Although Hong Kong’s Asian Art Week auctions officially begin in late October, Sotheby’s opened the season early with a high-profile single-owner sale: The Ise Collection: Important Chinese Ceramics. Held on 9 September, the auction drew significant attention from the antiques community and realised nearly HK$359 million (US$46 million).
Out of 182 lots, only one remained unsold: a Yongzheng famille-rose “peach tree” bottle vase, which had carried the sale's second-highest estimate at HK$25 million. Six lots exceeded HK$10 million, with the top lot – a Southern Song Guan celadon lobed dish – selling for HK$55.88 million after competitive bidding among three collectors.
Known across Japan’s egg industry, Hikonobu Ise – often referred to as the “Egg King of Japan” – is also a major art collector. Over three decades, he built one of Japan’s most respected private collections of Chinese ceramics, exhibited in solo shows at the Musée Guimet in Paris and the Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics – a rare honor for a living collector.
Sotheby’s notably provided a full house guarantee, committing to buy any unsold lots at the reserve or cover any shortfall. In a rare move, the auction house reopened all unsold lots with reduced starting bids during the sale – except the Yongzheng vase – ensuring most works found a buyer.
The top lot, a Southern Song Guan celadon lobed dish, sold under the hammer of auctioneer Xichu Wang
Ise attended the inauguration ceremony of the "Ise Art Foundation" in Hong Kong in 2023
During the preview, Sotheby’s presented the wooden boxes housing Ise's ceramic collection in an installation art-style display
Ise’s name has frequently appeared among the Top 100 Global Collectors, and Japanese media once estimated his personal collection at JPY 100 billion. While best known in business for expanding his family’s poultry company into a vertically integrated food empire, he has also amassed important Western works by Monet, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Warhol, and Chagall.
Until 2020, Ise had reportedly never sold a single ceramic work. A few pieces began surfacing at auction in recent years, particularly through Tokyo Chuo Auction.
Around the same time, his company ISE Foods – long dominant in Japan’s egg market – began facing financial pressure from the pandemic and accumulated debt. It underwent restructuring in 2022 and was rebranded as Tamago & Company the following year.
According to Japanese media, the company’s debt became entangled with Ise’s art holdings due to unclear ownership. Many works were reportedly acquired using loans from his businesses, blurring the line between personal collection and corporate assets. The Sotheby’s sale is believed to be part of a negotiated settlement between Ise and the company’s new management, addressing both provenance and liquidity concerns.
Lot 5102 | A large famille-rose 'peach tree' bottle vase
Mark and period Yongzheng
Height: 44.6 cm
Provenance:
- Hirano Kotoken
Unsold
Lot 5022 | An exceptionally rare and important heirloom Guan lobed dish
Southern Song dynasty
Diameter: 19.2 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Sir Harry M. Garner (1891-1977)
- Bluett & Sons Ltd, London
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, acquired from the above on 14th June 1978
- A Japanese private collection
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$25,000,000 - 50,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$45,500,000
Sold: HK$55,885,000
The sale’s top lot – a Southern Song Guan celadon lobed dish – achieved HK$55.88 million, far exceeding its estimate after competitive bidding. Auctioneer Xichu Wang opened at HK$17 million, with three phone bidders represented by Jen Hua (Vice Chairman, Asia; Chairman, China), Sonya Wu (Specialist, Chinese Art Department), and Winnie Wan (Business Manager, Chinese Art Department).
Bidding quickly passed HK$30 million; Wu exited at HK$33 million, leaving Hua and Wan to compete in HK$500,000 increments. After 22 more bids, Hua secured the dish for her client with paddle 6623 at a hammer price of HK$45.5 million (HK$55.88 million with premium).
The dish once belonged to Sir Harry Garner (1891-1977), a British scientist and President of the Oriental Ceramic Society, whose writings helped bring international recognition to the David Vases. A close friend of Sir Percival David, Garner donated many pieces to the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, including a celebrated Ru ware stand.
He reportedly owned the dish for over 25 years. In 1976, he loaned it to the V&A along with other Chinese and Japanese ceramics. In a letter to dealer Roger Bluett, dated January 12, 1977 – just months before his death – he wrote:
“I suggest that you take the first six on the list [of V&A loans] and offer them at the prices you suggest. The others can be left for the present. I should like to think more about the two kuan [guan] dishes before coming to a conclusion.”
