A new world record was set for a Ming Porcelain at Sotheby's HK auction. The outstanding blue and white vase with fruit sprays fetched $21.6 million, against a pre-sale estimate of $10.3 million, after a ten-minute phone bidding battle in a crowded Hong Kong saleroom.
The Meiyintang Collection, Part II, with 32 important pieces of Imperial Chinese porcelains, sold for more than $71.8 million in just an hour, against an estimate of $55 million. However, about a third of the lots did not sell, proving that Chinese buyers can be discerning.
A magnicient famill-rose "peach" vase with the Tianqiuping seal mark and dating from the Qianlong period raised $11.6 million.
The Sale of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Various-Owner sale) is now in progress.