Two seven-figure sums were posted for quite different bronzes in what proved a demanding market.
A rectangular ritual food vessel or fangding from the Late Shang (13th-11th century BC) sold as expected for $2.8m (£2.1m). It is one of more than 200 extant bronzes with an inscription for the aristocratic Ya yi clan.
More competition came for a 13th or 14th century Nepalese gilt bronze figure of Buddha, consigned from the Thyssen- Bornemisza collection.
A sophisticated and well-preserved example of its type, and relatively large at 20in (50cm) high, it quadrupled hopes at $3.3m (£2.4m).
Sotheby’s top price on September 13 was the $920,000 (estimate $60,000-80,000) bid for a Qianlong period yellow and green enamelled blue and white ‘lotus’ vase.
Chinese works of art dominated. However, as part of a patchy September 14 sale of Japanese art, Bonhams posted a high price for Satsuma when a 14½in (37cm) high exhibition quality vase by Yabu Meizan (1853-1934) (pictured above) doubled hopes at $165,000 (£124,000).
