This Ru bowl is only about five inches in diameter but Sotheby’s thinks it could sell for $10m at its auction next month in Hong Kong. Called a “washer” bowl, it was created a thousand years ago for the Northern Song Dynasty. They think it was used it to rinse writing brushes. There are only 79 Ru ware pieces in existence. This is one of 7 still in private hands, and that may change after the April 4th auction.The Ru Kilns only operated for about 20-years. Because of its extraordinary opaque glaze, structure, and texture, Ru ware was said to be “unobtainable” in China even 500-years ago. A spokesman said, “It is the first time in 30 years Sotheby’s has auctioned off a piece of ceramic this rare. I would say this is about the highest degree of rarity you can find.”
Chinese Ru Bowl May Bring $10m
March 08, 2012
Asian Art Sweeps Past Estimates At Christie’s
September 12, 2012A 13th/14th century Tibetan Thanga almost tripled its high estimate earlier today, when it soared to $1.76m at Christie’s auction of Indian & Southeast Asian art in New York. At the same sale, the third of five in Christie’s Asia Week series, a 2nd/3rd century polychromed gray schist figure of the Teaching Buddha almost pulled off the same act, when it swept past its high estimate of $600,000 to a final price of $1.48m.
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Sotheby’s Scores Big In Hong Kong
April 4, 2012Sotheby’s had anticipated a total of $233m for its spring series of auctions in Hong Kong. As it turned out, the auction house did quite a bit better, achieving a result of $316m. Contributing to that tally was the $60m generated by its sale of Fine Chinese paintings. That was more than double the $25.6m estimate. Top seller was a pair of gold screens by Qi Baishi, “Willows At The Riverside; Begonias” (1922), which realized $9m, more than three times its $2.6m high estimate.
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$5,000 Rhino Cups May Sell For $1.5m
March 15, 2012It wasn’t a complete surprise to the collector when an expert at an Antiques Roadshow said his 5 Rhino Horn cups were truly valuable, but it’s unlikely he imagined they could fetch $1.5m at a Sotheby’s auction next week in New York. Douglas Huber says he spent about $5,000 collecting the cups over the past 40-years.
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Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
