Top Row (L-R): A rare celadon-glazed hu-form vase, seal mark and period of Yongzheng, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue, Chinese Art sale at Sotheby’s; Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) (detail), c.1831, Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Nelkin Collection Part III Signature® Auction #8191 sale at Heritage Auctions; A Rare Yixing Peach-Form ‘Figure’ Puzzle Cup with Impressed Seals ‘Chen’, ‘Mingyuan’ and Wood Stand, Asian Works of Art sale at Freeman’s|Hindman; Bottom Row (L-R): A Group of Qing Dynasty Hair Pins, Asian Works of Art sale at Doyle; Maqbool Fida Husain, Untitled (Gram Yatra) (detail), 1954, oil on canvas, South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art sale at Christie’s; A Rare and Important Blue and White and Copper-Red ‘Dragon’ Vase, Tianqiuping, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art including the Francine and Bernard Wald Collection of Fine Snuff Bottles, Part I sale at Bonhams
The annual Asia Week New York sales from our six member auction houses—Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Freeman’s|Hindman, Heritage Auctions, and Sotheby’s—saw outstanding results across their live and online sales!
Bonhams’ Asia Week sales totaled $14 million, with the top lot of the week across all the Chinese Works of Art sales being a superbly painted vase with dragons amidst clouds from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) which sold for an astonishing $3.7 million—more than six times its estimate. Closing out the week, the Fine Japanese and Korean Art sale offered a range of works from rare pottery to a fine selection woodblock prints as well as a group of outstanding inrō from the collection of Alan and Simone Hartman. The sale was highlighted by a solid gold tea pot, crafted from a heritage collection of gold koban coins minted by the Shogunate government in the 18th c., which sold for $64,000.
Asia Week at Christie’s New York was also a resounding success, totaling $60,039,058 with 872 lots sold, 190% hammer above low estimate, and a 86% sell-through rate. A standout highlight was Maqbool Fida Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra), which sold to an unnamed institution for $13.75 million—the highest price ever achieved for a work of Modern Indian Art. Auction records were also set for several artists, including Sayed Haider Raza, Gulam Rasool Santosh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Jeram Patel, Ivan Peries, Senaka Senanayake, and B. Prabha. In The Important Chinese Furniture and Works of Art sale, other notable results included a huanghuali “official’s hat” armchair that achieved $3.26 million, and a blue-and-white iron-red “dragon” dish that sold for $2.77 million.
Private collections and estates took center stage at Doyle’s two-day spring Asian Works of Art sale. Bidders from around the globe competed for exceptional Chinese, Japanese, Himalayan, and other rare traditional Asian artworks. A standout highlight was the important and extensive collection of Qing Dynasty hair pins from the estate of the late New York fashion icon Iris Apfel. Comprising more than sixty rare pieces, the collection captivated bidders and soared to an impressive $60,800—more ten times its estimate. Another highlight was a A Large Chinese Celadon Jade Elephant and Amitabha that sold for $51,200, more than double its estimate.
Freeman’s|Hindman made quite the impression in their first appearance as an official auction house partner in Asia Week New York as their Asian Works of Art auction soaring past expectations to achieve a total of $1.7 million. The auction featured a remarkable array of Chinese ceramics, gold jewelry, jade, and textiles, alongside Japanese bronzes, Korean paintings, and Indian and Himalayan Buddhist figures, showcasing the richness and diversity of Asian art. The top highlight of the auction was a trio of extraordinary Yixing Zisha pottery pieces attributed to the renowned 17th-century master Chen Mingyuan. Following 15 minutes of spirited bidding in the room, the group realized a combined $636,500.
Heritage Auction’s Asia Week sales reached a strong total of $2,890,355, led by a rare early impression of Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) (Kanagawa oki nami ura), which achieved $425,000 in their Japanese Woodblock Prints from The Nelkin Collection Part III Signature® Auction #8191. The sale also marked a milestone for the market, setting new artist records for Choensai Eishin (active 1795–1817) and Katsukawa Shunsen (active 1780–1800), and establishing more than 40 world auction records for individual prints—many of them by Kawase Hasui.
The Asian Art sales at Sotheby’s totaled an impressive $40.9 million, marking one of the highest totals in the sale series’ history. Demonstrating strong resilience amid a dynamic market environment, the sales saw standout results across Chinese, Indian, and Japanese art. The Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art sale led the series, with $16.8 million in sales, achieving a 95.7% sell-through rate, and 94.3% of works selling at or above their high estimates. The auction also set new benchmarks for prominent female artists, including Madhvi Parekh and Nelly Sethna, reflecting the growing recognition of women in the art world. Another highlight came from the Chinese Art sales, where works consigned by major institutions—including the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Newark Museum of Art, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts—achieved a 100% sell-through rate, totaling $5.9 million.