Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Estate of Dr. Thomas Klein Sale

FREEMAN’S
Asia Week New York Live Auctions: September 17–18, 2026
Previews: September 11–17, 2026
32 East 67th Street, NYC

Freeman’s will present two Asian art auctions this September in its New York saleroom: Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Estate of Dr. Thomas Klein, sold to benefit the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, on Thursday, September 17, followed by Asian Works of Art on Friday, September 18. Bringing together imperial porcelain, museum deaccessions, a rediscovered piece from the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan, and snuff bottles from a connoisseur’s lifetime pursuit, the two sales offer collectors a wide-ranging and historically rich selection heading into the fall season.

Explore the full auction schedule below:

Chinese Snuff Bottles from the Estate of Dr. Thomas Klein
Auction: Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 9:30am
Previews: September 11–12 & 14–16, 10am-5pm

Freeman’s is privileged to bring Philadelphia collector Dr. Thomas Klein’s collection of Chinese snuff bottles to auction. On September 17th, some of Dr. Klein’s finest examples will be made available at auction in New York for the next generation of enthusiasts. Many of these bottles were previously held in some of the most important collections assembled in the last quarter of the 20th century, such as the Bloch, Grimberg, J & J., and Bob C. Stevens collections, and handled and published by important dealers in the field such as Hugh Moss, Robert Kleiner, Robert Hall, Clare Chu and Susan Page.

Dr. Klein was known as a strong competitor for puddingstone bottles, and his interest in mineralogical examples is further evidenced by the various jasper, agate, jade and jadeite bottles offered here. Glass, particularly monochromes, overlay, and carved examples, were also a focus, as were “organics” such as amber, coral, and even carved bamboo. Porcelain bottles, both molded and enameled, round out this varied collection.

To take a closer look on their YouTube channel, click here.

→ Learn more

Asian Works of Art
Auction: Friday, September 18, 2026 at 10am EDT
Previews: September 11–12 & 14–17, 10am-5pm

Freeman’s Asian Works of Art auction this fall features over 290 carefully curated lots tailored for discerning connoisseurs, collectors, and institutions. Leading the sale is a remarkable group of individual masterpieces distinguished by significant historical provenance. Highlights include a magnificent Jiaqing/Daoguang period blue and white ‘Nine Dragons’ vase tracing back to Yamanaka & Company, a pair of Mid-Tang Dynasty engraved ‘Ladies’ tomb doors formerly with Ton-Ying & Co. and J.T. Tai & Co., and an impressive Qing Dynasty green-enameled yellow-ground ‘Dragon’ moon flask from the prestigious J. Pierpont Morgan Collection .

The auction is further enriched by several distinguished collections, notably over fifty lots of Ming and Qing Dynasty Dehua wares deaccessioned from The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, originally gifted by renowned collectors Ira and Nancy Koger. We are also proud to offer a refined selection of Qing dynasty jade carvings from the esteemed John and Reva Lizzadro Collection in Chicago, alongside over twenty lots of fine Chinese textiles, scholar’s objects, and Korean works of art from the celebrated Jon Eric Riis Collection. Complemented by a curated grouping of fine Japanese bronzes from various private estates, this season offers a strong and diverse selection for our clients.

→ Learn more

Ma Quan 馬荃, Flowers and Insects 草蟲花卉, 1706, signed Jiangxiang nvshi Ma Quan, dated bingxu (1706), spring, ink and color on paper, album of twelve leaves, each leaf 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (12) (each leaf 23.5 x 19 cm) (12)

A Well of Rouge, a Flower of Fortune: Teaching and Learning in Chinese Flower Painting
September 12 – October 31, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, Sept 12, 5-7pm (RSVP required)
Exhibition Walkthrough: Sunday, Sept 13 at 11am
65 East 80th St, Ground Fl, NYC
Special Hours from Sept 12-18, 2026: Open Daily, 10am-6pm

Fu Qiumeng Fine Art is pleased to present A Well of Rouge, a Flower of Fortune: Teaching and Learning in Chinese Flower Painting during Asia Week New York this fall.

