A Ming-style vase was sold at a Philadelphia auction house for the world record-setting price of $1.38 million. The antique dates from around 1736 and was sold at Freeman's auction.
In 2008, Sotheby's sold a vase appearing nearly identical for $750,000, said Zoe Hillenmeyer, Freeman's spokeswoman.
The 60-seat auction house was packed with at least 20 people left standing. All 15 telephone lines were occupied and at least 70 people bid over the Internet.
Hillenmeyer declined to identify the buyer but said he had been in the packed room half the time and was most likely bidding on behalf of a collector in China.
The Inquirer reported Freeman's sells Asian object d'art twice a year. Saturday's auction was the first of a series ending in June.
"It was an exciting way to open the season," Hillenmeyer said.
"There is usually polite applause after the sale of a lot," Hillenmeyer said. But after the gavel was struck on Lot 603, she said, "there was some hooting and hollering, a bit." |
