Results from the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

New York’s Asia Week is over but the reckoning is just beginning. Here’s the data from the sales of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at both houses. The data doesn’t include Christie’s sale of snuff bottles in either year.

The interesting numbers are the rise in overall value and the average price. Though the overall value rose slightly more than 10%, the average price only rose 3%. This is especially interesting when the slight decrease in sell-through is factored in.

The chart below gives the real answer. Two pieces bid far above the estimates account for the most of the increase in value suggesting that the top end of the market is propping up the lower end where prices would seem to be weakening. Just look at the shift in proportion of the top ten lots to overall sale value from 35% to 45%.

If you’re looking for the most desirable lot in the sale, it has to be this brush pot that sold for a huge multiple of its estimate.