Small Chinese Bowl Worth Millions

It's such an unassuming little bowl; the size of a CD and very plain. You might place very little value on it if you previewed it at an auction. But the interest generated by this small, modest-looking flower-shaped bowl -- and its potentially sky-high sales price -- are a testament to the vitality of Asia's art market, which has witnessed explosive growth over the past decade. How much is it worth, you ask? It's valued at roughly ten million dollars and could even top that.

The antique was due to go on public display in Beijing over the weekend on a pre-sale roadshow. But organizers, fearing a stampede after it drew big crowds in Shanghai, decided at the last minute to show it to potential buyers only. "An object has rarely generated so much excitement and for security reasons, we thought it would be preferable for our clients to view it within the confines of a private room," said Nicolas Chow, deputy head of Sotheby's Asia division.

The flower-shaped "Ru" bowl from the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) sports a pale blue-green translucent matte glaze that imitates the colour of jade, and is believed to be the only one of its type in the world. "Ru" ceramics -- named after one of five large kilns operating under the Song -- are the rarest in China, and it is estimated that only 79 complete pieces remain in the world, most in museums.
"There are very few of these as they were imperial pieces and also because they were made over a very short period of time -- 20 years," Jean-Paul Desroches, curator at the Guimet Museum in Paris, told AFP.

There are only six "Ru" ceramics in private collections, including this bowl -- probably intended for washing brushes after writing -- which could fetch  HK$80 million (US$10.3 million) at Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong on April 4. "We sell incredibly rare objects, but this is a different realm of rarity," said Chow.

"These are objects that... barely 100 years after they were made were already deemed to be extremely difficult to obtain."As such, the bowl has generated a huge buzz among collectors and art lovers in China, and visitors who had flocked to admire the prized antique on Saturday were disappointed not to be able to see it. The competition, because of the rarity of the bowl and the growth of the Asian art collectors' market,  may drive the price beyond expectations. It will be interesting to see what  it brings.