Chinese bowl sells at Sotheby’s for record $9.5 million
An 18th century Chinese bowl fetched a record $9.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
The Ruby-Ground Double-Lotus “falangcai” bowl sold Monday to Hong Kong antiques dealer William Chak after 11 bids. The price surpassed pre-sale estimates of about $9 million to set the record for Chinese Kangxi ceramics.
The Qing Dynasty bowl wrapped in lotus flowers is thought to be one of the earliest imperial ceramics made with Western enameling techniques.
ART: Can you guess the high price?
The 11-centimeter bowl, likely made in the early 1700s, has been on the auction block twice before: In 1983 it sold for almost $68,000, and in 1999 it fetched $1.54 million.
The bowl’s newest owner doesn’t plan to keep the piece for long.
“I don’t think there is a bubble for these kinds of big items,” Chak told the Wall Street Journal. “In five years, the price will be up.”
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