the larger example carved to depict a Hotei carrying a large cloth bag with a smaller Buddha figure inside, signed Masayuki, 正之; the smaller example of a similar subject with a Hotei seated in a cloth bag, unsigned.
Length of longer 1 3/8 in., 3.5 cm.
Property from The Strong National Museum of Play, sold to benefit the Collections Fund
Ms. Wu joined the firm in 2014, after working as a specialist in the Asian Works of Art Department of an East Coast auction house. She researches, appraises, and sells Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and South East Asian works of art, including jades, bronzes, ceramics, paintings, armor, and furniture. Throughout her career, Ms. Wu has achieved record prices for several prominent estates and collections, including the Estate of Frank G. Mertes, Sr., Winona, Minnesota; the Chinese Painting Collection of Ms. Yuan Jiaying and Mr. Li Guoyuan, Chicago; the Estate of Hisazo Nagatani, Chicago, and the Asian Art Collection deaccessioned from the Strong Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.