The present dish and a broken companion now in the Fitzwilliam Museum were the two referenced. Garner never sold them in his lifetime. After his death, both passed through Bluett’s, with this example acquired by Mayuyama & Co. of Japan. A 1977 photograph shows the dish already without the metal rim it once had.
The aesthetic values of Song dynasty China marked a clear departure from earlier imperial taste. While previous courts favored opulence, Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126) – the last great ruler of the Northern Song – championed restraint, naturalism, and elegance.
He famously criticized his predecessor’s buildings as “gaudy as jewelry” and preferred unpainted beams and monochrome murals – a sensibility reflected in the ceramics of the period, most notably the understated beauty of Ru ware.
When the Jurchen conquest forced the court south in 1127, access to Ru kilns was lost. The newly established Southern Song capital in Hangzhou responded by founding official kilns – the now-famous guan kilns – to fill the void. Though born of necessity, guan ware became one of China’s most iconic ceramic traditions.
Crafted from iron-rich southern clay, guan ware reveals a dark body at the rim (“purple mouth”) and foot (“iron foot”). Its celadon glaze, often layered, creates a soft, modulated surface that blurs the form’s edges. The hallmark crackle patterns, once considered flaws, became prized – marking a cultural shift that embraced imperfection as beauty.
A longquan celadon mallow-form dish, Southern Song dynasty | Sold: HK$3,024,000, Christie's Hong Kong, 2024 (from the Au Bak Ling collection)
What distinguishes guan ware is its diversity and individuality – production vary in form, size, glaze tone, crackle, and profile, with each piece hand-shaped rather than mass-produced. The present dish, with its angled six-lobed rim, belongs to a rare group fired directly on its foot ring, without spurs. Though similar examples exist, each varies subtly.
Despite guan ware’s fame, much about its production remains unclear. Some of the finest examples cannot be linked to any known kiln, suggesting that not all official production sites have been found. One possible court storage site has yielded important fragments but has yet to be fully excavated.
Guan ware’s influence was both immediate and enduring. It inspired Longquan imitations as early as the Song-Yuan period, and later imperial copies at Jingdezhen during the Ming and Qing. Yet none have matched the quiet majesty of the originals. Their soft green or bluish glazes, enriched by the dark clay beneath, remain inimitable.
Lot 5027 | A 'beishoku' guan vase
Southern Song dynasty
Height: 22.3 cm
Provenance:
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
- Collection of Tsuneichi Inoue (1906-1965)
- Sotheby's London, 13th May 2015, lot 32
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$8,000,000 - 16,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$20,000,000
Sold: HK$24,775,000
Another highlight was a Southern Song Guan vase with a straight neck and rare beige-yellow glaze, which sold for HK$24.77 million, far above its HK$8-16 million estimate. Acquired by a floor bidder with paddle 8869, the vase is an exceptional example of beishoku (“rice-colored”) guan ware.
Smooth to the touch and covered in fine ice-flake crackles, the vase’s warm amber glaze is the result of oxidation firing – a rare variation from the reduction atmospheres typically used in Hangzhou kilns.
While most Guan wares appear green or blue due to reduced iron oxides, this example shows the golden tones of fully oxidized iron – either intentionally or due to excess oxygen during firing.
A matching pair held by the Tokiwayama Bunko Foundation in Kamakura
Unreduced Guan wares are exceedingly rare. In Japan, where Song ceramics have long been revered, this glaze is called beishoku, named for the hue of unhulled rice. The term was coined by Tsuneo Yonaiyama, who excavated related sherds at the Jiaotanxia kiln site in the 1950s.
This vase has passed through the hands of Mayuyama Ryūsendō, Tsuneichi Inoue, and Hikonobu Ise, and has appeared in nearly every major Japanese exhibition of Song ceramics since the 1950s.
A matching pair is held by the Tokiwayama Bunko Foundation in Kamakura. One of the pair leans slightly greener in tone, highlighting the subtle spectrum between “rice-colored” and bluish-green Guan glazes.
