Imperial vase skyrockets above $32 million at Sotheby's sale
- October 08, 2010 14:36
Sotheby's seven-day series of auctions in Hong Kong culminated in HK$3.08 billion ($400 million) worth of Asian art, jewelry, wine and watches sold. The total for this biannual sale soundly exceeded the $400 million tally for the auction firm's annual Asian sales of 2009.
Imperial treasures took center stage with 35 pieces from private collections netting $148 million, more than double the pre-sale estimates.
Among the highlights was a yellow-ground famille-rose Qing vase which fetched HK$251 million (US$32.4 million), the highest ever price for a Chinese porcelain piece at auction. News reports say Hong Kong-based collector Alice Cheng purchased the piece for her private collection.
A pair of floral medallion Qing bottle vases made $18 million while an imperial white jade seal from the Qianlong period fetched $16 million, a world record for white jade.
_-Closing-the-Distance_100x100_c.jpg "Lot 204: Bob Kuhn (1920–2007),Closing the Distance, 1977, acrylic on masonite, 24 x 48 in, Sold: $409,500")
![A 19th century Seven Piece "Chrysanthemum" Pattern Sterling Silver Coffee & Tea Service, which was exhibited in the Tiffany & Co. booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago](/images/c/78/96/Tiffany___Co__Makers_Seven_Piece_"Chrysanthem100x100_c.jpg "A 19th century Seven Piece \"Chrysanthemum\" Pattern Sterling Silver Coffee & Tea Service, which was exhibited in the Tiffany & Co. booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago")
