Rarity and quality

from Issue 11 - Volume 18 - Mendip Times

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Lee Young, Head of Asian Art and Managing Director at Dore & Rees, shares his thoughts on the Asian Art auction market.

2022 saw a continued trend for high prices throughout the Asian Art world, with some strong results coming outside of the top three auction houses, and whilst the market has evolved considerably following the “explosive” start of these extraordinarily high prices back in 2008, what continues is an appetite for rarity and quality.

To give some context, until the early 2000s the Chinese art and porcelain market was dominated by Western buyers, then we witnessed a shift to Chinese buyers entering the market, following the economic upsurge in China. Wealthy Chinese began buying the finest examples with a desire to repatriate these ancient Far Eastern treasures and they now make up for 80 percent of items sold at auction today.

Unfortunately, what we have seen in the ensuing 15 years since is a vast number of fakes appearing onto the market, this to a large extent is driven by a desire to make, in some cases, huge financial gains at the cost to unsuspecting buyers. Whilst many auction houses have tightened up on such material ever entering the open market through investment in their own Asian Art teams, sadly we do still see large quantities of “new” Asian art appearing in online sales.

So, what do you need to do to safeguard yourself against falling foul to these modern copies? Due diligence has become a common phrase amongst the world’s senior Asian Art specialists.

What does that look like in practice? Provenance has become such an important part of selling good pieces today, and in some instances, it is probably worth as much as 25% more than a piece without such historical documentation. If you are considering selling or indeed starting out with your own collection, make sure you check out the auction house’s reputation for selling such pieces, and probably –more importantly –the specialists within. Interestingly, damage was once the “kiss of death” when it came to Chinese ceramics but, with a shortage of the finest Imperial examples on the market today, buyers have become far more tolerant of damage on the best items, and they are now enjoying strong results when they appear on the open market.

My pick for 2023? Ceramics and paintings will, I'm sure, continue to lead the line but, with some strong results for bronze censer and archaistic vessels during Asia week in November in 2022, my hunch is that these will continue to impress.

Keep a close eye too on Chinese furniture made from such exotic woods as Zitan and Huanghuali!