The most expensive vases sold at auction (what they were, why they fetched so much, and what to know if you’re buying or selling)
In the hushed halls of auction houses, where anticipation hangs thick in the air and a single paddle can raise or lower fortunes, few objects inspire such astonishment as porcelain vases. At first glance, they seem humble: functional vessels of clay, pigment, and glaze. Yet in recent decades, certain vases—particularly those crafted for the Chinese imperial court—have shattered records, fetching sums more often associated with Impressionist canvases or prime real estate.
These extraordinary results are not accidents of chance. They are the confluence of rarity, craftsmanship, cultural reverence, and, often, the allure of a discovery story. To understand why collectors have competed so fiercely, and why auctioneers sometimes gasp as bids mount into the tens of millions, one must look closely at both the objects themselves and the stories they carry.
The Phoenix that Revolved into History
In June 2021, at Poly Auctions in Beijing, a double-walled Qianlong-period vase sold for RMB 265.6 million (about US$41.6 million), setting a record for a ceramic at auction. Known as the “Revolving Phoenix Vase,” it embodies everything that drives collectors to dizzying heights.
The vase is a feat of technical virtuosity: an inner vessel that can rotate freely within a reticulated outer shell, the porcelain pierced in complex openwork patterns. To achieve such precision in the 18th century required not only mastery of firing but also extraordinary imagination. For Emperor Qianlong—an aesthete as well as a ruler—it was a way of demonstrating China’s supremacy in both artistry and technological innovation. Today, for collectors, it represents the pinnacle of imperial porcelain.
An Attic Surprise in Suburban London
A decade earlier, in a modest house in Ruislip, west of London, another Qianlong vase had been quietly sitting for generations. When Bainbridge’s, a local auction house, brought it under the hammer in November 2010, few could have predicted what followed. After a tense bidding war, the hammer fell at an astonishing £43 million (over US$68 million at the time).
The vase itself is remarkable—exquisitely decorated, with famille-rose enamels in a palette of luminous pastels—but what propelled the sale into the stratosphere was the sheer romance of the story: a forgotten heirloom rediscovered in a suburban living room. For a public fascinated by the idea of hidden treasures, it was irresistible. For collectors, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a piece of imperial China with impeccable artistry. The aftershocks of that sale are still felt today, though it became equally famous for post-sale disputes over fees and payment, a reminder that the glare of headlines can obscure the fine print of auction contracts.
The Golden Double-Gourd of Hong Kong
Just weeks before the Bainbridge sensation, Sotheby’s Hong Kong presented another imperial masterpiece: a yellow-ground famille-rose double-gourd vase, also of the Qianlong era. Its luminous glaze and exuberant enamel decoration stood out even in a sale filled with treasures.
When the bidding stopped, the vase had reached HK$253 million (around US$32.4 million), making it one of the most valuable vases ever sold. Here, the power of location was unmistakable: Hong Kong, as the gateway for Chinese collectors and the stage where East meets West, provided the perfect platform for such an object. Collectors from mainland China and beyond vied for it, and the price reflected both the scarcity of such double-gourd forms and the intensity of competition in the city’s salerooms.
An American Record: Boston’s Fencai Marvel
Not all of the great vase sales have taken place in Asia or London. In 2014, at Skinner in Boston, a monumental fencai (famille-rose) vase astonished the American market. Estimated far lower, it achieved US$24.7 million, setting a record for Chinese art sold at auction in the United States.
The Boston sale illustrates another lesson: important works can appear in unexpected venues. In this case, an American regional auction house, albeit with strong Asian art expertise, became the site of a global record. For sellers, it underscores the importance of expertise and marketing. For buyers, it shows that treasures can surface far from the usual centers.
From an Attic in France to the Salerooms of Paris
In 2018, yet another attic find made headlines—this time in France. A famille-rose yangcai vase decorated with cranes and deer, brimming with auspicious symbolism, emerged from storage in a French home. Sotheby’s Paris guided it to a result of €16.2 million (around US$19 million).
For collectors, the appeal lay in both its pristine condition and its rarity: few examples of such scale and subject survive. For the broader public, it was another reminder that priceless objects may be hiding in plain sight, wrapped in old newspapers or tucked into cupboards.
Why Do They Fetch So Much?
Behind each of these cases are enduring forces that explain why porcelain vases—sometimes fragile, sometimes overlooked—can command such colossal sums.
Imperial Association: A reign mark from the Qianlong emperor (1711–1799) or his illustrious predecessors immediately magnifies value. These were not commercial wares but treasures reserved for the Forbidden City.
Rarity and Technical Brilliance: A revolving vase, an intricate reticulated body, or a flamboyant glaze are all signs of the highest level of porcelain artistry. Survival rates are low; condition is everything.
Narrative Power: An attic discovery or a once-forgotten heirloom generates a story as compelling as the object itself. Auction houses understand this and shape their marketing accordingly.
Market Forces: Chinese collectors, eager to reclaim cultural patrimony and demonstrate status, have driven prices upward. Location matters—Hong Kong and Beijing salesrooms consistently produce the most heated bidding.
Cautionary Tales and Practical Lessons
If the romance of these record-breaking sales tempts you to dust off the family heirlooms, a word of caution: porcelain can deceive. Forgeries, later copies, and misattributed pieces abound. Scientific testing—such as thermoluminescence dating or pigment analysis—can help, but nothing substitutes for the trained eye of a specialist.
And then there are the financial intricacies. The headline price you read in the newspaper rarely tells the whole story. Buyer’s premiums, taxes, and international shipping all add layers to the bill. Sellers, meanwhile, must weigh auction commissions and the sometimes unpredictable gap between estimates and realized prices. The Bainbridge saga is a reminder that, in the afterglow of a record price, practical details like contracts and settlement schedules matter just as much.
The Enduring Allure
What do these sales tell us? At one level, they reflect the enduring prestige of Chinese imperial porcelain, which continues to fascinate collectors and museums alike. At another, they reveal how the marketplace weaves together scholarship, wealth, and the thrill of discovery into something akin to theatre.
A vase, after all, is more than clay and glaze. In the right context, it becomes a vessel for history, for imperial ambition, for craftsmanship honed across centuries. It can also, for a brief, electrifying moment under the auctioneer’s hammer, become a symbol of human desire—desire to own, to preserve, to display, to reclaim.
Whether in a palace workshop under the watchful eye of the Qianlong emperor, or in an attic in suburban Europe, these vases speak across time. Their sales remind us that the art market is not just about numbers—it is about the extraordinary capacity of objects to connect worlds, past and present, East and West, the intimate and the monumental.
And as long as forgotten treasures continue to surface, wrapped in dust and mystery, the world will watch with bated breath as another porcelain masterpiece takes the stage.
