A 17th or 18th century gilt bronze Buddhistic figure has beaten its estimate by 833.3% to top a major auction of Chinese art and antiques in the UK.
The rare gilt copper four-armed figure sold for £112,000($177,642), making a mockery of its £12,000 high estimate at the Oriental sale on November 13, thanks to competitive bidding from Chinese bidders.
 Strong Chinese bidding helped the Buddhistic figure to £112,000 |
The result is indicative of the buoyant state of the market for Chinese art and antiquities, with the country's growing number of wealthy inhabitants pushing up prices for long-lost treasures from their homeland.
"The sale confirmed what most of us already know, that the Asian market is still going from strength to strength," said the auction house.
And the market looks set fair, with a report issued by Frost & Sullivan this month revealing that China will be the world's largest economy by 2025, creating further high net worth individuals (HNWIs) with the desire both to repatriate artworks and buy pieces for investment purposes.
Anthony Lin, the former chairman of Christie's Asia, recently explained to the Wall Street Journal the attraction of art for Chinese investors.
"In China, they don't have open money markets or commodity markets," he commented.
"For the amount of wealth that has been generated, there's not many options for investment. The art market is one of the few areas where there is quite a strong investment position being taken."
The sale also featured a Ming style blue and white pottery jar, which made £2,600 ($4,123) against a £1,200 valuation.
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