Royal ceramic bowl worth 10 million USD

The bowl dates from the Northern Song Dynasty (960 – 1127), was used only in the palace, and was made from rare Ru ceramics in China.

Asian art collectors are buzzing over a 900-year-old imperial bowl valued at $10 million. The item was scheduled to be exhibited in Beijing, but due to security concerns after witnessing the huge crowd in Shanghai, the organizers decided to only show the bowl to bidders.

This flower-shaped bowl named “Ru” was made during the Northern Song Dynasty (960 – 1127) with a jade-colored glaze, and is believed to be the only one of its kind in the world. Ru ware is named after one of the five largest kilns of the Song Dynasty, and the material is extremely rare in China. It is estimated that there are only 79 pieces of this type in the world, most of which are in museums.

Mr. Jean-Paul Desroches – Director of the Guimet Museum inParis“These objects are rare because they were made in the imperial palace and only in a very short period of time, 20 years,” said the artist. There are only six Ru ceramic bowls in the world in private collections, including this one. It is therefore expected to fetch up to $10.3 million at Sotheby’s auction on April 4.Hong Kong.

“We only sell rare items,” said Nicolas Chow, deputy director of Sotheby’s Asia branch. “However, this bowl is truly a rare gem!”

News of the exhibition has caused a stir among antique collectors in China. However, visitors who came here to admire the antiques were disappointed when the organizers changed the rules. He Tao, a ceramics enthusiast from Dalian city, said: "I feel very dissatisfied. Auction houses should have displayed all their products before the auction started." To get to faraway Beijing, he had to travel nearly 1,000 km by train.

Mr. Chow said that imperial antiques are very popular with collectors in China. Over the past 10 years, prices of these antiques have skyrocketed due to the participation of collectors from mainland China, especially after 1999.

Experts predict that the person who will buy this bowl is likely to be a wealthy individual fromHong Kongor Taiwan, maybe even a Western billionaire – where the simplicity of Song Dynasty ceramics is very appealing.

“All the scholars and major collectors are very interested in this bowl,” said Christian Bouvet, an expert on Asian art at Sotheby’s, whose color was described by a grand scholar of the Kangxi period (1662-1722) as resembling the blue of the sky after rain.

After Beijing, the bowl will be exhibited to the public in Taipei. Explaining the decision, Mr. Chow said: “Taiwanese people are known for their sophistication and understanding of Chinese art. They are long-time collectors, and have enough experience not to spend money on antiques but to know how to select and increase the value of their collections.”

According to Express