At the heart of the exhibition is a remarkable group of instructional paintings by Li Fenggong (1907–1994), a twentieth-century Chinese painter and teacher devoted to preserving and transmitting the traditions of ink flower painting. More than 100 of his instructional works survive, offering a rare record of how classical painting techniques were taught and passed on in the modern era. Selections from this group will be presented on a rotating basis throughout the exhibition.

Alongside Li’s instructional works, the exhibition brings together flower paintings spanning the Ming and Qing dynasties through the modern period, tracing how traditions of Chinese flower painting have been taught, learned, reinterpreted, and transmitted across generations.

During Asia Week, the gallery will also be open on Sunday, September 13, and Monday, September 14. Visitors are invited to an Opening Reception on Saturday, September 12, from 5-7pm (RSVP required), as well as an Exhibition Walkthrough at 11am on Sunday, September 13, offering a closer look at the works and the histories of teaching and artistic transmission explored in the exhibition.

They look forward to welcoming you soon!

To learn more, click here.

A rare and impressive archaic jade cong, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture, diameter 3¾ in. (9.6 cm); Lot 89, Estimate: US$200,000-300,000, Chinese Art Sale

SOTHEBY’S
Chinese Art: September 16, 2026 at 9am
Previews: September 10–12 & 14–15, 10am-5pm & September 13, 1-5pm
945 Madison Avenue, NYC 

Sotheby’s Chinese Art returns this Autumn Asia Week with a remarkable selection spanning centuries of Chinese artistic achievement. Highlights include an exceptionally rare Neolithic Liangzhu jade cong, fine Ming and Qing porcelains, elegant 17th-century huanghuali furniture, and exceptional ceramics and works of art from distinguished collections.

The exhibition preview opens Thursday, September 10—be sure to visit their Madison Avenue salesroom for an up-close look at these remarkable works before the sale on September 16!

→ Learn more

Nabeshima Plate with Polychrome Decoration, late 17th–early 18th c., Japan, diam: 20.5cm

Chinese and Japanese Ceramics
September 10–18, 2026
3 East 66th Street, Ste 2B, NYC
Kindly call or email for an appointment

During Autumn Asia Week New York, Zetterquist Galleries invites you to discover Chinese and Japanese Ceramics, a thoughtful selection spanning centuries of ceramic artistry, from ancient Chinese wares and early Japanese ceramics to the innovative work of 20th-century Japanese masters.

The Chinese selection features Tang- and Song-dynasty ceramics from renowned northern kilns, including Ding, Yaozhou, and Yue, alongside Qingbai wares from southern kilns. Japanese highlights range from the Kofun through Edo periods, including a striking Haniwa warrior’s head, 6th-century Sueki wares, and a late 16th–early 17th-century Oribe Kutsu-gata tea bowl. Later Edo-period highlights include a fine Nabeshima polychrome plate, a large Bizen horn-shaped wall vase, and a celadon censer inspired by Ming-dynasty prototypes.

Rounding out the exhibition is a selection of 20th-century Japanese ceramics from the 1930s through the 1990s, featuring works by Kawai Kanjiro, Shimaoka Tatsuzo, Yagi Akira, and Takiguchi Kazuo.

Please contact the gallery to arrange an appointment and experience these remarkable works in person. Zetterquist Galleries warmly welcomes you this Autumn Asia Week!

To learn more and view the online catalog, click here.

Group of works by Iguchi Daisuke. Photography by Yano Tsutsumi

Patina of Time: The Clay Art of Iguchi Daisuke
September 10 – October 30, 2026
39 East 78th Street, Ste 401, NYC

A decade after his highly successful international solo debut at their gallery, Joan B Mirviss LTD is delighted to present Patina of Time: The Clay Art of Iguchi Daisuke. A native of Tochigi Prefecture in northeastern Japan, Iguchi Daisuke (b. 1975) has inherited the legacy established by two of the region’s most renowned past ceramic masters, Kamoda Shōji (1933–1983) and Wada Morihiro (1944–2008). Following in these artists’ footsteps, Iguchi creates works that unify surface and form. The intricate linear surface patterns that adorn his vessels’ surfaces undulate in perfect harmony with their gently curving, occasionally lobed forms, offering a compelling evolution of the region’s burgeoning aesthetic tradition while exploring themes that are entirely his own.

