In one of the first sales in the year of the dragon - a supposedly auspicious beast - Mossgreen will offer in its rooms in Melbourne on February 28 a single catalogue of five lots which had been bought for $597,800 at a sale he held in November last, a special correspondent writes.
They now carry substantially lower combined top estimates of $331,000.
Mr Sumner explains that the Chinese mainland punter who made the top bids on these lots was unable to pay. The bidder was a respected client who simply could not complete the transaction.
The vendor had reluctantly agreed to accept reserves much lower than the prices achieved at the sale, he said.
The bulk of the value was in two fine large 16th century Ming Dynasty, Chinese gilt-bronze figures of Buddha, each originally estimated at $25,000 to $40,000.
In a pattern now becoming not uncommon in salerooms around the world the figures sold in November to the respected client on the telephone for $329,000 and $264,000.
Such escalations usually set off warning bells in the saleroom as well as providing a frisson of excitement that a sleeper has been born.
The Buddhas are now estimated at $100,000 to $150,000 each, excluding buyers premium.
The other items were three large blue and white vases dated about 1628-1684 (Chongzhen period) which made $34,160, $12,200 and $34,160.
The estimates on these are now $10,000 to $15,000; $5000 to $8000 and $4000 to $8000.
Anxiety that the Australian market would eventually be affected by what has become a common thread in the international market for Chinese art - buyers walking away from their overzealous saleroom bidding - appears to have been finally justified.
Bidding has soared as a vast new dealer network bids to cater to the large new middle class market created by the Chinese economic miracle.
Mossgreen, like other auctioneers around the world, has put in place checks to cushion such later regretted displays of over-confidence in bidding by Chinese buyers. The market is red hot, fired by trader's private and with galleries and shops, often competing vigorously with each other and in which lack of determination can result in a loss of face.
To avoid language misunderstandings and otherwise finesse the client relationship Mossgreen has a Mandarin speaking Asian art expert listed in its catalogue and has been building up Chinese connections over many years by exhibiting at Hong Kong antiques and art fairs.
Like many auction houses it has in place a deposit requirement for big spenders of $10,000, which in this case, the buyer is expected to forfeit.
With this knowledge and Mr Sumner's experience working for four auction houses, it was hoped that situations such as that which occurred in November would be avoided.
Defaults are not uncommon in other fields of interest. Christie's, for example, suffered perhaps the biggest default when it sold a calculator for a Melbourne vendor in London in 1993 for £7.7 million against an estimate of £15,000 to £20,000.
The buyer was a well established Mannheim (Germany) clock dealer. He had difficulty paying, and the sale was aborted.
The problem in the Chinese market became public in a big way when a small auction house Bainbridge's in London's Ruislip sold a vase with an with an estimate of £1.2 million, sold for £65 million.
The "find" was believable given that Chinese art had been soaring in the saleroom with Sotheby's earlier auctioning a vase for $US18 million in New York.
But Bainbridge was reported to be having difficulty in securing closure of the deal, and having to send agents to China to talk to the buyer.
The most expensive Chinese work of art at auction is still not paid for, more than a year after it was bid to 51.6 million pounds ($83 million).
The elaborately decorated Qing-dynasty porcelain vase had been found in a routine house clearance and was included in a sale of antiques to make more than 50 times the estimate.
According to a Bloomberg report of last December payment was then still awaited, a comment from "a dealer with knowledge of the matter".
Though some money has changed hands, it doesn’t look as if settlement is imminent, he said.
According to a more recent report in the London Antiques Trade Gazette the vase has still not been paid for because the buyer objects to paying the buyers premium.
Buying excess by mainland and the Chinese diaspora around the world coupled with punting by members of the local Chinese community has provided one of the few highlights in the Australian and many international salerooms.
China's economic boom is driving the world economy and buying of the heritage dispersed by past generations of émigrés, soldiers and civil servants providing a new lease of life for flagging decorative arts sales.
Australia enjoyed more than its fair share of these, with many connections at the time of the Boxer Rebellion when much Imperial art was dispersed.
The two unpaid for figures in Mossgreen sale had been consigned by the descendents of the original purchaser, who was the great great grandfather of the vendors and held a diplomatic position in Peking between 1850 and 1870, when the items were acquired.
Mossgreen did recognise the value of the collection, by featuring the 26.5 cm high Imperial Chinese gilt-bronze figure of Avalokitesvara, (1426-1435), seated on a double-lotus throne on the front cover of the catalogue, and this turned out to be the highest priced lot in the sale.
Vendors and auctioneer alike must have been relieved that the star lot in the November sale is not among the re-offerings.
Estimated at $150,000 - $250,000, the bidding soared to $1 million, or $1,220,000 when the Mossgreen 22 per cent buyers premium is added