An upcoming online auction featuring a centuries-old Chinese wine vessel is one to watch.
The white jade “Phoenix” container is expected to fetch millions of dollars during the auction later this month, according to Chinese wine media outlet Vino Joy. It’s part of an over 40-piece collection archiving China’s drinking culture hosted on the auction website Bonhams. The collection, dubbed “Ganbei: A Toast to the Chinese Wine Culture,” spans over 3,000 years of wine-related artifacts, as the listing shares.
The “Phoenix” vessel hails from China’s Qianlong period, an era spanning much of the 18th century. It’s expected to fetch HK$3 million – HK$5 million (roughly $3.8 million – $6.4 million USD). Bonhams describes the vessel in a brief auction listing:
“In imitation of an archaistic bronze gong, finely carved with stylized phoenix panels on both sides, standing on a slightly splayed foot, carved below the lipped rim with a phoenix head suspending a loose ring, the faceted handle well carved with a playful chi dragon with its head and a paw resting on the rim, its sinuous body coiled through the handle, the translucent stone of an attractive milky-white tone with an area of amber inclusion below the lipped rim, box.”
While the white jade container seems to attract attention with its flashy auction estimation, other items in the collection offer similarly high expectations. A bronze vessel dating back to China’s Spring and Autumn period could fetch up to HK$4 million (a little over $5 million USD).
For those looking to obtain one of these historic treasures, the online auction will open at 2 p.m. Hong Kong Time on Nov. 30 (1 a.m. EST).
