Ming era vase sold for record 21.6 million dollars in Hong Kong

Hong Kong: An early Ming era cobalt blue Meiping vase was sold for a record 21.6 million dollars despite recent financial market turmoil. The Meiyintang collection, a unique, respected assemblage of Chinese porcelain collected over nearly half a century by Swiss tycoons, the Zuellig brothers, was offered onto the market for the first time in April in a highly anticipated Hong Kong sale. The biannual Sotheby`s sales are considered a key indicator of the Asian art market, Xinhua reports. Bidding was strong for a sublime blue and white “meiping” vase of fruit sprays from the Ming Yongle period that went for 21.6 million dollar to a telephone bidder, a world record at auction for any piece of Chinese Ming porcelain. “The Ming was strong this time,” said William Chak, a prominent Hong Kong dealer who bought a sky-blue Yongzheng gourd vase at the sale. ANI