A blue-and-white, 15th-century
Chinese vase, which Laurance Rockefeller used as a lamp and
Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. valued at up to $400,000, sold last
week for $3.9 million.
The vase was one of the highlights of the record-
setting, Asian art auctions in New York. In six auctions
over three days, Sotheby’s and Christie’s International
totaled a record $52.9 million, with Chinese art sales
making up half the figure.
Driving the market are newly wealthy Asian collectors,
clamoring for a piece of their cultural heritage.
“We’re seeing the rise of the economy of mainland
China,” said New York dealer John Berwald, who submitted
the runner-up bid for the Rockefeller vase on behalf of an
American client he declined to name. “There’s huge buying
power in China and they want their pieces back.”
Private Asian collectors bought eight of the top 10
lots on Sept. 21 at Sotheby’s Chinese Ceramics and Works of
Art sale. At Christie’s Sept. 20 sale, Asian collectors
accounted for five of the top 10 lots and 42 percent of all
the buyers.
The number of Chinese buyers at Asian art auctions
worldwide has quadrupled over the last five years,
according to Mee-Seen Loong, Sotheby’s senior vice
president.

Posted: 09|30|05 at 8:45 am. Filed under: US News.