Ming stem cup takes £3.68m at Lyon & Turnbull’s inaugural sale in Hong Kong
A Ming stem cup sold at Lyon & Turnbull’s debut auction in Hong Kong for £3.68m (HK$41,560,000) including buyer’s premium.
The cup was the star lot of a sale of Chinese works of art that Lyon & Turnbull co-produced with their sister company Freeman’s of Philadelphia.
The piece featured the Xuande six-character mark and was painted in dark blue with two five-clawed dragons.
The cup sold for within its estimate of £1.95m-3.89m (HK$22,000,000-44,000,000) to a collector from China. Underbidder was Marchant, the dealers from London.
The cup was consigned by Staffordshire University who received it in a 270-item bequest from Ernest Thornhill in 1944.
Rosy Crehan, deputy vice-chancellor of the University, said that the funds raised from the sale will go towards the curation and conservation of the remaining pieces of the Thornhill collection.
