PARIS.- Asian art and Chinese ceramics brought an impressive €6,841,275 ($10,583,795) here today, the highest total to date obtained in the field by Sotheby's France. The top price was €456,750 for a Kangxi period gilt-bronze Shyama Tara.

"We are delighted with today's results" declared Sotheby’s Asian art specialist Christian Bouvet. "They reflect the unique quality, exceptional provenance and reasonable estimates of the works offered – and also the excellent work of our international team in putting together a sale perfectly tailored to our clients' wishes, which met a highly enthusiastic response among French and international collectors."

The first session – devoted to Chinese ceramics, mainly from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) periods, much of it assembled by the Swedish industrialist Dr Carl Kempe (1884-1967) – realized €3,599,550, double the overall estimate. The ensemble, charting the development of Chinese porcelain and recalling the great European collections of the 1930s/40s, appealed to American, European and Asian connoisseurs of classical porcelain.

Dr Kempe, a gifted entrepreneur at the head of an industrial group specializing in pulp and paper, was one of the most knowledgeable collectors in the field during the first half of the 20th century. His exceptional collection, the subject both of extensive research and numerous publications, was also featured in two sales at Sotheby's earlier this year, in Hong Kong (April) and London (May), which realized €14m and €16.5m respectively.

Ming porcelain was the focus of keenest attention during this first session, and yielded the morning's three highest prices: €360,750, six times the high estimate, for a white-glazed washer (lot 46) with the mark of the Zhengde period (1506-21); €312,750 for an anhua-decorated lotus bowl (lot 40) from the Yongle period (1403-24); and €264,750 for a white-glazed barbed porcelain dish, also from the Yongle period, against an estimate of €50,000-70,000 (lot 33).

The highlight of the second session, devoted to Asian Art in general and including a variety of pieces from China, Japan and South-East Asia, was an exceptional Kangxi period Shyama Tara (1662-1722), 20 inches (50cm) tall, seated on a lotus throne and spangled with semi-precious stones. This fetched the day's top price of €456,750 (lot 308, estimate €300,000-400,000).

Ceramics remained in the spotlight as a Yongle period blue-and-white porcelain charger (1403-24), with hibiscus, peony and camellia decor, soared to €420,750, over triple its €120,000 high estimate (lot 332). A polychrome enamel Qing Dynasty wall-vase with the Qianlong hallmark also caused a surprise as it claimed €168,750 against an estimate of €8,000-12,000 (lot 349).

Among other outstanding works were a Qianlong white porcelain baluster vase, used by a French family as a charming lamp-stand for nearly a century before its appearance in the Galerie Charpentier, at €90,750 (lot 325, estimate €15,000-20,000); and a pair of 19th century Qing embroidered panels featuring the Eight Immortals, that sold for €210,750, ten times the €20,000 high estimate (lot 405).
Japanese highlights ranged from a 17th century six-panel Edo Period screen at €48,750, triple its €12,000 high estimate (lot 420), to a 17th century Shinto Katana sabre by Muneshige at €19,950 (lot 438, estimate €8,000-10,000).