The Wall Street Journal reports on the buyer of that Qianlong vase that set a record price for a Chinese work of art. At HK$252.66m, that places the vase in the range of $32.6m:
A Hong Kong-based collector of Shanghainese origin, Alice Cheng, paid HK$251 million, far above the high end of its estimate of HK$49.6 million.
Ms. Cheng, who said she worked in the telecom and oil industries, told reporters after the auction that the vase was for her personal collection.
Nicolas Chow, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s and international head of Chinese ceramics and works of art, was surprised by the outcome. “I didn’t expect the appetite of the market to be so monstrous…but especially in this field there is a great urgency to buy because there is very limited supply and an increase in demand.”
