: Sotheby's Emperor and Scholar sale and auction of Chinese
ceramics and works of art, conducted April 25, realized a total
of $25 million, with four auction records fetched.
A turquoise-glazed monochrome dish from the Xuande period of the
Ming dynasty was sold to an Asian private collector for
$1,587,730, setting a new world auction record for monochrome
porcelain. The dish once belonged to the British Rail Pension
Fund Collection and is unique and is in perfect condition. The
achievement of the bright turquoise glaze is considered
brilliant, given the constraints in the Ming dynasty.
A highly important carved and inscribed shell-shaped Mughal white
jade cup from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty was sold
for $1,185,620, setting a new auction record of nephrite. This
white jade cup ranks among the finest Mughal jades to have
entered Emperor Qianlong's collection. The jade, given to the
emperor from the Mughal court in India as a tribute to the
emperor, has an exceptional milky white tone and translucency.
The cup has a gardenia flower carved and a delicate inscription
of an Imperial poem.
Turquoise-glazed monochrome dish from the Xuande period of the
Ming dynasty, $1,587,730.
The last line of the poem by Qianlong, exalting the beauty of
the cup, reads, "I simply cannot keep myself from gazing at it
again and again," stating the emperor's affection for this
particular piece.
An extremely rare inscribed green jade mountain from the same
period was sold for $1,070,730, setting a new auction record for
spinach jade. In forest-green color, the stone was elaborately
carved with pavilions, pathways, river and bridges on one side,
the reverse with lofty pine trees, waterfall and is inscribed
with six-gilded imperial poems.
An important and superbly carved tianhuang imperial lion seal
also from the Qianlong period also set a record for the most
expensive seal sold at auction when it changed hands for
$1,013,280. Seals rank among the most personal objects of the
literati and, in the case of the emperor, encapsulate his
authority. This tianhuang soapstone seal was carved with a
mythical animal the emperor's use.
