In search of the real thing: China’s quest to buy back its lost heritage

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Scott Reyburn

A 15th-century gilded bronze Buddhist sculpture, which sold at Christie’s on Tuesday for about $2.5 million. Unusually, the figure retained its original sealed base, concealing a scroll and other objects, which were revealed in an X-ray.

LONDON — Perceptions of the art market can often be shaped by the huge prices paid for work by the West’s most famous painters and sculptors. But there is another culture that can also inspire spectacular sales. Last month, at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, a Chinese 18th-century Imperial porcelain “poppy” bowl sold for $21.6 million. At the same auction, an elaborately decorated “fish” vase, also thought to be of Imperial provenance from the Qianlong era, raised $19 million. Buoyed by a surging economy, Chinese dealers and collectors have since the mid 2000s been bidding formidable sums for the finest artworks from their country’s past. But in recent years, as China’s economic growth has slowed, the market for its antiques has become less frothy. [More]