Old ceramics is an interesting sector of the art market because you can easily find beautiful pieces without having to break the bank. Only imperial Chinese porcelain deviates from this rule. Proof of this was again given at Sotheby’s London on November 6.
The auction house offered a pair of jars with fish motifs from the Ming period designed for the Jiajing Emperor (1507-1567). They were estimated between 600,000 and 1 million pounds. But the auctions shattered these amounts. Chinese collectors competed for these vases for up to 9.6 million pounds, or approximately 11.5 million euros. Stratospheric prices are not uncommon for these objects and experts admit that it is difficult for them to set estimates, as there is so much competition between buyers.
Vestiges of Western looting
These rich Chinese want to repatriate to their country the treasures looted by Westerners in the last decades of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) at any cost. Many wonders still lie dormant in the attics and living rooms of the European bourgeoisie. This is why, before you get rid of the vase or dish brought from China by your ancestors at the end of the 19th century, or in the first third of the 20th century, in a garage sale, it is in your best interest to present it to a expert. You may, without knowing it, hold a very valuable imperial porcelain which could in turn skyrocket the auctions!