A 15th-century blue-and-white bowl that fetched HK$229 million ($29.5 million) at Sotheby's auction on Wednesday will appear at an upcoming exhibition in Shanghai.
A staff holds the Xuande Bowl. [Photo provided to China Daily]
According to the Shanghai billionaire and collector Liu Yiqian, the bowl will be on loan from its current Asian owner for display at the Long Museum, which was founded by Liu and his wife, Wang Wei, and it will be shown as part of an exhibition dedicated to the artworks of the Yongle and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), scheduled to open on April 28.
Standing 23 centimeters high, the bowl exemplifies the magnificence of porcelain making that reached climax during the Ming era, especially the Xuande period the bowl dates from.
It had been kept in a private Japanese collection for some 50 years before it appeared in Sotheby's salesroom.