Asia

In what they are describing as a first for a global auction house, Spink are taking the significant step of locating their boss in Hong Kong.

The London Borough of Croydon has chosen Christie’s as the auctioneers for its controversial sale of 24 Chinese works of art from its collection.

Christie’s, the first international auction house to be granted a licence to operate independently in mainland China, have announced the date of their first auction.

A major new marketplace or simply a case of wishful thinking? That was the question as the Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple-A) and their Beijing-based partners, Huachen Auctions, held a much-heralded auction in south east China.

‘Masterpiece London’ has announced a link with Hong Kong’s ‘Fine Art Asia’ this year, with the incorporation of a Hong Kong Pavilion at the fourth edition of the London fair from June 26-July 3.

A new auction high for Qing Kangxi porcelain was established in Sotheby’s latest spring sale series in Hong Kong.

Fine art, antiques and collectables worth £8m, consigned from the UK by a consortium of regional auctioneers, arrived safely and without incident in China in time for a ground-breaking sale at the Xiamen Free Port in Fujian Province.

Christie’s are to hold auctions in Shanghai from this autumn, making them the first international fine art auction company to win a licence to operate independently in mainland China.

TEFAF have announced that they are in discussions with Sotheby’s about the possibility of launching a high-end art fair in mainland China next year.

The latest TEFAF market report values the global art market at €43 billion for the last year. The figure was 7% down the previous year, but the fall is wholly explained by a €3.5bn decline in sales in China.

Fine art, antiques and collectables worth £8m, consigned from the UK by a consortium of regional auctioneers, are currently on a container ship heading to China.

The Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple-A), founded in 2012 by 19 UK auctioneers to attract Chinese buyers, are to hold an auction of Western fine art and antiques in China.

Leica cameras proved one of the must-have auction prizes in recent sales with record prices at Westlicht in Vienna and Bonhams Hong Kong.

Christie’s have won a High Court bid in Hong Kong to prevent another auction house benefiting from using a name that was sufficiently close to theirs to cause confusion.

The Chinese government is considering regulation of the country’s burgeoning but problematic art market.

Fishermen are reported to have discovered another ancient shipwreck, complete with cargo, in the South China Sea near Vung Tau off the South East coast of Vietnam.

The antiques trade could soon fall victim to the global rattan shortage prompted by an Indonesian export ban.

Beijing-based auction house China Guardian is reported to be launching a sales programme in Hong Kong this autumn.

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.