Blue Diamond Fetches Record $10 Million, Ming Vase $26 Million c.2011 Bloomberg News
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese bidders pushed prices for Ming and bling to records at a Hong Kong auction last night, undaunted by volatility on stock markets across the globe.
The Sotheby’s salesroom erupted in applause after a 6.01 carat blue diamond ring sold for HK$79.1 million ($10 million), the most paid at auction per carat for such a stone.
Competitive bidding at the porcelain sale next door pushed the price on a Ming dynasty porcelain vase to HK$167.8 million, or $21.6 million, including buyer’s premium -- an auction record for a work from that period. The vase fetched more than twice its higher estimate of HK$80 million at hammer prices.
“Chinese art is still going strong,” said London-based art dealer William Qian, who bid unsuccessfully on the vase. He dismissed concern about declining shares and that the world economy is going to be stagnant: “People still buying suggests this is a very healthy form of art to invest in.” Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has slumped by 29.5 percent this year.
The blue-and-white vase was the subject of a 10-minute battle between two Asian telephone bidders. It was one of 32 lots of Imperial porcelain out of 40 works from the Meiyintang private collection that sold in about an hour, raising HK$560 million, compared with an estimate of HK$430 million.
Sotheby’s raised another HK$402 million from selling fine Chinese ceramics and works of art, including imperial seals and lacquer yesterday.
Paintings Sale
Wealthy Chinese keen to repatriate their cultural heritage also helped set a record for 20th-century master Zhang Daqian on Oct. 4. His 1961 color picture “Self Portrait in Yellow Mountains” was the top selling lot. The ink-and-watercolor work fetched HK$46.6 million, almost four times its high estimate of HK$12 million. Other highly sought lots by Lin Fengmian and Qi Baishi sold at several times estimates.
Almost 12 hours of bidding on 364 lots of Chinese fine- paintings on Oct. 4 raised HK$738.3 million ($94.8 million) including fees, the highest for the New York-based auction house in that art category. The presale estimate was HK$200 million at hammer prices.
The most expensive lot in the jewelry sale, a 9.27 carat pink diamond ring with a high estimate of $19 million didn’t sell yesterday. Still, Sotheby’s raised HK$1.6 billion in the first four days, including contemporary and 20th-century Asian art and wine earlier in the week and was on its way to exceeding its HK$2.7 billion estimate for six days of sales. Yesterday’s total has yet to be announced.
Watches and jewelry from the estate of Hong Kong singer and actress Anita Mui also went on sale yesterday, with the watches ending the six-day Autumn sale today.
Buyer’s premium, the commission added to the hammer price of works sold, is 25 percent for the first HK$400,000, 20 percent for lots fetching as much as HK$8 million, and 12 percent above that. The wine premium is a flat 21 percent. Estimates reflect the hammer price, before premium.
Potential buyers who aren’t represented at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre sale can bid via Sotheby’s online bidding system.
--Editors: Mark Beech, Richard Vines.
To contact the reporter on this story Frederik Balfour in Hong Kong at fbalfourbloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoffbloomberg.net