A FAMILY in Co Derry was celebrating last night after selling a Chinese porcelain Ming dish for €310,000 after they had initially had it valued at £1,000 sterling.
The blue and white 15th- century dish, painted with images of a five-claw dragon, sparked a fierce bidding battle at an Adam’s country house collections sale at Slane Castle in Co Meath.
In front of a packed saleroom, auctioneer Stuart Cole eventually brought the hammer down and said afterwards: “It will take a long time to wipe the grin from my face.”
The dish was bought by a dealer in London on the phone. Measuring 10 inches in diameter, it was brought to Ireland by a member of a Co Derry family who joined the British army and served in China during the colonial era.
The family, who have not been named, had the dish valued for probate in November 1985 and a paper label pasted to the base reveals that it was given an “approx value” of £1,000.
Adam’s, the Dublin fine art auctioneers, had assigned it an estimate of €2,000 to €3,000 ahead of yesterday’s auction.
However, Adam’s managing director James O’Halloran said that “excitement had been building during the last few days” as it became clear the item was attracting interest from London, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Although the dish is slightly damaged by two “hairline cracks”, the price is the highest paid at auction in Ireland for an oriental artefact. Earlier this month Adam’s sold a painting by Jack B Yeats titled A Fair Day, Mayo for €1 million – the highest price paid for a painting, or any work of art, at auction in Ireland.
Outside Slane Castle yesterday afternoon, disappointed Chinese underbidders gathered to discuss the auction. A Chinese man who had travelled to Ireland for the sale said he had dropped out when the bidding reached €300,000 as he “ran out of money”.
He said the dish, stamped with the mark of the Emperor Xuande, who reigned from 1425 to 1435, was “really rare” and would likely have been used to serve sweetmeats at banquets.
The spectacular price is the latest achieved for oriental ceramics in Ireland and worldwide as newly rich collectors in China seek to reclaim their imperial heritage.