THEIR country's booming economy in the past decade has spawned a legion of mainland Chinese collectors making their presence firmly felt in the contemporary art market. But of late, their appetite for modern works is steadily being matched by a growing taste for Buddhist art.

"There's been a real turnaround in the last 10 years and a steep rise in the last five with Chinese collectors turning towards Tibetan, Nepalese and Northern Indian Buddhist art," points out Edward Wilkinson who heads the Indian, Himalayan and South-east Asian Art department at Bonhams fine art auctioneers and valuers.

While most press coverage centres on art from the Himalayan region - Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia and Bhutan - any Buddhist art from any period and any school is highly sought after now as global collectors aggressively seek out quality and rarity, he says.