Sotheby’s earned a total of HK$1.1 billion (US$141.7 million) in five days of sales in Hong Kong, just over half of its presale estimate of HK$2 billion, Bloomberg reports. The comparable sale last year earned HK$1.77 billion with roughly the same number of lots on offer.

After a poor beginning to the five days of sales, things slightly picked up toward the end, with nearly half of the auctions’ overall earnings coming from today’s sale of Chinese ceramics and antiques. A scroll commissioned by Emperor Qianlong in 1746 to show his military might earned HK$67.9 million, a record for a Qing Dynasty imperial painting. Eight imperial jade seals earned HK$165 million, with one bearing Qianlong’s name setting a HK$64 million record for white jade.

“This was a good auction,” said Beijing-based dealer Tian Kai. “The timing’s awful, but there’s not much one can do about that.”

Sotheby’s Asia Chairman Patti Wong called the results “a remarkable sum, given today’s market,” referring to stock market dives across Asia.

Hong Kong is the third-largest art market after New York and London. Christie’s will hold its sales in the Chinese city next month.

The results were no more positive yesterday in London, where less than half of the lots sold at Christie’s auction of Islamic and Indian art. With 47 percent of 439 lots selling, the auction earned a total of £10.4 million ($18.1 million) against a presale estimate of about £11 million. The top earner was a Fatimid-period rock crystal ewer that sold for £3.2 million to the Keir Collection of Islamic art, based in Richmond, Surrey.

Christie’s equivalent sale in April raised a record £11.8 million pounds with fees — more than double the presale upper estimate — from a smaller selection of 282 lots.