HONG KONG.- The top-selling lot at the Fine Chinese Paintings sale at Bonhams Hong Kong on Sunday was an important work by Wang Hui (1632–1717), one of the most celebrated painters of late seventeenth-century China, which realized HK$ 35,960,000. It had been estimated at HK$7,000,000 - 10,000,000.

After a lengthy bidding war, the album of ten double leaves finally went to a telephone bidder who was shortly afterwards identified as Mr. Liu Yiqian, a respected Shanghai-based art collector and founder of Long Museum.

Part of the collection of Mark S. Pratt, the painting is dated to the spring of 1698, five years after Wang Hui would finish the twelve scrolls of the ‘Nanxun Tu,’ placing this album squarely within this most developed period of his art.

Other works of art from Mark S. Pratt’s collection include Za Daqian’s Lotus and Dwelling in the Mountains which made HK$2,200,000 and HK$1,960,000 respectively, well above their high estimates.

Other notable highlights from the auction include:

· QI BAISHI’s Mouse and Candlestick and Family Gathering sold for HK$3,760,000 (over five times its high estimate of HK$700,000) and HK$2,080,000 (soaring past the high estimate of HK$1,200,000) respectively

· ATTRIBUTED TO QIU YING’s Hunting in Spring sold for HK$2,500,000 (over three times the high estimate of HK$800,000)

· LU YANSHAO’s Spring Landscape at Dawn and Mount Qingcheng in the Mist sold for HK$ 1,240,000 and HK$ 1,120,000 respectively (both more than double their high estimates)

· LI XIONGCAI's Two Eagles Amidst Pine Trees and Two Pheasants Sitting on the Pine Tree sold for HK$ 812,500 and HK$ 487,500

In addition, five Cheng Shifa’s paintings from the collection of Mrs. Sally Yu Leung, which all sold well above their estimates, fetched HK$1.8 million in total to benefit the University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive as Bonhams joined forces with them to raise funds to name the Asian Art Study Center in the new museum in honour of The late Professor James Cahill (1926-2014), who had taught Chinese art history at the University of California, Berkeley for twenty-nine years.

Steven Zuo, Director of Chinese Paintings, Bonhams Hong Kong, said, "We are very pleased with the results of today's auction. Today's auction has demonstrated the strength of the demand for top-quality work. Going forward, we will continue to leverage our unrivalled global network to source exceptional works from important private collections in America, Europe and Asia. We look forward to our next sale in November.”


*Estimates do not include buyer's premium and prices achvied include the hammer price plus buyer's premium