Two rare 17th-century Ming chairs that sat almost unnoticed in Victoria's St. Matthias Anglican Church for years sold for $630,000 US at Sotheby's New York auction house Tuesday, after five frantic minutes of bidding.
The total price, including the buyer's premium, was $758,500, Sotheby's said. The bid was more than twice the estimated $180,000-$250,000 the chairs were expected to fetch.
Bidding on what the famed auctioneers called Huanghuali Yokeback armchairs started at $120,000 and rose in mostly $10,000 increments, although bidders jumped by $25,000 apiece several times after the price reached $500,000.
The chairs were first noticed in 2010 by a parishioner who is an aficionado of Oriental antiques. At first, the chairs were assumed to be fake, but the worn feet pointed to their authenticity.
Harold Yeo, Sotheby's assistant vice-president and specialist in Chinese works of art, was so impressed by photos of the chairs sent from Victoria that he flew out to see for himself.
The chairs are "very nice examples of their type," Yeo said via email, "probably because they were in the church, [and] they hadn't been overly messed with." He could not estimate how many such chairs still exist.
Yeo said the bidding was heated, noting the original estimate was conservative to attract attention. "We knew they would do well - we expected them to make at least half a million," he said, adding the parish was "literally sitting on a gold mine."
At one point, there were numerous bidders, making it hard to keep up with their rapidly escalating offers. Although there was intense interest from a telephone bidder, the chairs eventually sold to Hong Kong dealer Morris Low, owner of the Morris & Joey Low Gallery, who was bidding on behalf of a private collector from China, where the chairs will likely return, Yeo said.
Rev. Robert Arril could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but previously said the sale's proceeds mean St. Matthias will be able to carry on its work in the community. Arril arrived in the parish after all but 30 of its members left to join the more conservative Anglican Network in Canada, forcing the church at Richmond and Richardson roads to rent out its hall to stay afloat.
The chairs were referred to as Sichutou Guanmaoyi in Chinese. Guanmaoyi means official's hat chair, because the protruding ends of the crest rail resemble an official's hat, while Sichutou means "four protruding members" - the ends of the crest rail and the ends of the two arm rests. In English, they're known as yokeback chairs.
