The Asian Works of Art auction, hosted by Doyle New York on September 16, 2013, closed with sale totals of US$8.1 million. Among the over 400 lots of porcelain, jade, furniture, and paintings from China, Japan, and Korean, a Chinese white jade ewer was sold at a staggering price of US$2.85 million, the highest price among past auction records for similar pieces.
This white jade ewer was part of the property from the Estate of Luz Papasian, which comprised 90 lots in the sale. It was an important 18th-century white jade ewer carved in the form of a phoenix at the base, rising into a wide lipped mouth, with the tail forming the handle.
Chinese White Jade Ewer, c.1700–1799, sold at Doyle New York
The Papasian Estate also included an ink on paper painting of a horse by Xu Beihong (Chinese, 1895–1953), which sold for US$605,000; a 17th-century Chinese Huanghuali trestle-leg table, which sold for US$455,000; and a 17th-century Chinese marble inlaid Huanghuali table, which also sold for US$455,000.
Xu Beijong, Horse, c.1895–1953, ink on paper, sold at Doyle New York
Chinese Huanghuali Trestle-Leg Table, c.1600–1699, thick single plank top set on squared legs joined by panels, sold at Doyle New York
Additional highlights of Chinese furniture sales from other collections included an elaborately carved Zitan table, modeled after a Qianlong Period (1736–1795 AD) example in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum, that achieved US$365,000. A pair of Chinese blue and white glazed porcelain jars, sold for US$185,000, and an 18th–19th-century Tibetan gilt-bronze figure of Virupa sold for US$112,500.
Chinese Marble Inlaid Huanghuali Table, c.1700–1799, green marble top set within a wide rectangular frame and supported on squared legs terminating in a shaped foot, sold at Doyle New York
Asia Week New York will take place in the spring, March 14–22, 2014.