Online and upwards... World Record prices show internet collectibles boom

 

Online sales of collectibles continued their upward trend in May 2011, with World Record priced sales at several Artfact Member Auction Houses last month.

For starters, May's highlights include I.M. Chait's Asian & International Fine Arts Auction which saw more than $1.7m in online demand.

Elsewhere, R.O. Schmitt's two-day Antique Clock Auction featured over 2,800 online bids from 24 countries.

And WestLicht's 19th Camera & Photographica Auction saw a 1923 Leica 0-series camera sell for $1.89m. This set a World Record price for the most expensive camera at auction.

Interestingly, the Leica 0-series sold to a private collector from Asia, making this the latest in a line of World Record priced sales which have been influenced by Asia's collectors.


The most expensive camera ever auctioned, the 1923 Leica 0-series

Other highlights over the past month included I.M. Chait's Asian & International Fine Arts Auction, starring an Antique Chinese Ivory Brush Pot which realised $25,000.

According to reports, the pot caused on online bidding frenzy during the May 1 auction.

Though bidding started at just $500, the price quickly soared as online bidders competed first against in-house bidders and then each other.

When the hammer came down several minutes later, it was an online bidder who took home the slim brush pot with incised floral decoration for $25,000. This was more than sixteen times its high estimate.

The Antique Chinese Ivory Brush Pot is only the latest in a line of big money Chinese artefacts to have sold online in recent weeks, partly because buyers and museums from Asia's growing economy are moving to reclaim their cultural heritage.

But, whether the buyers are from East and West, Artfact's recent results show that the future is bright for the online global auction markets.

 

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