In an intense bidding competition which lasted 22
minutes (normally a lot takes one minute), a famous 15th century thangka was sold by Christie's
China on November 25, 2014 for a record HK$348,400,000 (US$45million).
Measuring 335,3 x 213,4 cm, it was knocked down to
Jinqing Cai, President of Christie's China, who spoke in Mandarin. She was
competing with François Curiel, Chairman of Christie's Asia Pacific, who spoke
in English. There were several other bidders on the phone and the packed
saleroom several times broke into applause. This is a record for any Chinese
works of art sold by an international auction house.
It was later revealed that the buyer of the thangka is Mr. Liu Yiqian, the well-known Chinese
collector who is purchasing it for his recently opened Long Museum in Shanghai.
Immediately after the auction, Mr.
Liu said he was proud to bring back to China this significant
and historic 15th century piece which will be preserved in the Long museum for
years to come.”
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