Only an extraordinary item would convince Chinese antique collector Cai Mingchao to buy at Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale this week as global financial markets decline. The auction house has just the thing.
Cai, who paid a record HK$117 million ($10.3 million) in 2006 for a Ming Buddha, said he may bid for the top lot, a 15.5- meter (51-foot) Qing scroll of Emperor Qianlong leading 16,000 troops. The 18th-century work, with a high estimate of HK$80 million, is one of four the ruler commissioned — two are missing and the other is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, said Sotheby’s.
“This item is beyond rare — it’s not just an antique, it’s a national treasure,” said Cai, 44. “I may buy it, but the risks are huge in this climate when sentiments are so bad.”
The scroll is among 1,700 lots that Sotheby’s estimates will fetch about HK$2 billion in a five-day auction starting Oct. 4. That may be a tough target as budget-conscious bidders pass on lesser items, said Cai.
The Sept. 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sparked a confidence crisis in banks, curbing credit and causing stocks to plunge. U.S. lawmakers’ failure to agree on a $700 billion bailout on Tuesday sparked the biggest global equity sell-off in 21 years.
Hong Kong, the third-largest art market after New York and London, hosts biannual auctions by Sotheby’s and rival Christie’s International that are considered barometers of industry sentiment. (Bloomberg)