On November 3, local time, the British "Mirror" reported that an auction with many treasures will be held in London. At the auction, the Parry family found that their collection of ancient Chinese artifacts was worth as much as £8 million.
Featuring rare royal enamel, lacquerware, porcelain and jade, the Parry Collection was co-founded in 1919 during World War I by officer Edward Parry and his wife Angela, a couple who were piled high with Chinese antiques in their Devon country house and London townhouse.
The Parrys had three sons, one named John Parry, who was awarded the Military Cross in 1942. After the Parrys died, their estate was inherited by John, after which the antiques were licensed to the auction house for auction.
At the auction, more than a hundred pieces of Chinese antiques were sold for nearly 8 million pounds (about 70 million yuan), each of which sparked an international auction war due to its extremely high artistic and historical value. Many of these antiques were purchased by Chinese buyers, including a Qianlong-era Buddha lion's head incense burner, initially estimated at £80,000 (about 700,000 yuan), but eventually sold for 1.22 million pounds (about 10.66 million yuan).
Among them, a pair of landscape screens with kingfisher feathers auctioned for 525,000 pounds (about 10.66 million yuan).
A white jade dragon-shaped wine pourer fetched 244,000 pounds (about 2.13 million yuan), and a Kangxi six-character lotus cup sold for 425,000 pounds (about 3.71 million yuan).
Among the auction items, the most popular antique is the blue melon-shaped teapot made by the Qianlong Emperor, which was manufactured in 1740 and has the emperor's imperial pen mark on the body. Although its valuation has reached 800,000 pounds (about 6.99 million yuan), it was eventually sold for 2.06 million pounds (about 18 million yuan).
After the auction, Colin Sheaf, head of Asian art at Bonhams Auction House, said: "100% sold – a brilliant result that shows the charm of an ancient Chinese collection that has not appeared at auction for a century. Most notably, six of these works have been exhibited at international Chinese art exhibitions, and they have been top art masterpieces in the past, and collectors can't resist it. ”