Zhang Daqian loved being surrounded by a wide variety of pets. In 1970, for the first day of the year of the dog, he dedicated to one of his sons-in-law a self portrait with a saint bernard, ink and colors on white paper 176 x 96 cm.

The artist in profile takes on the role of an old scholar in a white robe who studies a hand scroll without worrying about his surroundings. According to his practice throughout his career, this self portrait shows his age without complacency. The loyal dog, upright at his side, waits for the master to pay attention to him.

The preparatory drawing for this composition did not feature a saint bernard but a Tibetan mastiff. In the same size as the New Year's painting, Zhang made at an undetermined date a more achieved work, on gold paper. The drawing is the same, with the loyal mastiff. The dog's fluffy black fur is the highlight of this image, with a great realism. In contrast, the background is painted with the Tang-inspired splash technique.

Painted for his personal use, this self portrait with the mastiff was given to his wife. It is a link between the present, the man in his seventies, and the past, an intelligent and loyal sheepdog named Black Tiger who had not survived the hot and humid climate of southern China 27 years earlier. Zhang, who liked big dogs, had brought back the saint bernard from Switzerland.

The self portrait with a mastiff on gold paper is estimated HK $ 48M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 18, lot 8003.

Used since the Tang in Chinese jewelry, jadeite has a reputation to protect purity and virtue. Its color is the emerald green, which can take several hues. It is one of the precious elements emanating from the creation of the world. In the same mythology, the circle of the heaven is a symbol of the eternity.

The search for perfection implies a detailed observation of the boulder in the search of the best vein. The realization is not self evident because the carving must not reveal cracks in the stone or a local loss in color or translucency.

The Qing encouraged the work of jadeite in the form of beads that will be assembled into necklaces, and in the form of bangles. The most precious for the use of the emperor is the circular bangle which cannot be carved without much wastage.

The Circle of Happiness will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 20, lot 1766.

It is described as a "cylindrical jadeite bangle of vivid emerald green colour and very good translucency, with inner diameter and thickness approximately 55.21mm and 10.12mm". The  gemologist observed "a subtle range of green to vivid green colours which is characteristic of the finest green jadeite-jade from Myanmar".

With the Star Caliber 2000, released in October 2000, Patek Philippe put the sky in the pockets of its customers. This watch 73 mm in diameter and 32 mm high incorporates 21 complications including the night sky map that rotates counterclockwise.

Six months later the reference 5002, also known as Sky Moon Tourbillon, is the first double-dial wristwatch by Patek Philippe. This watch 42 mm in diameter and 16 mm high incorporates 12 complications activated by 686 components.

The reverse displays the sky chart directly inspired by the Star Caliber 2000 whose mechanism has been further miniaturized. A variant with the sky of the southern hemisphere could be prepared on request.

The results below include the premium.

A very rare 5002G-010 in white gold, assembled in 2012, was sold by Phillips on November 25, 2019 for HK $ 18M. A pink gold 5002 delivered in 2008 was sold for CHF 1.2M by Antiquorum on May 12, 2013 just after the model was discontinued. A yellow gold 5002 assembled in 2011 was sold by Sotheby's on October 8, 2019 for HK $ 11M.

The platinum version is the 5002P. A watch assembled in 2003 was sold by Sotheby's on April 10, 2008 for HK $ 11.8M. A watch assembled in 2010 was sold by Christie's on November 14, 2016 for CHF 1.15M. One of the very last examples, delivered in February 2013, was sold by Antiquorum on May 13, 2018 for CHF 1.05M.

A 5002P-001 purchased in 2004 is estimated US $ 1M for sale by Christie's online from Dubai on April 8, lot 1.

The reference 6002 took over in 2013 with the same name Sky Moon Tourbillon.

SOLD for $ 1.6M including premium

In 1962 Zao Wou-Ki is happy. He is madly in love with his second wife, the young and charming May, who understands his art and encourages him.

On April 18 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells 13.2.62, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, lot 1021 estimated HK $ 100M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

The date of this work is doubly auspicious. On the one hand February 13 is the eve of Valentine's Day. On the other hand, the artist maintained doubts about the real date of his birth 42 years earlier, a February 1st or a 13th. This curiosity has not been explained but corresponds almost exactly to the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, which his parents could not ignore less than three years after the October Revolution.

13.2.62 is a synthesis of his two most recent styles. It contains pseudo-calligraphy like the Oracle Bones, in a horizontal composition like the Hurricanes.

It is divided into three registers, the arrangement of which evokes Rothko. The upper part is bright red, the color of the best auspices and of the greatest energy. The two lower registers are silvery white. Pseudo-calligraphies are not centrifugal but ascending, which is another mark of energy. They take off on the boundary between the white sections.