50 Years New in Asia

2 023 marks the 50th anniversary of Sotheby’s in Asia, where we were the first international auction house to establish a permanent presence in the region with the opening of our Hong Kong office. Today, Sotheby’s is much more than an auction house. Sotheby’s is destination for cultural expertise and appreciation. It is a hub for the most discerning collectors and lovers of fine arts and luxury in Asia as well as a gateway for the rest of the world to discover the cultural heritage and creativity of Asia.

To commemorate this momentous occasion, our anniversary year is overflowing with extraordinary events, exhibitions, and landmark auctions set to take place throughout the region. It is a celebration of a legacy that we have created hand in hand with our community of collectors here in Asia, and alongside the region’s great museums and institutions.

Sotheby’s 50 Years New in Asia honours both the important achievements and milestones of the past and visions of the future. As we celebrate the legacy of five decades, we also embark on the journey in the next era of Sotheby’s Asia, and the next 50 years to come.

Playing in 0:05:

1973
1975
1980-81
1985
1986-87
1988
1992
1996
1998

1973

The first international auction house to operate in Asia, Sotheby & Co.'s inaugural Hong Kong auction achieves a record US$ 2.3m for a fluted Xuande mark and period bowl, a then-record for porcelain
1975

Sotheby Park Bernet mounts its first ever auction of Important Jewels in Asia
1980-81

The record-breaking auctions of the collection of legendary ceramics dealer and connoisseur Edward T. Chow represent the first of Sotheby's Hong Kong's famous single-owner sales
1985

Sotheby's phenomenally successful first jadeite sale in Hong Kong features a necklace, ring and earclips set from the Imperial Collection of the Empress Dowager Cixi, which fetches HK$ 2.86 million
1986-87

The fabled T.Y. Chao collection goes under the hammer, setting several records including HK$ 2.3 million for a pair of blue-ground Imperial birthday bowls
1988

Sotheby's becomes the first international auction house to secure an auction licence in mainland China, and holds the country's first ever international charity auction, The Return of Marco Polo, in Beijing's Forbidden City
1992

Sotheby's Hong Kong sold Zhang Daqian's Grand View of the Blue Mountains (1962) for a then-world record of HK$ 7.48 million
1996

Sotheby's holds its first auction in Singapore, which is followed by its first auction in Indonesia just a year later
1998

Sotheby's establishes a watch department in Asia

2004
2009
2014
2014
2022
2022
2022

2004

Sotheby's mounts its inaugural sale of Chinese contemporary art, which brings in HK$ 22.96 million
2009

Sotheby's Asia achieves a white-glove inaugural wine auction, with 750 lots fetching a combined HK$ 49.9 million, and goes on to achieve an extraordinary run of 16 consecutive white-glove auctions
2014

The Hutton-Mdivani necklace, one of the world's most significant pieces of jadeite jewellery, sets a new global auction record for jadeite jewellery and for Cartier at US$ 27.44 million
2014

A palm-sized Ming dynasty 'chicken cup' from the celebrated Meiyintang collection sells for US $36 million, a new auction record for Chinese porcelain
To celebrate the Asia expansion of Buy Now – Sotheby’s premier digital destination for art and luxury – a two-week exhibition titled “Sotheby’s En Route” was hosted at Pacific House in Central, Hong Kong’s luxury district. The exhibition showcased more than 40 rare and exceptional handbags Hermès handbags, Chanel’s CC In Love Heart Belt Bag, Louis Vuitton Artycapucine, and more. Catering to a new cross-collecting era, the expansion of Sotheby’s Buy Now in Asia responds to the increasingly sophisticated purchasing habits and tastes of collectors in the region, of which account for 40% of the global spend at Sotheby’s core luxury auctions, demonstrative that collectors from Asia continue to be a strong force in Sotheby’s global business.

2022

Sotheby's En Route , an exhibition of 40 rare Hermès handbags, marks the Asian launch of Sotheby's Buy Now, a new digital platform for extraordinary objects
2022

Continuing its mission to foster a cross-cultural dialogue around the world, Sotheby's presents its first-ever exhibition in Vietnam, Timeless Souls: Beyond the Voyage – Hồn Xưa Bến Lạ
DIRECTORPHOTO

2022

Zhang Daqian's Landscape after Wang Ximeng soars to HK$370 million, shattering the artist's auction record and becoming the highest amount achieved for a Chinese painting and calligraphy work at Sotheby's

On This Day

11 March 1744

Sotheby's holds it's first sale in London at Exeter Exchange on the Strand, an auction of "several Hundred scarce and valuable Books in all branches of Polite Literature" that fetched a grand total of £826.