Asian Art

For the second time in three years Middlesex saleroom Bainbridge’s turned up the most talked-about consignment of the recent Asian art sales.

This Chinese export sideboard dating from the late 19th century is estimated to fetch £800-1200 at East Bristol Auctions on May 26.

Two of the greatest offerings of Islamic coins ever have recently been sold in London. The two catalogues – Morton & Eden’s and Baldwin’s – will be useful historical documents for a long time to come.

A 76-lot single-owner collection of Imperial Chinese porcelain, jade and ivories from the Ming and Qing dynasties is to be offered at The Canterbury Auctions Galleries’ two-day sale on May 22-23 in Kent.

New London auction outfit Artem will host their inaugural sale on May 18 at the Royal Institute of Great Britain on Albemarle Street, W1.

CHINESE hardstone carvings worth millions have been stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

TWO Chinese works of art valued at £1.8m have been stolen from Durham University’s Oriental Museum in a night-time raid.

JUBILEE Antiques & Art Auction will become the first Chinese auction house to conduct sales in the West when they hold an auction of Asian works of art at the Bloomsbury Hotel on May 12.

SOTHEBY’S concluded their latest Hong Kong series of sales on April 4, raising a premium-inclusive total of over HK$2.46bn (£212.5m) for the eight sales containing over 2780 lots.

FRESH from their multi-million dollar Prospero triumph in New York, Baldwin’s are preparing to offer an outstanding selection of Islamic rarities as part of London Islamic Week in April.

POLICE are appealing for help after 27 Chinese works of art were stolen from Stroud Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire a day before they were due to be sold.

KANGXI and Qing dynasty rhinoceros horn libation cups feature regularly at UK sales devoted to Asian works of art, but this 18th century example appeared for sale at Cottone's of Geneseo in upstate New York.

The major houses’ latest New York Asian series highlighted the dominance of the Chinese art market.

THE Westport Police Department is investigating the theft of two Chinese Louhan head sculptures, recently stolen from a private collection in Westport, Connecticut.

IT took 50 bids and half an hour to auction this RMB370m (£35m) scroll, by Qi Baishi (1864-1957) at Beijing's China Guardian on May 22 – the latest demonstration of the breadth of mainland demand for modern Chinese paintings by the country's most acclaimed artists.

SALISBURY auctioneers Woolley & Wallis saw two more lots make over £1m last week.

CHINESE works of art dominated this month's Asian sales series in London but among the most successful auctions last week was Bonhams' dispersal of the second part of the Edward Wrangham (1928-2009) collection.

ISLAMIC art dominated the London sales agenda last week with the first of the two bi-annual series of auctions devoted to this field in the capital.

THE London Islamic sales week got of to a ‘magic carpet’ start when Morton and Eden held an 81-lot sale devoted to the rarest Islamic coins.

Amid all the speculation surrounding payment for the Qianlong Imperial vase sold at Bainbridge’s of Ruislip for £43m hammer, Peter Bainbridge, who has been tight-lipped about the state of affairs in recent weeks, has now told his local newspaper that the sale is going through.