"Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art" sale at Christie's London started at 10:30am, local time. The bidding atmosphere was mild, until lot 99, a pair of famille rose "butterfly" vases appeared on the stage. The entire saleroom heated up immediately, and this star lot was hammered at £13m at last. Our specialist believes that the price is reasonable. According to reliable source, the buyer is a Chinese male collector.

Bidding started at £1.7m and quickly raised to £10m under intense bidding. When the bid price exceeded this price, only two phone bidders stayed in the bidding war. With bid increment of £500,000, the bid price raised to £13m after around 6 minutes of bidding.

Auctioneer Leila de Vos van Steenwijk was going to sell the lot, and at that moment, a phone bid representative yelled "wait", drawing everyone's attention. Steenwijk replied "you scared us all" with a smile, waited a while for another bid.

Leila de Vos van Steenwijk

Yet there was no more bid afterward, and this pair of beautiful vases was hammered for £13m at last. The winner is a Chinese male, his representative is CC Xichu Wang at Asian Art, Christie's.

A MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE ‘BUTTERFLY’ DOUBLE-GOURD VASES, QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARKS IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Auction House: Christie's London
Sale: Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Auction
Date: 2017/5/9
Lot No.: 99
Height: 23cm
Provenance: Collected in the 1930s in London by an English lady from a noble family and thence by descent
Estimate: £2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Hammer Price: £13,000,000
Sold: £14,725,000 (with buyer's premium)