- Title: CHINA: Chinese tycoon snaps up imperial treasure at Hong Kong auction
- Date: 3rd December 2010
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 01, 2010) (REUTERS) CHRISTIES AUCTION IN PROGRESS TELEPHONE BIDDER RAISING HAND IMPERIAL CRANES ON SCREEN AUCTIONEER HITTING HAMMER CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, POLA ANTEBE, TAKING TELEPHONE BID (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, POLA ANTEBE, SAYING: "They're symbolic of longevity and these would have been place
- Embargoed: 18th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: History,Lifestyle
- Reuters ID: LVA1HKI6T4W4S304V09UYOR3JVXK
- Story Text: A Chinese billionaire bids USD16.7 million for a pair of 18th Century imperial cranes, while a Qianglong moonflask makes five times its estimate at a Christies auction in Hong Kong.
A Hong Kong tycoon paid 16.7 million USD for a quartet of Chinese cloisonne cranes at a Christie's sale in Hong Kong that also saw strong prices paid for high-end Chinese ceramics amid a white-hot streak in the market.
While parts of Europe have spiralled into a deepening debt-crisis and the United States economy remains stagnant, China's masses of antique-loving millionaires have continued to splurge on rare Chinese antiques and ceramics, driven both by cultural patriotism and giddy potential investment returns.
At Christie's Asian sales in Hong Kong, widely considered a barometer for the Chinese and Asian art markets in the world's third largest art auction hub after New York and London, demand was again strong for unique Chinese artwork with impeccable provenance from three major Western collections.
An exquisite quartet of cloisonne enamel cranes, part of a trove of Chinese treasures coloistered for decades in the late Alfred Morrison's Fonthill estate in rural Wiltshire.
Crafted in the Qing Yongzheng period (1723-1735), the near life-sized birds, serving as censers for incense wafting from gaping beaks, was sold after brief bidding for HKD129.5 million to Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau who has splashed out on pricey Western works by Andy Warhol and Paul Gauguin in recent years.
"They're symbolic of longevity and these would have been placed on either side of a formal throne in the palace," said Pola Antebe, head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at Christie's.
"There are no other crane groups like these and they seem to be the earliest that we know of."
Another Fonthill heirloom, a rare yellow Jiaqing period Qing "famille rose" vase fetched HKD90.3 million (11.63 million USD).
Other highlights included a ruby red, glass phoenix form ewer that was sold for HKD18.6 million, while a blue and white Qing moonflask decorated with a pair of pink phoenixes from the Qianlong reign made HKD 124 million (16 million USD).
Sourced from American collectors Walter and Phyllis Shorenstein, the phoenix vase carried three hairline cracks, but nevertheless went for four times its pre-sale estimate in another sign of market ardour for even slightly blemished major works.
"There are fewer and fewer pieces that are appearing to the market from private collections from private sources, pieces that have never been seen before or pieces that haven't been seen in 20 or 30 years," said Antebe.
"Which very much all these high value lots which have achieved wonderful prices all fall into that category."
The Christie's sale comes off the back of a scintillating spell for Chinese ceramics.
Last month, a Chinese collector paid a world record 52 million pounds (83 million USD) for a newly discovered Qianlong period vase at a provincial auction room in England, smashing the previous record achieved just a month before in a Sotheby's Hong Kong sale of a Chinese globular yellow-ground gourd Qing vase sold that was hammered off for 32.4 million USD. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None