HKD 162.6 Million for Three Blue and White Porcelain Vases at Christie's in May 2025

Immediately after the close of my April online Asian art sale at Heffel (which wrapped on April 24th), I jetted off on one of my quickest trips to East Asia. I was in Hong Kong for only three nights before heading straight back to North America to visit the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. (More about that visit in my next post!)

In Hong Kong, I was there just long enough to catch the major previews of Chinese works of art and paintings at Christie’s. Unfortunately, Sotheby’s previews were scheduled later in the week, so I missed their main exhibition - but I did manage a private viewing of their highlight piece: a spectacular Kangxi Period falangcai bowl from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.

Viewing at Christie’s is always a treat. Despite the long haul (it’s typically about 20 hours in the air!) I still find it worthwhile. I fly Air Canada, which involves a five-hour flight from Toronto to Vancouver, a 1.5-hour layover, and then a 14-hour journey to Hong Kong. It’s exhausting, and I didn’t even manage to get over the jet lag, but was it worth it? Absolutely!

As you may have noticed from my posts, I’ve been traveling to Hong Kong more frequently since the pandemic to attend these major sales. While New York and London remain key Asian art international auction hubs, the highest-value objects are increasingly being offered in Hong Kong. The frequency of sales topping USD 3 million (approximately CAD 4.1 million) for a single lot is much higher there.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve had the opportunity to view several remarkable single-owner collections in Hong Kong. Highlights include the Tianminlou Yuan Dynasty blue and white meiping vase and cover, which sold for HKD 67.775 million (approximately CAD 11.72 million) in December 2024, and the Wang Xing Lou copper red 'dragon' meiping vase from the Yongzheng Period, which fetched HKD 78.125 million (approximately CAD 13.7 million) in May 2025.

Image 1. The major highlights at Christie's Hong Kong was their major single owner sale titled 'Ravishing Blue: Imperial Porcelains from an Important Private Collection'. This sale only featured three Chinese blue and white vases from an important North American private collection. I was very fortunate to get a copy of their rare catalogue where the total realized price for the three porcelain pieces was HKD 162.6 million (approximately CAD 28.5 million).

Image 2a. The first lot in the ‘Ravishing Blue’ sale at Christie’s Hong Kong featured a remarkable blue and white ‘bamboo, rock and plantain’ meiping vase from the Yongle Period (1403–1425) of the Ming Dynasty.

The meiping 梅瓶, or 'plum vase', is known for its elegant form - featuring a tapered foot, high shoulders, and a narrow funnel-shaped neck - it was traditionally used to hold a single plum blossom branch.

This particular example was decorated with bamboo and plantain trees set among large rocks within a serene garden scene. The quality of the painting, especially the depictions of the rocks, drew widespread admiration, with many (including myself), describing them as some of the finest ever seen on Chinese porcelain.

In addition to the exceptional use of cobalt blue tones, the vase stood out for its rarity; only two other similar examples are known, both housed in major national collections in Beijing - the Palace Museum and the National Museum.

The vase was extensively published and had previously been part of esteemed collections, including Eskenazi Ltd. in London and the Chang Foundation in Taipei.

Estimated at HKD 50 to 80 million, the vase ultimately sold for HKD 78.125 million (approximately CAD 13.7 million) with buyer’s premium, affirming its extraordinary artistic, historical, and market value.

Image 2b. Here is a photo of myself carefully handling this blue and white meiping vase during the auction preview at Christie's Hong Kong.

Image 2c. A detail of the meiping vase's use of cobalt blue and the beautiful rendition of a large garden rock.

Image 2d. Detail of the blue and white meiping vase's base.

Image 3a. The second lot from the 'Ravishing Blue' collection at Christie's Hong Kong was this magificent and large blue and white 'nine dragons' vase, with Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735).

The term tianqiuping 天球瓶, meaning 'heavenly sphere vase', refers to a rare and highly prized form, with top examples like this one made for the Imperial household. The design is a continuous assemblage of nine large Imperial dragons chasing flaming pearls of wisdom. Each of the dragons are of a unique variation and have three to five claws each. This tianqiuping vase was highly published and can be traced back to the early part of the 20th Century with the following provenance:

• Herbert G. Squiers (1859-1911) collection

• Sold at The American Art Association, New York, The Noteworthy Collection formed by the late Herbert G. Squiers, 9-12 April 1912, lot 526

• John B. Trevor (1878-1956) collection

• John B. Trevor Jr. (1909-2006) collection

• The property of an American gentleman; sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 20 March 1990, lot 593

This tianqiuping vase was estimated at HKD 70/90 million and ended up selling for HKD 74.675 million with buyer's premium (approximately CAD 13 million).

