A separate sale of Himalayan paintings from the Jucker Collection at Sotheby’s on Tuesday achieved $9 million, well above its presale estimate of $2.6 million to $3.8 million. The sellers were Swiss collectors who first started buying 12th-century Tibetan paintings on cloth in India. “The collecting base traditionally had been European really,” Mr. Dean of Sotheby’s said. Americans with interests in Buddhism have been joining the field over the past three decades. And now, he said, Indians are buying back this ancient art found at home as well.

Posted: 03|30|06 at 9:33 am. Filed under: Auction News.