Amidst an uncertain global economy, Christie's single-owner sale of 18th-century imperial ceramics from the Wang Xing Lou Collection on 30 May has seemingly given the Chinese art market a confidence boost.
Early in the morning the anticipation was palpable in the packed saleroom at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (to which Christie's is bidding farewell as its new Asia Pacific headquarters at The Henderson Building will open in September). Eventually fierce and lively bidding took the ten-lot auction's total to HK$122 million (US$15.7 million) against a pre-sale low estimate of HK$80 million – and it is a 100% sold, white-glove sale.
Among the many lots that soared above estimates, the top lot went to Yongzheng reign-marked copper-red-decorated 'dragon' meiping, which hammered for HK$65 million to the telephone bidder with paddle number 8022 represented by Chi-Fan Tsang (International Director of the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department).
With fees, the vase fetched HK$78.1 million (US$10 million), the highest price achieved not only for Christie's Hong Kong Spring Auctions but also for a Chinese work of art during this season.
Christie's star auctioneer Liang-Lin Chen received a pair of white gloves for the 100% sold auction
The saleroom was full of bidders
Lot 2705 | A carved copper-red-decorated 'dragon' meiping
Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735)
Height: 35.5 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Mary J. Morgan (1823–1885), New York
- Sold at The American Art Association, New York, The Art Collection formed by the late Mrs. Mary J. Morgan, 9 March 1886, lot 538 (Sold: US$225)
- Sold at Christie’s New York, 28 March 1996, lot 385
Estimate: HK$65,000,000 - 80,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$65,000,000
Sold: HK$78,125,000
This vase was previously in the prestigious collection of Mary J. Morgan (1823-1885). A school teacher by trade, she came from a comfortably-off New York family, her father an East Indian trader, her maternal grandfather the largest carriage maker in the state for a time.
She became a fine and decorative arts collector after marrying Charles Morgan (1795-1878), a cousin of the famous and powerful financier J.P. Morgan, and himself a shipping, railroad and iron magnate. Following his death in 1878, Mary inherited substantial shares of her husband's estate, which she used to build on her wide-ranging and extensive collection of European and East Asian art.
In 1886, the year after her passing, part of her collection was put up for sale over a ten-day auction in New York and garnered US$1.2 million (equivalent to over US$40 million in 2024). Among those on offer was the present vase, which changed hands for US$225, about a year’s wages for some American workers at the time.
Chi-Fan Tsang (International Director of the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department) won the lot for her client with paddle number 8022
Mary J. Morgan and Charles Morgan
The vase would only resurface on the market more than a century later when it was sold at Christie's New York in 1996 to the owner of the Wang Xing Lou Collection, a Hong Kong antique dealer who embarked on his own collection in the early 1990s.
At the time, what dominated the Chinese art market were the Song Dynasty monochromes and early Ming Dynasty blue-and-whites. He, however, took an unusual step and focused on imperial ceramics produced during the so-called three generations of Qing, under the Emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong.
In his quest for pieces of beauty, exceptional quality and rarity, he often took inspiration from influential dealers and collectors such as James J. Lally, Julian Thompson, Richard Marchant, and Robert Chang.
By 2004, Wang Xing Lou's collection was of such quality that it was exhibited as Imperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Emperors at the Minneapolis Museum of Art, where it remained on loan for the next two decades. This particular vase, notably, was not only included in that exhibition but also the cover piece of the Wang Xing Lou Collection's catalogue and arguably the most renowned item of the whole collection.
The present vase is featured on the cover of Imperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors – A Selection from the Wang Xing Lou Collection
A Yongle period copper-red-decorated 'dragon' meiping | Sold: RMB 74,750,000, China Guardian Beijing, 2021
A Yongzheng mark and period copper-red 'dragon' meiping | Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Exquisitely covered in a lustre glaze of jewel-like brilliance, this Yongzheng reign-marked meiping, or plum vessel, depicts a pair of lively and powerful white dragons reserved against underglazed copper-red turbulent waves – a design inspired by imperial porcelains from the Yongle period of Ming Dynasty in the early 15th century.
Examples of the Yongle prototypes, which appear more dramatic and unrestrained in their decoration design, can be found in the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei. As for private collections, one example was previously held in the esteemed Meiyintang Collection in Switzerland and later owned by American art-investing firm Xiling Group. Another was auctioned in Beijing in 2021 and fetched RMB 74.75 million, the third-highest price achieved for ceramics that year globally.
While both the shape and decoration of this vase are directly derived from those prototypes, they were equally improved in every respect in the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. To achieve a vibrant and rich tone of red on porcelain alone is no mean feat: Copper red was notoriously difficult to fire, requiring precise control of the firing temperature and atmosphere inside the kiln, and very often yielded blurred or burnt designs considered unsatisfactory.
The present lot
The present lot
What is more impressive, though, is the turbulent waves that are painted in the especially challenging 'pencilled' style in underglaze copper red. For the style to be effective, the fugitive copper red has to be perfectly controlled to produce fine, clear red lines with no 'bleeding' into the surrounding white areas.
