Chinese Works of Art

A Chinese porcelain wucai fish vase sold for £810,000 at Fellows on Monday – 450 times its estimate. Such large wucai or 'five colours' fish jars tend to date from the reign of Jiajing (1522-1566) but Fellows believed it to be 20th century.

Qi Baishi’s painting of bees and chrysanthemums is coming up for sale at Chiswick Auctions, featuring both a charming subject and history as it once belonged to a journalist who trod on Chairman Mao Zedong’s toe.

A selection of Ming dynasty objects are to be offered for sale at Sotheby’s New York next month.

Drawing spectacular bidding at Lawrences of Crewkerne, this rare Chinese altar vase was knocked down at over 150-times estimate at the Somerset saleroom’s latest fine art auction. It was thought to have been specially commissioned by the Qing court for ceremonial use in palaces and temples.

A woman from the village of Hindhead in Surrey made a spectacular return on a £2 charity shop purchase when her small Chinese censer was knocked down at auction for £21,000.

Australian auctioneers Mossgreen set an AUS$2m record for a single-owner sale of Asian Art sold down-under when they offered part of Raphy Star’s collection in Sydney earlier this month.

A Chinese hardstone imperial seal set a record at Drouot in Paris on when Pierre Bergé & Associés sold this impressively carved 4in (10.5cm) square specimen, inscribed 'Qianlong Yu Bi Zhi Bao', for a hammer price of €17.5m (£14.58m).

A rare Chinese imperial enamel vase bought for £10 at a car boot sale has been hammered down for £50,000 at Woolley & Wallis’ Asian sale today. It sold on the phone to a Chinese buyer.

The first Chinese firearm with an imperial reign mark ever offered at auction sold at Sotheby’s yesterday for £1.65m.

A Chinese cinnabar lacquer brush pot sold for £155,000 at Shrewsbury auctioneers Halls earlier today.

The venerable Oriental Ceramic Society are holding an exhibition of Asian ceramics at Sotheby’s which opens later this week.

A bronze figure of the fierce four-armed deity Mahakala that was being used as a doorstop in a Gloucestershire cottage sold for £85,000 at Mallams’ Chinese art sale in Cheltenham.

Christie’s New York have announced the sale of more than 30 pieces of Chinese art from Osaka’s Fujita Museum which will be offered at auction next year.

London dealer and BADA chairman Michael Cohen has found and sold his personal “Holy Grail”, in the shape of a Qianlong tureen, cover and stand.

A rare Chinese Imperial Beijing enamel vase bought for £10 at a car boot sale is to go to auction in Salisbury next month carrying a £20,000-30,000 estimate.

Auction specialists in Australia have found a rare Ming Dynasty banknote hidden within a Chinese wooden sculpture. The discovery came at Mossgreen as they were cataloguing the extensive collection of Raphy Star – one of the most important collections of Asian art ever to be offered in the country.

A musket made in the Chinese Imperial workshops, complete with marks, will become the first of its kind to be offered at auction next month.

A family row over a large collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain escalated this week after Art Fund trustee Caroline Butler hired Christie’s to value the collection.

A large collection of 17th century Chinese porcelain could be broken up and sold after a family feud among the heirs of Sir Michael Butler, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher.