Chinese Works of Art

Asian art sales are always unpredictable, more often than not in a positive sense.

Jade remains ever-popular in the Chinese art field, although the market has become selective.

Two Qing soapstone seals sold to a Chinese bidder for Dkr1.1m (£130,640), around 100 times their estimate, at Bruun Rasmussen (24 % buyer’s premium) in Copenhagen on November 29.

December is traditionally a month when Paris focuses attention on sales of Asian art, with auctions in the rooms across the city and at the Drouot centre.

This carved wooden figure of Guanyin dating to the Song dynasty (900-1279 AD) will be the headline entry of the Asian art sale to be held by Leclère at Drouot on December 16.

The Jean-Claude Lepileur (1926-2016) collection of Chinese archaic bronzes offered as a stand-alone collection at Gorringe’s in Lewes on November 28 totalled £582,000.

Despite the imperfections of the market for Chinese works of art, for many regional auctioneers this still vibrant area has done much to offset the soft prices for brown furniture which used to underpin the home market.

This collection of late Qing dynasty Chinese hair ornaments fashioned as bats, flowers and foliage and set with kingfisher feathers, coral, jade and pearls is part of a group of 30 lots from the collection of Evelyn Williams Medows Norie (1862-1915) which is on offer at Bruun Rasmussen on November 29.

More evidence that Chinese lots can leave auctioneers sitting pretty came in sales north and south.

Glasgow saleroom Mulberry Bank will offer a late 18th century Qing famille rose bottle vase with an estimate of £1.5m-2m in its October 20-21 auction.

Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire sold a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period dish for £230,000 (plus premium) on September 29.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong autumn series posted benchmark sums in two Chinese works of art categories. Records were broken for both ceramics and carved jade.