CHINESE WORKS OF ART ACHIEVES $34 MILLION— Led by $3.1 Million Ming Dynasty Blue & White Ewer —

$15 MILLION FOR INDIAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART— Highest Total in a Decade —

NEW YORK, 23 March 2018 – Eight days of exhibition, five days of sales and ten auctions of Asian art brought Sotheby’s New York a total of $75.6 million, exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $50 million. Works of arts spanning over 3,500 years were sold to collectors in Europe, Asia and the Americas, including 14 lots over a million dollars. Auctions of Asian Art continue in Hong Kong with the Spring 2018 Sale Series opening to the public next week.

Henry Howard-Sneyd, Sotheby’s Chairman of Asian Art, Europe & the Americas, remarked: “We are delighted with the results from this week – one of the best-performing Sotheby’s Asia Week sales series in recent history. Across all ten sales, with one more scheduled for tomorrow morning, we saw vigorous competition for works of art at all levels – approximately half of the works offered achieved above their high estimates, including several, such as the filigree gold ornament  from the Portland Museum of Art and Zhang Daqian’s monumental scroll, achieving multiples of their estimates.”

Christina Prescott-Walker, Divisional Director for Asian Art at Sotheby’s New York, noted: “Since the opening of our exhibition last week, we’ve welcomed over 5,000 visitors to our New York headquarters, filled with over a thousand works of art. From Imperial Chinese porcelain and modern paintings to exquisite Indian miniatures, we were thrilled to find our salesrooms packed with clients, even with a winter snowstorm brewing outside.”

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIAN ARTSale Total: $2,791,500The first of three Indian & Southeast Asian Art auctions, Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art was led by Raja Ravi Varma’s Untitled (Tilottama), which achieved a robust price of $795,000. Works by the artist – a National Art Treasure whose paintings are seldom offered at international auction – are cherished for their intersection of Western Academic Realism and Indian subject matter.

MING: LUMINOUS DAWN OF EMPIRESale Total: $9,394,500Dedicated to the first century of the Ming Dynasty, the first of the Chinese Works of Art auction at Sotheby’s New York climbed to $9.4 million, above its high estimate. The curated group was led by an Exceptionally Rare and Important Blue and White Ewer, Xuande Mark and Period. Emerging from the Detring / von Hanneken Collection – which has achieved $3.8 million thus far, against a pre-sale estimate of $752,500/1,033,500 – the elegant work of art from the 15th century sold to a private Asian collector for $3,135,000.

JINGYATANG: TREASURES OF CHINESE BUDDHIST SCULPTURESale Total: $3,033,000The group of masterpieces of Chinese Buddhist sculpture from esteemed Asian private collection Jingyatang was highlighted by a Carved Limestone Head of Avalokiteshvara. From the Sui Dynasty, which lasted from 581 – 618 A.D., the bodhisattva of compassion found significant interest in the salesroom, selling for $843,000, above its pre-sale high estimate.

KANGXI: THE JIE RUI TANG COLLECTIONSale Total: $4,469,000Personally selected by collector Jeffrey P. Stamen, 72 pieces of Kangxi porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection sold for $4.5 million, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate of $3.8 million. The group was led by a Large and Important Famille-Verte ‘Investiture of the Gods’ Rouleau Vase from the Qing Dynasty, which established a new auction record for a Rouleau vase of this type; over the course of seven minutes, eight bidders competed for the wucai­-decorated vase, bringing the final price to $1,575,000 (estimate $400/600,000).

INSPIRED: THE GERSON AND JUDITH LEIBER COLLECTION OF CHINESE ARTSale Total: $1,305,563Assembled over seven decades, The Gerson and Judith Leiber Collection of Chinese Art was led by a Rare Blue and White ‘Luduan’ Censer and Cover from the Ming Dynasty. A direct reference for one of Mrs. Leiber’s jewel-encrusted minaudières, the playful and majestic mythical creature soared above its pre-sale estimate of $60/80,000 and fetched $325,000.

THE RICHARD R. & MAGDALENA ERNST COLLECTION OF HIMALAYAN ARTSale Total: $5,173,875The top lot of this collection of rare and superb religious paintings spanning six centuries was a Paubha Depicting a Krishna Temple. From Nepal and dated 17th/18th century, the large-scale painting attracted at least four bidders in the room and on the telephone; estimated at $200/300,000, the painting sold to an institution for $567,000.

INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARTSale Total: $6,911,250With this final sale on Thursday afternoon, the Indian & Southeast Asian Art department at Sotheby’s celebrated its highest results in over a decade. Their seasonal offerings of Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art were highlighted by a Large and Rare Bronze Figure of Ekadashamukha Lokeshvara from Tibet, 13th Century. The towering and glistening work of art sold to a private collector for $1,635,000.

THE CHEW FAMILY COLLECTION OF CHINESE PAINTINGS & CALLIGRAPHYSale Total: $13,281,150The top lot of Asia Week across all auction houses in New York emerged from the Chew Family Collection, which doubled its pre-sale estimate and totaled $13.3 million. Zhang Daqian’s vibrant Water and Sky Gazing After Rain in Splashed Color, an enormous scroll painting that made its public debut this March with exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, achieved $6.6 million. This excellent price, a result of over five bidders competing for five minutes, is the highest price for a work by Zhang Daqian outside of Asia.

FINE CLASSICAL CHINESE PAINTINGS & CALLIGRAPHYSale Total: $13,453,250Sotheby’s New York’s seasonal offering of Fine Classical Chinese Paintings achieved $13.5 million, significantly above its high estimate of $10.1 million. The sale was led by Zhou Chen’s Walking Along the Willow Bank, an ink and color painting on silk from the Joe and Hellen Darion Collection. Estimated at $100/150,000, the work attracted over eight collectors online, in the room and on the telephones. Following a fifteen-minute bidding battle, the 14th/15th century painting sold to a private collector for a final price of $1.9 million to applause.