Mainland Chinese and Indonesian buyers were out in strength at Christie's spring auctions during the week, helping the auction house reach a sales total of HK$389.3 million, its second highest in Hong Kong.
World record prices were achieved in several categories, including Chinese furniture, ceramics, Southeast Asian paintings and 20th century Chinese art.
'There was an obvious trend there. People just couldn't seem to get enough of the very best pieces,' said Anthony Lin, chairman of Christie's Asia.
Christie's said the results would not have been as strong if it had stuck to its original timetable of mid-April, the height of the Sars outbreak. The most the auction house has raised in spring sales was HK$472 million in April 2000.
A 12-panel soapstone-inlaid and zitan hardwood screen from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) sold for HK$23.58 million to an Asian dealer, nearly three times its presale estimate. A set of rare personal seals from the Emperor Kangxi in the same period sold for HK$21.34 million to a private Asian buyer, also setting a record. In the Chinese ceramics and works of art sale, the top lot was a rare Ming blue and white charger from the Yongle period (1403-1425) which fetched HK$9.24 million, more than double its presale estimate.
Six world records were achieved for individual artists in the Southeast Asian and Indian picture sale, which raised a total of HK$42.05 million with 91 per cent of the lots sold. Among them, a work by German artist Walter Spies (1895-1942) entitled View across the Sawahs to Gunung Agung, which depicts the Indonesian island of Bali, sold for HK$6.33 million to a private Asian buyer. Balinese Beauties by Dutch painter Willem Gerard Hofker (1902-1981) sold to a European buyer for HK$2.86 million, five times more than estimated.
'Prices of Southeast Asian paintings have appreciated very strongly - there's a very strong trend there,' said Mr Lin. 'The numbers of new buyers over the past three to four years, particularly in Indonesia, has been remarkable. That's what fuels a rising market.
'Similarly, if we look at the prices of the Chinese works of art and ceramics it really signifies the arrival of very strong new buyers from China.'
Hong Kong buyers, however, are not as active as they once were.
'Hong Kong is still very rich. It is just a question of who is driving the spending patterns,' Mr Lin said.
He said the gains in Asian art prices were in line with the trend in the global art market, as more people put money into alternative investments, driving prices at the top.
Turnover figures were varied with most Southeast Asian paintings selling but only 77 per cent of the lots in the 20th century Chinese art sale changing hands and 85 per cent of jade and jewellery.