Chinese Vase Sells For Astounding £11m At Sotheby’s

Another record price has been achieved for a Chinese vase. This time it is £11m for what is presumed to be a Qianlong vase. The Sotheby’s auction of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art from top dealers J.T. Tai & Co. took place yesterday, in New York and everyone is holding their breath to see if the sale of this remarkable vase goes through.The auction brought a stggering total of £22,632,361.87 and was nearly 94% sold. Controversy has plagued another sale which has caused much speculation within the industry.  Last November the so-called ‘Pinner’ vase sold for an astounding £51m.The lot remains unpaid, four months after to the sale. It was thought that the record-busting sale of this 18th century Qianlong-dynasty Chinese vase from a suburban London auction house had collapsed and it was a  stunt by Chinese activists protesting for the return of National Treasures looted from China. The flourishing Asian auction market remains a strong point . Sotheby’s estimated the lot at a miniscule  $800-1200, presuming it was a 20th century copy, but in the end the hammer went down for a cool £11million.


Sotheby’s press office quotes:

“There were seven bidders both in the room and on the telephone, the bidding moved up rapidly and in large increments. The winning bidder was on the telephone and is anonymous”.

“The vase was catalogued as ‘Probably Republican,’ ie 20th Century, and the estimate reflected this dating. However, there was a healthy debate around the age of the piece and clearly some collectors felt that it was significantly earlier”.

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