Cambi Casa d'Aste Fine Chinese Works of Art

The most important auction ever held in Italy for Oriental art has just concluded at Cambi Auction House in Genoa. The 170 lots sold totaled nearly €3,200,000, doubling the initial estimates for the entire catalog. Buyers, mainly from Asia, crowded the auction room and also participated by telephone and through the auction house’s live online bidding, sending prices soaring to levels that had seemed unlikely on the eve of the sale.

Consider, for example, a Qianlong-period jade scepter estimated at €20,000–30,000, which sold within a few minutes for €297,600; a pair of zitan wood panels carved with dragons, estimated at €20,000–30,000, which reached €89,000; a small zitan console that rose from an estimate of €5,000–6,000 to €62,000; a pair of famille verte vases estimated at €15,000–20,000 that exceeded €83,000; or a second pair of vases, this time in bronze and enamel, estimated at €8,000–10,000, which surpassed €52,000. A small coral figurine estimated at €7,000–10,000 nearly reached €50,000.

Among the top lots were also a Qianlong-period bronze Bodhisattva figure sold for €272,000; a yellow jade vase that changed hands for €149,000; and above all a rare Qianlong jade bell which, starting from an opening bid of €80,000, achieved a record price for Italy of nearly €700,000, becoming the most expensive Oriental art object ever sold in the country and surpassing the previous record, also set by Cambi at its previous spring sale.

Dario Mottola, Director of the Oriental Art Department, declared himself more than satisfied with the results achieved, now in line with the best international sales. This confirms that what matters increasingly is not the location of the auction, but the attention and care devoted to the selection of material for the catalog. The sale stands as testimony to the strong credibility and reputation that Cambi has achieved in Asian and international markets.