The head of a Turkic-Mongolian officer with narrow slit eyes, just allowing the dark attentive look to filter through, would be sufficient to establish it as a great portrait. The posture of the man who sits erect, his head slightly turned to the left, as if he had just been alerted to some danger, is remarkably well observed. The head of the horse is masterly in its sensitive treatment. At auction, the equestrian portrait might have been lost amid the usual clutter of banal figures. The admirable piece elicited little praise from the media.
Important art can be cheaper.
At the Maastricht Fair, Clemens van der Ven of 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands was offering the Han potter's version of the bronze tree sold by Croes in New York. Even pieces with wider appeal are to be found in the lower price range. Both vessels are unpublished. Both, within their well-established categories, are rare. The names in Chinese art sound outlandish, the aesthetics does not lend itself to soundbites.