Sotheby’s started Asia Week with a big brass bang:
Magnificent Ritual Bronzes – Property from the Collection of Julius Eberhardt totaling $16,786,000 – several times the $3.5/5.3 million estimate and 100% sold. Multiple bidders competed for every lot in the packed salesroom, all ten of which exceeded the high estimate. The auction presented the most important group of Chinese archaic bronzes to have appeared at auction since 2007, which were distinguished by their famed provenance. The top lot of the morning was A Bronze Food Vessel, Zuo Bao Yi Gui, Early Western Zhou Dynasty, 11th-10th Century BC, which sold for $6,661,000 more than double the high estimate of $3 million and representing one of the highest prices ever paid for a Chinese Bronze at auction.
