Christie’s Sales Total $60 Million
NEW YORK CITY: Christie’s concluded its spring Asian Art Week with a combined total of $59,936,375 achieved over four days of sales, March 23′6. Featuring more than 1,000 lots, the sales drew record attendance during the previews and sales, indicating a surge of confidence among global collectors who continue to look for the best in Asian art.
Theow H. Tow, deputy chairman of Christie’s Americas and honorary chairman of Christie’s Asia, said, “Our tremendous achievement is a clear testament to the immense strength of Asian art, with success across all categories. Christie’s sales totaled $60 million, the second highest total for Asian Art Week at Christie’s New York, with a 73 percent market share, and Chinese works of art totaled $40 million, the highest ever achieved at Christie’s New York. We have continued to attract an international and diverse range of buyers who look for exceptional and rare works of good provenance that are attractively estimated. Our totals show that the demand continues to be strong among worldwide collectors and reinforcing market confidence as we go forward into the year.”
Kicking off Christie’s six sales during Asian Art Week was South Asian Modern and contemporary art on March 23, featuring 91 works from the leading Twentieth and Twenty-First Century artists from South Asia, including artists from India and Pakistan. The sale focused on prime examples of many different movements and styles, with highlights including works by Modern masters Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, Maqbool Fida Husain, Akbar Padamsee, Syed Haider Raza and Francis Newton Souza, as well as works from leading contemporary artists Atul Dodiya and TV Santhosh, among many others.
The sale achieved $8,937,000 and was 82 percent sold by lot, 95 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was Syed Haider Raza’s “Gestation,” 1989, realizing $1,202,500.
The sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art achieved $6,131,000 and was 75 percent sold by lot, 80 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was a highly important mottled red sandstone head of a Jina, India, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Gupta period, mid-Fifth Century, realizing $986,500.
On March 24, the firm’s sale of Japanese and Korean art totaled $4,391,375 and was 63 percent sold by lot, 69 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was a rare and important blue and white jar, Joseon dynasty (Eighteenth Century), which sold for $662,500.
The March 25 sale of For the Enjoyment of Scholars: Selections from the Robert H. Blumenfield Collection achieved $13,866,500 and was 71 percent sold by lot, 94 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was Yu Zhiding’s “Happiness through Chan Practice: Portrait of Wang Shizhen,” a handscroll, and a new auction record for a classical Chinese painting sold in the United States, realizing $3,442,500.
The sale of property from the Arthur M. Sackler collections on the same day achieved $4,005,250 and was 96 percent sold by lot, 99 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was a very rare large limestone figure of a kneeling Bodhisattva, Tenth/Twelfth Century, realizing $914,500.
The sale of fine Chinese ceramics and works of art achieved $22,605,250 and was 87 percent sold by lot, 90 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was a rare large white jade figure of Buddha, Eighteenth/Nineteenth Century, realizing $2,322,500.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, www.Christies.com or 212-636-2000.
Sotheby’s Sales Total $22.6 Million
When Sotheby’s Asia week sales concluded, the combined total realized was $22,574,864, well over presale expectations. The top selling lot of the week was “Two Mynas on a Rock,” a 1692 masterpiece by Bada Shanren, which sold for nearly $3 million †many multiples of the estimate and a new record for a classical Chinese painting sold at Sotheby’s in the United States. In the fine Chinese ceramics and works of art sale on March 23, Shanren’s “Two Mynas on a Rock” sold for $2,994,500.
There were also several exceptional prices in the Indian and South East Asian art sale where a record was set for a painting at auction by Manjit Bawa when an untitled work sold for $602,500 †double the high estimate.
Further highlights included an untitled work by MF Husain that fetched $1,058,500, more than five times the high estimate.
Discussing the fine Chinese ceramics and works of art sale, Dr Caroline Schulten, head of the Chinese works of art department at Sotheby’s New York, said, “We are delighted with the result of the spring sale. The price of nearly $3 million for Bada Shanren’s ‘Two Mynas on a Rock’ is a reflection of the compelling beauty of the painting. We are thrilled to have achieved such a stunning price for this masterful depiction of two birds that has not appeared on the market for more than 25 years. Jades, ceramics and furniture also performed well, with particularly strong prices for fresh-to-the-market works priced conservatively.”
“Two Mynas on a Rock” led a strong selection of classical and modern Chinese painting. Several of these achieved superb prices, including, “Scholar” by Zhang Daqian, which had not been offered at auction for more than 50 years, which sold for $902,500, and an “Album Of Figures and Accompanying Calligraphy” by Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-Chien, 1899‱983) and Pu Ru (1896‱963), which sold for more than ten times the high estimate when it fetched $662,500.
A new record for Chinese calligraphy sold in the United States was also set when “Calligraphy in Xing Shu (Running Script) After Zhong Yao’s ‘Zhang Le Tie,'” also by Shanren, sold for $482,500.
Among the highlights in the works of art section of the sale were a number of jades that achieved exceptional prices, including a rare pale celadon jade double-gourd brushwasher, Qing dynasty, Eighteenth Century, which more than doubled the high estimate to sell for $632,500; a rare white jade vase, cover and stand, Qing dynasty, Eighteenth Century, which sold for $392,500; and a rare spinach-green jade “Bajixiang” vase (Meiping), Qianlong seal mark and period, which fetched $314,500.
An untitled painting from 1955 by M.F. Husain achieved the highest price of the auction when it brought $1,058,500, more than five times the high estimate; the work was just one of a number of modern Indian paintings that were enthusiastically received in a group of 74 works, which sold for $5.4 million, with a 97 percent sold by value rate. Paintings by S.H. Raza also achieved a number of strong prices, including “L’inconnu,” which sold for $458,500, and “La Mer,” which fetched $386,500.
