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Chinese Works of Art

14 Asia Week Results That Topped $1 Million

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Eight days of exhibition, five days of sales and eleven auctions of Asian art brought Sotheby’s New York a combined of $78.4 million, far exceeding the pre-sale estimate. Works sold to collectors in Europe, Asia and the Americas included Zhang Daqian’s $6.6 Million Water And Sky Gazing After Rain In Splashed Color, one of the top lots of Asia Week across all of New York. See the 14 artworks that surpassed one million dollars.

Asia Week

14 Asia Week Results That Topped $1 Million

  • Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien), Water And Sky Gazing After Rain in Splashed Color. Lot sold for $6,550,400.
    The 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.

    The Chew Family Collection of Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    Sale Total: $13,281,150
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  • An Exceptionally Rare and Important Blue and White Ewer, Xuande Mark and Period. Lot Sold for $ 3,135,000.
    Dedicated to the first century of the Ming Dynasty, the first of the Chinese Works of Art auctions at Sotheby’s New York climbed to $9.4 million, above its high estimate. The selected group was led by an Exceptionally Rare and Important Blue and White Ewer, Xuande Mark and Period. From the Detring / von Hanneken Collection, the elegant work of art from the 15th century sold to a private Asian collector for $3,135,000.

    MING: Luminous Dawn of Empire
    Sale Total: $9,394,500
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  • An Extremely Rare Blue and White 'Lotus Bud' Vase, Ming Dynasty, Chenghua Period. Lot Sold for $2,895,000.
    The present bottle – an extremely rare upright vessel from the imperial manufacture of this period – is most unusually fashioned and masterfully executed. Geng Baochang, who illustrates it in colour in his standard work on Ming and Qing porcelain, calls this bottle a model example (dianxing) of Chenghua blue-and-white (Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, p. 88).

    MING: Luminous Dawn of Empire
    Sale Total: $9,394,500
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  • An Extremely Rare and Important Archaic Bronze Ritual Wine Vessel and Cover (You), Shang Dynasty, Yinxu Period. Lot sold for $1,935,000.
    From the Shang Dynasty, this 1,500-year-old masterpiece of magnificent presence and patina is a testament to skills of its artisans as well as the care of its previous owners. Previously published in Beijing in the 1930s, the work was offered once before on 30 March 1978 in our London salesroom. 170 lots form Important Chinese Art achieved $15.8 million in total – well in excess of its high estimate of $14.2 million, and with over half of the lots surpassing expectations.

    Important Chinese Art
    Sale Total: $15,805,000
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  • Zhou Chen (Circa 1455-After 1536), Walking Along The Willow Bank. Lot sold for $1,911,000.
    Sotheby’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.

    Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    Sale Total: $13,453,250
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  • A Large and Rare Bronze Figure of Ekadashamukha Lokeshvara Tibet, 13th Century. Lot Sold for $1,635,000.
    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.

    Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art
    Sale Total: $6,911,250 
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  • A Large and Important Famille-Verte 'Investiture of The Gods' Rouleau Vase, Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period. Lot Sold for $1,575,000.
    Personally selected by collector Jeffrey P. Stamen, 91 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).

    Kangxi: The Jie Rui Tang Collection
    Sale Total: $4,469,000
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  • An Exceptional Gilt-Bronze Figure of Manjushri, Yongle Mark and Period. Lot sold for $1,335,000.
    Particularly fine for the gentle sway of the torso, which compliments the curves of the adornments to create a sense of movement, this figure reflects the Chinese taste of the early-Ming court. The well-defined waist and broad shoulders exemplify Indo-Nepalese traditions that were introduced into China during the Yuan dynasty and served as the foundation of the Sino-Tibetan style. Additionally, the craftsman has expertly fused the Tibetan love of ornamentation, seen in the luxurious jewelery, with the delicacy of detail, masterful casting, and the naturalism in style of China. Notably, while Tibetan figures were often embellished with inlaid semi-precious stones, these have been omitted in accordance with the aesthetic of the early Ming court.

    MING: Luminous Dawn of Empire
    Sale Total: $9,394,500
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  • An Inscribed and Dated 'Huanghuashi' Limestone Buddhist Stele, Eastern Wei Dynasty, Dated Xinghe Third Year, Corresponding To 541. Lot sold for $1,335,000.
    Richly carved with a vibrant scene of veneration, the present carving represents the phenomenon of the emergence of stone steles as an important Buddhist sculptural medium within Chinese history. It stems from the dynamic growth of Buddhism in the 5th century, which saw the formation of Buddhist devotional societies throughout China. These groups sparked a burst of creativity in the production of religious art as devotees fervently commissioned steles to be made, as such acts of personal devotion or accumulation of merits were linked to their future life. Subsequently, a variety of regional styles flourished in the 6th century, distinct from that of famous monumental cave temple carvings.

    Jingyatang: Treasures of Chinese Buddhist Sculpture
    Sale Total: $3,033,000
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  • Wang Hui, Landscapes. Lot sold for $ 1,335,000.
    Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    Sale Total: $13,453,250
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  • A Rare and Large Celadon-Glazed Lobed Baluster-form Vase, Qianlong Seal Mark and Period. Lot sold for $1,239,000.
    Five bidders chased a Rare and Large Celadon-Glazed Lobed Baluster-Form Vase to $1.2 million, more than double its high estimate. Deceptively simple in form and design, this vase markedly contrasts with the richly ornamented decorative style that is generally associated with the Qianlong period, and illustrates the technical perfection achieved by craftsmen working at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen.


    Important Chinese Art
    Sale Total: $15,805,000
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  • A Rare Pair Of Famille-Verte 'Romance of the Western Chamber' Cups. Kangxi Marks and Period. Sold for $1,155,000.
    Strong prices followed on the robust morning session of Important Chinese Art sale, in which a seven minute-bidding battle between seven collectors elevated a Rare Pair of Famile-Verte ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’ Cups, Kangxi Period, far past its pre-sale estimate of $100/150,000 to a final price of $1.2 million.

    Important Chinese Art
    Sale Total: $15,805,000
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  • A Magnificent and Monumental Grey Schist Figure of Standing Buddha Ancient Region of Gandhara, Kushan Period, 2nd/3rd Century. Lot sold for $1,095,000.
    This highly important sculpture is a superb representative example of the Gandharan style of art which flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from roughly the first through the fifth centuries of the Common Era. The region of Gandhara which comprised parts of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan, was strategically located at the hub of the ancient Silk Routes, and was an area of prime military and commercial significance in antiquity. The region was particularly influenced by Hellenistic culture resulting from the military campaign of Alexander the Great in the fourth Century BCE. The legacy of Hellenism that he left in his wake was integrated with local traditions creating a multi-cultural lexicon out of which was born the Gandharan School, a unique amalgam of East and West.

    Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art
    Sale Total: $ 6,911,250
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  • Wen Zhengming, The Red Cliff, With Calligraphy Of "Ode To The Red Cliff" In Running Script. Lot sold for $1,095,000.
    Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
    Sale Total: $13,453,250
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