Vase

The London Borough of Croydon has chosen Christie’s as the auctioneers for its controversial sale of 24 Chinese works of art from its collection.

Croydon Council have approved the controversial sale of 24 pieces of Chinese ceramics.

The Museums Association is seeking urgent talks with Croydon Council to question them about a plan to sell 24 items from their 230-piece antique Chinese ceramics collection.

Peter Bainbridge has confirmed to Antiques Trade Gazette that the Qianlong vase at the centre of a highly publicised payment dispute since November 2010 has finally been sold.

The toast of November’s clutch of Asian art sales was not to be found in London or Salisbury but in Leyburn.

The Chinese market may have slowed down a bit in the last six months, but this sector nevertheless remains of great importance to UK provincial auctioneers.

Amid all the speculation surrounding payment for the Qianlong Imperial vase sold at Bainbridge’s of Ruislip for £43m hammer, Peter Bainbridge, who has been tight-lipped about the state of affairs in recent weeks, has now told his local newspaper that the sale is going through.

A small auction house in Ruislip has shattered the world auction record for a Chinese work of art by taking £43m for a vase consigned to their warehouse auction room as part of a house clearance from a bungalow in Pinner.

THE record-breaking Ruislip yang cai vase, is distinctive for its reticulated double-walled construction, combines various differing decorative elements in a manner typical of Tang Ying's directorship of the Imperial manufactory at Jingdezhen during the early years of the reign of the Qianlong emperor – a period of remarkable technical achievement.

THE world auction record for a Chinese ceramic of work of art toppled during Sotheby's latest week-long Asian sales series of classical, modern and contemporary Chinese art, watches, wine and jewellery in Hong Kong.

DORCHESTER saleroom Duke's achieved the highest price for a UK regional auctioneer so far this year when this Qianlong mark and period vase sold at £625,000 on February 11.

Asked to sell the contents of a holiday home in Sidmouth, Devon auctioneers Potburys were pleased to find this 181/2in (47cm) high cloisonné vase standing in the hearth as a container for fire irons.

High drama at the Chichester auction rooms of Henry Adams on July 19 when this pair of Chinese famille rose moon flasks shot to £760,000. The price, a house record, is also the fourth highest ever achieved in a UK auction room outside of London.

The Asian art juggernaut thunders on with little sign of any slowdown in the market. If anything, the pace seems to be intensifying.

This Chinese turquoise ground ewer, standing just 73/4in (19.7cm) high, belongs to a group of ritual wares specially commissioned by the Qing Court for placement on Buddhist altars. Their function was for ceremonial use in palaces and temples either within the Forbidden Palace or Bishushanzhuang in Chengde.

Two pieces of Yuan dynasty blue and white porcelain smashed coveted auction records in the UK salerooms last week.

A COUPLE of exotic sleepers swelled the tally at Lays Auctions (15% buyer's premium) September 23-24 sale which also boasted healthy prices for more home-grown fare such as Troika and Newlyn copper.

WITH London hosting Asia week, Olympia and Grosvenor House in June, there was always going to be a trade battle for a Chinese vase which proved the sleeper of Charterhouse's (15% buyer's premium) 870-lot May 21 auction.

AUCTIONS are often the best way of settling whether a work is genuine or not. Of the speculative entries in Christie’s South Kensington’s 584-lot sale on June 11, most were contested by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese dealers. Before the sale, trade and auction specialist opinion was divided as to whether this 10 1/2in (27cm) high blue and white vase (shown right) was a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period vessel or a 19th/20th century copy as catalogued.

Pictured right is the highlight of what turned out to be London’s Asia Week’s most successful auction.