Leslie Hindman’s marathon Asian auction tops $4.5 million

Chinese imperial bronze vases, $660,000. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

CHICAGO – With a saleroom packed full of international buyers – the majority from mainland China – more than 700 bidders online through LiveAuctioneers.com, and the auctioneer’s book full of absentee bids, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers chalked up a phenomenal $4.5 million total for Asian art offered on May 3, 2011. The total presale median estimate of the sale had been set at approximately $1 million.

Auctioneer Leslie Hindman commented after the sale: “The auction market for Asian works of art is astounding. The prices realized today were as strong as prices realized at the spring sales in Hong Kong and New York. This market is truly global.”

Asian Works of Art specialist Andrew Lick said, “Vigorous buying throughout the marathon eight-hour auction underscored the Chinese market’s strength and desire to buy traditional works of art.”

The auction’s top lot, a pair of rare Chinese imperial bronze vases valued at $80,000 to $120,000, sold for $660,000 after spirited bidding from no fewer than 10 bidders. An in-house Chinese buyer won the lot as a crowded, noisy saleroom cheered. All prices quoted in this report are inclusive of an in-house buyer’s premium calculated at 22% to $200,000; 20% on that portion from $200,001-$500,000; and 12% on that portion exceeding $500,000.

Two carved rhinoceros horn cups sold for $394,000 each. A lidded white jade vase sold for $231,800, while another surprise came in the form of a jade scholar’s object depicting shells and sea animals. Connoisseurs relished the object’s careful use of natural inclusions to portray the crustaceans, and it sold for $122,000. Both jade prizes came from the Estate of William H. Moore in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers played a major role in the sale’s success, accounting for 211 of the lots sold. The online sell-through rate was 37.08% by lot and 18.67% by value. There were 598 bidder sign-ups and 1,176 absentee bids recorded through LiveAuctioneers. During the sale, 732 participants used LiveAuctioneers’ live-bidding console, lodging 3,673 bids as the event was taking place. Additionally, 1,796 of the underbids were attributable to Internet bidders.

“The traffic to Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ electronic catalog was quite remarkable,” said LiveAuctioneers CEO Julian R. Ellison. “In total, 6,592 people viewed the catalog online, with well over 150,000 page views recorded. Leslie Hindman’s company has made such tremendous inroads into the Asian market. It was among the first of the U.S. auction houses to identify the huge buying potential in the Far East for Asian fine art and antiquities, and their foresight has certainly paid off.”

Consignments are now being accepted for Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ Oct. 4 Asian Works of Art auction. Contact Andrew Lick by e-mailing andrew@lesliehindman.com or calling 312-334-4222.

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