Doyle New York’s Asian Works of Art auction on March 22, 2010 attracted strong competition from an international audience of buyers. The mostly Asian audience in the salesroom offered formidable competition against absentee bidders, internet bidders and telephone bidders from a number of countries. In all, the sale totaled a stunning $3,166,554 — well over the pre-sale estimate of $946,150-1,375,950 — with 60% sold by lot and 92% by value.
Highlighting the sale was an exquisite 19th century Chinese jadeite censer measuring only 6 1/4 inches in height that sold for a staggering $1,082,500. Estimated at $6,000-9,000 and consigned by the Estate of Sonja Caron Stein, the censer was the subject of intense competitive bidding and sold in the salesroom to a buyer from China.
Other Chinese jades proved equally popular throughout the auction. A buyer from Tawian was the successful bidder on a pair of 18th/19th century celadon jade table screens, each measuring 10 3/8 inches in height. Estimated at $20,000-30,000, the pair fetched $194,500. An 18th/19th century celadon jade figural group of a recumbent mare and foal, length 3 3/4 inches, sold to a buyer from China for $80,500, many times the pre-sale estimate of $2,000-3,000.
A Qianlong Period celadon jade vase carved as a silk bag tied with a ribbon and measuring 4 1/2 inches in height fetched $68,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $12,000-15,000. A cylindrical celadon jade perfumer also from the Qianlong Period achieved $56,250 from a Chinese buyer, well over the pre-sale estimate of $10,000-15,000.
Urban Art & Antiques 