Introducing: The Perino Collection

(A detail from lot 38: a hanging scroll painting by Itō Jakuchū, Seven Cranes, circa 1755, ink and colour on silk)

The Arts of Asia department at AZCA Auctions is pleased to announce its first sale of 2025, offering part of the East Asian collection of Dr Claudio Perino in a special single-owner sale on March 31st. The auction will take place after a month of extended viewing at the firm’s saleroom at 188R Hammersmith Road.

The collection was formed over a period of 20 years by the Torinese collector, Dr Claudio Perino. Perino’s passion for Japanese art and culture always went alongside the desire to share the enjoyment of his prized pieces with others. As a result, most of the sixty-seven lots have a strong history of museum exhibition.

"Collectors are temporary custodians of art, I will be happy to see those beautiful pieces passed on to the new generation.”

Dr Claudio Perino

(The embroidered silk robes (lots 1 and 2) on display at the MAO in Turin)

Most recently, the twenty-four scroll paintings were a part of a large exhibition curated by Professor Matthi Forrer at the MUSEC (Museo delle Culture) Lugano and later MAO (Museo d’Arte Orientale, Turin) between 2020 – 2022. The exhibition was entitled ‘Kakemono’, and was accompanied by an extensive catalogue by the curators. The scrolls, representing artists such as Maruyama Ōkyo, Sakai Hōitsu, Tani Bunchō, Itō Jakuchū, Nagasawa Rosetsu and Kishi Ganku, all considered masters of Japanese painting, are expected to receive a good deal of interest from international collectors. The scrolls are not the only works from the collection to have a history of exhibition: all of the Japanese woodblock prints and lacquer featured in the sale were on permanent display at the MAO between 2008 - 2023.

The auction will also include several lots of Chinese art, featuring a porcelain plaque by Wang Qi, an early Qingbai ewer and two important Qing Dynasty embroidered silk robes, as well as a few pieces of Korean ceramics. The Chinese and Korean pieces are not to be overlooked, and provide variety to the predominantly Japanese collection. 

(Lot 15 - A familie rose plaque by Wang Qi (1884 - 1937))

"We are thrilled to be entrusted with these exceptional objects, and to reintroduce them to  buyers worldwide. The paintings are particularly exciting, as the collection boasts works by some of the most notable artists of the Edo period.”

Marta Somauroo, East Asian Art Specialist and Head of Japanese Art at AZCA.

After the sale exhibition opens in early March, a Q&A session with Dr Perino will take place on the 22nd, before the sale takes place on March 31st. If you have any questions regarding attendance, or queries about the sale, please reach out to our East Asian Art Specialist and Head of Japanese Art, Marta Somauroo at marta@azcaauctions.com

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