More on Sotheby's Hong Kong Sale

James Pomfret of Reuters has a good preview on the Sotheby's Hong Kong April 4-8 sale. As mentioned in an earlier post, the volume and estimates for auction items are down considerably from last years sale. The plan is very similar to many of the large auction houses, reduce quantity, increase quality across the sale and set realistic estimates for both consignors and purchasers.

Pomfret states While the expected sales tally is substantially lower than a year ago, Sotheby's is hoping the Asian art market will show signs of convalescing in the first of its biannual flagship regional sales this year, often seen as a market barometer.

"The actual feeling is that the mood is much, much better than what we experienced in the fall last year," said Kevin Ching, the Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby's Asia.

"We made the necessary adjustments, like we decided to only present fresh objects with great provenance, and adjusted prices to reflect the market," he told Reuters.

Pomfret continues Over 1,700 objects will be hammered off at Sotheby's Asia sales from April 4-8, including Chinese classical and contemporary paintings, imperial ceramics, jewellery and watches.

Among the highlights are a Tang dynasty tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl octagonal box which could fetch over HK$40 million ($5.16 million). A Qing dynasty Qianlong celadon-glazed reticulated vase could go for $HK20 million ($2.58 million), while a painting of "Mount Jiuhua" by Chinese master Li Keran could make $500,000.

The sale will include Sotheby's first major wine auction in Hong Kong which is positioning itself as a wine hub, with $3 million of fine vintages expected to be auctioned off.

To read the full Reuters article, click HERE.