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Bamboo brush pot, China, 18th century, carved with Immortals in a mountainous landscape, ht. 6 inches. Sold for $539,500. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Skinner Inc.

Skinner’s $6.1M Asian sale sets company record for category

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Bamboo brush pot, China, 18th century, carved with Immortals in a mountainous landscape, ht. 6 inches. Sold for $539,500. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Skinner Inc.
Bamboo brush pot, China, 18th century, carved with Immortals in a mountainous landscape, ht. 6 inches. Sold for $539,500. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Skinner Inc.

BOSTON – Skinner Inc.’s June 2-4 auction of Asian works of art totaled $6.1 million, making it the highest-grossing Asian sale in the company’s more than 40-year history. It is also the second-highest-grossing auction of any type to be conducted by the Boston-based company. All prices quoted in this report are inclusive of a buyer’s premium calculated at18.5% to $200,000; 10% above that amount.

The 3-day event had a 94% sell-through rate, with sales consummated on 1,647 of the 1,748 lots. The majority of the bidding activity came from Greater China, and it was noted that this was the first time in a Skinner sale that Chinese buyers were seen buying Japanese material.

In addition, online bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com was extremely strong. Over the three days, 558 lots were purchased through LiveAuctioneers, with the online sell-through averaging 30%.

The online catalog was very heavily viewed. LiveAuctioneers’ tracking statistics showed that, in all, there were 10,896 visitors to the electronic catalog. Those visitors translated to dollars. After the sale, Skinner’s stated that there had been “a five-fold increase in the dollar amount sold via the Internet since Q2 2009.”

According to James Callahan, Director of Asian Works of Art for Skinner, “Everything sold uniformly well in this auction. When you consider that the top lot came in at $539,500, and only seven other lots exceeded the $100,000 mark, you can appreciate the incredible demand that exists for this material.” Callahan continued, “This sale is testament to the fact that the market is not only hot, but sees no sign of cooling. It’s really the case of a limited supply in an unlimited market.”

Lot 450A, an 18th-century Chinese bamboo brush pot likely set a record price, hammering down at the aforementioned $539,500. The second-highest bid was lodged on lot 584, a pair of 18th-century Chinese covered jars that sold for $292,000; followed by lot 480, a rhinoceros horn libation cup that went for $250,000.

Chinese paintings had a successful outing, as well. Lot 1209C, a small mounted leaf of a scholar, from the ex-collection estate of the late Senator Theodore F. Green of Rhode Island, sold for $159,975. Lot 1194, a painting of a rocky landscape by Lu Yanshao, brought $100,725; lot 1171, a painting album by Xie Zhiliu, sold for $71,000; and a Wu Changshuo fan painting of abstract prunus blossoms from the P.Y. Wang collection, made $34,365.

Painting specialist Tianyue Jiang said, “Skinner has attracted some important collections of Chinese painting and calligraphy in the recent years, from Charles Chu to P.Y. Wang estate. We have seen huge interest in old and modern Chinese paintings in general. For those items with impeccable provenance, the prices realized here are comparable with what is seen in Hong Kong.”

View the fully illustrated catalog from Skinner’s June 2-4 Asian Works of Art sale, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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altClick here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

ADDITIONAL LOT OF NOTE

Bamboo brush pot, China, 18th century, carved with Immortals in a mountainous landscape, ht. 6 inches. Sold for $539,500. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Skinner Inc.
Bamboo brush pot, China, 18th century, carved with Immortals in a mountainous landscape, ht. 6 inches. Sold for $539,500. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Skinner Inc.