Lark Mason is pleased to announce that a month-long series of Asian art sales will be open for bidding on iGavelAuctions.com during September’s Asia Week. The opening sale, Asian, Ancient, and Ethnographic Works of Art Auction, starts September 5th and preceding sales run through November 5th. One of the showstoppers is a pair of exceedingly rare Chinese Huanghuali Continuous Horseshoeback Armchairs dating from the early Qing Dynasty, offered with an estimate of $600,000-900,000.  Almost all horseshoe back armchairs have a sloping crest rail that terminates in scrolled handgrips, but an extremely rare version has the crest rail terminating into the chair seat frame, which this pair has.

Gustav Ecke, author of the seminal work, Chinese Domestic Furniture, published in English in 1944, illustrated similar chairs which captured the imaginations of Scandinavian designers of whom the most influential was Hans Wegner.

In addition to the chairs, the sale includes a fine selection of decorative works of art and paintings, including jade and other hardstone carvings including a striking Chinese Celadon Jade Tripod Censer with Buddhistic Lion Form Feet and a Carved Wood Stand, estimated at $60,000-80,000. Another highlight is an extremely rare Chinese Simulated Bronze Famille Rose Porcelain Presentation Vase from the Republic period. It was created as a 60th birthday gift to Chiang Kai-Shek or to commemorate the ending of the war with Japan in China. This vase, with painting attributed to Zhang Zhitang, was descended in the family of Chiang Kai-Shek and is one of only a handful of similar vases in public or private collections. It is offered with an estimate of $20,000-30,000. Another highlight of the sale is a Chinese Bronze Horse from the Han Dynasty that is estimated to bring in $100,000-150,000.

In addition to these items is the Brow Collection of Dong Son Bronzes offered from September 5-26. James Brow, a self-trained authority on the subject, assembled the collection over decades. The bronzes were purchased from sources in Hong Kong and other locations. The highlight of this collection is an extremely rare, large and early Dong Son Bronze Type 1 Drum, dating to circa 500 BC and estimated at $80,000-120,000. 

Featured at the same time are Chinese Paintings from a Western Collector with over 150 lots of works by various artists of the late Qing dynasty and works after major artists of all periods. These lots will be offered throughout the Asian Sale period in September and October.

Rounding out the Asian art sales is Chinese and Other Property from a Northeast Collector, offered from October 17-November 5. This sale includes an array of fine art, decorative works of art, furniture, and Asian works of art from the estate of a collector who assembled these works over many decades. 

About Lark Mason

With locations in New Braunfels, Texas and New York City, Lark Mason Associates, the eponymous, auction house specializing in Asian, ethnographic, and ancient works of art, was founded by Lark Mason after many years as an expert at Sotheby's New York.

Mason served as a General Appraiser from 1979 until 1985, and as a Senior Vice President and specialist in Chinese art with Sotheby's Chinese Works of Art Department from 1985-2003.  From 2000-2003 he concurrently was a Director of Online Auctions for Sothebys.com. He also served as a consulting curator at the Trammel and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas from 2003-2009. He is a generalist in American and European works of art and paintings, as well as an expert in the field of Chinese art and has valued and advised many private collectors and institutions.

Lark Mason Associates regularly hosts auctions on the iGavel Auctions platform and has an established history of record sales of Chinese and other works of art and holds the record for the highest price achieved for any work of art in an online sale, for a painting sold in May 2014 that realized close to $4.2m. Mason, the owner and CEO of iGavel Auctions, is noted for his regular appearances on "The Antiques Road Show." 

For more information visit, www.larkmasonassociates.com or igavelauctions.com.