Christie's Sells HK$2.1 Billion of Art, Antiques in Hong Kong , Yazzy's at www.williamverdult.com

According to Bloomberg News, Cai Guoqiang's set of 14 drawings, a Ming Dynasty jar and a painting by Paris-based veteran Zao Wou-ki sold for records in Hong Kong as Christie's International raised HK$2.1 billion ($270.4 million) in a five-day sale.

Bidders were more discerning than at previous auctions, competing strongly for the best pieces and passing on many of the lower-quality items, said Tian Kai, a Beijing-based art dealer who attended the 2,400-lot sale that ended last night. The Ming jar fetched HK$30.5 million on Nov. 27, when bidders shunned a quarter of the 214 items offered, according to Christie's.

``Buying is more rational, more calculated,'' said Tian, 33. ``People realize only certain artworks retain value over time.''

Christie's top presale estimate for the series of auctions was HK$1.8 billion before fees.

Declines in local stock indexes this month, including an 11 percent drop in Hong Kong's Hang Seng, might have tempered demand, said Hong Kong art dealer Cheung Hin Sing. Profit is a key driver of art purchases in Asia and prices tend to move in step with financial markets, said Beijing art dealer Yang Ou.

Asians accounted for 76 percent of buyers at Christie's May sale in the city, of which 60 percent were from China and Taiwan, said Yvonne So, a Hong Kong-based Christie's spokeswoman.

This week's sales at Christie's were 28 percent larger than a year ago, and bring the total for 2007 to HK$3.6 billion, according to a preliminary statement from the auction house.

``Hong Kong has firmly established itself as one of the most important auction centers in the world and (the sale result) underscores Christie's market-leading position,'' the London-based auction house said in the statement.

Antiques and paintings by veteran or dead artists fetched the highest prices. The most expensive lot was a Qing Dynasty enamel brushpot bearing Emperor Qianlong's mark, which fetched HK$67.5 million. Another Qing Dynasty brushpot, made of white jade, sold for HK$54.1 million, more than three times its presale estimate and a record for white-jade carving.

Earth and Sunset

A painting called ``Sunset at Danshui'' by Taiwanese artist Chen Cheng-po, who died in 1947, fetched HK$50.7 million. Beijing- born Zao's ``And the Earth Was Without Form,'' an abstract painting using basic colors, sold for HK$29.4 million.

At the sale of Chinese contemporary paintings, works by established names such as Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Cai were among the 10 most expensive. Cai's set of 14 paintings sold for HK$74.2 million, twice the presale estimate. Zhang's 1993 ``Portrait in Yellow,'' one of seven in a series on the artist's friends and family, fetched HK$22.7 million.

Yue's ``Red Boat,'' a 71 inch-by-98 inch picture of six smiling men with their backs against a boat, sold for HK$12.6 million, twice the presale estimate. Yue's ``Execution,'' of about the same size as ``Red Boat,'' sold at a London auction in October for 2.9 million pounds ($6 million), a record for a single Chinese contemporary painting.

`Poignant Message'

``Bidders are starting to discriminate among different works by the same artist,'' said Tian. ``In Yue's case, there's a more poignant message in `Execution' than in `Red Boat,' and the price difference reflects that.''

Christie's charges the buyer a 25 percent commission on the first HK$150,000, 20 percent up to HK$4 million, and 12 percent on the remainder.

Christie's and Sotheby's hold biannual auctions in Hong Kong, the world's third-largest art-auction market after New York and London. Christie's raised HK$1.2 billion offering around 2,500 items in Hong Kong last autumn. In October, Sotheby's 1,100-lot sale in the city fetched HK$1.55 billion.