Date: Fri 03-Apr-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Asia

Full Text:

Sotheby's Asia Week Brings Record Total Of $17.4 Million

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NEW YORK CITY -- Sotheby's concluded its March 1998 Asia Week on March 25 with

a record total of $17.4 million.

Nearly 2,000 outstanding examples of art, paintings, and furniture from India,

Southeast Asia, China and Japan were offered throughout the week-long sales

series.

Excellent prices were achieved in every category. Several auction records were

established, including a record for any sale of Indian and Southeast Asian

art, the highest price ever paid for Indian and Southeast Asian art, and a

record for Himalayan art at auction.

"The record results of our week-long series of sales confirm the current

strength of the market for Asian art in New York City," commented Carlton

Rochell, director of Sotheby's Asian division in New York. "Despite little

participation by Asian buyers, strong prices were achieved in virtually every

category, due to solid American and European buying. The series was

highlighted by a record sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art, as well as

property from two exceptional private collections, Jakob Goldschmidt and Earl

Morse, which attracted considerable interest."

Indian & Southeast

Asian Art

A standing-room-only crowd packed Sotheby's main salesroom to witness a

record-setting sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art, which brought a total

of $6.9 million. Bidders from around the world vigorously competed throughout

the sale for more than 400 examples of paintings and sculpture from Tibet,

Nepal, India and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Several new auction records were achieved. A Fifth Century Indian head of

Buddha sold for a million dollars, the highest price ever paid for Indian and

Southeast Asian art at auction. At least five bidders vied for the Gupta

mottled red sandstone head from Uttar Pradesh, Mathura region, from the estate

of Earl Morse. Competition drove the final price to more than three times its

pre-sale estimate of $300,000. The buyer was London dealer Eskenazi, Inc.

The sale also included a Sino-Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Dharmapala

Mahakala, Imperial China, Fifteenth Century. It sold to a private foundation

for $690,000, a record for Himalayan art at auction.

This figure is said to have originally come from the summer capital of Jehol,

North of Peking, where it was purchased by a Swedish explorer, Sven Hedin,

during his 1928-33 expedition to China on behalf of Vincent Bendix, chairman

of the Bendix corporation in Chicago. It was subsequently exhibited at the New

York City World Fair in 1939 and had been estimated to bring $250/350,000.

Chinese Art,

Chinese Snuff Bottles

"The strong results of the sale affirm the continued strength of New York as

the center for buying Asian art. I am extremely pleased that the market is so

broad-based with strong participation from North and South America, Europe and

Asia. All of the top lots sold today with competitive bidding," said James

Godfrey, director of Sotheby's Chinese works of art department in New York.

The top lot of the sale, an archaic bronze vessel, Western Zhou Dynasty, circa

1000, BC, was one of the most significant ancient Chinese bronzes to come on

the market in the last several years and sold for $288,500. Among a group of

glazed and unglazed pottery tomb figures from the Tang Dynasty was a

beautifully and realistically modeled sancai-glazed pottery figure of a horse,

Tang Dynasty, which sold for $222,500. The horse stands 27 inches tall and no

closely related example appears to have been published.

A white-glazed pottery figure of an elephant surmounted by a candle holder,

Tang Dynasty, from the Jakob Goldschmidt collection, sold for $167,500. A

large and rare famille verte dish, Kangxi period, finely painted in bright

enamels with two ladies wearing long flowing robes in a garden setting, sold

for $112,500, nearly three times its high estimate.

Japanese Works of Art

An Eighteenth Century Japanese porcelain horse was the highlight of the

Japanese works of art sale. It sold for $838,500, far surpassing its pre-sale

estimate of $600,000. Two bidders vied for this kakiemon porcelain figure of a

horse, late Seventeenth Century, which came from the celebrated collection of

Jakob Goldschmidt. This striking and finely modeled horse is decorated in the

highly refined kakiemon enamel palette. Figures, by their very nature fragile

and difficult to ship, are highly prized. Of the various models produced,

horses of this type appear to be the largest and are extremely rare, with only

three other examples known to exist.

According to Ryoichi Iida, Sotheby's Japanese works of art specialist,

"Today's sale was one of the strongest in recent years. We were extremely

pleased to see new buyers actively participating as well as an increase in

participation from private collectors. All categories performed well today,

evidenced by the solid percentage sold by lot."

The sale also included inro from the collection of the late Charles

Greenfield, which brought $1.7 million. According to Neil Davey, Sotheby's

Japanese works of art specialist, "The sale of Japanese inro from the renowned

collection of the late Charles Greenfield was a very good success. Good, clean

and nice designs commanded strong prices, evidenced by the top ten lots of the

sale, which nearly all sold far in excess of their estimates.

"An international group of buyers competed throughout the sale. Considered one

of the great collectors in the field, Charles Greenfield assembled his

collection with great attention to aesthetic design and was less interested in

condition. A number of pieces failed to sell today because of condition

problems."

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Chinese Paintings

The results of the sale indicated the continued selectiveness of the market.

The top lot, an album of ten leaves entitled Landscapes Inspired by Du Fu, by

the master painter of the Seventeenth Century, Shitao (1642-1707), sold for

$233,500. There was a noticeable increase in new buyers, younger collectors

and interest from Western collectors. Decreased bidding from Taiwan

contributed to the high buy-in rate.

Arcade Asian art added another $429,611 to the total.