Image 3b. This tianqiuping vase was extremely heavy so it was better off resting on the examination table at Christie's Hong Kong. In this angle you can see the myriad types of dragons and the reign mark at the rim 大清雍正年製 daqing Yongzheng nianzhi which translates to made during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Image 3c. A view of one of the Imperial dragons soaring through the sky, this one with large wings on its back.

Image 3d. A view of the tianqiuping vase's base as it is carefully supported by a Christie's art handler.

Image 4a. The third and final porcelain piece from 'Ravishing Blue' auction is a very well-painted blue and white 'bat and peach vase' with Qianlong mark and period (1736-1795). The depiction of bats flying amongst a large branch of peaches, crashing waves and large rocks is very well-executed.

In Chinese culture, bats symbolize fortune and peaches longevity. So this vase would have been extremely auspicious to its former (and future) owners. Against an estimate of HKD 3/5 million, this vase ended up selling for HKD 9.813 million (approximately CAD 1.72 million).

Image 4b. The six-character reign mark on the base of the 'bat and peach' vase which reads 大清乾隆年製 daqing Qianlong nianzhi and translates to made during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Image 5. In the main sale of Chinese works of art at Christie's Hong Kong were many other blue and white pieces. One of the objects I was most excited about handling was this Ming Dynasty blue and white floral scroll barbed-rim charger from the Yongle Period (1403-1425).

Based on the design of Middle-Eastern metal work, this large dish has some of the finest painted floral bursts and scrolling vine I have seen from similar examples. The charger was also highly published and part of the seminal auction at Sotheby's London titled '100 Selected Chinese & Korean Ceramics from the Toguri Collection', on 9 June 2004 (lot 19).

This stunning blue and white charger was estimated at HKD 1.8/3.5 million and ended up realizing HKD 5.04 million (approximately CAD 880,000).

Image 5b. The reverse of the wonderful blue and white barbed-rim charger.

Image 6a. At the preview in Christie's Hong Kong, I was also ecstatic to view the cover lot of their main Chinese works of art sale - a rare pair of famille rose 'prunus and lingzhi' tea bowls with Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735).

These bowls are extremely delicate in their potting and has one of the most beautiful design of large branches bearing lingzhi 靈芝 (the fungus of immortality) and pink prunus flowers (a symbol of perseverance). The quality of the design, shading and use of colours was extremely beautiful. This pair of tea bowls sold for HKD 29.415 million (approximately CAD 5.17 million) against an estimate of HKD 20/30 million.

Image 6b.  The reign mark for one of the Yongzheng famille rose tea bowls with the mark 大清雍正年製 daqing Yongzheng nianzhi which translates to made during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Image 7a. At the Christie's Hong Kong preview, I was also able to view many ceramic pieces. The one pictured here is a Longquan celadon pear-shaped vase from the early 14th/15th Century that was estimated at HKD 4/6 million.

Produced from the renowned Longquan 龍泉 kilns, in addition to the near-perfectly-even celadon colour, the shape of this vase is very elegant. It used to be part of the inventory of Eskenazi Ltd., London and also the prestigious collection of the Ten-views Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection from North America. This celadon vase realized HKD 6.3 million (approximately CAD 1.11 million).

Image 7b. The base of this Longquan celadon vase featuring the various provenance stickers.

Image 8a. Another exceptional ceramic ware I viewed at Christie's Hong Kong was one of the major sleepers of the sale. Here I am examining an extremely rare Yaozhou 'moon-white' bottle vase from the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234).

Typical pieces from the Yaozhou 耀州 kilns have a very deep and rich celadon tone. In this example, the glaze is an unusual olive green tone which is both rare and borderline experimental. This bottle vase with its elegant shape, rare glaze and extensive Japanese publication history allowed it to soar many times higher than its HKD 800,000/1.2 million estimate to sell for HKD 7.686 million (approximately CAD 1.35 million).

Image 8b. A view of the base of this very rare Yaozhou 'moon-white' bottle vase.

Image 9a. Christie's Hong Kong also featured an assortment of Chinese classical furniture from esteemed collector Mimi Wong 王家琪. Mimi was born into a family of Shanghai intellectuals and started collecting prized huanghuali 黃花梨 (yellow flower wood) and zitan 紫檀 (purple sandalwood) furniture during the 1980's. With the help of legendary New York dealer Robert Hatfield Ellsworth (1929-2014), she produced the seminal volume 'Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection' (1996), with many pieces featured in the exhibition 'Essence of Style: Chinese Furniture of the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties' (1998) at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum.

At Christie's many huanghuali pieces from her collection were offered for sale including tables, a brushpot, chairs, cabinets, and a bed. All of these pieces were well-curated and looked phenomenal during the exhibition.

