One Million Dollar Chinese Calligraphy Album Sold at Heffel in October 2025!

Once again, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in my latest Asian art online sale at Heffel. As I approach my fifth anniversary with Canada’s national auction house, I’m thrilled to share that this was by far my most successful auction with the company to date!

Spread over three sessions, the Fall sale featured 121 objects from Asia, with works primarily from China alongside select pieces from Japan and South Asia. In total, the auction realized an impressive $2.45 million - marking THE highest-grossing Asian art auction in Canada since 2020 and ranking among the top six total sale results in this category in the country’s history.

Running from October 2 to October 30, the sale attracted hundreds of visitors to the Heffel Toronto gallery and sparked spirited bidding from collectors around the world. While strong participation came from buyers across Canada and the United States, we also welcomed active bidders from the United Kingdom, Austria, China, Hong Kong Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Highlights of the sale included a particularly strong selection of Chinese calligraphy and paintings - most notably the one million dollar Chinese calligraphy album that captured headlines across the country - alongside fine Chinese porcelain, jade carvings, silk textiles, and South Asian modern paintings.

In this blog, I’ll take a closer look at several standout lots from the auction and also introduce some of the former owners of the works offered. As is often the case, many of the most important artworks to appear on the market come from passionate collectors who carefully preserved and passed these pieces down through generations. A clear pattern emerges - the lots that achieved the greatest success typically combined strong provenance, excellent condition, freshness to the market, and conservative starting estimates.

Image 1. This Heffel Asian art auction was situated over three floors of the gallery at 13 Hazelton Ave. Here we see main gallery space with the one million dollar album displayed in the central case.

The album was written by renowned Chinese calligrapher Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) as catalogued in the Shiqu Baoji 石渠寶笈 (Precious Collection of the Stone Channel Pavilion), a monumental, three-edition catalogue of the Chinese calligraphy and painting collection held by the Qing Dynasty emperors. It was compiled over 50 years during the Qianlong Emperor's (reign 1736–1795) and was eventually completed by his son, the Jiaqing Emperor (reign 1796-1820).

Image 2a. The former owner of the Zhao Mengfu album, shown above, was Wang Yiling (Wang Xiwen) 王锡文 (1881-1953), a banker and director at the Kincheng Banking Corporation (Jincheng Yinhang) during China's Republican Period (1911-1949). After returning from his studies in Japan, Wang began to hold important positions at major branches of the Kincheng Bank in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hankou. During this time, he built an important collection of Chinese paintings and calligraphy with the help of his close friends - many of whom were 20th century Chinese painting masters themselves, including Zhang Daqian and Chen Banding

In his later years, Wang and his family settled in Hong Kong, where his art collection grew substantially in size and importance. After 1950, his descendants began emigrating to Brazil, Taiwan, and the United States, bringing with them their father's collection. While a major part of the family collection is currently preserved in the Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Library, more works associated with this collection have been spotted at auction in recent years.

The present session is the second part of the family collection Heffel represented - the first part was sold in April 2024 (lots 001 to 015) and featured scroll paintings by Zhang Daqian and Chen Banding, along with Ming and Qing Dynasty fan paintings.

Image 2b. An image of the Zhao Mengfu album's cover. It is relatively 'plain' with its simple silk brocade cover in a wood frame.

Image 2c. Here is a composite shot of all the Zhao Mengfu album pages laid out. The calligraphy is painted on silk and it is signed Zi’ang (one of the artist's courtesy names), cyclically dated to 1299, and contains three artist’s seals, 'da ya,' 'Zhao shi Zi’ang,' and 'songxue zhai.'

Throughout the album are seven collectors’ seals including three of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), one of Emperor Jiaqing (1760-1820), and three of Wang Qiangang (1872-1947).

Image 2d. The final two pages of the album and its signature and collector seals, including one massive six-character Qianlong seal.

Image 2e. Here is a photo of me after the successful sale of the Zhao Mengfu album. We placed an extremely conservative estimate on the piece at $20,000/$30,000. The goal was to generate as much international interest as possible. One strategy I have used throughout my 20+ years in the auction world is that, when a work is properly catalogued and thoroughly researched, a conservative estimate often generates far more interest than one set at full market value.

In the end, the album's online sale realized $1,081,250 after an extended overtime bidding session that went for over an hour long. It set a Canadian record for a Chinese painting or calligraphy and is now, without question, one of the highlights of my career.

As soon as the lot sold, word spread quickly through the Canadian media, and the story was picked up by approximately 20 news outlets including The Canadian Press, the Financial Post, and the Toronto Star. Featured in the article is my Heffel colleague, April Yin, who was responsible for the research of this album.

The items from Wang Yilin’s collection made up Session One of the Asian Art sale and these lots in total achieved well over $1.6 million.

Image 3a. Other highlights from the Heffel online sale this past April was in Session Two where the incredible single-owner jade collection from the Family of Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton (1915-2009) was featured.

Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton owned one of Canada’s most important art collections. Her Canadian art collection included works by Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, Edwin Holgate, A. Y. Jackson, Albert Robinson, Anne Savage, E. J. Hughes and J. E. H Macdonald. Many of these works were purchased directly from artists, or from their dealers as newly available works. My workplace Heffel had sold the majority of her Canadian art collection between 2010 to 2012.

Theodosia also amassed an immense collection of Chinese jade carvings and snuff bottles. Her interest developed when her grandmother, Rachel Dawes Bond, brought the family on a tour of China during the 1920's where she started collecting tabletop (scholar) Chinese works of art. Many of these pieces were later bequeathed to Theodosia, and she continued the tradition by acquiring more scholar jade carvings from Montreal’s prestigious Gurie Gallery.

