Art Institute Of Chicago Deaccessions 110 Chinese Porcelain Items

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Art Institute of Chicago has deaccessioned 110 Chinese porcelain items, including a rare Yongzheng period“bats and peaches” bowl, for upcoming auctions during Asia Week New York. This event, which occurs annually in early September, features numerous gallery presentations, museum exhibitions, and sales focused on Asian fine and decorative arts.

Christie's will feature the deaccessioned items, among consignments from private collectors, in its two-part Important Chinese Art sale on September 17-18. The“bats and peaches” bowl, from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) Yongzheng period (1723-1735), has a high estimate of $600,000. Tao Wang, chair of Arts of Asia and curator of Chinese art at the Art Institute of Chicago, noted that most of these works were produced for domestic use and export. The museum's permanent collection holds 1,400 Chinese ceramics, and this deaccessioning is part of an ongoing process to refine its holdings. Wang stated that deaccessioning 110 objects is not the largest number the institution has released at once; approximately 250 Chinese works of art were deaccessioned in 2018, and an additional 100 works were sold in 2025. Funds from these sales are“used exclusively for future acquisitions across the museum's Asian collections, not limited to Chinese art, and for the direct care of the collection.”

Other auction houses are also participating in Asia Week New York. Christie's will host a total of four live auctions and two online auctions. Sotheby's will offer a 230-lot live Chinese Art sale on September 16. Bonhams is presenting two online sales and three live auctions, including Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Fine Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, and Fine Japanese and Korean Art. Heritage is opening its Fine & Decorative Asian Art Signature Auction on September 16, and Doyle's two-part Asian Works of Art sale, featuring works from the collection of Diane A. Nixon, will also begin on the same day.

The market for Chinese porcelain has seen significant fluctuations, primarily driven in the past 15 years by buyers from“Greater China,” encompassing mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, according to Vicki Paloympis, vice-president and head of the Chinese department at Christie's New York. She added that western collectors and Chinese nationals in the U.S. also contribute, but to a lesser extent. Paloympis observed that the 1990s marked the peak of American collecting of Chinese porcelain and pottery, with New York collectors focusing on Tang pottery from the Tang dynasty (618-907). Chinese buyers then became dominant, which Paloympis attributed to the shifting distribution of global wealth.

The market's true peak was in 2011, when record prices were achieved. Paloympis recalled items estimated at $3,000-$5,000 reaching $300,000, $400,000, or $500,000, driven by new buyers with substantial funds willing to pay high amounts. The market has since remained strong but stable. Chinese buyers have elevated prices to levels often beyond the reach of most western collectors. For example, a large white porcelain vase created for the Qing Dynasty Emperor Yongzheng's court (1723-35) sold for HK$76,280,000 ($9.7 million) at Bonhams in Hong Kong in 2014, exceeding its estimate by 12 times and setting an auction record. More recently, in 2025, a blue and white vase from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) with a copper red dragon design sold at Bonhams New York for $3.7 million, significantly surpassing its pre-sale high estimate of $600,000.

Dessa Goddard, senior vice-president and U.S. head of Asian art at Bonhams, confirmed that the principal buyers of Chinese art are based in Asia, including Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, or have agents operating outside Asia, including in the United States. She noted that active collectors of Ming and Qing dynasty imperial porcelain and ceramics still exist in the U.S., Great Britain, and Europe. However, tariffs on imports from China have increased costs for U.S. collectors purchasing abroad. Among the porcelain items in Bonhams' sales are a late Ming blue and white stem bowl, estimated at $20,000-$30,000, and a turquoise-ground puce-enameled dragon altar vase, estimated at $40,000-$60,000.

Angela McAteer, international head of the Department of Chinese Works of Art, Americas & Europe at Sotheby's, explained that the largest portion of Chinese porcelain available in the U.S. and Europe was made for export, often following European forms, shapes, and designs, or decorated with European subjects or coats of arms in the 18th and 19th centuries. In contrast, collectors from Greater China primarily seek works made for the domestic market, specifically for the Imperial Court. Prices can vary widely between export pieces and imperial court porcelain. An early 18th-century porcelain enamel dish for export might fetch as little as $200-$500 at auction, while a comparable piece made for the court could command 10 to 100 times that amount.

Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Chinese imports have made the sale of Chinese porcelain more“challenging” and“extremely expensive,” according to McAteer, who added that Sotheby's has observed a drop in participation from U.S. buyers in overseas sales. These tariffs have also impacted New York dealers who typically serve domestic collectors, making it more complicated and costly to bring pieces into the city. Consequently, there has been less international dealer participation in events like Asia Week New York. McAteer pointed out that deaccessioned objects from institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago offer a dual benefit: they are already in the U.S., avoiding import tariffs, and their provenance has been thoroughly researched. Despite these challenges, McAteer said that a“rich tradition of collecting Chinese art” in the U.S. ensures an ample supply of Chinese porcelain and other objects, maintaining market strength.

Notable porcelain lots in Sotheby's sale include a rare doucai or painted“mythical beast” dish (estimate $80,000-$120,000 ) from the Yongzheng period (1722-1735), and a pair of lemon-yellow-enameled cups, also from the Yongzheng period (estimate $80,000-$120,000 ).

Source: Observer Arts

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