NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams ended its Asia week sales in style when the Fine Japanese & Korean Works of Art on March 18 made more than $1.3 million. The rarest item on offer, an early 14th century large Japanese Ko-Seto heishi (flask), fetched $275,000 and was the top lot of the day.

“Today’s sale of the important ko-seto flask underscores Bonhams’ commitment to bringing important Japanese works of art to the marketplace. As the only New York auction house currently holding live auctions dedicated to the sale of Japanese and Korean art, and through our exhibitions such as Transformation, Summation, Creation, Bonhams is committed to support and grow the buyer base in these areas." says Dessa Goddard, Vice President and North American Director of Asian Works of Art at Bonhams.

Other highlights included:

· An inlaid iron tetsubin (kettle), Meiji era (late 19th century) that sold to the highest bidder for $125,000, more than 8 times its high estimate.

· A beautiful Korean work of art, a 17th century bronze figure of a Buddha from the Joseon dynasty that achieved $50,000, 2.5 times the high estimate.

· A classically beautiful Japanese screen called Rakuchu rakugai zu (Scenes in and around the Capital) by Kumagai Michimasa, 19th century, which realized $42,500, over two times the high estimate.

· A fine Satsuma vase by Yabu Meizan that fetched $31,250.

· A large standing wood figure of Kannon, Nanbokucho period (14th century), which sold for $27,500, more than three times the high estimate of $8,000.

Jeff Olson, Director of Japanese Art at Bonhams says, “In today’s sale, we saw strong bidding across different mediums; the market responded especially well to select offerings such as ceramics, lacquer, and metalwork. We were pleased to reintroduce to the New York collector base a selection of Korean works of art and we look forward to building on that success.”

The next auction of Japanese art will be held in September 2015.