Image 3b. One of the top pieces from this Chinese jade collection was a white jade rectangular plaque from the 18th Century. It had a fine relief carving of a scholar, lake and thatched house, while the reverse contains a calligraphy poem. This exquisite carving was estimated at $2,000/$4,000 and sold for $17,500 including buyer's commission.

Image 3c. Another fine jade carving from the collection of Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton was a black and grey jade miniature landscape from the 17th/18th Century. The carving of the mountain landscape is so detailed with its numerous peaks and a fortified wall. This was probably used as a scholar's brush rest and against an estimate (again) at $2,000/$4,000, realized $20,000.

Image 4a. Session Three of the sale contained more Chinese paintings and works of art. Amongst these were numerous fan paintings from the Estate of Afonso Chen (1919-2009). Afonso (the gentleman in the middle of the above photo) was a well-loved and respected member of Toronto's Chinese Canadian community. Born in Macao and educated in the Portuguese school system, he worked as a journalist during World War II, where he met many renowned artists from Mainland China and Hong Kong who had sought refuge there. In 1954, Afonso became the first Chinese individual to practice law as a solicitor in Macao. After immigrating to Toronto, Canada, with his family in 1968, he joined an investment firm as a stockbroker, all the while continuing his avid collection of Chinese paintings.

Affectionately known as “Uncle Al,” he made significant contributions to the community. He co-founded the Macao Club (Toronto), served with the Ontario Chinese Artist Association, and exhibited works from his extensive collection at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto. Afonso's legacy is one of building cultural bridges - supporting and promoting Chinese art through his outstanding painting collection, and fostering cross-cultural understanding between Chinese and Canadian communities.

Image 4b. Amongst the many fan paintings Afonso's descendants consigned to this sale, the album of eight fan paintings by Fei Danxu and others realized the highest amount, selling for $10,625 against an of estimate $2000/$3000. They contained scenes of landscapes, floral and fauna and were created during the 19th to early 20th Century.

Image 5a. One of the most outstanding pieces of porcelain I ever dealt with and sold at this Heffel Asian art auction came from the estate of Yen-Chiu Pei (1903-1980). He was a businessman and banker associated with the China and South Sea bank, and one of the co-chairmen of Hong Kong's Smart-Shirt company. He had a lifelong interest in collecting Chinese antiques and paintings.

I first saw objects from this collection a few years ago when his descendants required an insurance appraisal for parts of the collection. The object I gravitated towards was a stunning Chinese blue and white pear-shaped vase, with Daoguang mark and period (1821-1850).

Image 5c. Here I am carefully examining this pear-shaped vase. The shape of the vase is known as a yuhuchunping, which literally translates to a 'jade spring vase.' This elegant pear-shaped form first appeared during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in both ceramic and metal medium. With the development of porcelain in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), the form was executed in various glazes and styles, including monochromes, copper red, and blue and white.

Image 5c. A detail of the vase's body with its well-painted design of plantain tree, shrubs, and rockery. This vase was extremely sought after during the online auction and had bids from all over the world. It was estimated at $50,000/$70,000 and ended up realizing $151,250.

Image 5d. The base of the blue and white vase and its six-character mark 大清道光年製 daqing Daoguang nianzhi which translates to 'made during the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty'.

Image 6a. Another interesting object from this past Asian art auction was a Chinese silver ingot that came from the descendent of Eulalio Carrera (c. 1905-1995), the former Panama Consul General to the Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Macao. This silver ingot was given to him by the legendary businessman Sir Robert Hotung Bosman (1862-1956) in 1955. Here is an old family photo of Mr Carrera (R) and Robert Hotung (L) in Hong Kong.

Image 6b. The silver ingot was produced during the Shunzi period (1644-1662) and weighed a hefty 1.854 grams. The auction estimate I placed on it was relatively conservative at $7,000/$9,000 and the final price more than doubled that amount, selling for $15,000.

Image 7c. The surface of the silver ingot where on the left is the Shunzhi 順治.

Image 8. Other Asian art highlights from this sale were from the South Asian region. A painting of a Procession by Indian artist Jamini Roy (1887-1972) sold for $28,125 against an estimate of $8,000/$12,000.

I had actually sold this work at Heffel back in 2022, and it was a surprise to it three years later. Originally, the work was acquired directly from the artist by a Canadian collector who worked for UNESCO in 1969. Jamini Roy is known as one of the founding figures for South Asian modernist art. His works feature bold colours and outlines, and often depicted are Hindu deities, folk characters and dancers.

Image 9. And finally we have two watercolours of figures by Ivan Peries (1921-1988), a renowned Sri Lankan modernist artist and founding member of the Colombo '43 Group of modernist painters. These works are seldom seen in Canada and it was originally part of the collection of famed Canadian author Michael Ondaatje. His mother actually acquired it in Sri Lanka circa 1961. With its strong provenance, these two watercolours sold for many times their estimate of $6,000/$7,000 at $20,000.

Thank you for reading this blog and check in often to see what I have been up to during my Asian art adventures around the world. I'm currently London for the Asian Art in London events, and this will be followed by a trip to San Francisco and New York. You can always keep track of me on my Instagram page @anthonywuart. My next Heffel Asian art sale is scheduled for April of 2025 and (so far) will feature more paintings from the Collection of Wang Yiling and more jade carvings from the Family of Theodosia Dawes Bond Thornton.