HONG KONG.- A World Auction Record was set for Ming Porcelain at Sotheby’s Hong Kong today when an Outstanding Blue and White Imperial Vase, Ming Dynasty, sold for HK$168,660,000 / US$21,623,077. The ten-minute phone bidding battle in a crowded Hong Kong saleroom was won by Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, against a Sotheby’s Ceramics Specialist based in Beijing. Chinese buyers from around the world competed for 32 important pieces from Sotheby’s sale of Part II of Imperial Chinese Porcelains from the Meiyintang Collection which brought HK$560 million / US$71.8 million in just over an hour.

Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art and Sotheby’s Asia Deputy Chairman, commented after the sale: “Chinese buyers from around the world competed vigorously for perfection in Sotheby’s sale today of Part II of Important Imperial Porcelains from the Meiyintang Collection. A World Auction Record was set for Ming Porcelain when an Outstanding Blue and White Imperial Vase, Ming Dynasty, sold for HK$168,660,000 / US$21,623,077 following a ten-minute phone bidding battle in a crowded Hong Kong saleroom. Thirty-two lots from the Meiyintang Collection brought HK$560 million / US$72 million in just over an hour, an astonishing average lot value of HK$17.5 million / US$2.25 million. In our various owners sale as well, extraordinary objects brought extraordinary prices. An Important and Extremely Rare Imperial Gilt-Bronze Bell with the mark and period of Chenghua estimated at HK$15-20 million sold for HK$39,860,000 / US$5,121,213. An Extremely Rare Imperial White Jade ‘Yongzheng Yubi Zhi Bao’ Seal estimated at HK$ 20-30 million sold for HK$35,380,000 / US$4,545,622.”


* Estimates do not include buyer’s premium