At Sotheby's Australia's sale of Fine Asian Australian and European Art, Decorative Arts and Furniture in Melbourne on May 14 and 15 at its rooms in High Street, Armadale a painting of the waterfront in Canton in 1803-04 sold for $186,000 including buyers premium.
Instead of deflating the price of the lot a tricolore – the flag of one of the once maligned "occupying powers" - in the painting alongside those of the other 19th century China concession holding powers, helped it on its way as bidding quickly jumped way past the admittedly conservative estimates of $25,000 to $35,000.
The tricolore was helpful so because it confirmed the painting must have been executed around 1803-04.
The flag was soon to come down in as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and was not seen again until the 1930s when the hongs had been rebuilt after the fire of 1822 and when the Spaniards and Swedes had gone.
This made it a very early example of China trade paintings.
The buyer was on the phone the painting is reliably said to have headed to London where the market in these pictures continues to be based.
He had to battle with other determined phone bidding and a room full of local and some visiting Chinese.
The buyers of China trade paintings used to be nostalgic administrators or businessmen who had worked in the East.
But judging by the crowds at London sales they lately have been the new Chinese middle class.
Neither French nor Portuguese appeared to be spoken on the big second night of the sale at Sotheby's.
The Portuguese who connected with Chinese export wares through Macau have more worries on their mind with the Euro while the French are not far behind..
This market, helped by exhibitions mounted by leading London China trade dealers Martyn Gregory, is clearly now also being fired by new Chinese wealth ready to accept the “colonial” past as part of their heritage.
What finer trophy could there be hang in a new loft like apartment in Guangzhou than a painting of Canton with its foreign flags now flying in the presence of the new Chinese masters.
The genre has new academic support with the recent publication The Hongs of Canton Western Merchants in South China 1700-1900, as seen in Chinese Export Paintings by Patrick Conner.
The Hongs were the five main business houses in Canton - literally a row.
At 81 by 127 cm the oil on canvas which made the big money The Waterfront at Canton, was also large and while its artist, unknown, but almost certainly Chinese, is delicately painted.
Local interest might have been expected due to its fine Australian provenance, (the collection of the late Caroline Simpson), but did not appear to eventuate.
The painting's value was not sufficiently high for it to be banned under the export provisions of the Cultural Heritage Act for overseas objects with an Australian collecting provenance so it goes overseas unchallenged.
But other views of the Hongs have turned up in Australia due to the tendency of old administrators also to settle here.
Usually sleepers (perhaps given low values to ensure international interest) their unearthing is an occasional slap in the face to the two global auction houses that have all but abandoned traditional auction activities here.
Purchased by Simpson in 1998 at Christie's in London for a then solid £53,000 as part of a collecting strategy of embracing examples of colonial cultures similar to our own, Sotheby's Australia's latest star lot had not gone to the Historic Houses Trust when the family transacted the bulk of the collection to the Historic Houses Trust after Simpson's death.
Sotheby's did not name the Simpson family as the vendor in the catalogue, only its past appearance in the collection.
Its appearance on the market coincided with the auction of the Simpson family's Joyce Farmhouse, described as “a rare colonial gem and the oldest house in the Baulkham Hills district” and where it could well have hung until of late.
Australian exhibitors at the latest Hong Kong Art Fair had yet to test that market for contemporary paintings as the hammer fell on the last Sotheby's Australia lot in Melbourne.
But the historical/topographical Canton painting and prices of other more distinctly Chinese antiques helped save the day for Sotheby's which continued to face buyer disdain for English and Continental antiques.
The Chinese lots were the big contributors to the sales total of $1.568 million which represented 89 per cent by value.
The sale was otherwise anything but a breeze as only just over half of the 571 lots sold.
As was apparent from the ethnic mix in the room on the second night when the Chinese art was being sold, the mix was very predominantly Chinese.
Often buying for contacts in China, these buyers fished a little more selectively this time around.
At many sales over the past three years they have tended to trawl.
They also tended this time to dribble in a little late.
Chinese buyers were more selective than usual understandably pouncing on the two most exquisite lots in the sale.
A turquoise enamel bowl and cover sold for $60,000 against estimates of $8000 to $10,000 and a copper red glazed bowl with the mark and period Yongzheng went for $16,800 against estimates of $3000 to $4000.
Melbourne collector Cyril Stokes said that he has encountered a lot of competition recently for late for Worcester porcelain from Chinese buyers, but most lots from this factory that sold at Sotheby's (and some lots did not) came in at mid estimates.
A covered Worcester vase by Chivers circa 1900 was this big recent buyer's purchase at the sale at $1560 but he also secured three of the Australian traditional paintings which Sotheby's has been directing to its decarts sales away from its big ticket art sales.
The paintings' implied tag as decorative, once again was only of limited help as only nine of the 25 appeared to find buyers.
Stokes did not bid on the pair of large Sevres mounted urns which would have looked at home at the Stokes Museum in Mount Macedon and made a surprising $19,200 against an estimate of $6000 to $8000.
Buyers finally may be wearying of living with dead animals fir the taxidermy market which appeared well and truly stuffed.
There could barely be a finer lot in this category than the opening lot, (Lot 1) but the $15,000 to $25,000 estimate was too ambitious and lot one on the first night set the sale's first night off to a wobbly start.
The lot was a pair of cedar cabinets containing Australian and overseas fauna.
Batches of Remued pottery sold well but interest in the modest offering of Australiana was spotty.
A collection of Continental gold boxes sold well individually for a total of $112,920 apparently to overseas buyers.