Wrathful Gods and a Three-Sided Dagger

Tibetan works of art elicited the most intense bidding wars in Lempertz's last auction of the year. The packed saleroom in Cologne received numerous bids via telephone and online from all over the world.

The wrathful deity on the three-sided ritual dagger promises protection. This rare and spectacular object was elaborately crafted from fire-gilt bronze in Tibet in the 18th century. The piece attracted the highest bids in the Asian Art auction. In the end, it was a telephone bidder who prevailed among the international buyers. The ritual dagger, which was consigned to the Cologne auction from a private collection in Hesse, will now return to Asia for the sum of € 117,000.

Wrathful deities also populate a thangka with Avalokiteshvara. The Buddha of compassion and understanding sits in the centre, surrounded by Buddha Amitabha, Buddha Shakyamuni and the scholar Asanga. This rare thangka, which was fiercely contested by international bidders, was

finally secured by a saleroom bidder who prevailed against competition from Asia and Europe on the telephones and online platforms and raised the lot to the result of € 37,800. It was one of eight thangkas that had been consigned to the auction from a private collection in southern Germany. All were sold, some of them well above their estimates. Together they realised a total of € 124,000. Part of the proceeds will go to the Tibet House Cultural Foundation, Frankfurt am Main, and will thus go towards promoting and educating people about traditional and modern Tibetan culture.

Tibetan bronzes also sold successfully. Nine of these objects alone came from a private collection in Hesse. A rare figure of Amoghasiddhi from this collection fetched the highest price. This piece was secured by a European telephone bidder for € 52,000. Lot 79, an exquisite figure of Shyama Tara, went to a saleroom bidder for € 25,200. Lots 76, 77 and 80 also sold to bidders in the packed auction room. The bronzes from this collection realised a total of € 162,000.

Japanese art was also in high demand. Utagawa Hiroshige's complete Tōkaidō series as a fanfold album, mounted in sequence with each sheet numbered by hand in ink, far surpassed its estimated price of €3,000 to achieve a result of €10,000. Among the metalwork on offer, a pair of vases in the Komai style stood out in particular, achieving a result of € 15,000 at the same estimate. The same result was achieved for a netsuke of a grazing kirin. The piece, made of boxwood with negoro lacquer, was purchased by an online bidder.

The auction generated a total result of around 1.4 million euros. Bidders from countries outside of the EU, Switzerland and the UK accounted for half of the total hammer prices realised.

I would be happy to answer any questions and provide print-ready images.

With kind regards,

Jan Bykowski
Press and Public Relations
info@lempertz.com
Tel. 0221 925729 -57