A small red bowl, decorated with lotus flowers, known as the "double-lotus" bowl, broke the world record for Chinese Kangxi period ceramics when it sold on Monday (April 9) in Hong Kong.
 The bowl was offered from the collection a Dr Alice Cheng, a Shanghai-born business woman |
The bowl achieved $9.5m at Sotheby's, selling with a 5.7% increase on its $9m top estimate.
The bowl sold after 11 bids, to the pre-eminent Hong Kong ceramics dealer, William Chak of Chak's Company.
The imperial falangcai ruby-ground "double-lotus" bowl dates from the Kangxi emperor's reign (1662-1722), and is the only known example bearing this eye-catching design.
It represents one of the earliest known examples of the then newly introduced Western enamelling technique, yet exhibits complete mastery of the complex new method.
Chinese porcelain has been hitting the headlines of late. On March 19, a "Ding" bowl bought for just $3 sold for $2.2m at Sotheby's New York.
If you are tempted to invest in this competitive market, see Paul Fraser Collectibles' guide to identifying fake ceramics.
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