SINGAPORE - A six-panelled lacquer screen from the last Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai has sold for HK$9.7 million (S$1.7 million) at a Bonhams auction in Hong Kong, setting a world record for the artist at an auction.
Golden Sunset Over Halong Bay, the work of the late lacquer master Pham Hau, went to an Asian private collector on Saturday (Nov 27) at the Bonhams Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale - selling several times the estimate of HK$2.8 to 3.8 million.
The work had travelled to Singapore earlier this month for an auction preview.
At 1m tall and nearly 2m wide, it offers a panoramic view of the bay - a Unesco World Heritage site - with intricate etchings of fishermen and fishing boats between islands of limestone.
Golden Sunset Over Halong Bay was granted to the late American journalist Edgar Ansel Mowrer when he met the emperor in 1951. Mowrer took it back to his family's home and it was passed down to his granddaughter.
Ms Bernadette Rankine, director of Bonhams Southeast Asia, said in a statement: "This exquisite lacquer screen by Pham Hau is a significant discovery, not only for its royal provenance but also for its unique composition, supreme workmanship and rarity. It is a true masterpiece, and we are particularly proud that it has set a new world record for a work by Pham Hau."
Last week's 35-lot auction involved other notable sales of works by Vietnamese painters - Mai Trung Thu's Lady Playing A Nguyet Cam, which sold for HK$7.8 million; and Le Pho's Les Bleuets, which sold for HK$940,000.
