FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Josh Chait
310.285.0182
josh@chait.com

I.M. CHAIT NYC ASIAN ART SALE HITS OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

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Lot 220 sold for $250,000

NEW YORK, NY, March 25, 2007 - As advertised, I.M. Chait’s first New York sale brought Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art to market at prices originally estimated to be about 40% lower than comparable items in the sales of the “big guys,” with final sales totaling over the $1,000,000 mark. I.M. Chait proved quality need not command “telephone number” figures. The success of the auction by this out-of-town gallery, holding its sale toward the end of Asia-week was something to be reckoned with.

According to Jake Chait, head of Chait’s marketing department, “the sale was our best ever, both in quality of items offered and in dollars taken in.”

Most of the star lots came in at, or slightly above the estimates, another indication of Chait’s accuracy in making fair market evaluations. The top lot of the day (pictured above), a Song Dynasty Junyao purple-glazed narcissus bowl with a light blue interior, set on three lingzhi shaped feet, commanding its high estimate of $250,000 sold on the telephone to one of the world’s most important ceramic dealers, Mr. William Chak.

Surprises regularly punctuated the days’ proceedings as buyers on the phones in Asia vied with buyers in the room and others attending the simulcast at the I.M. Chait gallery in Beverly Hills. Early in the day, a startling bidding war heated things up when two buyers got serious about an early twentieth century Japanese cloisonné flori-form box. The catalog estimate of $1,500 was surpassed within moments as the bidding soared to a price of $16,800. Later a pair of massive Chinese zitan wood screens depicting cranes and peach trees finished with jade calligraphy poems also found more interest than expected, exceeding the high estimate of $20,000 to finally fetch $66,000 for the pair.

Lot 247 sold for $66,000

The sale hit stride at the mid-tier range, which is the arena that I.M. Chait traditionally caters to. A superb Qianlong period, eighteenth century jade mountain composed of stepped rockery hammered down at $39,000. Another eighteenth century jade mountain this one depicting two horses grazing beneath willow, and by repute, from the Summer Palace, Beijing, fetched $21,000.

Lot 251 sold for $39,000

Two “corpulent” Tang Dynasty pottery court ladies sparked animated interest before being sold to a collector on the telephone. The figures went for $51,000. Several lots later, a superb Song pottery seated baby-boy figure possibly unique, went to a bidder in the room for $21,000. Two unusually large – 36” – Tang Dynasty pottery Lokapala fetched $15,600.

Lot 159 sold for $51,000

Pottery animals also commanded interest with three lots in a row going to floor bidders. The first, a rare Northern Wei Dynasty, horse and camel commanded $11,400. A Tang pottery Bactrian camel went for $9000. Meanwhile, a northern Qi pottery dynasty “parade” horse brought $6,600 from the floor.

Lot 153 sold for $11,400

Among the extensive collection of jade on the block, a pair of antique perfumers of cylindrical form and reticulated with continuous landscapes of pavilions, stairs, figures and pine branches sold for $22,800. A tall carved jade figure of Guanyin standing in draped flowing robes with a small seated Buddha figure on rockery fetched $18,000. An early Ming/Qing celadon jade water buffalo at rest was sold to a buyer on line for $14,400.

Lot 263 sold for $22,800

A fine rhinoceros horn Buddha seated on a lotus base brought interest from all quarters before being sold to a bidder in Los Angeles for $21,000. Among the objects fashioned from rare materials, a Qianlong lapis lazuli censer commanded $12,000. A contrast in style, from the early twentieth century, a cloisonné enamel tripod censer of bulbous form on rounded feet with a highly detailed design of carp created in partial moriage “cameo” and “pull wire’ technique went to a phone bidder for $5,400.

Lot 310 sold for $21,000

A ruby red carved Beijing glass vase with a motif of writhing dragons contesting a flaming pearl amid clouds, fetched $9,000. A sixteenth century Ming blue and white porcelain box with domed cover, also showing writhing dragons contesting a flaming pearl, went for $10,800. Meanwhile, an eighteenth century Qianlong floral wall vase brought $21,000 on the phone. A tall Qianlong flambé glazed vase, eighteenth century, found its home at $9,600. A rare pair of delicate Chinese porcelain glazed footed bowls, each with stylized green clouds, circa 1700, went in the room for $10,800. Lost in translation was a pair of Daoguang lotus dishes, nineteenth century, that went for $7,200 to a floor bidder while the phone bidder fumbled with a currency conversion.

Lot 192 sold for $21,000

A Cambodian Khmer bronze of the classic Mahayana period depicting Buddha flanked by Lord Lokesvara and the goddess Prajnaparamita went for $12,000. A fine selection of Satsuma found its range in the under $1,000 arena to several thousand dollars.

Lot 146 sold for $12,000

Closing the auction, the highlights of a fine collection of snuff bottles were two jadeite examples, one carved in the natural rust color with a ”qilin scratching,” that each fetched $2,700.

Lot 327 sold for $2700

Ultimately, the success of I.M. Chait’s Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art auction coupled with its Natural History session later in the day proved a major success totaling over three million dollars! Look for I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers to return to the East Coast within the year. I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers is located at 9330 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, California, 90210. For more information on this auction, future sales, consignments or to order a catalogue, please call (310) 285-0182, toll free (800) 775-5020 or email us

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