Asia Week New York, from 11–20 March, coincides with the first anniversary of the pandemic’s descent on the city. Unsurprisingly, with travel and other restrictions in flux, the event’s organisers have opted for a hybrid model, combining gallery visits by appointment with online viewing rooms. The good news is that, with the virus gradually being beaten back and as our sensory deprivation starts to lift, about 30 galleries and auction houses will be presenting wares whose patterns, pigments, textures and provenance trails promise to enthral visitors.
Two Chinese bronze sculptures from the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), offered at Zetterquist Galleries, were likely made at the same workshop or by close competitors. Flecked with old gilding, they depict, respectively, a mortal and Sakyamuni Buddha seated on lotuses. The gallerist Eric Zetterquist found one of the statues in Japan more than a decade ago – part of its petalled base is a woodcarving dating to the Edo period (1615–1868) – and the other recently surfaced in the United States. He is offering them as a pair, he explains, ‘in the hope that they stay together from now on’.