Get ready for Chinese new year with Moore Allen

JUST in time for Chinese new year on January 26, a substantial single collection of oriental artefacts will go under the hammer at Moore Allen & Innocent’s first sale of 2009, on Friday, January 9.

Collectors and dealers will be able to prepare for the start of the Year of the Ox – which promises to bring prosperity to the industrious – thanks to the sale of the contents of a Hong Kong house, including pictures, ceramics, fans, rungs, lamps and ornaments.

Of particular note are a good collection of Japanese woodblock prints by renowned artists including Kiyomine, Kunisada and Eizan, carrying estimates of £20 to £200 a piece. Familiar to fans of Japanese art will be Ohashi in the Rain, one of Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, estimated at £40 to £60.

There are also a number of lovely figural and landscape Chinese acrylics, carrying estimates of £50 to £150 each, and a couple of examples of Japanese art in the Shibyama manner – inlaying ivory, mother of pearl, wood and other materials onto panels creating a 3D picture. The pair of panels is expected to achieve between £60 and £100.

Staying in the Pacific region, a pair of sculptures inspired by the Maoi, the monolithic human figures carved from rock on Easter Island, are expected to achieve between £100 and £150.

These contemporary sculptures stand at two feet tall and would make an attractive ornament for the garden or fireplace.

Finally, collectors of militaria will be attracted by an unusual uniform of the Royal Hussars. The uniform signifies a soldier of the rank of captain, but also holding the position of regimental chaplain. The uniform carries an estimate of £50 to £80.

The collection also features an Isle of Man police cap, estimated at £20 to £30, a Scots Guards belt buckle and a collection of medals, including the Atlantic Star and the Burma Star.

A Japanese woodblock print	A Shibyama panel featuring a monkey climbing a tree
A pair of sculptures inspired by the Easter Island Maoi heads	A chaplain’s uniform from the Royal Hussars