Bonhams' London Asia Week sales impress with $11.5M total

Gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, £806,700. Image courtesy of Bonhams

LONDON – The combined total of Bonhams London Asia Week sales hit more than £9.3 million (more than $11.5 million) this May across Bonhams New Bond Street and Knightsbridge salerooms. The top lot from the Asia Week sales was a magnificent gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, with a Yongle mark and of the period (1403-1424), which sold for £806,700 in the Fine Chinese Art sale on May 18 against an estimate of £300,000-£500,000. This was closely followed by an Imperial court painting of the Bannerman Te’er Deng Che, Qianlong, dated by inscription to 1788 and of the period, which sold for £781,500, nearly four times the estimate of £200,000-£300,000.

There was a strong start to the week with Bonhams’ Asian Art sale, which took place across May 15-16 at Bonhams Knightsbridge. The two-day sale made a total of £2.01 million – double the total estimate. The sale saw a carved and pierced white jade dragon plaque from the Ming dynasty achieve £65,820, more than 26 times its estimate of £2,500-£3,000.

Ming dynasty carved and pierced white jade dragon plaque, £65,820. Image courtesy of Bonhams

The success then continued on May 17 at New Bond Street, with the exceptional collection of Michael Goedhuis: Brush & Bronze. The 97-lot sale was 99% sold, with 70% of the sale selling above the high estimate. It posted a total of £2.08 million, more than twice the total estimate, with the top lot being Landscape, a 2010-2011 work by Li Huayi (b. 1948-), selling for £277,500. From the bronze section of the sale, a silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin dating to the late Ming dynasty was among the highlights, earning £214,500.

Qianlong Imperial court painting of the Bannerman Te’er Deng Che, £781,500. Image courtesy of Bonhams

Concluding the week was Bonhams’ Fine Chinese Art on May 18 at New Bond Street. The impressive 212-lot sale was 85% sold by lot, achieving a total of £5.28 million – twice the total estimate – with superb results across the board, including for early jades and Imperial porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Click to view the auction catalogs complete with prices realized

The current rate of exchange is £1 = $1.24.

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