A celadon glazed longevity Ruyi handled vase, Qianlong estimated at US $1.3-1.5 million sold for $11.4 million US.
No less than 16 record-breaking auctions staged by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong over the last five days realised a total of US$538 million. This is the highest grand total ever achieved by any international auction house operating in Asia. Among the many records broken were the $23.3 million paid for Zeng Fanzhi’s The Last Supper and the $30.6 million paid for a 118.2 carat diamond, the record for a diamond at auction. Today there was a record for a Qing monochrome porcelain. A Qing Celadon-Glazed ‘Longevity’ Ruyi-Handled Vase sold for $11.4 million.
The top lot at Sotheby’s sale in Beijing in December is Abstraction by Zao Wou-ki estimated at $5-7.7 million. It has been consigned for sale by the Art Institute of Chicago.
Zao Wou-ki
Abstraction (click to enlarge)
Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said: “With these latest sales in Hong Kong, we’ve taken the pulse of the Asian art market – it’s racing, and we are racing with it. Bidders from 35 countries participated in our most international sales series ever, at the same time as our reach extends in Mainland China. In our Hong Kong sale rooms these last few days, countless records have tumbled, sale after sale has made more than any previous auction of its kind, and now – with a final total of $US$538m- we’ve reached a high watermark for auctions in Asia. From this vantage point, we now look with a keen eye towards Beijing.”