Christie's, the art auction house, had record sales in the first half of this year as the art market was buoyed by a convergence of old and new - US hedge fund and property moguls buying contemporary art, and Russian and Chinese buyers reclaiming their artistic heritage.

Sales at Christie's, which is owned by Franзois Pinault, were $1.65bn in the six months to June - a third higher than last year. It sold 178 works of art for more than $1m, compared with 132 during the same period last year.

Sotheby's, which is publicly traded, reported first-half sales of $1.3bn last week, a slight drop from last year's performance, which had been unusually strong. It said it expected "the current buoyancy in the international art market to continue".

Matthew Weigman, a Sotheby's spokesman, said: "What we are seeing is a rush of new buyers from Russia and China who are buying back their heritage."

The auction house's Hong Kong sale this year reaped $81m, which would have been unheard of just a few years ago, said Mr Weigman. Last year's Hong Kong sale reached $57m.

Last year one of Russia's richest men, Victor Vekselberg, leapt in before a planned Sotheby's auction of a big collection of Fabergй eggs, and bought the lot for $100m.

"That was the first indication we had of the super-wealthy Russians who were ready to buy," said Mr Weigman. "Since then it has taken off. At our Russian sale this year we had Russian porcelain vases estimated at half a million that went for $3.9m".

Christie's also reported strong sales from Russia and China, as well as from Middle Eastern buyers. However, the main drivers of its figures were its May sales of post-modern and contemporary art, which reached $171m, a record for any such sale.

Andrйe Corroon, a spokesman for Christie's, said hedge fund managers, investment bankers and real estate companies were the big new buyers.

All Financial Times News