In this post we are going to give you more details about the peculiarities of art in the different areas of the Far East. In each area, specific artistic movements were promoted. In the event that they spread to other areas, each one ended up using unique artistic techniques due to the variations to which they were subjected by each artistic movement. You can find a wide variety of pieces at oriental art auctions online. Next, we explain the particularities of each area.

Indonesia and Indochina

Both areas are under the influence of the Indian subcontinent. In Java, as in other parts of Indonesia, Buddhism coexisted with Brahmanism, which logically influenced the iconography of his early art. Returning from China to the Persian Gulf in 1292, Marco Polo's ships stopped in Sumatra, but failed to find art forms then.

Cultural contacts would be active there when the Dutch East India Company settled. The dagger known as “kris”, with a wavy profile blade, was one of the characteristic pieces of local Malay creativity and in Europe it is particularly valued by weapon collectors. In Java and Bali, the so-called "shadow theaters" have articulated figures in leather or wood that have also aroused the interest of collectors.

For its part, in Indochina, particularly in Vietnam, the influences came from China, as we can see in the recreation of the pieces finished in lacquer. In the 19th century, particularly aimed at exports, rich marquetry works were carried out in inked mother-of-pearl, inlaid on sumptuous hardwoods. Furniture such as desks, side tables, armchairs or large trays were made with that technique and were even exhibited at international European exhibitions.

Korea

Also dependent on the powerful Chinese civilization, Korea it communicated more by sea than by land with adjacent cultures. Between the 10th and 14th centuries, the In the area there was a refined celadon ceramic art that was carried out by the artist. pieces so outstanding that they are even considered to rival or exceed the Chinese specimens. From the fifteenth century it was prominent mastery of porcelain, which had as a characteristic feature decoration with simple and spontaneous strokes, which are usually give vases and bowls a look of natural and modern expressiveness superior to other oriental contemporaries.

Philippines

The Spanish presence in the Philippines since the 16th century would strengthen also a particular and very representative art of the union of the two cultures. It is not uncommon for an exotic material As ivory was, it had a wide development in that area, producing pieces of furniture with inlays or sculptures in relief or bulk round. Many of these pieces can be found in different houses auctions in Madrid and Barcelona.

The religious works carried out by the autochthonous artisans responded to models that would be widely repeated during the 17th and 18th centuries, such as Immaculate Conceptions or crucified Christs or particular iconographies as images of the Child Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Pieces Those made of wood, such as chests or armchairs, would especially have from the 19th century a notable prestige in Spain and occasionally they were imported to the metropolis to decorate the bourgeois houses.