PAOLI, PA.- Converse Auctions invites collectors to ring in the New Year a few days early by participating in an online-only Important Chinese New Year Antique Auction on Saturday, the day after Christmas, December 26th, at 12 noon Eastern time. “We have been saving our finest items to feature in this important sale,” said Todd Converse. “There are over 300 lots to bid on.”

The many fine Chinese antiques on offer include exquisite jade carvings, porcelain (including palace vases and chargers), paintings, jewelry, bronze Buddhas, scholars’ items, fine furniture (including throne, carved chairs with stone insets and tables), snuff bottles and seals, jewelry and items from the collection of Dr. Morris V. Shelanski, a prolific antiques collector (1950s-1970s).

One item certain to attract great attention is lot 305, a rare 19th century French rolling ball waterwheel clock, almost identical to one in Palace Museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing (est. $3,000-$5,000). This extraordinary French industrial clock is powered by large steel ball bearings (not spring driven). The ornate case is made of gilded bronze, topped by a regal lion.

A large and impressive jade table screen (or panel) with numerous scholars’ items pictured in relief, 29 ½ inches by 42 ½ inches, also has a pre-sale estimate of $3,000-$5,000. The stone appliqued items are carved in jade, lapis lazuli, cinnabar, carnelian, malachite and other stones. Calligraphy and an artist’s mark are painted in gold. The wood frame is carved in cloud shapes.

A dramatic and monumental pair of yellow dragon palace vases, each one 28 inches tall, is also expected to bring $3,000-$5,000. The vases boast multicolored dragons swirling among flaming clouds and pearls. Both have a turquoise interior and bottom, pierced pink dragon handles, a ruyi border under the rim, a wave pattern at the base and the Qianlong mark on the bottom of each.




A large antique archaic Chinese bronze urn with an interior swivel lid covered in calligraphy and a single loose ring, 23 inches tall, has a pre-sale estimate of $1,000-$1,500. The archaic borders begin with meander, to dragon, to shield shapes at the shoulder with faces. The body has a wide border of faces with much larger shield shapes under reaching to the foot. The patina is verdigris.

A pair of 40-inch-tall antique carved zitan vase stands, both elaborately carved all over, are expected to realize $1,500-$2,500. The apron has a meander border framing flowers and tendrils, over an archaic pattern facing dragons and cloud forms over a bat holding a lucky coin in its mouth. The tops of the legs have pierced designs of dragons. The legs are carved in cloud forms.

A Chinese Han Dynasty (circa 206 BCE-220 CE) plate, from the collection of Dr. Shelanski, 8 ¾ inches in diameter, is estimated to change hands for $1,000-$1,500. The plate was previously glazed with a celadon/mercury amalgam, but much of the glaze has flaked, giving it some age.

A large, antique hand-painted thangka (Tibetan painting on cotton or silk appliqué, usually of a deity or scene), 61 inches by 51 inches, showing a central Buddha figure in the lotus position, bejeweled with bracelets and a headdress and surrounded by various gods, should hit $400-$600.

Other noteworthy objects include an impressive carved and pierced zitan throne chair (lot 174); a carved white jade urn in a presentation box (lot 130); a large carved four-tier Chinese wedding basket (lot 52); a Republic Period hundred-deer Hu vase (lot 70); a large antique blue and white charger (lot 301); a very large antique framed ancestral painting (lot 235); a rare large 18th century Chinese cinnabar vase; and an antique Chinese gilt bronze seated Buddha (lot 36).

Also offered will be a ceramic guardian foo dog lion statue (lot 315); a carved huanghuali wood chest box (lot 56); a pair of rainbow jade bangles (lot 121); a group of three Shoushan stone seals (lot 246); a pair of chicken blood foo dog seals (lot 255); a Chinese antique scroll of a palace in the mountains (lot 22); a fine 18th century cloisonne snuff bottle (lot 66); a framed scroll painting of women on horseback (lot 238); and a beautiful turquoise Chao Zhu Court necklace (lot 114)