According to CNN, the auction lasted about 20 minutes, involving 10 collectors around the world, and the final victory belonged to a private collector in Asia. The results have just been announced and Sotheby's is the auction organizer.
The $12.5 million price tag makes the pair of carp vases the most expensive Chinese artwork this year, according to Sotheby's. It is also the first complete pair of antique vases with lids to be sold at auction.
The vases had been in the collection of a German family for at least a century, Sotheby's added, and the owners had brought them to safety before their home was destroyed in fighting during World War II.
The pair of porcelain vases were made during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor, from 1522 to 1566. Sotheby's said the vases demonstrated advances in porcelain production. The exteriors were decorated with paintings of carp swimming in a pond filled with lotus and other plants.
The auction house said the image of carp represents freedom from bondage and was an important part of the Taoist ideology pursued by Emperor Jiajing. They are also considered a symbol of happiness, freedom from worries and harmony with nature.
According to Nicolas Chow, chairman of Chinese art at Sotheby's Asia division, the astonishing prices in the Chinese ceramics market have appeared since the country's economy began to grow strongly in the 1990s.
Mr. Chow continued to share that ceramics have always held an important position in Chinese culture because they have been developed for thousands of years. No other country in the world can compare with China in ceramic production technology.
Sotheby’s is one of the largest and oldest art auction houses in the world, headquartered in New York (USA). Founded in 1744 in London, Sotheby’s initially specialized in book auctions, but later expanded into many other areas such as art, jewelry, antiques, wine and other valuable items.