At the heart of Iguchi’s artistic expression is the theme of time: “Rather than simply creating form, I hope to create works that inspire viewers to reflect on memory and the passage of time.”

Inspired by rusted iron, moss-covered rocks, and ancient pottery unearthed in archeological digs, Iguchi has developed a meticulous and time-consuming process to cultivate a weathered and eroded texture on the surface of his vessel forms. Using clay from rice paddies in Ibaraki Prefecture, Iguchi coil-builds his simple yet elegant curving and lobed forms. After an initial bisque firing, he coats his works in ash and metallic oxides before firing them again at temperatures approaching 1300 degrees Celsius. He then polishes his works with a wire brush to create his characteristically textured clay surfaces.

He juxtaposes this surface with strikingly precise linear patterns that he creates by masking the clay body and applying silver slip before the final firing at a lower temperature. These patterns dance across the surface of his vessels, at times running in parallel with the curves of the form, at times diverging to create dynamism and rhythmic tension. The result are works that feel both dauntingly ancient and imminently contemporary.

Be sure to visit this striking exhibition soon!

To learn, click here.

Ito Shinsui (1898-1972), The First Collection of Modern Beauties: Rouge (Gendai bijin shu dai isshu: Kuchibeni), 1929; Courtesy Scholten Japanese Art

Don’t miss the events of Asia Week New York Autumn 2026! Beyond the exceptional gallery and museum exhibitions and auction house sales, discover a dynamic lineup of openings, tours, lectures, and special programs celebrating the best of Asian art. Meet leading experts, get an up-close look at remarkable works, and reconnect with friends and fellow art lovers. From must-attend openings to thought-provoking talks, our essential event guide has everything you need to make the most of this exciting season!

OPENING RECEPTIONS (kindly RSVP):

Thursday, September 10: Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd., Ippodo Gallery,  Onishi Gallery, Seizan Gallery, and Tina Kim Gallery

Saturday, September 12: Alisan Fine Art and Fu Qiumeng Fine Art

Wednesday, September 16: Alisan Fine Art

Thursday, September 17: The Korea Society

LECTURES AND EVENTS (Kindly RSVP):

Japanese Art Society of America at Japan Society: Inaugural Ukiyo-e Lecture: Hishikawa Moronobu’s Floating World at Japan Society on Thursday, September 10 at 5pm

Christie’s Public Tour: Led by Dr. Robert D. Mowry on Friday, September 11 and Monday, September 14 at 11am

Ippodo Gallery: Kaori Someya Artist Talk on Saturday, September 12 from 1:30-2:30pm

Onishi Gallery: Gallery Talk by Xiaohan Du on Saturday, September 12 at 3pm

Bonham’s Artist Talk: From Brush to Ink: Understanding Modern and Contemporary Chinese Painting with Arnold Chang on Sunday, September 13 from 3-4pm

Doyle DISCOVERIES: Public Tour led by Specialist Richard Cervantes on Monday, September 14 at 10am

National Museum of Asian Art: Virtual Tour of Art of Korea on Tuesday, September 15 from 3-4pm

The Rubin Museum Distinguished Lecture in Himalayan Art at The Met: Flowering Trees and Beauties in Nepalese Art by Gautama V. Vajracharya on Tuesday, September 15 from 6-7pm

China Institute Gallery: Curator’s Talk: Strolling Together in the World of Chinese Art on Tuesday, September 15 from 6:30-8pm

Asia Society Leo Bar Happy Hour: on Thursday, September 17 from 6-8:30pm

China Institute Open House on Thursday, September 17 from 10am-8pm

For more information and to stay-up-to-date with all new events, view our Calendar of Events.

Kawase Hasui (1883–1957), Kamino Bridge, Fukagawa, Series: Twelve Subjects of Tokyo, 1920

New and Creative: Japanese Prints from the 20th Century
September 10–18, 2026
Online Exhibition

Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints presents a captivating online exhibition celebrating two of the leading masters of shin-hanga (“new prints”), Kawase Hasui (1883–1957) and Ohara Koson (1877–1945), alongside a selection of works from the “creative prints” (sosaku hanga) movement. Highlights include several of Hasui’s rare pre-1923 earthquake designs, among them the striking Kamino Bridge, Fukagawa of 1920, with its blazing orange sky. The exhibition also features nine prints from 100 Views of New Japan, published between 1938 and 1941, showcasing the innovative spirit of artists such as Onchi Kōshirō (1891–1955), a pioneering leader of the “self-printed” movement. Together, these works offer a fascinating look at the changing landscape of modern Japanese printmaking, from the atmospheric beauty of shin-hanga to the experimental energy of sōsaku hanga.

