Art Market Monitor

Reuters has a quick recap of the Sotheby’s Hong Kong sales rightly noting that sales exceeded the auction house’s expectations with $168m in total sales, a number that was an 88% (how very Chinese!) over the Spring sales cycle:

“The market is fantastic,” leading Chinese ceramics collector-dealer Robert Chang told Reuters after an auction. [...]

Demand, as has traditionally been the case, was ferocious for the sprinkling of exceptional works cropping up in the sales, including a rare, Qing dynasty “zitan” emperor’s dragon throne which was sold to a Chinese buyer for $11.07 million.

Bloomberg‘s Le-Min Lim spotted the bidding and gives this report:

The final bid, which was seen to be made by the posse of Chinese stock-investor Liu Yiqian, is a record for Chinese furniture. Host Sotheby’s Asia Chief Executive Kevin Ching wouldn’t confirm Liu’s identity as buyer. Liu declined to comment.

“He got it at a bargain,” said Kevin Li, a Taiwanese antiques dealer, in an interview at the venue. “That item is so rare, it will easily resell for HK$200 million in a few years.”

Other highlights included a large blue-and-white Qianlong moonflask that fetched $5.1 million, a superb and rare Ming dynasty Chenghua bowl

“The Chinese (antiques) market is stronger than any other market, it’s going to keep going up, because it’s getting thinner on the ground and more people are buying it, especially in China,” said London-based Asian art dealer Nader Rasti.

The only problem with Reuters’s analysis is their mistaken emphasis on unsold lots. They point to a 57% sell-through on works of art and 77% sell-through on Chinese Contemporary as signs of weakness. But these are not at all bad numbers and in line with a stable market, not an overheated one.

Sotheby’s Autumn Asia Sales Rebound from Spring (Reuters)

Imperial Throne Fetches Record $11.1M at HK Sale (Bloomberg)

Also of Interest:

• Will Asia Lead the Way Out of the Art Doldrums?
  Christie’s Ed Dolman thinks so. That’s what he told Reuters at CEO conference in Scotland: “The strength of these sales...
  
• Sotheby’s Hong Kong Asia Week Final Tally
  Reuters declares Sotheby’s Hong Kong sales a qualified success: Sotheby’s hammered off a total of HK$691 million ($88.6 million) worth...
  
• Asia Week Re-Cap
  The WSJ offers an explanation for the strong Asia weeks sales in the face of a worldwide recession. Here’s Alexandra...
  
• Sotheby’s HK Sale Estimated at $77m
  Reuters has the estimate on Sotheby’s Spring sales in Hong Kong. Last Spring they sold almost three times that amount:...
  
• Asia Week Tallied $55.7m
  New York’s Asia Week is over. We’ll have a more detailed wrap up and analysis next week. In the meantime,...