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  • Posts Tagged ‘Sotheby’s Hong Kong’

    RARE PINK GROUND FALANGCAI BOWL TO MAKE MILLIONS

    Thursday, March 1st, 2018

    A SUPERBLY ENAMELLED, FINE AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE PINK-GROUND FALANGCAI BOWL
    PUCE-ENAMEL YUZHI MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

    A superbly enamelled, fine and exceedingly rare pink-ground Falangcai Bowl is among the highlights at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Chinese Works of Art Spring Sale Series 2018 on April 3.   This is without question the finest example of its type. A closely related example at the National Palace Museum, Taipei is painted with different flowers but the exact same colour ground. The rarity of the colours and the perfection of the firing make it likely the two were painted and fired side by side. Thrown and fired by potters at the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, the bowls were then painted in the Imperial Palace workshops in the Forbidden City in Beijing, possibly by Jesuits resident at the court of the Kangxi emperor, and fired a second time.  This one, from the celebrated collector Henry M. Knight, is expected to make more than US$25.6 million.

    The auction will feature a rediscovered imperial heirloom handscroll bequeathed by the last Emperor Pu Yi to his younger brother Pu Jie. Depicting ten landscapes the handscroll is the greatest masterpiece of renowned Imperial court painter Qian Weicheng.  It is estimated at US$6.4-8.9 million.

    The series of six sales will offer about 300 lots with a total estimate of nearly US$93.5 millionNicolas Chow, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Asia, International Head and Chairman, Chinese Works of Art said: “There is extraordinary quality and breadth in our offerings of Chinese art this season, with possibly the finest assemblage of Qing porcelain on offer in recent memory.

    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR CHINESE CERAMIC

    Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017

    Ru guanyao brush washer from the Northern Song Dynasty.

    There was a new world auction record for Chinese ceramics at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong today when a Ru Guanyao brush washer sold for £28.2 million.  The 900 year old vessel was bought by an anonymous purchaser.

    Ru guanyao, the court ware of the late Northern Song (960-1127), was commissioned by the imperial court and is the most revered of the Five Great Kilns. Its quasi mythical status over the millennium can be attributed to its short-lived production period, generally believed to not have exceeded twenty years.

    The brush washer, formerly in the collection of the Chang Foundation in the Hongxi Museum, Taipei, is a pre-eminent example of Ru guanyao and incarnates to perfection the ware’s revered qualities. While seemingly small and unobtrusive, these understated aesthetics reflect the calibre and meticulousness of its craftsmanship, a quiet metaphor of Chinese philosophy celebrated by erudite connoisseurs and scholars throughout time. Measuring 13cm in diameter, the washer is one of only four known heirloom Ru wares in private hands.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 24, 2017)

    CONTEMPORARY ART AT SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG

    Tuesday, September 12th, 2017

    Kusama’s rare pink Infinity Net and Richter’s Abstract Painting (679-2) will lead the evening sale at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Contemporary Art autumn series on September and October 1.  Apart from a series of works by Kusama Yayoi and a dedicated section for Chinese contemporary artists born in the 1970’s there will be a themed sale for the Japanese post-war artist, Morita Shiryu and a selection of western contemporary art.

    Kusama Yayoi, Untitled, 1972 |(US$4.1-5.8 million)

    Gerhard Richter, Abstract Painting (679-2), 1988. (US£4.1-6.2 million)

    CARTIER ART DECO TUTTI FRUTTI BRACELET

    Sunday, September 3rd, 2017

    Art Deco Gem Set and Diamond ‘Tutti-Frutti’ Bracelet, Cartier (US$1.3-1.5 million)

    This rare art deco ‘Tutti Frutti’ Cartier bracelet is among the highlights at Sotheby’s auction of magnificent jewels and jadeite in Hong Kong on October 3. Iconic masterpieces in the sale include an exquisite 8.49-carat ruby ring by JAR and an emerald and diamond parure by Van Cleef & Arpels.  There is a selection of rare coloured diamonds, gemstones and bejewelled garden themed jewels inspired by the flora and fauna of nature.

