In New York this month Sotheby’s week of Asian Art sales opened with MONOCHROME, a concept sale that brought together both traditional and modern Chinese works united in their shared aesthetic of clean lines and subtle variations in color.
The sale saw pieces representing the variety of objects in the sale achieve prices well in excess of their high estimates: A Rare Hexagonal Celadon-Glazed Vase, Yongzheng Seal Mark And Period, sold for $706,000 (est. $150/200,000), a Xu Bing landscape led the ink paintings in the sale to sell for $212,500 (est. $100/150,000), and A Huanghuali Yokeback Armchair, (Sichutou Guanmaoyi), 17thCentury, which fetched $125,000 was among many pieces of furniture that performed well (est. $70/90,000).
Throughout 2015 auctions have broken through previous records especially those in Asia or with Asia pieces as their objects.
On the 16th September a sale in New York entitled Images of Enlightenment: Devotional Works of Art and Paintings brought in $3,876,500 with the top lot A Finely Embroidered Thangka Depicting Chakrasamvara And Consort China, Qing Dynasty, 18th Century, sold for $1,510,000
The finely embroidered Thangka had been displayed in an Arizona home for decades and while the owners had little idea of its value it was sought by six bidders before selling to an Asian private collector for $1,510,000, well over the $80/120,000 estimate.
