Bonhams London held its Asian Art Sale on 6th November and recorded a sell-through rate of about 50%. The performance was not particularly impressive but the top three lots with highest prices realized were all sold for prices far exceeding their pre-sale estimates.

The winning lot was a Famille Rose ‘Scholar and Fisherman’ Semi-Eggshell Dish from Yongzheng period. Estimated at £1,500 - 2000, the dish was hammered down for a fiftyfold price of £75,000. It was sold for £93,750 (about US$123,198) with buyer’s premium. The dish finely enamelled with a scene of a Confucian scholar visiting a fisherman on a riverbank; another semi-eggshell bowl with a scholar visiting an archer shooting at the sun; together with a Mandarin pattern dish.

The second most expensive lot went to a Large Parcel-gilt Bronze Figure of Zhenwu from late Ming dynasty, carrying an estimate of £4,000 - 6,000. The God of the North dynamically cast with full armour and flowing ribbons and robes, the smiling face with a short beard and long hair reaching down the back, later marble stand. The figure was hammered down for £39,000 and sold for £48,750 (US$64,069) with buyer’s premium.

The third one was a Ru-type octagonal vase with Qianlong seal mark and of the period, the enamels later. The vase was hammered down for £34,000, 11 times of its pre-sale estimate range of £3,000 - 4,000. It was sold for £42,500 (US$55,903) with buyer’s premium. The elegantly potted body with eight facets, raised on a short indented foot rim and gently tapering out to sharp shoulder and subtly waisted neck, all covered in an archaistic grey-green ru-type glaze, later enamelled with bats and flowers.

Top three lots (by prices realized)

A FAMILLE ROSE 'SCHOLAR AND FISHERMAN' SEMI-EGGSHELL DISH
Yongzheng period. 

Lot no.: 134
Diameter: 16cm
Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000
Hammer price: £75,000
Price realized: £93,750

A LARGE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF ZHENWU
Late Ming Dynasty

Lot no.: 153
Height: 30cm
Provenance:
Sotheby's, London, 13 May 1988, lot 623
Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000
Hammer price: £39,000
Price realized: £48,750

A RU-TYPE OCTAGONAL VASE.
Qianlong seal mark and of the period, the enamels later

Lot no.: 383
Height: 34.5cm
Estimate: £3,000 - 4,000
Hammer price: £34,000
Price realized: £42,500

Auction summary

Auction house: Bonhams London
Sale: Asian Art
Auction date: 2017/11/06
No. of lots: 826
Sold: 410
Unsold: 416
Sell-through rate: 50%

(All prices realized have included buyer’s premium unless otherwise specified)