$12.8m for a Kamakura Buddha with X-ray vision
The highlight of the Asia week series of auctions put on by the major salerooms was an impressive early Japanese wood sculpture of Buddha. It set a new auction high for a Japanese work of art when it was hammered down to the Japanese company Mitsukoshi Co Ltd for $12.8m (£6.7m) plus premium in Christie’s sale of Japanese and Korean art on March 18.
The price far surpasses the previous high of $1.6m, paid for a screen in the same rooms back in 1990…