May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Stanley Ho, father of Macau's casino industry, bought Emperor Kangxi's throne today for HK$13.7 million ($1.8 million), in the latest boost to the Chinese antiques market as gambling magnates purchase imperial treasures.

The gilt-incised brown lacquer seat from Kangxi's reign (1662-1722) was among the record prices recorded for Chinese paintings, ceramics and antiques at Christie's International's spring auctions in Hong Kong that began Sunday.

``Famous people buy artworks for the same reasons most people do: for pleasure and as investments,'' said Tian Kai, a Beijing-based art dealer. ``The prices aren't rising on the pieces' merits.''

Entrepreneurs such as Ho and Stephen Wynn, who are spending billions in China's gambling enclave of Macau, have helped raise the profile of Chinese antique auctions in Hong Kong. Wynn bought a Ming dynasty vase a year ago for HK$78.5 million and donated it to a Macau museum.

London-based Christie's, the world's biggest auction house, said in a release that Ho bought the throne, which had a presale estimate of HK$12 million. Janet Wong, Ho's press secretary, said she couldn't confirm the purchase.

Rising wealth in China has increased the number of bidders, pushing prices to as much as five times the presale estimates. At today's sale of Imperial Chinese ceramics and art, a pair of porcelain bowls, birthday gifts for Emperor Yongzheng (1723- 1735), sold for HK$50.7 million, compared with an estimate of about HK$30 million.

Ming Vase

``The HK$30 million estimate is low'' for the bowls, Hong Kong-based collector Robert Chang said before the sale. ``They should be worth more than that, assuming there are no flaws.'' In November, Chang sold a porcelain bowl with the mark of the Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) for HK$151.3 million at Christie's.

Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts Ltd., displayed his copper- red Ming dynasty vase from the Emperor Hong Wu era (1368-1398) at his first casino in Macau last year.

``When famous people buy artworks, they help raise the market profile,'' said Yang Ou, a Beijing-based art dealer who's in Hong Kong for the auction. The market is ``really good'' right now, he said.

High-ticket purchases of pre-communist art have helped Chinese antiques match the global gains in modern and contemporary art.

Yesterday, Christie's sold Li Keran's 1964 painting ``All the Mountains Blanketed in Red'' for HK$35 million, an auction record for the artist. On Sunday, a 1959 work by Zao Wou-ki went for HK$29.4 million, five times the presale estimate.

Whip Hand

Li's painting, inspired by a poem of former leader Mao Zedong, gained the highest price at yesterday's sale of modern Chinese art. In Sunday's auction of 20th century Chinese art, the 1959 painting ``14.12.59'' by China-born Zao was also an auction record for the Paris-based artist, beating the HK$24.9 million paid for Xu Beihong's 1939 ``Portrait of a Lady.''

Xu's work was expected to be the top lot in the category after his 1939 masterwork ``Put Down Your Whip'' sold for HK$72 million at Sotheby's in April, a record for an Asian picture.

In Sunday's evening sale of Asian contemporary art, Yue Minjun's ``Portrait of the Artist and His Friends'' fetched HK$20.5 million, also five times the presale top estimate.

The 20th century and contemporary sales attracted hundreds of bidders and bystanders in the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. Wu Guanzhong's 1973 oil painting ``Scenery of Northern China'' was the top lot at HK$31.7 million, double Christie's presale estimate of HK$15 million.

Contemporary Shift

Chinese buyers looking to collect or repatriate the nation's antiques have also helped the works pace the gains in contemporary art. Alice Cheng, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's top advisory body and the buyer of Chang's rice bowl, has donated purchases to the Shanghai Museum.

``There's a new generation of collectors in their 40s and 50s that have done well in the last 15 years,'' Jonathan Stone, a Hong Kong-based business director at Christie's Asia, said after the Sunday auction. ``Collectors are thinking about the composition of their collections. There's a shift from modern art to contemporary art.''

Prices include a buyer's premium, which is 20 percent for the first HK$4 million, and 12 percent thereafter for each lot. Today's auction is the third day in Christie's five-day sale of 2,300 paintings, ceramics, gems and watches.

To contact the reporters for this story: Melanie G. Rogers in Hong Kong at mrogers14@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 29, 2007 02:19 EDT