    More than 250 lots with an estimate of over US$83,000,000 will be offered this season. QUEK Chin Yeow, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia and Chairman of International Jewellery, Asia, said: “We are extremely pleased to present a great selection of the marvellous jewels to captivate our Asian jewellery connoisseurs”

    SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG SPRING SALES TOTAL OVER $400 MILLION

    Thursday, April 6th, 2017

    The Macallan in Lalique legacy collection

    The series of Spring sales at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong this week totalled US$406.1 million.  This is equivalent to the strong sales results recorded last year. Sotheby’s cel Tad Smith said: “Outstanding results in our traditional categories of Chinese ceramics and painting were joined by records across a range of collecting fields including western contemporary art and jewellery”.

    With increased participation from mainland China and buoyant demand from collectors in Asia and the west the series established records for the Pink Star diamond, the Xuande fish bowl, a piece of western Contemporary art sold in Asia, a record per carat price for a fancy intense blue diamond and a record for any whiskey lot ever sold at auction with The Macallan in Lalique which sold for US$989,423.  There was increased online purchase with an 80% increase in lots over HK$41 million sold online.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 4, April 3 and March 29)

    THE MOST VALUABLE GEMSTONE EVER SOLD AT AUCTION

    Tuesday, April 4th, 2017

    THERE was a new world auction record for any diamond or jewel when the Pink Star, a 59.60-carat oval mixed-cut Fancy Vivid Pink Internally Flawless diamond, sold for US$71.2 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong tonight. This is the highest ever price for any object sold at auction in Asia.  The most valuable gemstone ever sold at auction made more than double the previous record for a fancy vivid pink diamond. The Pink Star was acquired by Hong Kong jeweller Chow Tai Fook and renamed The CTF Pink in memory of the late Dr. Cheng Yu-Tung, father of the current chairman and founder of Chow Tai Fook.  It also commemorates the 88th anniversary of the brand. The winning telephone bid was placed by Dr. Henry Cheng Kar-Shun, chairman of the company.

    “It is fitting that the owner of the most prestigious jeweller in Greater China should today break the record for the most valuable item ever sold in Asia as well as the most valuable diamond ever sold at auction – now appropriately named the CTF Pink – said Sotheby’s President and CEO Tad Smith, adding, “And Sotheby’s has been honoured and thrilled to serve this very discerning client for many years.”
    David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, added: “I am delighted that this magnificently beautiful diamond has been rightfully crowned the most valuable gemstone ever sold at auction. The price has more than doubled the record for a fancy vivid pink diamond that we set just last year in Geneva.”

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 20, 2017)

    A RECORD FOR WESTERN ART AT SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG

    Monday, April 3rd, 2017

    The scene at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.

    There was a record for a piece of western contemporary art sold at auction in Asia when Andy Warhol’s Mao made US$12.6 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.  It was bought by an Asian collector.  The Mao series marked a significant stylistic turning point for Warhol in the 1970’s. Mao was created in 1973, a year after the crucial moment of global politics where President Nixon visited China and Chairman Mao. Warhol’s portraits of Mao are undeniably among the most influential and enduring of all his images. The work is one of a series of 22 paintings, and four of them are in renowned public collections.

    The painting in red and gold carries the highly expressionistic and flamboyant handling of paint as well as the artist’s resolution and confidence.  Mao was transformed into the newest player on the fashion circuit and a glamourised member of the 1970’s pop idols.

    The Modern and Contemporary Art evening sale totalled US$73.6 million.

    A GREAT EXAMPLE OF EARLY MING PORCELAIN

    Wednesday, March 29th, 2017

    ONE of the greatest examples of early Ming porcelain in private hands will lead the Chinese works of art sale at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on April 5.

    The large bowl is decorated with fishes in a lotus pond and ranks among the finest pieces produced in the reign of Xuande Emperor. The lobed bowl is extremely rare and possibly unique.

