Christie's Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy Auction Totals $17.07m

A work by Wang Shouren was the headline sale at Christie's 'Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy' auction on April 28 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $17.07m (HKD133.8m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 58 works sold totaling $17.07m.
• Estimates totaled: $12.33m (low) and $21.03m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 68% of the original 85 lots announced.

The star lot was: Wang Shouren, Poem in Running Script (Undated), which sold for $8.16m, 966% above its $765,400 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 1932% above its low estimate. Attributed to Zhang Jizhi, Calligraphy in Standard Script (Undated), sold for $518,600 ($25,500 low estimate). It has not been traded before.

• 25 works, or 43%, sold above their high estimate.
• 29 works, or 50%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 4 works, or 7%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

27 works were bought-in, including: Chen Hongshou, Gathering of Reclusive Sages and Poetry Drafts (Undated), estimated at $1.02m (low) to $1.91m (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.