Colin Sheaf

Colin Sheaf is Deputy Chairman of Bonhams, and Global Head of Asian Art. He oversees the Asian Art specialist teams on four continents, holding auctions in London, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney.

Under Colin's leadership, the Asian Art department has achieved many record-breaking results, including the sale of an 18th century Chinese vase in London (£9 million) and a collection of archaic Chinese jades in Hong Kong (£17 million). In 2011, Colin auctioned Europe's two biggest sales of Asian art to date: Chinese art, totalling £25 million, and Japanese art, totalling £4.5 million. In 2021, he acted as auctioneer during an unprecedented series of three 100%-sold ('white-glove') sales of Chinese art in New Bond Street, which totalled over £15 million.

Colin was instrumental in spearheading Bonhams' drive into Asia. He chaired the company's auction business in Hong Kong from its opening in January 2007, now supported by satellite offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.

Colin holds a Master's degree in History from Oxford University. Before joining Bonhams in 2000, he was Director of Chinese Art at Christie's.

Outside Bonhams, Colin has an equally distinguished and wide-ranging career as an international authority on Chinese art, frequently lecturing and writing in Europe and Asia about Asian art and 'the China trade'. He has written more than 150 articles about Chinese art and related issues, and has lectured at many of the world's Asian Art academic societies. He has taken charity auctions on many occasions, and chairs the boards of both The Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, the world's pre-eminent private collection of Chinese ceramics, and London's Grade II-listed Warwick Square, a gold-medal-winning private garden in Pimlico.