LONDON.- The combined total of Bonhams London Asia Week sales hit more than £9.3 million this May across Bonhams New Bond Street and Knightsbridge salerooms. The top lot from across the week was a magnificent gilt-bronze figure of Shakyamuni Buddha, Yongle mark and of the period (1403-1424), which sold for £806,700 in the Fine Chinese Art sale on Thursday 18 May, against a pre-sale estimate of £300,000-500,000. This was closely followed by a rare and important Imperial court painting of the Bannerman Te’er Deng Che, Qianlong, dated by inscription to 1788 and of the period, which sold for £781,500, nearly four times the estimate of £200,000-300,000.

There was a strong start to the week with Bonhams’ Asian Art sale which took place across Monday and Tuesday (15-16 May) at Bonhams Knightsbridge, with the sale making a total of £2.01million – double the pre-sale total estimate. The sale saw a carved and pierced white jade ‘dragon’ plaque from the Ming Dynasty achieve £65,820, over 26 times its pre-sale estimate of £2,500-3,000.

The success then continued on Wednesday (17 May) at New Bond Street, with the exceptional collection of Michael Goedhuis: Brush & Bronze. The 97-lot sale was 99% sold, with 70% of the sale selling above high estimate. The sale made a total of £2.08million, more than twice the pre-sale total estimate, with the top lot Landscape, 2010-2011 by Li Huayi (b.1948), selling for £277,500. From the bronze section of the sale, a rare and important silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin, dating to the late Ming Dynasty was amongst the highlights, selling for £214,500.

Concluding the week was Bonhams’ Fine Chinese Art on Thursday 18 May at New Bond Street. The impressive 212-lot sale was 85% sold by lot, achieving a total of £5.28million – twice the pre-sale total estimate, with superb results across the board, including early jades and Imperial porcelain of the Ming and Qing dynasties.