    The sales is part of a series of eight Hong Kong spring auction at Sotheby’s. These sales will cover most of the classic fields, from Chinese furniture and early jade carvings to Song dynasty ceramics and Qing dynasty imperial works of art.

    The series of sales is particularly rich in its offerings of Ming porcelain.  Hong Kong spring sales will be held from April 1-5 with more than 3,500 lots estimated at around HK$2.5 billion.

    UPDATE:  It sold to an Asian private collector for US$29.5 million, more than double the expected price.

    THE LARGEST FLAWLESS PINK DIAMOND EVER GRADED AT SOTHEBY’S

    Monday, March 20th, 2017

    The Pink Star.  UPDATE: IT MADE US$71.2 MILLION.

    The Pink Star will lead Sotheby’s sales of magnificent jewels and jadeite in Hong Kong on April 4.   At 59.60 carats this oval mixed-cut pink diamond is the largest Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Pink diamond that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has ever graded. It is estimated at more than US$60 million.

    The Pink Star has received the highest colour and clarity grades from the GIA for pink diamonds and has been found to be part of the rare subgroup comprising less than 2% of all gem diamonds – known as Type IIa: stones in this group are chemically the purest of all diamond crystals and often have extraordinary optical transparency. Mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999, the 132.5-carat rough diamond was meticulously cut and polished over a period of two years and transformed into this stunning gemstone.

    David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, said: “At a time of unprecedented demand for the finest in coloured diamonds, I am delighted to be bringing this magnificent stone back to the market.  The extraordinary size of this 59.60-carat diamond, paired with its richness of colour, surpasses any known pink diamond recorded in history.”

    QUEK Chin Yeow, Deputy Chairman, Asia, and Chairman International Jewellery, Asia, said: “Over the years Sotheby’s Hong Kong has played host to many outstanding stones and sales; including the 118.28-carat oval D-colour flawless diamond sold in Oct 2013, the still-current world auction record for any white diamond, as well as the fancy vivid blue 10.10-carat De Beers Millennium Jewel 4 which set a record for any jewel sold at auction in Asia in April 2016. The market for the world’s finest diamonds and gem stones remains buoyant.”

    At 59.60 carats, The Pink Star is more than twice the size of the Graff Pink’ – the 24.78-carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond which currently holds the world auction record for any pink diamond. Sold at Sotheby’s Geneva in 2010 for US$46.2 million the Graff Pink marked an auction record for any diamond or gemstone at the time.

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR US$71.2 MILLION, THE HIGHEST PRICE FOR ANY WORK EVER SOLD AT AUCTION IN ASIA.  IT WAS BOUGHT BY HONG KONG JEWELLER CHOW TAI FOOK AND RENAMED THE CTF PINK.

    A MASTERPIECE BY ZHANG DAQIAN

    Wednesday, March 15th, 2017

    Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) – Lush Mountains in Misty Gleam, 1967

    A masterful splashed ink and colour landscape on gold paper by Zhang Daqian is a highlight at Sotheby’s sale of Fine Chinese Paintings in Hong Kong on April 4.  Among more than 300 lots are masterpieces by Zhang Daqian, many of which were gifts to his close friends, such as the splashed ink and colour landscape on gold paper for Tai Jingnong, a splashed ink lotus painting for Wu Hufan to celebrate his 70th birthday, and red lotuses for his friend Mao Yingchu.  The sale features a number of specially-curated thematic sections, such as an array of paintings and calligraphy previously from the collection of Wu Hufan, along with works of Wu and his students, and the collection of celebrated Guangdong book collector Mo Boji. The sale is expected to bring in around US$20 million.

    C.K. Cheung, Sotheby’s Head of Chinese Paintings Department, said: “This spring, we are pleased to present significant works in considered thematic sections that reflect the department’s meticulous sourcing approach. Not only do these groupings emphasise each work’s intrinsic artistic value, they also put into context the artists’ relationships and place in the wider art world, as well as his or her artistic orientation. Once kept in the hands of revered private collectors, many of these rare works boast impeccable provenance, and several are fresh to market.”