Other Highlight Lots:
Lot 5045 | An exceedingly rare blue and white 'lily' palace bowl
Mark and period of Chenghua
Diameter: 14.7 cm
Provenance:
- Peter Boode (died probably 1972), London, acquired in January 1936 (£50)
- Collection of Mr (1898-1970) and Mrs R.H.R. Palmer, no. 403
- Christie's Hong Kong, 17th January 1989, lot 575
- Collection of T.T. Tsui (1940-2010)
- Collection of the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong
- Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 548 (from the single-owner auction of the Jingguantang Collection)
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$40,000,000 - 80,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$28,500,000
Sold: HK$35,145,000
Lot 5008 | An exceptional and very rare Cizhou sgraffiato 'peony' vase, meiping
Northern Song dynasty
Height: 30.9 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Dikran Khan Kélékian (1868-1951)
- Sotheby's New York, 17th September 1998, cover and lot 202
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$7,000,000 - 14,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$16,000,000
Sold: HK$19,895,000
Lot 5078 | A superbly carved cinnabar lacquer 'phoenix and luan' chest
Ming dynasty, Yongle period
50 x 36.5 x 42.5 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, acquired in the 1990s
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, acquired in the early 2000s
Estimate: HK$20,000,000 - 40,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$14,000,000
Sold: HK$17,455,000
Lot 5044 | A finely painted blue and white 'floral' jar
Mark and period of Chenghua
Height: 9.7 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of the Akaboshi family, Tokyo, acquired in the 1930s
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo, acquired in the 1940s
- Collection of Takushin Kushi (1898-1973), Tokyo, acquired in the 1940s
- Watanabe & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$12,000,000 - 24,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$10,000,000
Sold: HK$12,575,000
Lot 5089 | An imperial Junyao hexalobed narcissus bowl
Early Ming dynasty
Diameter: 21.5 cm
Provenance:
- A Japanese private collection, prior to 1885
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$7,100,000
Sold: HK$9,017,000
Lot 5043 | A very rare anhua-decorated blue and white 'dragon' dish
Mark and period of Xuande
Diameter: 20.2 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Major Lindsay F. Hay (1891-1946)
- Sotheby's London, 25th June 1946, lot 45
- C.T. Loo & Cie
- Collection of Frederick M. Mayer (d. 1974)
- Christie's London, 24th June 1974, lot 92
- Spink & Son Ltd, London (label)
- Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999), Hong Kong
- Collection of T.Y. Chao Family Trust, inv. no. 14
- Offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18th November 1986, lot 33
- Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st November 1999, lot 313
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
- A Japanese private collection
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$6,300,000
Sold: HK$8,001,000
Lot 5050 | A fine yellow-ground and underglaze-blue 'gardenia' dish
Mark and period of Hongzhi
Diameter: 26.8 cm
Provenance:
- A Japanese private collection, prior to 1885
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$6,000,000
Sold: HK$7,620,000
Lot 5041 | A fine and very rare blue and white 'floral' bowl
Ming dynasty, Yongle period
Diameter: 19.4 cm
Provenance:
- Collection of George Eumorfopoulos (1863-1939), coll. no. C.94
- Sotheby's London, 29th May 1940, lot 208
- Collection of Mr and Mrs Alfred Clark, coll. no. 824
- Spink & Son Ltd, London, 1974
- Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999), Hong Kong
- Collection of T.Y. Chao Family Trust
- Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18th November 1986, lot 44
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$7,000,000 - 14,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,800,000
Sold: HK$7,366,000
Lot 5091 | A fine and extremely rare pair of lemon-yellow enamelled 'chrysanthemum' dishes
Marks and period of Yongzheng
Diameter: 16.3 cm
Provenance:
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,700,000
Sold: HK$7,239,000
Lot 5047 | A fine and large blue and white 'dragon' bowl
Mark and period of Zhengde
Diameter: 23.4 cm
Provenance:
- Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1937
- Collection of R.F.A. Riesco (1877-1964), coll. no. 168
- Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2013, lot 3117
- Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo
Estimate: HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,000,000
Sold: HK$5,080,000
Lot 5038 | A rare blue and white 'dragon' stem cup
Yuan dynasty
Diameter: 13 cm; Height: 11.5 cm
Provenance:
- Hirano Kotoken
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,500,000
Sold: HK$4,450,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Sotheby's Hong Kong
Sale: Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection
Date: 9 September 2025
Number of Lots: 182
Sold: 181
Unsold: 1
Sale Rate: 99%
Sale Total: HK$358,970,660