Artfact Live! March Auction Results Roundup With increased traffic, exceptional sales and bidders eager to buy, online sales at Artfact were stronger than ever in March.
News-Antique.com - Apr 12,2011 - (Boston, MA) – With increased traffic, exceptional sales and bidders eager to buy, online sales at Artfact were stronger than ever in March. Asian art and antiques dominated with successful auctions from Doyle New York, I.M. Chait and Freeman’s accounting for almost $1 million dollars in online sales. Books were another popular category, with more than 700 online bidders registered for Charlton Hall’s Finefrock Collection of Rare Books & Silver and a 62% online sell-through rate during National Book Auctions March 20th sale. Records were also broken at Vectis Auctions Ltd., which set yet another world record price for plastic figures on March 30th, and Swann Auction Galleries, which posted their best online results since joining Artfact Live! in 2009.
Antique Helper, “March Art & Antiques Featuring Asian Antiques” – March 19, 2011
Chinese Kangxi Porcelain Beaker Vase
Price Realized: $23,000
Collected by royalty, robber barons and artists like James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Kangxi porcelain is prized for its expressive, detailed scenes which can be at times humorous, bold and insightful. The Kangxi porcelain beaker sold by Antique Helper on March 19th includes a Manchurian hunting scene on the flared neck and base with a flowering branch motif in the middle. Though it was estimated to bring just $3,000 to $5,000, bidding quickly soared as several online bidders competed fiercely for the 17th century vase. Three minutes and sixty-five bids later, the vase sold online for $23,000.
http://www.artfact.com/catalog/viewLot.cfm?lotRef=7317f38ceb&scp=c&ri=3
Freeman’s, “Asian Arts” March 19, 2011
Pair of Chinese Huanghuali Tapering Cabinets
Price Realized: $68,650
A member of the rosewood family, huanghuali – literally “yellow flowering pear wood” – can range from reddish-brown to golden-yellow with the finest examples displaying a translucent, shimmering surface with abstract patterns. Among the highlights of Freeman's March 19th auction was a pair of Chinese huanghuali tapering cabinets estimated at $30,000 to $50,000. With strong online bidding throughout the auction, the cabinets went on to sell online for $68,650 (including buyers premium).
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/pair-of-chinese-huanghuali-tapering-cabinets,-,-t-76-c-1dd73da060
Be-Hold, “Be-Hold 56” – March 23, 2011
Tomoko and Mother by W. Eugene Smith
Price Realized: $7,600
From 1971 to 1973 American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith lived and worked in Minamata, Japan in an effort to bring attention to the effects of Minamata disease – a form of mercury poisoning. Though Smith took thousands photos during his stay, it was a photo of Tomoko Uemura and her mother that was regarded as Smith’s most poignant work. Though Smith wanted the shot to display the full effects the disease had wrought on Tomoko, her mother Ryoko was keen to have her daughter portrayed in a sympathetic manner and suggested using the family bathing chamber for the shoot. Withdrawn from further publication in 1997, the print sold by Be-hold on March 23rd was a vintage print exhibited at the International Center for Photography from 1973-75. Estimated at $2,500 to $3,500, the print sold online for $7,600.
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/tomoko-and-mother-by-w.-eugene-smith-83-c-7fb5901575
I.M. Chait, “Important Natural History Auction” – March 24, 2011
Exceptional Gemstone Ammonite
Price Realized: $45,000
Arguably the rarest
