Christie's Hong Kong Sales

Christie's Honk Kong sales have just concluded and I hope to get a consolidated report shortly. If and when that is released, I will report on the status of the sales. From what I gather the sales have been strong yet not over the top either. Some of the items in the sale, if considered overpriced where passed on. So far the auctions are doing well, and are tracking above pre sale high estimates.

Le-Min Lim writing for Bloomberg reports that English dealer Richard Littleton was the winning bidder of a 500-year-old bronze statue of the Amitayus Buddha for $9 million, beating out several mainland Chinese collectors and dealers (see image).

Lim reports

London dealer Richard Littleton wrested the Buddhist figure, bearing the mark of Ming-era Emperor Xuande, from at least three other Chinese bidders yesterday after rebuffing his last rival seated across the aisle with a HK$70 million ($9 million) offer, against host Christie’s International’s estimate of HK$30 million.

“It’s a very reasonable price for such a rare piece,” said Littleton, in an interview at the saleroom. “I’m confident it will be a very good investment.”

Littleton’s purchase of a top Chinese antique in Hong Kong, the world’s hub for Chinese antiquities trade, is the first by a European or American at the city’s auctions in about 1 1/2 years since the start of the 2008-2009 global credit crisis. In that period, Chinese buyers supplanted the Americans at the top end of the market.

China stock tycoon Liu Yiqian’s purchase of a dragon-motif wooden seat in October for a record HK$86 million became synonymous with the nation’s new buying power at art auctions abroad. Neither Liu nor his wife Wang Wei, who spent millions bidding for Chinese contemporary art, was at Christie’s auction.

To read the complete Bloomberg article, click HERE.