Sotheby’s biannual sale of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art today brought the total of $19.8 million , just within estimate. Headlining the sale was a large ‘famille rose’ ‘landscape’ dish, Yongzheng mark, which sold after a four-way telephone bidding battle for $1.2 million, compared wiht an estimated at £20,000-30,000. Decorated in blue, green, turquoise and sepia enamels, the dish’s interior depicts a landscape with cliffs and a craggy mountain range shaded by pine trees.
With a packed saleroom and competitive bidding over the telephones, collectors show a real appetite for exceptional pieces priced appropriately but as the market for fine Chinese ceramics and works of art continues to mature, buyers also show they are becoming increasingly selective.
A gilt-bronze and cloisonné enamel tiger water pot of Qianlong mark and period from the collection of Sir Peter Moores at Parbold Hall in Lancashire, sold for $1.3 million after a battle between seven bidders on the telephone and in the saleroom drove the final price nearly three times its high estimate of £200,000-£300,000.