Rare Qing Dynasty bowl expected to top US$25 million at auction

Sotheby's Asia deputy chairman Nicolas Chow holds an extremely rare Qing Dynasty bowl—one of only three known to exist—at the auction house in Hong Kong on March 1, 2018, before its upcoming sale on April 3. Anthony Wallace/AFP

A rare enameled gold-pink Falangcai Bowl from the Qing dynasty, expected to be a record breaker for Chinese ceramics with an estimated value of US$25.6 million, was unveiled on Thursday.

The bowl is described as the very finest enameled porcelain, given the exquisite and fine details of the art, which was possibly painted by Jesuits resident at the court of the Kangxi Emperor, who reined from 1661 to 1722.

The bowl, a highlight at Sotheby's Hong Kong Chinese Works of Art Spring Sales 2018, had not been seen on the market for over thirty years and once belonged to celebrated collector Henry M. Knight.

The sale, which will take place on April 3, will offer about 300 items with a total estimated value of nearly US$93.5 million, including various highlights such as a hand scroll estimated to be valued at least US$6.4 million. Titled "Ten Auspicious Landscapes of Taishan," it was painted by Qian Weicheng. 

Other items include a rare Chinese manuscript, the Buddhist Sutras, which is the only surviving example outside of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. — Reuters