Auction - Blue and white dragon vase soars at Sotheby's

Sotheby’s sale of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art today brought in £20.78 million, well above its pre-sale expectations of £11.5-16.2 million, setting a record for a London auction in this collecting category. The sale, which established sell-through rates of 72.3% by lot and 84.8% by value, witnessed rare and important works of art from private UK collections perform especially well.

Headlining the auction was a rare Blue and White ‘Dragon’ Vase Qianlong Seal Mark and Period, which sold for £1.14 million, more than 16 times pre-sale expectations after intense competition before going to an Asian buyer on the telephone.