A collection of ancient Chinese jade pieces is expected to produce some eye-popping prices at auction on Tuesday (November 25, 2014) here in Toronto. The auctioneer, A.H. Wilkens, 299 Queen Street E., says the many pieces of 6,000 year old jade are expected to “well exceed” their collective pre-sale estimate of $500,000. Senior appraiser Andrea Zeifman said the world seldom sees this type of collection up for auction. The nearly 200 pieces are from the estate of the late Irving Langleb, a Brooklyn-born linguistics scholar who moved to Japan after working in Asia during the Second World War. He collected jade works that were being exported out of China. Langleb and his wife later moved to Hong Kong and then settled in Israel, where his collection has been held in storage. The collection includes pieces from the Neolithic period and Archaistic jade from the Shang and Han dynasties. Ms. Zeifman said many of them were part of burial rituals spend years in tombs. Highlights include symbolic cong tubes from the Liangzhu culture and a collection of burial pigs, which were placed into the hands of the dead as a sign of wealth and prosperity in the afterlife. As reported by the Canadian Press, Ms Zeifman said that in recent years she got to know the four sons of Langleb, who died about 20 years ago, and went to Israel to see the jade collection in the summer. When the family decided to sell the pieces, they went with Toronto “because there is such a strong and affluent community within Canada of Chinese people.” Many pictures Ancient jade at auction in Toronto on Tuesday
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A collection of ancient Chinese jade pieces is expected to produce some eye-popping prices at auction on Tuesday (November 25, 2014) here in Toronto. The auctioneer, A.H. Wilkens, 299 Queen Street E., says the many pieces of 6,000 year old jade are expected to “well exceed” their collective pre-sale estimate of $500,000. Senior appraiser Andrea Zeifman said the world seldom sees this type of collection up for auction. The nearly 200 pieces are from the estate of the late Irving Langleb, a Brooklyn-born linguistics scholar who moved to Japan after working in Asia during the Second World War. He collected jade works that were being exported out of China. Langleb and his wife later moved to Hong Kong and then settled in Israel, where his collection has been held in storage. The collection includes pieces from the Neolithic period and Archaistic jade from the Shang and Han dynasties. Ms. Zeifman said many of them were part of burial rituals spend years in tombs. Highlights include symbolic cong tubes from the Liangzhu culture and a collection of burial pigs, which were placed into the hands of the dead as a sign of wealth and prosperity in the afterlife. As reported by the Canadian Press, Ms Zeifman said that in recent years she got to know the four sons of Langleb, who died about 20 years ago, and went to Israel to see the jade collection in the summer. When the family decided to sell the pieces, they went with Toronto “because there is such a strong and affluent community within Canada of Chinese people.” Many pictures 