Works from private collections that have not been seen at auction for some years performed particularly strongly, most notably with the historically important collection of Emmanuel Schlesinger. All the paintings in the collection sold, totaling $921,650, with a 1959 untitled painting by Tyeb Mehta bringing $566,000.
Himalayan sculpture performed particularly well in the works of art section, with a “Tara, Outer Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar,” from the Seventeenth/Eighteenth Century achieving $290,500. There were also a number of strong prices for property from the Francisco Capelo collection, including $314,500 for a Fourteenth Century Buddha from Tibet, and Head of a Goddess, Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, which comfortably beat the top estimate to sell for $212,500.
There were a number of high prices for paintings from Pakistan, most notably for Allah Bux for whom a new artist record was set when untitled (Portrait) sold for $52,500.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, www.sothebys.com or 212-606-7000.
Snuff Bottle Collection Leads At Bonhams
Bonhams presented Asian art collectors with two robust sales during this spring’s Asia Week.
On March 24, a sale of fine snuff bottles from the collection of Margaret Polak came on the block. Consisting of more than 100 bottles, the highly anticipated auction totaled $911,005 and was 98 percent sold by value.
The top lot was a Suzhou agate bottle that brought $42,700, soaring above its estimate of $6/8,000. An unusual blue overlay glass bottle more than tripled its estimate of $6/10,000, fetching $36,600. Also far exceeding expectations was an inside-painted glass portrait snuff bottle that fetched $36,600 against an estimate of $3/5,000.
Other highlights from the sale include a carved yellow jade bottle ($4/5,000) for $30,500; a white jade double gourd bottle ($3/5,000) that fetched $21,960 and a white overlay blue glass bottle ($3/5,000) that achieved $19,520.
On March 25, the fine Japanese works of art sale featured more than 300 lots of early Twentieth Century Decorative Arts, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century netsuke, inro and armor.
Reaching $64,050, a russet-iron armor was the top lot of the sale. Offered with an Eighteenth Century uchidashi cuirass, the armor drew great collector attention.
Surpassing expectations was a set of 12 hanging scrolls depicting flowers, birds or animals for each month, which more than tripled its estimate of $10/15,000 with a final price of $45,750. Other top performers included a Thirteenth Century gilt-bronze ritual censor that realized $34,160 against an estimate of $18/22,000 and a Nineteenth Century ivory netsuke depicting sumo wrestlers that fetched $24,400 against an estimate of $7/9,000.
The David Swedlow collection of inro and netsuke also sold strongly, with the most sought after lot a Nineteenth Century five-case gold lacquer inro that brought $14,000.
Group managing director of Bonhams Malcolm Barber said, “We were very happy with our active participation in New York Asia Week, and we were particularly happy with the outstanding results of the snuff bottles and the top prices realized for a number of Japanese works of art.
“We were also delighted to have selected snuff bottles previewing from the Bloch collection, which will begin to go under the hammer at Bonhams in Hong Kong this coming May. Visitors to the exhibition remarked on the quality of both the bottles on offer here in New York, and those to be sold in Hong Kong.”
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For more information, www.bonhams.com/us or 212-644-9001.
I.M. Chait Wraps Up Week On A High Note
No longer out-of-town guests, I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers of Beverly Hills, Calif., joined the mainstream Asia Week dealers at the Fuller Building this year. The move paid off with higher than usual preview traffic and a full gallery at the March 27 sale.
I.M. Chait’s reputation for providing spot-on catalog estimates left few wondering about surprises, particularly since the auction was held on the last day of Asia Week. Sales, overall, were steady and strong. The day’s marquee item was an elegant gilt bronze Xuande Bodhisattva. With a Xuande mark and of the period, the Fifteenth Century Ming dynasty Bodhisattva had inspired interest throughout the preview week. It sold for $244,000, well within the catalog estimate.
Minutes later, an antique Sino Tibetan gilt bronze Tara, wearing an ornate crown and adorned in beaded garlands inset with turquoise, coral and glass cabochons, brought $25,520.
The room, comprising an international crowd, primarily Mainland and overseas Chinese, showed enormous interest in all the top lots. For instance, a blue and white Xuande porcelain sprinkler brought $152,500, and a pair of large Tang Sancai glazed horses with floral decorated saddles and trappings made $109,800.
When a carved rhino horn libation cup of open foliate design, with buds and blossoms, came to the floor, it took only seconds for the catalog estimate to be surpassed by three times its amount †the libation cup went to a phone bidder for $73,200.
Other carved ivory items brought enormous interest from the room: a carved ivory Guanyin nearly 5 tall went to a buyer in the second row for $24,400. The next lot, an antique carved ivory tusk titled “Procession,” quickly went for the same amount.
An archaic bronze gui dating to the early Western Zhou dynasty, about 1,000 BCE, found its price at $42,700.
Earlier in the day, a bidding war had broken out over an 18K gold-mounted Islamic royal dagger. Its sheath set with precious stones, the dagger attracted worldwide attention. With four people on the phones, it quickly surpassed the high estimate to make $26,840.
A pair of cloisonné lion candelabra with Buddhist symbols on the animals’ bodies had clearly stirred imaginations. At 15 inches tall, it commanded $12,200. Meanwhile, a Qianlong-style table screen of gilt bronze and cloisonné enamel found its buyer in the room for a price of $11,590.
Another table screen, this of fine celadon jade, incised with a poem on one side and a landscape on the other and set in a fine openwork wood frame, fetched $14,680.
All prices given include the buyer’s premium.
I.M. Chait of Beverly Hills is planning to return to the Fuller Building for Asia Week 2011. I.M. Chait’s next monthly auctions will be April 11 and 25. For more information, www.chait.com , 800-775-5020 or 310-285-0182.
