Ming ceramics to be highlight of Hong Kong auction

On April 5, several refined examples of imperial porcelain from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) will be auctioned in Hong Kong. They feature a variety of patterns and methods of applying glazes, and indicate the varied tastes of collectors of Chinese art in different continents.

Among the lots, the one that will really cause a stir is a blue-and-white qinghua bowl standing 23 centimeters high, and decorated on the exterior with a dynamic scene of four fishes swimming in a pond of blossoming lotus.

The bowl was crafted in the early 15th century during the reign of Emperor Xuande (1426-35), a period in which blue-and-white ceramics were produced in official kilns and is now recognized as the apex of China's porcelain-making history.

Once an imperial possession, the bowl is now in a private Japanese collection, and is coming to the open market for the first time, according to Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby's department of Chinese works of art.

The bowl will appear in Sotheby's Hong Kong salesroom during the major spring sales.

"It is a piece that is very well-known in Japan, having been exhibited in the Tokyo National Museum in 1963, and the Kyoto National Museum in 1966, and published extensively thereafter," Chow said.

Quality objects coming to the market for the first time, or after an interval of several decades, are known as "fresh goods" by bidders, and therefore often arouse intense excitement.

Another highlight will be a blue-and-white moon-shaped flask dating from the Yongle period (1402-1424), during which quality ceramics were also produced. The piece comes from another private Japanese collection, the Tokyo-based Idemitsu Museum of Arts, which displays the collection of Sazo Idemitsu (1885-1981), a businessman and collector. The piece will also be sold at Sotheby's.

"Every dynasty has its highs and lows, and the highs of the Ming Dynasty were the first few decades, particularly the Yongle and Xuande reigns," Chow said, adding that although quite a few objects from the two periods are still extant, pieces that rank among the top list, such as the Xuande fish bowl, are exceptional and hard to come by.

The reign of the Emperor Chenghua (1464-87) also witnessed a peak of material refinement at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, China's age-old porcelain capital, in Jiangxi province.

Objects from the period will also go under the hammer at upcoming Hong Kong sales, including a doucai stem cup patterned with Chinese roses, and a blue-and-white cup decorated with flowering gardenias.

Doucai is a technique that combines under-and over-glazed patterns, each fired at different temperatures.

Compared with those from the Yongle and Xuande reigns, existing Chenghua pieces are "extremely scarce", because of stringent quality control at the kilns which resulted in limited output, Chow said.

It is small wonder that rarer pieces of Chenghua porcelain are avidly sought by today's collectors. In 2014, a Chenghua doucai cup painted with chickens in a garden was sold for HK$281 million ($36 million) to Shanghai billionaire Liu Yiqian.

Porcelain from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) has long been a market favorite, not only because of the great number of extant pieces, but also because their vibrant colors and patterns suit popular tastes.

However, as the price of Qing imperial ceramics has rocketed and few high-quality pieces are available on the market, collectors are turning to objects from the Ming Dynasty, which Chow said have been "grossly undervalued" and now "a positive market correction" is finally happening.

Several of the Chinese ceramics sold for the highest prices last year are from the Ming Dynasty. They include a blue-and-white dragon-patterned jar from the Xuande period (1425-35) which made HK$158 million, and a Yongle era moon-shaped flask that belonged to Roger Pilkington, an eminent British collector, which sold for HK$110 million.

Meanwhile, many of the highest prices for Chinese porcelain were paid in Hong Kong, which demonstrates the market cycle from Europe to Asia.

According to Chow, in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, British collectors bought most of the fine porcelain available in the market. However, as the market shifted east, Japanese buyers and collectors in Hong Kong and later Taiwan slowly started buying the same items.

Now, it is the turn of buyers from the Chinese mainland. "The market works in cycles and follows the shifts and turns of the global economy. China has taken a leading role on the global stage, and therefore we will continue to see Chinese buyers buying up their historical heritage for years to come," Chow said.

"There are collections scattered around the world, and although there is less and less material available, the market should not dry up in the next couple of decades."

Gong Jisui, an art market observer in Beijing, said Chinese bidders still have to compete with a large number of buyers overseas because Chinese works of art, as a classical art form and also a secure investment, are well-recognized globally.

He said recognition is built on the systematic collection by museums worldwide and continuous in-depth academic research, which is also important for devising standards of authenticity and a stable pricing system.