Bonham’s will be selling a very large collection of Chinese snuff bottles in Hong Kong as they try to capitalize on the demand for antiques in China. The first sale will take place in May, but it will take a full 10 biannual sales to disburse all of the 1720 Qing dynasty bottles that are estimated to be worth $32m, according to Scott Reyburn’s Bloomberg report:

“For the first time a top-quality collection is being dangled in front of Chinese mainland buyers across the border,” Sheaf said. “That’s where we’ll be focusing our marketing and advertising.” […]

“It’s a collection that was formed with a large amount of intelligence, integrity and a lot of money,” said the London- based dealer Robert Hall, a specialist who advised the Bloches.

Newly wealthy Chinese are keen to acquire high-quality objects from their heritage, particularly when associated with emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties, said dealers. Prices for porcelain of these eras increased 48.2 percent between 2005 and 2009, according to U.K.-based database Art Market Research.

For Sale: 1,720 Chinese Antique Snuff Bottles Worth $32 Million (Bloomberg)