Rare Chinese Bowl at Sotheby's Brings 9.5 Million in Hong Kong Auction

Asian Art Market Surges As Prices Rebound

Fine 4.35 inch Kangxi Bowl, Sold at
Sotheby's Hong Kong for 9.5 Million Dollars US

April 8, 2013.

In Hong Kong today Sothebys's conducted an auction of rare Chinese objects ranging from Imperial Porcelain to paintings all of which flew dispelling any ideas that the market hasn't recovered from last year's slowdown. 

Leading the way was the sale of an extremely rare and fine quality Kangxi (1662-1722) Ruby-Ground Double-Lotus "falangcai" bowl which found a buyer with the prominent Chinese dealer William Chak. 

The bowl was bought for 9.5 Million dollars ($74 Million HK)  through Mr. Chak and funded by a consortium of investors planning on holding the bowl for five years and will then likely re-sell it, hopefully for a profit. The bowl was  produced around 1710 for the Imperial household of the Kangxi Emperor. Enameled bowls of this type were extremely rare during this time with only a handful of known examples in existence. 

Four-character blue Kangxi yuzhi mark

Measuring just 4. 3/8 inches in diameter it is possibly the most expensive piece of porcelain ever sold at auction by the inch ever...

Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's Asia and International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Edward Chow was obviously elated, not only with the price but the wide range of interest in the bowl. "Of course, at the very, very top of the market, you do have lots of participation from overseas and other parts of Greater China," 

Sotheby's Catalog entry as follows:

A MAGNIFICENT RUBY-GROUND FALANGCAI ‘DOUBLE-LOTUS’ BOWL
BLUE ENAMEL YUZHI MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

Imperial Kangxi Enamel Double Lotus Bowl

Estimate: Estimate Upon Request
LOT SOLD. 74,040,000 HKD (Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium)THIS IS A PREMIUM LOT. CLIENTS WHO WISH TO BID ON PREMIUM LOTS MAY BE REQUESTED BY SOTHEBY'S TO COMPLETE THE PRE-REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORM AND TO DELIVER TO SOTHEBY'S A DEPOSIT OF HK$2,500,000, OR SUCH OTHER HIGHER AMOUNT AS MAY BE DETERMINED BY SOTHEBY'S, AND ANY FINANCIAL REFERENCES, GUARANTEES AND/OR SUCH OTHER SECURITY AS SOTHEBY'S MAY REQUIRE IN ITS ABSOLUTE DISCRETION AS SECURITY FOR THE BID. THE BIDnow ONLINE BIDDING SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR

Imperial Kangxi Enamel Double Lotus Bowl

PREMIUM LOTS.

delicately potted with thin rounded sides rising from a straight foot, the exterior deftly enameled in rich, vibrant, opaque hues with a florid continuous lotus pond landscape, the lotus blooms of yellow, blue, pink and white with the tips of the petals saturated in colour, the single flower heads interspersed with three rare double lotuses, the heads all supported on slender studded stalks gently swaying in the breeze, the vivid colours complemented by the emerald-green lotus pads, their dense network of veins radiating out from the blue-shaded centre towards the furled edges depicted in various stages of aging, some with only yellow and pink on the edges while others with brown withered sections surround insect-eaten holes, the stalks interwoven with thin blades of blue water reeds, all reserved against a luxurious raspberry-red ground, the interior and base left white, the base further enameled with a four-character blue Kangxi yuzhi mark
11 cm., 4 3/8 in.

many thanks for visiting....! Peter Combs, Gloucester, Massachusetts!