The specialists guide to Chinese antiques

Chinese buyer who refused to pay for looted bronzes weeps as he realizes that his credibility is shot.

Without saying if I agree or disagree, here are two interesting articles which I picked up off the Museum Security Network website (though one was originally from Bloomberg) regarding last years controversial auction of a bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit looted from Beijing’s Summer Palace in 1860 . Interesting perspectives – one must wonder if Cai Ming Chao simply “got caught up in it all?”

Chinese Art Dealer in Unpaid YSL Bronzes Furor Weeps as he realizes that his credibility is shot.

March 10 (Bloomberg) — Cai Mingchao (蔡铭超) the Chinese art dealer who is refusing to pay for the $40 million Qing bronzes he successfully bid for in the Yves Saint Laurent auction, wept when he realized that his credibility was shot and he may now have to close his business.

Cai, 44, spoke in an interview after turning away hundreds of calls from reporters about the Feb. 25 sale. He was praised in China for walking away from the bronzes, which were plundered by foreign troops, and has been condemned by other dealers. In the world of high-end art sales, where millions of dollars worth of items may sell on the basis of a phone call or handshake, defaulting is seen as unprofessional.

“This has damaged me: I have lost the business I love,” said Cai, in his office in the southeastern city of Xiamen. Cai said he had bid with the intention of paying, then had second thoughts and decided it’s wrong to do so. He again denied acting in concert with China’s government.

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China Coal City’s Tycoons Splurge on Antiques as Dealers Swoop

These days there is a TON of news articles about the art market and China’s insatiable demand for Chinese artworks and antiques. Did I mention there was a ton of these articles recently? Regardless, this is one of the more interesting ones…

June 26 (Bloomberg) — Few people gave Zhao Xin a second look when he strolled into the biggest antique show in China’s coal city of Taiyuan, Shanxi, wearing straw-trimmed canvas shoes, black polyester-mix clothes, and a tobacco-stained grin.

That changed when he went to a booth run by Hong Kong dealer Raymond Chak. Pointing at Chinese gilt-bronze Buddha statues, he said, “Show me this, that, and that.” Ten minutes later, Zhao had bought about eight antiques for nearly 1.5 million yuan ($220,000). In the next hour, he spent at least another 2 million yuan on paintings, ceramics and other artworks at other booths, as bystanders looked on.

Zhao is one of the world’s biggest buyers of Chinese antiques, say art dealers like Shanghai-based Lu Feifei. He also belongs to a group of tycoons in China’s top coal-producing province of Shanxi, many of whom earned their wealth selling the fuel, and in recent years began paying top dollar for Chinese relics at auctions and galleries from Hong Kong to New York.

Reached on his mobile phone, Zhao simply said he was retired and wouldn’t say how he earned his money.

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Sotheby’s sues Chinese buyers for ‘non-payment’

Interesting article on the FT website. You are not supposed to reprint their articles in full so, here is a few of the more relevant clippings from the article:

Sotheby’s is suing two mainland Chinese buyers for HK$2.1m ($270,000) in Hong Kong after they allegedly failed to pay for five Chinese paintings and an antique incense burner that they won at auctions last October.

The disputes highlight a challenge for Sotheby’s, which is increasing its dealings with less experienced buyers from new markets such as China, who are not familiar with international bidding rules. As China’s economy continued its break-neck growth in the past few years, many people turned to overseas markets to park their new-found wealth, buying everything from properties to wines.

The new rich have also been some of the most aggressive bidders at auctions.

“A lot of people have become interested in bidding in overseas auctions. But they are not used to the terms and conditions in places outside of China,” said Kevin Ching, Sotheby’s Asia chief executive.

In 2006, Sotheby’s was forced to file its first arrears cases in Hong Kong in at least a decade when it sued a Chinese buyer for HK$1.9m over two Chinese paintings. It later took the case to a mainland court, the first time the auction house issued a writ of that kind in China.

Two years ago, it sued a Chinese collector for HK$6.8m, saying the buyer failed to pay for a contemporary Chinese painting that he won in an auction in Hong Kong.

Now, Sotheby’s is suing a Shenzhen resident who made the top bid of HK$1.3m, including buyer’s premium, for five Chinese ink and colour paintings in its autumn sale in Hong Kong last October, but has allegedly refused to pay.

The auctioneer has also filed a separate writ against a Beijing bidder who bought an 18th century incense burner, or censer, at the autumn auction for HK$800,000, but has also allegedly not paid.

Original article here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d11c5382-14d8-11df-8f1d-00144feab49a,s01=1.html

Chinese vase valued at €150 sells for €110,000 at auction

“I have a lot of people approach me with inquires about selling porcelain collections they have either inherited or amassed over the years. I am guessing this might be one of the reasons why:”

THE OWNERS of a Chinese imperial vase which sold for €110,000 at a Co Laois auction on Tuesday – a record-breaking price for ceramics at an Irish antiques sale – plan to sell the remainder of an inherited collection of oriental porcelain.

While the Co Carlow family wish to retain strict anonymity, the auctioneers acting on their behalf said they were unaware of the vase’s historical significance and its value when it was consigned for sale. The family did not attend the auction and missed seeing the vase sell for 1,000 times its estimated value.

Durrow-based auctioneers Sheppards said the owners were “shocked but also delighted and chuffed” by the sale. They were also coming to terms with the potential value and importance of the remaining items in the collection.

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