They invite you to discover these remarkable works online soon!

To learn more, click here.

Chao Chung-hsiang, Sunrise behind the Bamboo, undated, Chinese ink & acrylic on rice paper, 17 1/2 x 17 3/4 in. (44.5 x 45cm)

This Autumn during Asia Week New York, Alisan Fine Arts presents two exhibitions exploring the diverse paths of contemporary Chinese art and the artists who have shaped its evolution. Opening Saturday, September 12, The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang celebrates a pioneering artist whose distinctive fusion of Chinese ink traditions and Western abstraction helped expand the language of contemporary Chinese painting. Opening Wednesday, September 16, Fong Chung-Ray and Hung Hsien: A New Horizon traces the artists’ evolving practices following their move to the United States. Together, the exhibitions reflect Alisan’s 45-year commitment to championing innovative Chinese art and artists. Learn more below!

The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang
September 12 – October 17, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, Sept 12, 2-5pm
120 East 65th Street, NYC

Alisan Fine Arts is thrilled to celebrate 45 years of championing contemporary Chinese art in 2026. Chao Chung-hsiang, alongside notable artists like Zao Wou-ki, Chu Teh-chun, Walasse Ting and Lui Shou-kwan, has been a vital part of the gallery’s history since their early days. Chao studied under the renowned Lin Fengmian at the National College of Art in Hangzhou, graduating in 1939 before immigrating to Taiwan in 1948. His studies in Spain and experiences in Europe led him to New York in 1958, where he encountered the dynamic world of American Abstract Expressionism and other post-war art movements. His works explore themes of nature, spirituality, and abstraction, featuring flowers, fish, birds, and cosmic imagery.

Their presentation for AWNY Autumn focuses on Chao’s black-and-white abstract ink paintings alongside his renowned “hybrid paintings” of birds and fish. The interplay of circles, squares, and geometric forms executed in bright acrylics atop traditional ink washes demonstrates Chao’s unique artistic approach, which incorporated abstract symbolism into ink wash painting. Chao’s integration of yin-yang symbols and references to Chinese philosophy enriches his work, embodying a hybrid quality and a conscious expansion to the traditional Chinese artistic language.

To learn more, click here.

Fong Chung-Ray and Hung Hsien: A New Horizon
September 16 – November 11, 2026
Opening Reception: Wednesday, Sept 16, 6-8pm

Opening a few days later, A New Horizon features artists Fong Chung-Ray and Hung Hsien, artists who immigrated to Taiwan as teenagers and later settled in the US, where they reside today; Fong in California, and Hung in Texas. Fong and Hung were part of the Fifth Moon Group, a prominent Taiwan art collective that promulgated a move towards modernism while retaining a clear Chinese identity.

The focus of this exhibition, however, is the evolution of each artist’s work during their subsequent time spent in the US. Both were influenced by their new surroundings, and as their styles matured, they introduced elements of their cultural tradition in different ways, each creating their own unique contemporary artistic language.

Get a sneak preview on Saturday, September 12 during the opening of The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang!

To learn more, click here.

Places Along the Tokaido, early Edo period, ca 1620, Japan, pair of six-panel folding screens, ink, mineral colors, shell powder, and gold on paper with gold leaf, size each screen: 47 x 110½ in. (119.5 x 280.5 cm)

Japanese Masterpieces 17th–21st Centuries
September 10–18, 2026
8 East 67th Street, NYC

Thomsen Gallery’s Asia Week New York Autumn exhibition features an exceptional selection of Japanese fine art spanning the 17th century to the present. Highlights include early screens depicting life at the Chinese imperial court and scenes along the Tōkaidō Road, alongside later works—from a luminous gold-leaf screen of cherry blossoms and maple dating to the early 19th century to a 1930s screen by Fudō Ritsuzan.