In the above photo, the main feature was a huanghuali single plank-top pedestal table from the 17th Century that was definitely one of the stars of the auction. The table drew much excitement as it sold for HKD 33.045 million (approximately CAD 5.8 million) against an estimate of a very conservative HKD 7/9 million.

Image 9b. Here are more huanghuali furniture exmaples from the collection of Mimi Wong. This photo includes a large Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) huanghuali six-post canopy bed that sold for HKD 2.646 million (approximately CAD 646,000) and a 17th Century huanghuali continuous horseshoe-back reclining arm chair that sold for HKD 14.895 million (approximately CAD 2.6 million).

Image 9c. And in this photo are Mimi Wong's rare pair of huanghuali and burlwood 'fu' character yokeback armchairs from the 16th/17th Century. These chairs are extremely graceful and contain a reticulated fu 福 (longevity) character on the back splat. Estimated at HKD 4.8/7 million, they sold for HKD 5.166 million (approximately CAD 900,000).

Image 10. In addition to Chinese works of art at the Christie's auction were also classical and 20th Century Chinese paintings by renowned artists. There were hundreds of works on display but because I was only in Hong Kong for three full days, it was impossible to spend more time viewing them.

However, one of the paintings I really liked was by the master Qi Baishi 齊白石 (1864-1957) featuring an attractive ink and colour white-furred monkey holding onto a large peach. This painting was titled 大壽 (da shou) which translates 'Longevity' and sold for HKD 4.032 million (approximately CAD 700,000) against an estimate of HKD 3.5/5 million.

The ancient Chinese seal script couplet flanking the monkey painting was also by Qi Baishi and sold for HKD 1.764 million (approximately CAD 309,000) against an estimate of HKD 1.2/1.5 million.

Image 11a. As mentioned in my introduction, in addition to the Christie’s previews, I had the opportunity to see a major highlight at Sotheby’s Hong Kong through a special by-appointment viewing. There, I encountered the spectacular centerpiece - an extremely rare falangcai porcelain 'floral' bowl with Kangxi yuzhi mark and period (1662–1722).

This exceptional bowl was originally donated to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh in 1958 and was offered for sale to benefit the museum’s acquisition fund. It had been acquired by George Hathaway Taber (1859–1940), a businessman who built his fortune with Gulf Oil and assembled one of the most remarkable collections of Chinese art in Pennsylvania. While part of his collection was sold at Sotheby’s New York in March 2025, this particular bowl was reserved for the Hong Kong sale.

The rarity of this piece cannot be overstated as only a handful of similar examples are known to exist. The term falangcai 琺琅彩, which translates to 'foreign colours,' refers to a type of enamel decoration introduced to the Imperial court by Jesuit missionaries during the Kangxi reign. These missionaries brought with them advanced techniques and a wider range of colours previously unknown in Chinese porcelain decoration.

In the case of this falangcai bowl, the enamelling technique is referred to as 'Purple Gold' - a poetic name for the pigment known as 'Purple of Cassius'. This pigment, named after a German physician, was commonly used in the West to colour glass. However, its chemical properties were only fully explained in the Collegium Physico-Chymicum Experimentale (or Laboratorium Chymicum) by the German alchemist and glassmaker Johannes Kunckel von Löwenstern (circa 1630-1703), in a work published posthumously in 1716. This timing aligns with the Jesuits' transmission of such knowledge to Beijing, making it possible for this pigment to be applied on Imperial porcelain like this bowl.

The Kangxi falangcai bowl is stunning in its use of experimental colour, delicate shading, and intricate enamel work which ses it apart from traditional Chinese porcelain of the period. In fact, its design evokes the aesthetics of European Baroque art more than any known Chinese styles at that time.

This rare object was preserved in perfect condition. Estimated at HKD 40/60 million, it ultimately realized HKD 34.535 million (approximately CAD 6.05 million). It stands as a fascinating testament to the intersection of Western and Eastern science, technology, and decorative arts.

Image 11b. A view of the side of the Kangxi falangcai bowl. In addition to the bold shading of the florals, there is also the very experimental 'Cassius Purple' and deep yellow ground. This bowl was so fantastic to examine!

Image 11c. The four-character reign mark on the base of the falangcai bowl reads 康熙御製 Kangxi yuzhi and translates to made by Imperial order for the Kangxi Emperor. You can also see all the different styles and colours of the four florals.

Thank you for checking out my latest blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about my quick three-night trip to Hong Kong. My next post will be focusing on my visit to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. I'll briefly go through the history of the museum and highlight 10-15 of the major objects from China, Japan, Korea and India.

In the meantime, you can follow my Instagram account @anthonywuart for current news about my travels around the world, various auction house visits, and Asian art appraisal projects.