NEW YORK, NY.- Today at Sotheby’s in New York, the two day auction of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art concluded bringing a total of $22,711,064, surpassing the high estimate and with 78% of lots sold. Along with yesterday’s sale of Magnificent Ritual Bronzes – Property from the Collection of Julius Eberhardt, which brought $16,786,000, Sotheby’s has sold $39,497,064 of Chinese Works of Art over the past two days.

Dr. Tao Wang, Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at Sotheby’s New York said: ‘‘We were thrilled to see heated competition from multiple collectors for the pair of Tang Dynasty Horses; the final price of $4.2 million demonstrates that the market once again recognized the importance of the best Tang Sancai. Elsewhere in the sale, we saw strong prices for ceramics, bronzes, and jades with collectors from around the world competing at the highest level to drive the total for this New York sale to nearly $23 million. In addition to the private collectors, I was delighted that the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired the Wood And Gesso Figure Of Maudgalyayana to add to their wonderful collection of Chinese Art.”

The sale was led by A Pair of Magnificent Sancai-Glazed Pottery Horses that sold for $4,197,000, well over the $2.5 million estimate and more than double the $1.6 million that it fetched when last at auction in 2003. Additional highlights included A Fine And Rare Coral-Ground Famille Rose Floral Bowl, Yongzheng Mark And Period, which made $905,000 (est.$400/600,000) and An Imperial Spinach-Green Jade 'Wufu Wudai Tang' Plaque, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period, which sold for $941,000 (est. $800,000/1.2 million). A Rare Polychrome, Wood And Gesso Figure Of Maudgalyayana, Song / Yuan Dynasty from the esteemed Philadelphia collection of Lady Deana Pitcairn Duncan was purchased by The Philadelphia Museum of Art for $905,000.

Following the white glove sale of the Eberhardt Collection, Archaic bronzes were once again in demand with A Bronze Wine Vessel (Gong), Late Shang Dynasty, 12th-11th Century BC, from The Collection of Alex & Elisabeth Lewyt soaring to $1,925,000 (est. $300/500,000) and A Bronze Ritual Tripod Vessel (Ding), Middle Western Zhou Dynasty, 10th-9th Century BC selling for $605,000 (est. $80/120,000) indicating the continuing strength of the market.