Christie's concluded a series of auctions on Dec. 2 with a grand total of HK$2,628,705,682 / $340,695,666 in Hong Kong. ‘Christie’s autumn auctions in Hong Kong showed that the market is solid,’ commented Rebecca Wei, President of Christie’s Asia.

‘We witnessed strong demand not only for masterpieces, such as the Crimson Flame ruby and the Falangcai bowl, but at all price levels,’ added Wei. She also noted that new buyers from around the world made up 25 per cent of the audience driving record prices for Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art and exquisite works of art.

The week began with outstanding results for the wine auctions which totalled HK$70,781,113 / $9,175,441 with a single owner collection selling for an impressive 99 per cent by value.

This was followed by the Asian 20th Century & Contemporary Art evening sale which totalled HK$508 million / $66 million led by Vase of Chrysanthemums on a Yellow Table, which was painted by Sanyu in the 1940s, at HK$46,040,000 / $5,968,220, as well as striking works by Yayoi Kusama and Zao Wou-Ki. 

Eric Chang, International Director of Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art, commented: ‘The sales have grown to become a converging platform for both new and established artists from different categories of Asian 20th century and contemporary art. There was intense bidding not only for works by masters… but we also saw keen interest for a range of young and emerging artists, especially from China and Japan.’

Meanwhile Convergences, the first sale of Singapore Art at an international auction house, also saw records for 10 artists including Cheong Soo Pieng, finishing with a total of HK$37 million / $5 million. ‘The strong results demonstrate the growing appetite for Singapore art with Pan-Asian collectors, both seasoned and new,’ commented Wang Zineng, Head of Sale, Southeast Asian Art. 

Luxury pieces continued to exceed estimates with HK$117 million / $15 million for Important Watches and HK$747,894,000 / $96,904,062 for Magnificent Jewels, concluding a record year for jewellery sales at Christie’s in Asia.

The stunning Crimson Flame ruby sold for HK$142 million / $18 million, attracting fierce competition from bidders in over 15 countries and heralding ‘the year of the ruby at Christie’s Hong Kong’ according to Vickie Sek, Director of Christie’s Asia Jewellery department.

‘Following the record breaking sale of a ruby necklace in June,’ said Sek, ‘the Crimson Flame has established a world auction record per carat of $1.2 million. Totalling $97 million, this sale brings our Hong Kong jewellery auctions total up to $215 million, the highest annual result ever achieved for the category in Asia.’

Finally, centuries of tradition were celebrated in our sales of Chinese Contemporary Ink,Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy and Fine Chinese Modern Paintings which realised a combined total of HK$531,167,500 / $68,833,664 led by works by Qin Feng, Tang Yin and Xu Beihong.

These sales were complemented by a series of auctions of works of art, from a single masterpiece, an important Yongzheng Falangcai ‘Prunnus and bamboo’ bowl, which realised HK$85,240,000 / $11,050,173 to the exquisite offering of Song ceramics from the Linyushanren Collection.