General
Marion Maneker0April 12, 2012

Qi Baishi Continues a Roll with $2.3m sale for 5 Scrolls

The scholar Wen Tsan Yu’s collection was sold at Kaminski in Massachusetts last month where the Qi Bashi paintings made stellar prices:

Five 20th century Chinese paintings by Qi Bashi sold at Kaminski’s March Fine Asian Art and Antique Sale for a $2.3 million dollars. All five paintings were 20th century scroll paintings of ink and color on paper, signed and sealed Qi Bashi and dedicated by the artist to “Yu San,” Wen Tsan Yu with the collector’s personal seal.

Wen Tsan Yu was raised in China and later became a professor at Peking University. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1916 with a Ph.B, and from Harvard University in 1919 with a LL.B. The family’s maternal great grandfather was Moy Toy Ni, (Charlie Toy) who came to the United States in the late 1800s and settled in Milwaukee. He was widely known as “Chinese Rockefeller” in the early 20th century. Paintings in this collection had been in the family for over 50 years.

Kaminski sells Chinese art collection for $2.6M (Live Auctioneers)

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0April 04, 2012

Sotheby’s Sets Song Ceramics Record in Hong Kong

Nicholas Chow of Sotheby’s basks in the glow of his record HK$208m ($26.7m) Ru sale:

“This is the most fabled Chinese ceramic ever to come at auction,” he said at a news conference. “This is the fantasy of all collectors.”

Four telephone bidders and two buyers in the room battled for several minutes before the hammer went down to a room full of applause. The winner, an unidentified telephone bidder paid more than twice the presale high estimate of HK$80 million.

The previous highest price for a Song ceramic was set by Sotheby’s in 2008 when a “Guan” Mallet Vase sold for HK$67.5 million.

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0March 22, 2012

Christie’s Blumenfield Collection (Highlights)

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0March 22, 2012

Sotheby’s NY Asia Week Update

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0March 21, 2012

Bonhams Asia Week Results

March 19

Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian

Sale total $3,203,225

91.67% sold by lot

*Auction world record achieved for Indian artist Bagta “Rawat Gokal Das celebrating holi in the zenana” sold for $302,500 (pre-sale estimate $30,000 – 50,000)

March 20

Fine Chinese Snuff Bottles

Sale total $1,022,900

98.25% sold by lot

Fine Japanese Works of Art

Sale total $1,485,188

74.92% sold by lot

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0March 20, 2012

Sotheby’s Chinese Works of Art = $20.7m

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0March 20, 2012

Freeman’s Sells Ming for 100x Estimate

It’s Asia Week, time for some spectacular prices for under-estimated objects like this Ming Vase that Freeman’s sold for $1.54m after a bidding war. Perhaps the Chinese collectors might call ahead and let the auction houses know what works they’ll fasten on next:

a Chinese Ming Dynasty gilt bronze and cloisonné covered jar sold this afternoon for $1.54 million.  The massive jar (21 ½ inches in height and 16 ½ in diameter) was subject to heated competition among more than a dozen bidders from the room, phones and internet before selling to a Chinese bidder in the room.

Freeman’s

Emerging Markets, Featured
Marion Maneker0March 12, 2012

Rare of the Rare Chinese Ceramic Draws Crowds in Beijing

Sotheby’s is displaying a “Ru” bowl from the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) in Beijing to promote its April 4th sale in Hong Kong but the extremely rare ceramic caused such crowds they were forced to limit access to it:

“There are very few of these as they were imperial pieces and also because they were made over a very short period of time — 20 years,” Jean-Paul Desroches, curator at the Guimet Museum in Paris, told AFP.

There are only six “Ru” ceramics in private collections, including this bowl — probably intended for washing brushes after writing — which could fetch up to HK$80 million ($10.3 million) at Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong on April 4.

“We sell incredibly rare objects, but this is a different realm of rarity,” said Chow.

Chow says the bowl will next be shown in Taiwan where a larger pool of potential buyers exists:

“The Taiwanese are probably among the most sophisticated collectors in the field of Chinese art,” said Chow.

“They’ve been buying for a long time, they are at a stage where they are not building collections… they’ll pick something extraordinary to raise their collection.”

Rare Imperial Bowl Causes Stir in China (AFP/Khaleej Times)

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0December 21, 2011

Jade Bear Disappoints at $8m in Florida Auction

Florida firm Elite Decorative Arts sold a Chinese work of art for $8m but that number was a disappointment,  according to Auction Central News. Perhaps expectations about the Chinese appetite for lost works of art have gotten ahead of the market:

A rare Han Dynasty nephrite jade bear sold for a little more than $8 million at an auction conducted Dec. 10 by Elite Decorative Arts.

The Chinese bear, made between 475 B.C.- A.D. 220, exhibited extensive calcification due to centuries of extended burial. The nephrite (greenstone) bear was by far the top lot of the nearly 300 items that changed hands. But the bear was also a bargain for the buyer who wished not to be identified—it carried a presale estimate of $10 million-$20 million.

A combination of factors contributed to the bear’s desirability. It was the largest jade sculpture known of its time. It was made for a significant figure or ruler, with whom it had been buried. The cup-shaped opening at the top of the head meant it was made for a stand or base for a significant object. And it came with impeccable credentials from a Beijing authenticating firm.

Chinese Nephrite Jade Bear Tops $8m at Elite Auction (Auction Central News)

Auction Results
Marion Maneker0December 08, 2011

Beijing Poly Makes Imperial Seal Record of $25m

Amid Western press reports that the Chinese market is slowing, mainland powerhouse Poly Auction sets a new record for an Imperial seal:

On Dec 6th, 2011 autumn sales, an imperial seal “TAI SHANG HUANG DI” was hammered at RMB 161 million, refreshing world record of both imperial seal and jades. Another seal dated Dao Guang (1831) was sold at RMB 90.85 million [14.3m]. An couple of imperial jade seals also were sold at 43.125 million [$6.8m.]

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