Vase Qianlong vendu pour 7,5 millions de dollars par Bonhams

Porcelain Vase Estimated At US$9,400-14,100 Sells For $7.5 Million At Auction In San Francisco

Over the last year, we’ve kept a close eye on the wallet-emptying effect that lots from the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1735-1796) have had on Chinese collectors at auctions around the world. From the jade name-chop that sold for US$12.3 million in Hong Kong last spring to the vases that sold for $31 million (over an estimate of $6 million) and a jaw-dropping $85 million (over a high estimate of $2 million) in October and November, prices for rare works from sought-after historical eras have become, in the words of Zhang Liguo, an expert from the China Academy of Art, “totally crazy.”