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19th June 2010 news PEOPLE Above: the calligraphic hand scroll by a Song Dynasty master Huang Tingjian (1045-1105) sold for RMB390m ($57.4m) at Poly. Going for a Song – RMB390m


BEIJING auctioneers Poly established a new milestone for Chinese art on June 3 selling a 38ft (15m) long calligraphic hand scroll by a Song Dynasty master for RMB390m ($57.4m) plus 12 per cent buyer’s premium


The longest extant calligraphic hand


scroll by Huang Tingjian (1045-1105) – generally regarded as the finest and most creative calligrapher of the Song Dynasty – boasts an unparalleled history and provenance. Titled Di Zhu Ming and completed in 1095, it was extended from


the original length of just over 20ft (8m) over a period of 800 years as subsequent owners – from Chinese literati to royal court officials – added additional inscriptions to the piece. The work also holds significant value for the study of Chinese history and literature, as it bears an eloquent essay on morality and justice by Tang dynasty statesman Wei Zheng. Bidding for the scroll took close to 40 minutes with more than 70 individual bids taken in increments of RMB5m before it was knocked down to a


Object of the year winners


WINNER of the Country Life-LAPADA Object of the Year, announced last week at the London International Fine Art Fair at Olympia, was the so- called Hausburg cabinet belonging to Kensington Church Street dealers Butchoff Antiques. The remarkable ebony and miniature representation of Rheims Cathedral took its maker Friedrich Ludwig Hausburg (1817-1886) 17 years to make between 1840 and 1857. Measuring 18 x 15in (45 x 38cm), its full glory is only revealed upon the opening of doors to reveal panels and drawer facias elaborately inlaid with brass, tulipwood, abalone and mother of pearl, with British landmarks. Ian Butchoff describes it as “without doubt the most exceptional piece


of Victorian furniture we have been lucky enough to own in 46 years of business.” It was purchased at auction in Sheffield in March 2009. Second place went to a c.1700 Granada polychrome figure of a woman praying, belonging to London dealer Peter Petrou and third was a group of six 1940 Buccheri vases made by Carlo Alberto Rossi to designs by Gio Ponti, from the stock of London 20th century design specialists De Parma.


Christie’s expected to appeal Minor court result continued from front page


contemporary art market, Christie’s retention of the Princes was to have significant financial implications: prices collapsed at the end of 2008 and when the works were sold in January 2009 the market was at a nadir. Christie’s had finally returned the works in November. While the auction house would later launch legal action against Minor for breach of contract after he failed to pay for works, including A Rearing Horse by Van Dyck ‘sold’ for £2.7m at Christie’s in London in 2008, Minor sued, alleging Christie’s had prevented him from cashing in while he could.


In their lawsuit against the auction house for wrongfully retaining the works, Minor’s lawyers offered expert analysis to


determine the drop in value experienced by the Prince artworks during their seven- month sojourn at Haunch of Venison. Untitled (Cowboy), for example, was thought to have been worth $4m at its peak (August 2008), but was sold five months later for just $1.5m.


In total, minus the notional transaction fees paid as a vendor, lawyers calculated that Minor’s total ‘hit’ across the four pictures was $8.6m. The jury in the two- week trial agreed with the arithmetic and have ordered Christie’s to pay damages. It is understood that Christie’s, who claimed in court that Minor didn’t hold clear title to the artworks because they were pledged to secure a loan, may appeal the verdict. In the counterclaim brought by


Christie’s against Minor for non-payment


telephone bidder. The price betters the previous record for a Chinese work of art, the £14m taken for a Yuan blue and white guan at Christie’s in July 2005. Poly – the largest auction house in mainland China – outshone all their rivals with a fifth anniversary five-sale series from June 1-5 comprising classical and modern calligraphy and paintings, ceramics and works of art and contemporary Chinese art. The premium- inclusive total across the five days was RMB 3.3billion ($485.3m).


LAPADA chairman, the Earl Howe, 59, pictured above, has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health in the Coalition Government, so under parliamentary rules has resigned his post with our largest trade association. Sarah Percy-Davis, LAPADA’s chief executive, says: “Lord Howe has been chairman since 1999 and has been a great source of support to the association. Bringing with him invaluable experience and knowledge of both business and politics, he has helped us face the changes of a rapidly changing international marketplace, as well as ensuring views of the trade are noted in Westminster and Brussels.” LAPADA hope to announce Lord


Howe’s successor later in the summer.


of auction bills, the former co-founder of Cnet was ordered by the judge to pay Christie’s $1.4m. Having reneged on paying for the remaining $7m of his winning bids, this was the difference in the price he had bid at auction and the sum subsequently realised when the works were reoffered. As previously reported, a Manhattan federal judge ruled on March 30 that the dotcom entrepreneur owed Sotheby’s $6.6m to pay for paintings that he won at auction and never paid for. Across all three cases (works by


Edward Hicks, Andy Warhol and Childe Hassam) this totalled $4.4m, with a further $2.25m added in “pre-judgment interest and late charges”. Mr Minor has declared his intentions to pay but remains on both houses’ “no-bid” list.


TIM Davidson has left Nottinghamshire saleroom Vennett-Smith to form his own company specialising in the sale of cigarette and trade cards, sports memorabilia (excluding cricket) and entertainment-based collectables, but will continue to work closely together with Trevor and Margaret Vennett-Smith. Julie Hale will also be following him. Vennett-Smith will continue to auction postcards, ephemera, beer labels and cricket memorabilia.


DETECTIVE Sergeant Vernon Rapley, who has headed Scotland Yard’s art and antiques unit for nine years, is moving to the Victoria & Albert Museum to take charge of security and visitor services.


Security provisions at the South Kensington museum have been upgraded in recent years following a spate of thefts in 2004. Rapley’s successor at Scotland Yard has not yet been appointed.


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