The Financial Times checks in on Christie’s Hong Kong sales where they find lots of heat on wine and diamonds but little left for Chinese ceramics. What gives? the FT asks.

It’s the sellers. The reserve prices for some items were set too high on the vendors’ insistence, says François Curiel, President of Christie’s Asia. This may well have been the case for Wednesday’s sale of imperial Chinese ceramics and works of art, where over a third of the lots were left unsold.

These tend to be long-term owners who would have wanted to hang on to their collections if prices hadn’t gone up so much in recent years, says Mr Curiel.

There’s another problem with vendors, he says. It has become more difficult to convince collectors to part from their treasures, which explains the sharp drop in sales volume. “There are fewer lots for sale because of market uncertainties. People don’t know where to invest their money if they sell. Those with no specific investment plans will hang on to their collections today,” says Mr Curiel. The five-day sales yielded US$351.7m compared with last year’s US$515m.

Weak Art Market? Blame the Sellers (Financial Times)