Sotheby's to hold Chinese valuation day

This week, a pair of Chinese vases sold for a record €170,000 at auction in Co Laois – and Sotheby’s announced plans to hold a Chinese Valuation Day in Dublin in June

SOTHEBY’S has announced that it is holding a Chinese valuation day in its Dublin office in June. The news follows this week’s sale at auction in Co Laois of a pair of Chinese vases, below, for €170,000 – over 14 times their estimate.

The famille rose vases, dating from the reign of the Daoguang Emperor, had been estimated at €8,000-€12,000 but after intense bidding at Sheppard’s, in Durrow, Co Laois, went to a collector in China. The vases had been bought 10 years ago for just “a few hundred quid” in a Dublin antiques shop.

On the same day, at Bonhams in London, a pair of Qianlong Emperor teapots made £1.3 million (€1.48m). Their estimate was £20,000-£30,000 (€22,860 -€34,293).

Sotheby’s will hold its Chinese Valuation Day – by appointment only – at its Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 office on Monday June 13th.

Robert Bradlow, director and Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, who will be over from London said: “Essentially we are looking for Chinese-taste pieces that have recently become highly sought-after in the global market as the Chinese economy has been racing ahead.

“The Chinese are now keen to buy back many of the pieces that were sold/taken from China during the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century that have found their way to Europe”.