Asian Art Week: Highlights from Christie's auctions and exhibits

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Lovers of Asian art have descended upon New York for the bi-annual Asian Art Week. Renowned auction house Christie's is hosting nine auctions, featuring more than a thousand pieces from all categories of Asian Art. CGTN's Karina Huber takes a closer look.

The highlight of Christie's Asian Art Week is the Irving Collection. It consists of roughly 400 objects made of lacquer, jade, bronze, ink and ceramics.

Everything up for auction used to be in the New York home of Florence and her late husband Herbert Irving, co-founder of food distribution company Sysco.

Christie's art experts say the couple developed a passion for Asian art through traveling.

JONATHAN RENDELL DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, CHRISTIE'S AMERICA "When they got to Japan, they really got bit pretty hard. They began to look at Japanese works of art. They looked at Chinese works of art and eventually ended up with this huge collection."

A collection of roughly 15-hundred objects - 1300 of which were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Its Asian Art wing is named after them.

The top lot is a gilt bronze figure of a multi-armed Guanyin. Asking price: four to six million dollars.

The object comes from the Dali Kingdom, a civilization that lived in southwest China around the first millennium.

JONATHAN RENDELL DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, CHRISTIE'S AMERICA "Bronzes from this civilization are quite rare. Of this particular type, there are only three known. The other two are in museums so this is your chance."

Christie's sale featuring fine Chinese ceramics and Works of Art has over 200 lots.

For between two and three million dollars, you can get this porcelain fruit bowl that dates from the early Ming dynasty in the early 15th century.

OLIVIA HAMILTON, HEAD OF SALES CHINESE WORKS OF ART, CHRISTIE'S "There's a wonderful vibrancy to the blue that they managed to create during that period and you have a wonderful white body to the porcelain. And that's really what we're looking for when we look at Chinese porcelain."

Also from the Ming Dynasty is this ceramic bowl called Jun jardiniere. Asking price: between two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half million dollars.

OLIVIA HAMILTON, HEAD OF SALES CHINESE WORKS OF ART, CHRISTIE'S "So this is one of the largest that you'll see and not only does the size make it more extraordinary because it's more difficult to pot, this one has perfect glaze control."

From the Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes sale is the Shao Fanding - a bronze food vessel that dates from the Shang Dynasty in the 11th century BC.

Numerous fine Chinese paintings like this long handscroll by Ling Dongyang will be up for grabs as well.

KARINA HUBERNEW YORK "Christie's Asian Art Week kicks off with nine sales starting next Tuesday. The auction house says it expects many of the items to be bought by Chinese buyers wanting to bring these masterpieces home. Karina Huber, CGTN, New York."