Few individuals have shaped the postwar market for Chinese antiquities as forcefully – or as fearlessly – as Sakamoto Gorō (1923–2016). Over the course of nearly seven decades, he transformed himself from a streetwise teenager hustling Japan's black markets into one of the country's most respected dealers and collectors of Chinese art, known for his sharp eye, bold instincts, and occasional headline-making bids.
At the 2024 autumn auctions, Sotheby’s Hong Kong presented a single-owner sale dedicated to the legendary Japanese collector. All 37 lots found new homes, totaling HK$66.2 million. Riding that momentum, a second chapter followed this spring, with 27 additional works achieving nearly HK$34.3 million (US$4.4 million) – another white-glove result.
Among the standout works was a large Yuan dynasty blue-and-white jar, boldly painted with cloud-dwelling dragons and scrolling peonies. Estimated at HK$4 million, it ignited a wave of bidding before hammering down at HK$21 million, securing its place as the top lot of the sale with a final price after fees of nearly HK$26 million (US$3.3 million).
Sakamoto Gorō, Odawara, Summer 2010 | Photograph by Nicolas Chow, Chairman of Sotheby's Asia and Worldwide Head of Asian Art
Sakamoto’s entry into the world was dramatic. He was barely a day old when the Great Kantō Earthquake devastated Yokohama in 1923. His mother carried him, along with her injured husband and four children, through the burning streets to safety.
After his father's death, Sakamoto left school early to support the family, first apprenticing with a dried fish wholesaler, then entering the second-hand clothing trade. In the postwar years, he worked the black markets, buying and selling goods to Occupation forces. It was a chaotic environment, and he often fell victim to fakes and misjudged deals – experiences he later credited as the beginning of his education in authenticity.
Disillusioned by the dangers of the black market, he turned to antiques—“about which I knew absolutely nothing,” he admitted. He traveled from one antique market to another, buying what he thought had value and selling it elsewhere. He didn’t find much financial success at first, but he poured his energy into studying: visiting dealers, acquiring art books, and learning from those with more experience.
Fugendō signboard
In 1947, at the age of 24, he opened an antiques shop in Tokyo, naming it Fugendō, inspired by a Chinese proverb: “Though the peach tree does not call, admirers beat a path to it.” Early success came from selling colorful Imari-style porcelain to American soldiers. But he knew these were “middling wares” – to rise in the trade, he would need to deal only in old, serious works of art.
By the early 1950s, Sakamoto began to find his footing, specializing in Chinese ceramics and archaic bronzes – tricky fields many Japanese dealers avoided. He built his knowledge piece by piece, through trial and error. Over time, he developed what the Japanese call mekiki: the eye to judge authenticity at a glance.
In the following decade, he became a regular at London auctions – an unusual sight for a Japanese dealer at the time. He spoke little English, relying instead on “pluck and intuition.” “If one fears taking risks,” he said, “there is no chance of ever truly succeeding in the world.”
Before the war, only two pieces of Guan ware were known in Japan, and when a Southern Song Guan vase came up for auction in London in 1970, he mortgaged his house and flew in to bid – only to lose in the final stretch to his friend, the legendary Asian art collector Edward T. Chow.
Sakamoto Gorō and Edward T. Chow at Chateau-Banquet in Geneva, circa 1970s
Two years later, in 1972, he returned to Christie’s London, prepared to sell his entire inventory – perhaps even his shop – for a Yuan dynasty blue-and-white and underglaze red jar, then thought to be the only one of its kind.* He triumphed, purchasing the jar for £220,500 (US$500,000), a record for an Asian work of art at auction at the time. His bold move earned him the nickname “Little Napoleon” in the press.
Though he formally retired in the late 1970s for health reasons and moved to Kyoto, Sakamoto remained deeply engaged with the world of Asian art. In 1968, he had already made the largest postwar donation to the Tokyo National Museum in honor of his mother, gifting ten Shang and Zhou bronzes. In 2002, he donated 380 more archaic bronzes to the Nara National Museum, now housed in the Sakamoto Wing.
*Note: Only three other similar jars are now known, in the British Museum, Hebei Provincial Museum, and the Palace Museum in Beijing
Left: Blue and white and copper-red jar, Yuan dynasty | Right: A gift from Sakamoto to Tokyo National Museum
Lot 711 | An exceptionally rare blue and white 'dragon and peony' jar
Yuan dynasty
Width: 34.9 cm
Provenance:
- Sotheby’s London, 15th April 1980, lot 233
- John Sparks Ltd., London
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$21,000,000
Sold: HK$25,995,000
Superbly potted and possibly unique, this Yuan dynasty jar is an extraordinary relic from the dawn of blue-and-white porcelain. For centuries, it was widely believed that the technique originated in the Ming dynasty. It wasn’t until the 1950s – following archaeological discoveries of genuine Yuan examples – that scholars began to revise the history of Chinese ceramics.
