New records at Sotheby's Hong Kong Chinese art auctions A review of the Spring 2022 Chinese art auctions at Sotheby's Hong Kong, where new records were set for a Qing Dynasty jade seal and a painting by Zhang Daqian. By G. Fernández · theartwolf.com · Image: Qing Dynasty imperial steatite seal "Qianlong yulan zhi bao" / Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien, 1899-1983), Landscape after Wang Ximeng In addition to the auctions of modern and contemporary art, which we have already reviewed on theartwolf.com, Sotheby's organised a series of Chinese art auctions in Hong Kong on 29 and 30 April 2022, which resulted in a number of surprises and two new auction records. The first of these records was set by a soapstone seal carved for the Qianlong Emperor, just 10.7 cm high and described by Sotheby's as "the most iconic among all seals destined for art connoisseurship", which fetched HK$153.3 million (US$19.5 million), a new record for a jade seal sold in Asia. In addition, the Chinese painting auction was led by Zhang Daqian's (Chang Dai-chien, 1899-1983) "Landscape after Wang Ximeng", sold for HK$370.5 million (US$47.2 million), a new record for a work by Zhang Daqian, beating the HK$270.6 million paid in 2016 for "Peach Blossom Spring". Perhaps under the influence of the record achieved by the Qing Dynasty seal, a series of seven seals created by Ding Yanyong (1902 - 1978) were one of the week's most positive surprises, selling for HK$403,000, almost 20 times its pre-sale estimate, and a series of seal impressions created by Feng Kanghou (1901-1983) were sold for HK$378,000, almost 13 times its pre-sale estimate. The auction of porcelain from the Joseph Lau collection, a Ming dynasty (Yongle period) jar decorated with a makara dragon, fetched HK$42.7 million (US$5.4 million), a remarkable price although below expectations. Described by Sotheby's as "possibly unique", the work has similarities to another Xuande period jug sold about 5 years ago also by Sotheby's Hong Kong. The auction of jades from the De An Tang collection and Erotic Art from the Bertholet collection proved somewhat disappointing, with several of the most important works selling below their expectations, or even failing to find buyers. For example, the star of the auction, an excellent Khotan-green jade piece that had a pre-sale estimate of between HK$25 million and HK$50 million, sold for HK$17.9 million. There were, however, some positive surprises, such as a small owl-shaped box (Six Dynasties period) sold for HK$1.6 million (about $200,000), more than six times its pre-sale estimate. In any case, the most surprising thing about this tiny box is that the work had been sold in 2008 at Sotheby's London as part of a multiple lot including eight pieces of decorative arts, which sold for £17,500, 70 times its pre-sale estimate, but still 10 times less than the price paid yesterday for the box as an individual lot.

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