Richard Edmund Relfe Luff CBE (1887-1969)

DUKE’S ASIAN ART auction on June 15th will contain a group of impeccably provenanced material including property consigned by the RER LUFF WILL TRUST. 

Richard Edmund Relfe Luff CBE  (1887-1969) was managing director of Cable and Wireless and a notable collector of Chinese porcelain and works of art. Roger Bluett described him as “ one of the last generation of English buyers who were able to build up fine collections …in the years following the Second World War.”

Richard Luff was a client of Bluett’s from 1944-1964 and the lots on offer at Duke’s can be identified in a valuation prepared by them in January 1970.

In 1973 his family sold a Chenghua Palace bowl at Sothebys, which fetched the then enormous price of £130,000. Luff had purchased it in 1946 for £132. Today it would sell for more than £20 million. 

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS  

A FINE PAIR OF LARGE CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE CIRCULAR DISHES,

each painted with a lady, female attendant and a yellow deer beneath pine and clouds in a rocky garden, the borders with peony sprays,

Yongzheng/Qianlong, c. 1730-40.  

5.5cm high x 43.5cm diam.   

A CHINESE LONGQUAN CELADON KINUTA GLAZED VASE
Southern Song dynasty

16.5cm high x 8cm long x 8cm wide

A FINE CHINESE PALE CELADON JADE LINKED BOX AND COVER

well carved as a finger citrus, the two halves joined by a loose ring.

Qianlong

4.5cm x 8.5cm long x 11cm diam.

 A CHINESE BRONZE GUEI

with two handles, cast with masks and two bands of archaic designs,

Western Zhou dynasty, circa 10th century BC,

16cm high x 25cm long x 19cm wide (with the base)

12cm high x 25cm long x 19cm wide (without base) 

A CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE GROUP OF THE LAUGHING TWINS,

Hehe Erxian,

Qianlong,

19.5cm high x 17cm long x 6.5cm wide

A CHINESE GILT BRONZE DAGGER,

the sheath inlaid with semi-precious stones

probably Warring States.

25cm long x 15cm wide

View the Catalogue

HEAD OF SALE

Guy Schwinge

[email protected]

01305 265080

*Each lot is subject to a buyers premium of 30% inclusive of VAT @ 20%