After three days of gala events, exhibitions, forums and private sales, the First Shanghai Auction held in a packed ballroom of the Shangri-La Hotel saw 40 lots achieve total sales of RMB154m (£16.3m). Just one item, a Patek Philippe chronometer, went unsold.
"Our first auction in Shanghai has illustrated how much demand and appreciation there is for art across categories," said François Curiel, President of Christie's Asia. "We saw bidders participate from all over the world with online and telephone bidders joining the nearly 1000 clients in the room tonight."
A 'pigeon's blood red' ruby and diamond necklace by Faidee designed as a series of butterfly motifs achieved the evening's top price at RMB18m (£2.2m), while a minor oil from Picasso's Musketeer series, Homme Assis from 1969 fetched RMB11.5m (£1.2m), above its high estimate of £650,000.
Most of the lots in the sale were sourced from overseas and remained under 'bond', with the applicable import customs duties and taxes being deferred until the property is sold and imported into the People's Republic.
