Paris, 20 December 2012
Christie’s recently announced its sale of Asian art organised on 19 December 2012 made a turnover of €18,446,525. It is a record for an Asian art sale at Christie’s France. This event allowed the sale of the 2012 most expensive artwork as well as the best result for an Asian art piece at Christie’s France.
The key piece of the sale was a Guanyin wood sculpture originated from Northern China, dated from the 13th century. Being purchased for €9,025,000, it was the best hammer price for an Asian art piece sold in France in 2012. While the sculpture was previously estimated between €200,000 and €300,000, its final price rose to thirty times more. We can as well mention the sale of two Hu porcelain vases enamelled with bronze imitation from the Qing dynasty. Marked with the seal of Emperor Qianlong, these vases reached far beyond their previous estimations (€100,000 to €150,000) and fetched €1,073,000. A jade goblet with Mongol style engravings, dated from the Jichou year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign, seduced the collectors as well and was purchased for €961,000, six times its highest estimate.
Considering the results, Christie’s stated “another great mobilisation of Asian collectors making 68% of all bidders along with European ones reaching 23%”. They were all seduced by the rare and high-quality pieces offered on sale.