Sotheby’s New York will sell the Oei Tiong Ham Necklace - an historic Chinese imperial jadeite bead necklace (Est. US$1.9-2.2 million) on Dec 9. The necklace is the first jadeite jewel of major Chinese historical importance to appear at auction in New York in more than 30 years. The story of this necklace began more than 100 years ago when Oei Tiong Ham, a successful Chinese businessman, is reputed to have purchased two necklaces composed of beads from an Imperial court necklace. Oei acquired them from a leading jadeite dealer in Beijing, Tieh Bao Ting, who had obtained the beads from the family of Emperor Puyi. Tieh was the dealer to whom Chinese officials, nobles and members of the Imperial family came to sell their treasures. The large uniform size of the beads, the size of the holes, and the fine quality of the stone and polish all attest to this Imperial origin.
