “It is both extremely unusual and extraordinarily difficult to pursue collecting with such concentrated focus,” says Vanessa Phillips, joint managing director and an expert in porcelain.