Christie’s total for its series of sales on Mar. 18-21, 2008, was $80,068,489, the highest total ever. Buyers hailed from both Asia and the West, according to Christie’s expert Theow H. Tow. Christie’s dominated the week, with what the firm said was a 63 percent share of the total sales.

The total was boosted by the $14,377,000 paid for the 12th-century Dainichi Nyorai Buddha, a new record for a Japanese artwork. The sculpture, made of Cyprus wood and containing hidden in its insides a wood pagoda, a crystal pagoda and a crystal ball on a bronze stand (as revealed by x-rays), was bought by Mitsukoshi Ltd., a major department store.

New auction records were set in several categories, including snuff bottles ($825,000), Liao Dynasty bronzes ($2,505,000), Chinese archaic jades ($421,000), Indian sculpture ($4,969,000, for a sandstone Buddha), Indian painting ($2,225,000), Khmer sculpture ($2,113,000) and Tibetan painting ($1,497,000).

Modern and contemporary art saw good results as well. The sale of South Asian modern and contemporary art on Mar. 20 totaled $10,974,600, with 89 percent of the lots finding buyers. Macqool Fida Husain’s Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabhartata 12 (1972) went for $1,609,000, a new record for any contemporary Indian painting. And Ram Kumar’s Vagabond (1956) was knocked down for $1,161,000, a record for the artist.

A new record was set as well for the modern Korean artist Kim Whanki (1913-74), whose traditional oil painting of a porcelain jar and plum blossoms sold for $825,000.

Christie’s holds additional Asian art sales in London, May 13-16, 2008, and in Hong Kong, May 24-28, 2008, when the firm launches its inaugural Hong Kong sale of Asian contemporary art and Chinese 20th-century art.

Sotheby’s four New York sales of Asian art, Mar. 17-19, 2008, totaled $46,435,414. In the contemporary department, Sotheby’s "Contemporary Art Asia: China Korea Japan" auction on Mar. 17, 2008, totaled $23,210,525, with 233 of 291 lots finding buyers, or just over 80 percent.

Top lots included Zeng Fanzhi’s expressionistic Mask Series No. 11 triptych from 1996, which went for $1,217,000, above the presale high estimate of $1,000,000, and Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline Series: Big Family No. 8, also from 1996, which sold for $937,000, just under the $1,000,000 presale low estimate.

Li Huayi’s ethereal Autumn Mountains (2007), a misty view of mountains, waterfalls and a natural bridge, sold for $451,000, a record for a Chinese contemporary ink painting at auction. At the other end of the esthetic spectrum, Yan Pei-Ming’s 1998 portrait of Mao was purchased for $481,000. The buyer, a private European collector, got a relative bargain -- Yan’s auction record for a Mao portrait is $1,609,000

Sotheby’s spring sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art on Mar. 19, 2008, totaled $12,133,626 for 241 lots. Top prices were achieved for paintings by M.F. Husain ($409,000), F.N. Souza ($313,000) and S.H. Raza ($241,000).

For complete, illustrated auction results, see Artnet’s signature Fine Art Auctions Report .

contact