Duncan Mavin spots the big ticket works of art in Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale:

• Among the highlights of Sotheby’s spring sale: a white jade Qianlong period seal that earned HK$95.86 million, about double its presale estimate
• an 18th Century Imperial Court necklace that fetched HK$67.86 million, or about eight times the estimate.

Both were auction record setters (for any type of Chinese seal and for any Chinese Imperial jewelry) and anonymous winning bids were met in the auction room with a round of applause from a largely Chinese crowd captivated by determined struggles between persistent bidders.  “It seems like we are in a one-way elevator upward in our market today,” said Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s senior director for China and Southeast Asia. “The prices were incredible. The bidding was extremely fierce.”

Auction Records Smashed by Chinese (Wall Street Journal)