BONHAMS TEAM SEARCH KENT AND SUSSEX FOR CHINESE ART THAT IS MAKING TOP PRICES INTERNATIONALLY
BONHAMS SEARCH THE SOUTH EAST FOR CHINESE ART MAKING TOP PRICES IN LONDON & HONG KONG
WHITE JADE VASE FROM SUSSEX MAKES £600,000 AT BONHAMS
Bonhams, the international fine art auction house, is mounting a campaign to uncover hidden, lost, or unrecognised Chinese works of art, bronzes, jades, sculpture, ceramics, pictures or screens which could be in private collections in the South East Counties.
Recently a white jade flattened baluster vase and cover that turned up in the South East achieved a price of £600,000 at Bonhams saleroom in New Bond Street. Interest in Chinese works of art has reached an all-time high in recent years, with many items now selling for six-figure sums.
To assist local people with interesting Chinese object they would like to have assessed, Tim Squire Sanders of the Bonhams office in Hove is holding a valuation Day on April with the well-known Bonhams consultant and BBC Antiques Roadshow regular, Dendy Easton.
Colin Sheaf, Chairman of Bonhams Asia, says: “We have seen a tremendous increase in the value of Chinese art since 2005 and the miracle of the Chinese economy started to be felt, with so many new millionaires buying back their national heritage. Driven by the growth of the Chinese economy and the emergence of a new generation of collectors in China, prices for Chinese art have gone stratospheric. Recently a small Imperial jade seal, commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in 1793 (the same year as Bonhams started in London), sold for a record £2.7m at our saleroom in London; a blue and white dragon vase made £7.6m in our San Francisco saleroom; and in our Hong Kong saleroom, an Imperial snuff bottle sold for another world record price of £821,000.”
He adds: “Many of these beautiful Chinese artefacts came to Britain over the last few centuries as a result of British commercial, diplomatic or military involvement in China, and these items are now spread throughout Britain, passed down in families who often are unaware how dramatically the value of some Chinese items has increased in the last few years.”
“So we are encouraging anyone who owns Chinese art )or works that they think might be Chinese) to get in touch. We would like to give them a current auction valuation for free. The best Chinese art - porcelain, jade, laquer, painting and furniture - is being sought not only by Chinese collectors but by European and American collectors too. There’s no doubt that there are many works hidden away in the region which haven’t been seen publicly for many years, which might attract great interest at auction.”
