Chinese imperial porcelains have repeatedly shattered auction records to achieve record setting prices globally. Chinese porcelains are prized for their exquisite craftsmanship, historical significance, and the imperial provenance adds additional appeal to collectors, driving prices into the millions.
We run through the five highest-priced Chinese porcelain vessels (vases, jars, or pots) ever sold at public auction, with details on their sale price, where and when they sold, and what makes each piece extraordinary. All are verified auction results (no private sales), and each exemplifies the pinnacle of China’s ceramic heritage in both artistic quality and rarity.
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5. Yuan Dynasty “Guan” Blue-and-White Jar
The oldest piece on this list is a mid-14th century blue-and-white porcelain jar (Chinese guan jar) that dates to the Yuan Dynasty and exemplifies the nascent mastery of cobalt-blue underglaze painting in China. In July 2005 Christie’s London sold the jar for £15,688,000
This narrative jar depicts a robed figure in a cart drawn by a tiger and leopard and followed by other characters in an unfolding scene from Yuan era drama, and its exceptionally fine painting marks it as the work of a master artist.
Rosemary Scott, a leading Chinese art scholar, noted that not only are the figures and scenery rendered “by an artist of exceptional ability,” but the vessel is also “one of eight surviving narrative jars dating to the mid-14th century of the Yuan dynasty.” This jar was one of only eight known of its kind and its rarity and quality propelled the jar to a record price for the time.
4. Jiajing Wucai “Fish” Jar and Cover
This wucai (five-colour) glazed porcelain “Fish” jar and cover from the Jiajing period (1522–1566) is celebrated for its vibrant design of golden carp swimming amid lotus blossoms and aquatic plants. Notably, it retains its original domed cover – an exceedingly rare feature, as very few Ming fish jars survive with their lids intact. It sold in November 2017 at Christie’s Hong Kong for HK$ 213,850,000 (approx. £21 million).
The jar bears the six-character imperial mark of Emperor Jiajing and was the star lot from the revered Le Cong Tang Collection of Ming art. Robust and colorfully decorated in red, yellow, green, blue and black enamels, it embodies the auspicious theme of abundance (fish being a symbol of wealth and prosperity).
Only a handful of comparable lidded fish jars exist and most are part of institutional collections such as Beijing’s Palace Museum, which places this piece in an elite category of Ming imperial porcelain. Its combination of imperial provenance, completeness, and dazzling multicoloured workmanship contributed to the landmark price.
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3. Chenghua “Chicken Cup” Wine Cup
The Chenghua ‘Chicken Cup’ is another Chinese ceramic that might pass unnoticed by an untrained eye. Yet it is considered the holy grail of Chinese porcelain, and in April 2014 on sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for HK$ 281,240,000 (approx. £21.5 million), setting the record for the time.
The Meiyintang “Chicken Cup” was made in the Chenghua period (1465–1487) and is a small porcelain wine cup decorated with a delicate design of chickens. Fewer than 20 exist worldwide (most in museum collections), and for centuries these cups were imperial treasures avidly sought by connoisseurs. This particular example came from the esteemed Meiyintang Collection and remained in pristine condition. At a single-lot Sotheby’s sale in 2014, it was purchased by Shanghai collector Liu Yiqian.
“There’s no more legendary object in the history of Chinese porcelain… This is really the holy grail,” said Nicolas Chow of Sotheby’s, underscoring the cup’s almost mythic status. Its revered reputation, imperial-era artistry, and extreme rarity all justified its extraordinary price, with the buyer famously celebrating by sipping tea from the 500-year-old cup.
2. Ru Guanyao Brush Washer
In 2017 it was the time of a more subtle brush washer to break the record for any Chinese ceramic. The Ru-ware brush washer sold in October 2017 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for HK$ 294,300,000 (approx. £29 million).
This seemingly innocuous dish is only 13cm across and yet it’s rarity and provenance helped it set an astonishing record. The Ru ware brush washer dates to the Northern Song court (c. 1086–1125) and is celebrated as one of the most revered ceramics in Chinese history. Its delicate blue-green glaze is suffused with a fine “ice crackle” pattern, epitomising the subtle beauty prized by Song connoisseurs.
The Ru kilns’ imperial production lasted barely two decades, making surviving pieces extraordinarily rare. Fewer than 100 pieces of Ru ware exist in the world, and this example is one of only four known in private hands, previously held by the Chang Foundation of Taipei.
Sotheby’s head of Chinese art Nicolas Chow called the dish “extraordinarily rare,” adding to the BBC: “Every time there is a piece of Ru-ware… there’s always a battle, because it is the most talked about, the most celebrated of all wares in the history of Chinese ceramics”. The piece’s legendary status, imperial provenance, and almost mythical rarity all contributed to its record-setting value
1. Qianlong Imperial “Revolving Phoenix” Vase
In spring 2021 Poly Auctions Beijing set a new world record price for any ceramic item when it brought down the hammer on the absolutely stunning Qianlong Imperial “Revolving Phoenix” Vase. The record setting price was RMB 265.7 million/ $41.56 million (approx. £29 million).
This was a spectacular example of an 18th-century Imperial yangcai (foreign enamel) porcelain made for the Qianlong Emperor and featured an ingenious double-walled revolving design. The vase has an outer shell with intricate openwork phoenix motifs and an inner baluster vase that rotates freely, revealing painted scenes through the reticulated outer layer. Its construction required extraordinary skill: the piece was crafted in four separate sections (outer lattice, inner vase, neck, and cover), each glazed and fired to perfection before assembly.
Poly’s Beijing explain on their official Instagram page how the size, provenance and quality contributed to the extraordinary result: “This revolving vase is one of the largest revolving vases in the art market except the collection of the Forbidden City National Palace Museum. It was collected by a veteran collector 22 years ago and has not been in demand for consignments for many years. This successful acquisition by Poly Auction Beijing may have been due to the success of the special exhibition of Qianlong Palace Art planned by Poly Auction Beijing.
“There are only a few of these vases in existence, and they are so valuable that the National Palace in Beijing and Taipei only have a total of twenty to thirty of them. Each one of them is unique. Only a total of about ten works of revolving vases have appeared in the market in the past, and they were bound to fetch high bids once released.”
Rediscovered in Scotland and sold in 1999 for just £331,500. After being sold privately by the 1999 buyer it resurfaced in 2021 to ignite a bidding frenzy and set a new world record.
