Nine-dragon seal by Guo Xiangren (Photo/Courtesy of Council)
A Chinese seal sold for 109 million yuan ($16.4 million) at Chinese auction house Council's autumn auction in Beijing on Monday, setting a new record for a seal made from Shoushan Tianhuang (lit: field yellow) stone, one of the four best-known and rarest stone materials in China.
Produced by contemporary artist Guo Xiangren, the carved seal of nine dragons playing with a ball is the largest of its kind. It weighs in at 1.7 kilograms.
In other categories, a total of 14 artworks that night sold for more than 10 million yuan each, including eight paintings and four porcelain vases. The highest-selling Chinese painting was the Collection of Du Fu's Poems by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) painter Shi Tao (1642-1708). Selling for 69 million yuan, the painting set a new auction record for the artist's work. In the contemporary art section, Zao Wou-Ki's painting 11.06.93 sold for 18.4 million yuan.
Total sales at the two-day auction held from Sunday to Monday reached 1.6 billion yuan.
