A recent Bonhams auction of mostly Chinese works of art is the latest evidence that buyers from mainland China are increasingly putting the most cash on the table in the international art marketplace. Some of the works sold for as much as 40 times their presale estimates.
During the two-day auction of Asian Works of Art, June 19–20, in San Francisco, a lot described as a group of three jade carvings and estimated to sell for $1,200–1,800 went for an incredible $86,500.
Similarly, a 19th-century zitan veneered chair estimated to sell for $2,000–3,000 went for $43,750. A piece described as a “huanghuali and burlwood table, composed of 18th century elements” was originally estimated to go for $40,000–$60,000, but the winning bid, by a mainland Chinese buyer, was $458,500.
“Furniture and works of art and paintings were the target of frenzied bidding on the telephone, the Internet, and overseas,” according to Bonhams.
‘An International Problem’
The Bonhams sale follows a trend of increasing sales to Chinese buyers. According to a report released in March by the European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), China overtook the United States last year as the world’s biggest market for art and antiques.
But the Chinese market may not be what it seems. One report in March indicates that Sotheby’s lost about $22 million from canceled sales between 2008 and 2011. Sotheby’s eventually had to take the delinquent bidders to court, filing nine lawsuits in Hong Kong, according to court papers cited by Bloomberg.
“It’s an international problem,” Roger Keverne, a dealer who specializes in Chinese ceramics and works of art, told Bloomberg. “Some Chinese dealers are trying to sell things before they pay for them. We don’t know the full extent of it. The concern is that they can also be the under bidders. They push prices up. It isn’t a genuine market.”
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