Results: Christies Chinese Auction Results

Only limited information on the Christie’s Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art: The sale totaled $20,659,175, selling 83% sold by lot, 95% sold by value. 352 lots sold.  The top lot was a rare imperially inscribed Zitan Stand and cover date to the Wuxu year of the reign of the Emperor Qianlong, 1778. The zitan stand and cover were estimated to sell for between $20,000.00 and $30,00.00 and hammered down at an incredible $1.426 million including buyers premium (see image).

The New York Chinese sales have shown some very encouraging signs with strong prices and high buy through rates.  I hope that translates to other market segments, but as I mentioned in yesterdays post and based upon upcoming sales, by the end of September we should  have a better ideas where many markets are heading.  Think positive.

The Christie's catalog stated

The cover and stand very finely carved overall as a ribbon-tied, brocade-wrapped gift divided into quadrants by the ribbon which is superimposed atop the bow by a rectangular panel carved with the characters hu fu yan ('crouching tiger inkstone'), the quadrants carved with different scenes of birds in flight above waves from which rise various flowers and grasses, the interior of the cover with a carved and gilded imperial poem referring to the shape of the inkstone followed by the date and two seals, the top of the stand carved with a four-character inscription, Qianlong yuyong, (for the personal use of Qianlong), followed by a four-character seal, ji xia ling chi, ('a brief moment to practice calligraphy'); together with a flat clay inkstone of recumbent tiger outline, and a clay inkstone cover molded in the round as a crouching tiger, its recessed underside inscribed with the same dated Qianlong poem and seals as the cover of the zitan box, both inkstone and inkstone cover with mottled green patination
Zitan box 6 3/8 in. (16.3 cm.) long; inkstone 5¼ in. (13.3 cm.) long