If there were any doubts about the strength of China’s rediscovered interest in its own culture, as epitomised by extraordinary prices paid recently in salerooms worldwide, these were dispelled at Mossgreen’s rooms in South Yarra on November 29 and 30.
Some 900 lots from a number of Australian private collections were hotly contested by buyers from mainland China – many of whom had flown in specially for the sale.
The trio of white jade carvings were among a number that had been collected over several decades by the late Norman Rodd, a Sydney industrial chemist who lived in Mount Tomah in the Blue Mountains.
They comprised a dragon-form belt buckle (Lot 326 ) which brought $12,000 on the hammer ($14,640 including premium and GST); a water pot on a wooden base (Lot 327 ) at $17,000 ($20,740); and a phoenix on hardwood stand (Lot 329 ) at $22,000 ($26,840). Each was catalogued as 17th/18th century and around 10cm long.
The hammer prices achieved on these lots were between seven and 12 times the presale estimates, which were $1000-$2000, $2500-$3500 and $3000-$5000, respectively.
And while auction house experts are often left red-faced over esoteric Asian material, these estimates could not be dismissed as amateur guestimates. Consultant for the sale was Ray Tregaskis, a leading specialist in Chinese art and a collector of jade. Indeed many of Rodd’s pieces were originally sourced from him.
Acclaiming the “spectacular” results, the auctioneer’s managing director, Paul Sumner, says around 95 per cent of the Asian art was sold, with mainland Chinese dominating the bidding. There were up to 10 bidders on many lots, he says, both in the room and on the phone.
But this was no coincidence, it seems. “It follows on from the work we have been doing in Asian art for some time,” Sumner says. Such initiatives included exhibiting offerings on Chinese websites, attending fairs and advertising in Chinese media.
Having “done the hard yards”, he says, “it’s beginning to pay dividends”.
Yet as always, buying was selective. Even within the Rodd collection only some of the jades soared and most bronzes sold near the estimates. Yet among a number of Chinese soapstone carvings, an 11cm high boulder finely carved with sages in a mountain pavilion, 18th century (Lot 381 ), romped to $36,600, more than 15 times the lower estimate. And a 16th/17th century Chinese painted ivory figure 16cm high (Lot 393 ) brought $31,720, almost 20 times the lower estimate. Even ancient Chinese bronze mirrors achieved 10 times the estimates, with lot 442 bringing $2684, lot 457 $7930 and lot 458 $6710.
Other highlights of the sale included an exceptional Chinese Qianlong carved ivory vase (Lot 612 ) from the Isaac Tepper collection, 30cm high, which brought $103,700 and the subsequent lot, a pair of tall ivory vases, $79,300. A large carved cinnabar lacquer box and cover (Lot 633 ) brought $20,740.
Among the Japanese ivories a signed Tokyo school ivory figure 48cm high (Lot 726 ) brought $29,980 and an ivory box and cover (Lot 744 ) originally purchased for $70 at Sydney’s Lawsons in 1964 brought $17,080.
Among a few prominent failures on the night was an important Tibetan gilt bronze and gem-studded figure of Nagajara (Lot 956 ) from a Melbourne collection which had hopes of $70,000 to $90,000. But from the same collection a pair of Qianlong yellow ground saucer dishes 19.7cm in diameter (Lot 938 ) achieved $85,400 and a large 1800s Chinese polychrome bowl painted with a landscape and a long inscription (Lot 945 ) brought a surprise $39,040. Another star among the ceramics was lot 1001, a small doucai enamel dish marked for the Chenghua emperor circa 1480, which made $73,200.
Among many other Asian sculptures an important Khmer Baphuon style 11th century sandstone figure of a deity 97cm high (Lot 959 ) was unsold at $200,000 to $300,000 but an important 74cm blackstone stele of Shiva embracing Parvati from northeast India, 11th century (Lot 962 ) , brought $85,400.
The last day of the sale was marred by the seizure by the Federal Police of a number of antiquities from Egypt and South America. However a 14cm wide Chinese carved rhino horn libation cup (lot 1248), which had attracted much interest prior to the sale, kept the flag flying for Asian art with an impressive $91,500.