At the heart of the exhibition is a distinguished group of hanging scrolls by leading Taishō and early Shōwa-era painters, including Yamamoto Shunkyo, Kikuchi Keigetsu, Ikeda Yoson, and Konoshima Ōkoku, whose works reflect the period’s fresh naturalism and Western experimentation within traditional formats. The presentation is complemented by exquisite ikebana baskets by masters including Tanabe Chikuunsai II and Living National Treasure Hayakawa Shōkosai V, as well as modern and contemporary bronzes.

Join Thomsen Gallery this Autumn and experience this rich panorama of Japan’s evolving artistic traditions!

To learn more, click here.

Kiyoshi Hamada, DRAWING(84), 1984, paper, pencil, 96.5 x 44.1 in. (245 x 112 cm)

Kiyoshi Hamada: Gazing Into Stillness – Works 1975–2026
September 10 – November 7, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, Sept 10, 6-8pm
525 West 26th Street, NYC

During this AWNY Autumn season, Seizan Gallery is pleased to present Kiyoshi Hamada: Gazing Into Stillness — Works 1975–2026, on view from September 10 through November 7, 2026. The exhibition surveys significant works from 1975 to the present by one of the hidden giants of postwar Japanese art. Active since the early 1960s, Hamada has remained a singular figure, working alongside — though never within — the postwar avant-garde movements and groups that surrounded him such as Gutai and Mono-ha. Tracing the evolution of his techniques and materials, the exhibition follows a question Hamada has pursued for over half a century: not what a painting should depict, but how a painting itself — its support, its materials, and the traces of the hand — comes into being.

The exhibition opens with Hamada’s early “plywood paintings,” a series he developed from the mid-1970s through the early 1980s and identifies as the point of origin of his practice. The works bear the influence of Yoshishige Saitō (1904–2001), who rejected painting as representational image and held instead that the process itself constituted the essence of the work — painting as matter inscribed with the traces of its own making. Each plywood painting is composed of multiple narrow black panels, each crossed by a single thin line of orange-red. Their austerity of composition and palette, carried later into his woodblock prints, aligns with the Minimalist and Conceptual currents of the years in which the works were made. Yet their source is intimate: the artist’s memory, from a childhood in Kōchi, of dawn breaking over the Pacific horizon.

Following his success in woodblock printmaking — a collaborative process that limited the artist’s hands-on involvement — Hamada turned to a more elemental and labor-intensive act: working directly with his hands. Begun in the 1980s, the Drawing series is attentive to the physicality embedded in the act of drawing itself. Working in graphite on paper, he filled squares and rectangles with countless strokes until each surface hardened into a dense, lustrous black. What results is no longer an image but sheer matter — time made visible through accumulation. “Drawing, for me, lies in working the surface of the paper over with pencil, patiently, until a robust pictorial substance is built up,” the artist has said. “It is an act of holding oneself under control while taking the measure of one’s distance from oneself.”

Through the 1990s and 2000s, Hamada continued to pursue abstraction through material and technique. Alongside his ongoing work in pencil, he turned to canvas and paint, building up layer after layer of color and then cutting back down into the surface with brushes, painting knives, and carving gouges. The method draws on tsuishu, the traditional lacquer technique in which coat upon coat of urushi is applied and then carved in relief. With this craft sensibility behind it, the work extends his inquiry into the physicality of making: each excavated line exposes the strata of time held within the surface. The three-panel 28-10-21 (2016) is among the finest works in the series. Red, black, and beige interlace across the surface, evoking at once a shimmering atmosphere and the hide of an animal.

The exhibition closes with two large ink paintings, newly created for this occasion. Across a career of more than fifty years, Hamada has laid down stroke after stroke by his own hand, seeking the weight a work accrues through that labor and the sense of time held within it — while remaining in dialogue with his formative encounters with nature in childhood. “The repetition of action that characterizes Hamada’s work resembles the motion of waves breaking endlessly on the shore,” writes Mari Tsukamoto, Chief Curator at The Museum of Art, Kochi, who organized his 2025 retrospective. “Perhaps Hamada pursues a system as a framework for giving form to that landscape through his own body, and so gives himself over to the thoroughly repetitive act.”

To learn more, click here.