Two important collections of Chinese art coming to Christie’s New York during next Asia Week sales

Christie’s New York Asia Week auctions in September will be anchored by sales of two major collections of Chinese works with a collective estimated value of nearly $10m.

One sale will focus on objects from the encyclopaedic and mysterious “LJZ” collection of Chinese jade carvings. The 43 lots are estimated to fetch around $4m, according to Christie’s, and objects from the collection have been featured in international exhibitions in Hong Kong, London, Chicago and San Antonio.

In another sale, a tranche of works of Chinese art from Japanese antiquities dealer Mineo Hata is expected to fetch around $5.5m. The collection coming to auction is made up of 24 lots of archaic bronzes and ceramics, including a vase dating from the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) that Christie’s expects to bring between $1m and $2m.

Objects from both collections will be on display at Christie’s Hong Kong facility from 24 May until 30 May, in tandem with the auction house’s spring sales in the city.

In March, the 2023 spring iteration of Asia Week New York—the first since the widespread lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and travel bans—brought in more than $131m in sales across galleries and auction houses. Two of the most valuable objects were sold at Christie’s: an 18th-century Korean moon jar that fetched $4.5m and a $2.8m print of Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic Under the Wave off Kanagawa (1830-32).