Today, authentic Yuan blue-and-white wares are recognized as among the most coveted objects in Chinese art. In 2005, an exceptionally rare jar depicting an illustration scene sold for nearly £15.7 million at Christie’s London, setting a world auction record for Asian works of art at the time and firmly establishing Yuan blue-and-white at the top of the market.
True examples are exceedingly rare. Most are housed in public institutions, with the largest collections found in the Topkapi Palace Museum in Turkey and the National Museum of Iran. In China, the Gao’an City Museum in Jiangxi holds the largest public collection, totaling just nineteen pieces. Most institutions have only three or four.
Among private collectors, only the world-famous Tianminlou Collection came close to rivaling these holdings, at one point comprising over twenty examples – more than any other private collection in the world.
Under the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, maritime and overland trade flourished, especially with the Islamic world. The blue-and-white color scheme, common in Middle Eastern mosques and architecture, resonated with Mongol cultural tastes: white symbolized purity and heaven; blue suggested the cosmos.
Painted with Smalt or Samarra cobalt – the same imported pigment later used on Ming blue-and-white – this jar is divided at its widest point, telling parallel stories of heaven and earth. The upper section is boldly painted with a pair of four-clawed dragons soaring through clouds; the lower with six large peony blooms, arranged in rhythmic symmetry.
The dragons are typical of the few surviving designs from this early period of artistic experimentation, but here, they are rendered with greater boldness and drama. Long celebrated in Chinese tradition as symbols of good fortune and power, Yuan dynasty dragons were depicted with both three and four claws, and appear on only a select few iconic surviving examples.
Below, the peonies – one of the most beloved and well-attested designs for a jar of this type – are framed by richly “inked” scrolling foliage. A closely related jar, featuring similar floral decoration, was sold for more than HK$27 million at the first single-owner sale of Sakamoto’s collection in 2024.
It is rare to find examples decorated with both dragons and peonies, and no identical piece appears to be recorded. The present jar is also especially notable for the good condition in which it has been preserved.
Other Highlight Lots:
Lot 710 | An extremely rare blue-splashed sancai-glazed 'lady and child' group
Tang Dynasty
Height: 39.8 cm
Provenance:
- The Mount Trust Collection of Captain Vivian Francis (1891–1968) and Mrs Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt Bulkeley-Johnson (1900–1976), Oxford
Estimate: HK$80,000 - 160,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,400,000
Sold: HK$1,778,000
Lot 705 | A rare polychrome-enamelled 'phoenix' bowl
Mark and period of Longqing (1567)
Diameter: 21.7 cm
Provenance:
- Sotheby's Los Angeles, 2nd November 1981, lot 307
Estimate: HK$50,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: HK$850,000
Sold: HK$1,079,500
Lot 712 | A bronze ritual wine vessel and cover, fanglei
Late Shang dynasty
Height: 51 cm
Provenance:
- Sotheby's New York, 21st September 2005, lot 146
Estimate: HK$300,000 - 600,000
Hammer Price: HK$750,000
Sold: HK$952,500
Lot 720 | A large painted pottery figure of a court lady
Tang dynasty
Height: 55 cm
Estimate: HK$10,000 - 20,000
Hammer Price: HK$650,000
Sold: HK$825,500
Lot 709 | A rare large qingbai 'boys' meiping
Southern Song dynasty
Height: 38 cm
Estimate: HK$300,000 - 600,000
Hammer Price: HK$300,000
Sold: HK$381,000
Lot 713 | A large painted pottery figure of a court lady
Tang Dynasty
Height: 54.5 cm
Estimate: HK$10,000 - 20,000
Hammer Price: HK$240,000
Sold: HK$304,800
Lot 722 | A bronze ritual food vessel and cover, gui
Eastern Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn - Warring States period
Width: 30.4 cm
Estimate: HK$20,000 - 40,000
Hammer Price: HK$240,000
Sold: HK$304,800
Lot 715 | A bronze vessel and cover, fanghu
Eastern Zhou dynasty, Warring States period
Height: 27.8 cm
Estimate: HK$20,000 - 40,000
Hammer Price: HK$200,000
Sold: HK$254,000
Lot 719 | A bronze inscribed archaistic bell
Qing dynasty, Daoguang period (1839)
Height: 51 cm
Estimate: HK$20,000 - 40,000
Hammer Price: HK$140,000
Sold: HK$177,800
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby's Hong Kong
Sale: Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō: A Selection II
Date: 7 May 2025
Number of Lots: 27
Sold: 27
Sale Rate: 100%
Sale Total: HK$34,272,680