SOTHEBY’S SPRING 2007 SALES IN HONG KONG TOTAL HK$1,050,186,100 Sotheby’s four-day sale series in Hong Kong this spring, which took place this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, totaled HK$1,050,186,100.
News-Antique.com - Apr 11,2007 - PRESS RELEASE
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SOTHEBY’S SPRING 2007 SALES IN HONG KONG TOTAL HK$1,050,186,100
SALE OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART ACHIEVES RECORD TOTAL OF
HK$214,472,400 AT SOTHEBY’S
XU BEIHONG’S MASTERPIECE,
PUT DOWN YOUR WHIP, COMMANDS HK$72,000,000, SETTING RECORD FOR ANY CHINESE PAINTING AT AUCTION
EXTRAORDINARY GROUP OF SEVEN JADE IMPERIAL
ARCHER’S RINGS BRINGS HK$47,360,000
Hong Kong, April 10, 2007 – Sotheby’s four-day sale series in Hong Kong this spring, which took place this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, totaled HK$1,050,186,100. The sales, which included over 1,200 lots of Chinese art, jewelry and watches, were estimated to bring HK$891.9 million/1.162 billion*.
Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said: “It has been an extraordinary week at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, with Asian buyers flying in from the region and farther. We are very privileged to have been entrusted with remarkable works across many different categories, particularly for Xu Beihong’s extraordinary masterpiece, Put Down Your Whip, which set a new and important record for any Chinese painting at auction. The market remains very strong at the top end with new buyers also entering each season.”
Henry Howard-Sneyd, Deputy Chairman of Europe and Asia and Managing Director of Sotheby’s Asia, continued: “With this spring series of sales in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s builds on five years of spectacular growth. Sales tripled during this period, which saw the emergence of collectors from the People’s Republic of China as well as a global spread of collecting across all categories. As auctioneer, it was particularly gratifying
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to be awarded ‘white gloves’ for the 100% success of the Collection of a Parisian Connoisseur, but high selling rates were a feature of several categories in the series.”
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART – April 7, 2007
• Total: HK$214,472,400, a record total at Sotheby’s (est. HK$116.4/157.9 million)
• The top lot of the week was Xu Beihong’s Put Down Your Whip, which commanded HK$72,000,000, a record for any Chinese painting at auction, as well as for the artist (lot 29, est. in the region of HK$30 million).
• Other artist records were set for works by Liu Ye, Wei Rong, Michael Lin and Hou Junming at auction.
• Buyer breakdown by lot: 76.% Asia (28.7% Hong Kong, 26.3% Taiwan, 12% China, 4.8% Singapore, 2.4% Indonesia; remaining Korea, Japan and Thailand); 13.2% Europe; 9.6% Americas; and 0.6% Middle East
CHINESE WORKS OF ART, INCLUDING THREE SALES – April 8, 2007
THREE SALE TOTAL: HK$451,275,200 (est. HK$383.43/517.43 million)
• Twelve lots fetched over HK$10 million.
• Buyer breakdown by lot: 78.2% Asia (37.1% Hong Kong, 19.4% China; 18.5% Taiwan; 1.6% Macau); 20.2% Americas; 1.6% Europe
Important Chinese Art from the Collection of a Parisian Connoisseur
• Total: HK$128,304,000 (est. HK$63.9/87.8 million)
• A Superbly Decorated and Rare Faceted ‘Famille-rose’ Vase, bearing the seal mark of the Yongzheng period, sold for HK$22,720,000, many times over its
