Asian Art

THE international Asian art community descended upon New York in March to secure the most enticing exhibits in Manhattan’s two major Asian art fairs and numerous dealers’ shows. They were also there to contest the best quality Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Southeast Asian fare in Sotheby’s and Christie’s five specialist auctions that took place between March 23 and 25.

With the Chinese economy expanding at an unprecedented rate, and Chinese tourists becoming increasingly numerous in Europe, China Trade paintings are an area of the art market that might prove a cannier investment than most.

Shown right are two highlights from the sale conducted by John Bellman (15% buyer’s premium) of Newpound, Wisborough Green, on February 18.

THE large number of increasingly wealthy mainland Chinese dealers and collectors participating in UK auctions are pushing up the prices in certain sectors of the market, including 19th century Chinese-taste ceramics. In the past this area has largely been overlooked in favour of imperial porcelain from earlier periods, but with the best 18th century mark and period routinely commanding six-figure sums, 19th century ceramics must look good value for money.

IF the performance of the 52-lot clock section of Bristol Auction Rooms (15% buyer's premium) March 2 sale was anything to go by, this firm’s reputation for selling timepieces is gathering pace.

AFTER opening his gallery in the autumn of 2002 in the Fuller Building, 41 East 57th Street – a hive of Asian activity in New York at this time of year – Carlton Rochell enjoyed a major success last March with his inaugural exhibition of works from the Wesley and Carolyn Halpert Collection.

This Kangxi period (1662-1722) blue and white porcelain brushwasher was a cut above other entries in Stride & Son’s (15% buyer’s premium) 1007-lot Chichester outing.

IT is no surprise that for many people, and not just committed aficionados of things Oriental, their favourite fair is The International Asian Art Fair. The event will be staged for the ninth time at The Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City from March 26 to 31, with a Gala Benefit for the Asia Society on the evening of March 25.

London’s Asian auction scene will not get into full swing until next month when the capital’s main rooms field sales of mixed Asian or Export wares before the action moves across the Atlantic for the New York fairs and sales.

ISLAMIC ART: A MAJOR donation hase been given to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to enable it to completely refurbish its Islamic Gallery, home to the famous Ardabil carpet and many other treasures from the Middle East.

It wasn’t just top pieces of Americana and Old Master paintings that occupied the salerooms in New York last month, there was also a good selection of Chinese Export porcelain on offer. Christie’s were selling the third installment of the Benjamin Edwards III collection of Export Porcelain on January 20 plus an interesting mixed owner selection in their Captains and Kilns ceramics auction on the same day.

CAN a mere movie affect the antiques market? The answer would appear to be yes, at least in New York where, since the release of The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, interest in the ancient Japanese weapons of the Samurai has soared with a significant number of new collectors entering the field declaring they have been inspired by the film.

STAYING in New York, dealers in Japanese works of art Flying Cranes Antiques hold a selling exhibition of Japanese Ikebana baskets at their galleries within the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center, 1050 Second Avenue at 56th Street, until January 31.

Private consignments of Chinese porcelain are increasingly difficult to source and competition is rife between provincial and London rooms. Prices regularly spiral for the best quality works whether they are offered in the provinces or in the capital.

Gone are the days when collectors could afford to ignore anything but the finest quality early 18th century imperial porcelain in mint condition. The burgeoning of interest in this field from Far Eastern collectors has ensured that when such pieces come under the hammer, the prices realised are out of the reach of all but the seriously wealthy.

Dealers and collectors with money in their pockets at the end of Asia week were rewarded with a trip to Christie’s South Kensington (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) on November 14. The room was full for this 478-lot auction, with mainland Chinese and Far Eastern buyers interested in two conservatively estimated, market-fresh, non-European collections of Chinese calligraphy brushes and archaic jades.

THE Chinese-born, French-based artists Zao Wou-Ki and Yan Pei Ming, who both featured among the successes at FIAC Paris, were also in demand at the sale staged by Cornette de St-Cyr (20.33/11.96% buyer’s premium) at Drouot Montaigne on the evening of October 11.

USA: NEW YORK’s top antiques centre, the Manhattan Art and Antiques Center at 1050 Second Avenue (between 55th and 56th Streets), presents a special celebration Fall in Manhattan from October 23 to 31, when a selection of top dealers from the 100 housed in the building present selling shows of recent acquisitions.

At just over $12m (including premium) US auction house Doyle New York made a significant contribution to the series of Asian Art sales held in Manhattan last week with their September 16 auction of the F. Gordon Morrill collection of Chinese porcelain. They found buyers for 82 per cent of the 115 lots, but far and away the star attraction was this large 141/2in (37cm) high Yuan dynasty blue and white pilgrim flask of c.1345.

A grant of £25,095 from the National Art Collections Fund has helped the British Library acquire an album of evocative memories of 19th-century Delhi – Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi.