- The bowl, named for the chickens painted on its side, is one of 19 chicken cups known to exist in the world. - Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The buyer, Shanghai-based collector Liu Yiqian, didn’t flinch at the final tally.
“Why do you all care so much about the price?” he told The Wall Street Journal in a telephone interview after the sale, adding that he thought the amount he paid was reasonable.
“I bought it only because I like it,” said Mr. Liu, who made his fortune in finance. He also owns, along with his wife Wang Wei, the Long Museum in Shanghai, a private museum that houses a portion of his vast collection.
The cup, which was made in imperial kilns during the emperor Chenghua’s reign in the 15th-century, surpassed the previous record of HK$252.7 million paid for a yellow-ground famille-rose vase in October 2010, also at a Sotheby’s sale in Hong Kong.
Chicken cups have long been prized among wealthy Chinese, with classical literature referencing the small wares, saying aristocrats and emperors would spend fortunes for a single sample. Porcelains made during the Chenghua period are regarded as the most refined by collectors.
The small cup, which got its nickname thanks to the painted depiction of chickens on the side of the cup, is one of 19 chicken cups known to exist in the world. All but four are in museum collections.
The same cup from Tuesday’s sale has set a record before: At a 1999 Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong, the cup was purchased for HK$29 million, the most-ever paid for a Chinese porcelain at that time.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2014/04/08/the-36-million-ming-dynasty-era-bowl/
Comments