A hardwood stand, Qing dynasty, 19th Century.

From the Collection of Gustaf Wallenberg (1863-1939). Gustaf Wallenberg was Swedish business man, diplomat and active politician. He was the son of André Oscar Wallenberg, founder of Stockholm Enskilda Bank (today SEB, and grandfather of Raoul Wallenberg (1912-47?). After a career in the Swedish Navy he turned to the business world and was very active in striving to better the transoceanic shipping industry. Something that came in handy when he in 1908 successfully negotiated with the Qing court in Beijing about a friendship, trade and navigation treaty. The collection was acquired between 1906 and 1918 when Wallenberg was the Swedish Envoyé in Tokyo. From 1907 he was also accredited for Beijing and came to spend time in both countries as the Swedish Ambassador. Mr Wallenberg came to be in China in dramatic part of its history, when a lot of items came on the market and when the golden era of collecting Chinese works of art started in Europe. Thence by descent.

Bukowskis sold a part of this collection previously at Bukowskis Sale 554 in 2009 and Bukowskis Sale 556, 2010.

Display stands of all sorts were widely used by the literati. They range from tall rectangular or circular stands, which might be as much as two-thirds tehe height of an adult on which incense burners were frequently placed, but also with vases of flowers or other visually pleasing objects. Read more about the art of using stands in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Oriental Ceramics Society, 1986.