There has been an explosion in the prices paid at auction for Oriental antiques, as Vivienne explains.
I have been inspired by a number of Chinese porcelain vases I have sold lately – in particular a Chinese brown vase that was 32.cms high and even had a crack in it! It dated from about 1855, so wasn’t particularly old, and was decorated in a plain brown glaze delightfully called a “tea dust glaze,” (if you can imagine the dust in the bottom of an imported tea chest, then you have the right idea!). Incidentally, a pale blue glaze in this range of monochrome wares has the delightful name of “robin’s egg glaze.” A few years ago, this tea dust vase would have realised £400 to £600. However, since the explosion in the wealth of many Chinese, such valuations are completely out of date. In fact, the vase attracted interest from around the world and was sold to a Chinese buyer, bidding over the Internet, for a staggering £26,000 plus buyer’s premium…