On top of that, the pair of white dragons have no painted outlines. The details of their scales, eyes, and hair, are masterfully carved in low relief, and can only be fully appreciated upon close examination – which also reflects Emperor Yongzheng's refined taste.
The whole scene here, with the smaller dragon climbing towards the larger, is known as canglong jiaozi, which literally translates as "the old dragon teaches his son". An important motif, it represents the passing of knowledge from father to son, that is from Emperor Yongzheng to the future Emperor Qianlong, thus symbolizing the succession of power.
There has been a nearly identical example with a Yongzheng mark at auction, formerly in the collection of Stephen Junkunc III, one of the most well-known collectors of the 20th century, and sold at Christie's New York in 1995. Comparable examples can also be found in the Palace Museums in Beijing and Taipei, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Attesting to the connoisseurial depth of the Wang Xing Lou Collection, numerous lots exceeded expectations at this single-owner collection sale. The second top lot, a Qianlong reign-marked one of two known examples of a blue-and-white vase with exquisite elephant handles, hammered on its high estimate of HK$8 million and sold for HK$10.1 million (US$1.2 million) with fees.
Another rare piece, a Qianlong celadon-glazed vessel of octagonal shape with moulded design, achieved a hammer price of HK$5 million against a low estimate of HK$1.5 million; with fees, its final price came to HK$6.3 million (around US$805,000) and became the sale's third highest-selling lot.
Notably, a Yongzheng ge-type penta-lobed bottle vase went to legendary Hong Kong collector Robert Chang, who always has the paddle number "1", for a hammer price of HK$4.2 million after fierce bidding. Fetching HK$5.29 million (around US$676,000) against a low estimate of HK$1 million, it was the fourth-most expensive lot.
Below are all the lots in the sale listed from the highest sold price to the lowest:
Lot 2708 | An extremely rare blue and white 'elephant handle' vase
Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795)
Height: 30.8 cm
Provenance:
- Beatrice C. Goldschmidt (d. 2016) Collection
- Sold at Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 1995, lot 287
Estimate: HK$5,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$8,000,000
Sold: HK$10,055,000
Lot 2710 | A moulded celadon-glazed 'dragon and phoenix' octagonal vase
Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795)
Height: 33 cm
Provenance:
- Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1-2 November 1994, lot 114
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,000,000
Sold: HK$6,300,000
Lot 2704 | A ge-type penta-lobed bottle vase
Yongzheng six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1723-1735)
Height: 27.7 cm
Provenance:
- Berwald Oriental Art, London, prior to 2003
Estimate: HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,200,000
Sold: HK$5,292,000
Lot 2709 | An extremely rare imitation-lacquer porcelain circular box and cover
Qianlong six-character impressed seal mark and of the period (1736-1795)
Diameter: 12.4 cm
Provenance:
- Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 28-29 November 1978, lot 163
- Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Important Chinese Porcelain, Enamels and Jade Carvings from the Works of Art Collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, 16 May 1989, lot 47
- The Robert Chang Collection, Hong Kong
- Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong- Imperial Wares from the Robert Chang Collection, 2 November 1999, lot 506
Estimate: HK$2,800,000 - 3,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,200,000
Sold: HK$5,292,000
Lot 2707 | A auber gine-glazed meiping
Qianlong incised six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795)
Height: 22.4 cm
Provenance:
- The Vera Goldschlager (1916-1999) Collection, no. 5; sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29-30 April 2001, lot 666
Estimate: HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,000,000
Sold: HK$5,040,000
Lot 2703 | An extremely rare carved yellow-ground green-enamelled 'lotus' wine cup
Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735)
Diameter: 6.4 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Mrs. Marilynn Alsdorf (1925-2019); sold at Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2001, lot 94 (part)
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,100,000
Sold: HK$3,906,000
Lot 2701 | A pink-enamelled tea bowl
Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735)
Diameter: 11.9 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Charles A. Dana (1819-1897), New York
- Sold at The American Art Association, New York, 26 February 1898, lot 449
- Sold at Christie’s New York, 28 March 1996, lot 386
Estimate: HK$700,000 - 900,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,000,000
Sold: HK$3,780,000
Lot 2702 | A pair of lemon yellow-enamelled tea bowls
Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within double circles and of the period (1723-1735)
Diameter: 9.2 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Robert Somerville, Chicago, by repute
- Collection of Harold L. Geiger, acquired in 1954
- Sold at Sotheby’s New York, 22 March 2000, lot 122
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$2,600,000
Sold: HK$3,276,000
Lot 2706 | A pair of small wucai 'flower' dishes
Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within double circles and of the period (1723-1735)
Diameter: 11.4 cm
Estimate: HK$500,000 - 800,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,300,000
Sold: HK$1,638,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's Hong Kong
Sale: The Ten Perfections - Qing Imperial Ceramics from the Wang Xing Lou Collection
Date: 30 May 2024
Number of Lots: 10
Sold: 10
Sale Rate: 100%
Sale Total: HK$122,704,000