Sotheby's said it has reported a bumper first half of the year in terms of sales when compared with a year earlier. Its rival, Christie's, also enjoyed a strong six months.

Sales of fine art can be a useful barometer of how wealthy people are feeling, so private bankers will be interested to know that in first half of 2014, global auction house Sotheby’s, in its Asia business, reported sales of HK3.82 billion ($490 million) up almost by half (47 per cent) on the same period in 2013.

In the first six months of 2014 in Asia, Sotheby’s sold three works of art for more than HK$100 million. More than 20 world auction records were set, capped by the Meiyintang “Chicken Cup” which established a World Auction Record for Chinese porcelain, the company said in a statement yesterday.

The firm said it also achieved six of the top-10 artwork prices in the Asian auction market. Average sell-through rate remained strong at 91 per cent, it said.

Sotheby’s sourced works from 46 countries and attracted participation by collectors from 56 countries in the first half of the year. Some 22 per cent of all bidders are new to Sotheby’s.

Christie's

Rival firm Christie’s, meanwhile, has logged global sales of £2.69 billion $4.47 billion, up 12 per cent, for the first half of 2014, from the same period a year earlier. The auction house said "digital engagement and new buyers coming to the market have continued to drive growth; new clients represented 24 per cent of all buyers and 15 per cent of the sales total in the first half of 2014". Auction sales increased 13 per cent on the same period last year to £2.2 billion ($3.6 billion, up 23 per cent).