There were a total of thirty-six items in this auction, twenty-one of which were provided by Xie Wan.
Xie Wan is the real guest of Christie's tonight.
But Xie Wan didn't want to make it public, so he agreed with Chang Yongnian from the beginning to use an anonymous entrustment method.
The auction house has its own rules, and they are obligated to keep Xie Wan’s secret.
The first item to be auctioned was a pair of Ming Dynasty gold hairpins with standing phoenixes that Xie Wan took out.
This pair of gold hairpins is 22 cm long, weighs 139 grams, and is made of pure gold.
It is carved with a golden phoenix standing on auspicious clouds, with its wings spread and its tail feathers gracefully curled, presenting an extraordinary sense of movement.
The words "Made by the Silver Workshop in October of the 22nd year of the Yongle reign" are engraved on the foot of the hairpin, making it a rare imperial treasure.
As soon as this phoenix hairpin came out, it immediately attracted the attention of all the wealthy people in the audience.
Its value can no longer be measured by ancient gold. It is an antique dating back more than 500 years.
When Chang Yongnian evaluated the pair of phoenix hairpins, he gave a reserve price of HK$800,000.
At that time, he explained that his main consideration was that the pair of phoenix hairpins did not have any gems or kingfisher feather craftsmanship, which were not the most popular features of antique jewelry today.
He felt that the starting price of HK$800,000 was reasonable, but it also depended on the situation on site.
If there are guests who prefer pure gold jewelry, the auction price can still go up a lot, after all, this is jewelry made by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
The auctioneer was a beautiful Chinese lady, who wore a cheongsam to match the antique jewellery.
In the 1970s, there were actually quite a lot of women wearing cheongsams in Hong Kong.
The cheongsam not only has classical beauty, but also can show a woman's graceful figure to the fullest, and is more popular among traditional women.
Several female guests at the event were wearing cheongsams.
When wearing a cheongsam, it is natural to wear your hair in a bun, which can better show off your sexy neck.
When several female guests saw the pair of phoenix hairpins, they couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to wear such luxurious and exquisite jewelry on their heads.
Christie's is indeed a professional auction house. They fabricated a love story between an emperor and his concubine, adding a layer of mystery to the pair of phoenix hairpins.
After the auction started, the first person to make a bid was actually Liu Fuhao, the financial sponsor of the little star Lily.
"Eight hundred and ten thousand."
Lily was also wearing a cheongsam today. She happily snuggled in Liu Fuhao's arms and whispered.
Foreigners also seemed to be fond of this kind of antique gold jewelry. Several foreigners made bids in succession and soon raised the price to 950,000.
At this time, the number of people bidding began to decrease.
Mr. Liu has stopped bidding, and the little star Lily is pouting as if she is having a tantrum.
Maybe at this time, she also realized that Liu Fuhao's love for her did not exceed one million Hong Kong dollars.
It was originally thought that the British man who made the last bid would win. When the hostess shouted out 950,000 for the second time, a middle-aged Chinese man sitting in the first row suddenly raised his hand and shouted out a high price of "one million".
Everyone's eyes were on the middle-aged Chinese man.
Xie Wan could only see the back of the other person's head.
"Who is this person?" Xie Wan asked Chang Yongnian beside him.
Chang Yongnian whispered, “This man is the Chinese Chief Inspector Lui Lok I told you about.
His second wife really likes to buy this kind of antique jewelry."
Xie Wan nodded. Chinese Detective Lui Lok was so famous that many police and gangster films in later generations were adapted from his deeds.
In some films, Lui Lok is called Lei Luo. Xie Wan's favorite is the one starring Andy Lau.
Think about it, when he was fleeing, he took away 500 million in stolen money, so spending one million to buy a pair of phoenix hairpins is nothing.
Xie Wan suddenly thought that it was already 1974, the eve of Lui Lok's liquidation by the newly established Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Could it be that Lui Lok has already realized the danger and is now transferring his assets?
It is still difficult to take 500 million yuan in cash out of the country. If it is replaced with antique jewelry, it seems to be more convenient to carry and less likely to attract other people's attention.
Xie Wan glanced at the "Second Wife" beside Lu Le and smiled gently.
Lui Lok is not a romantic man. His frequent and lavish purchases of antique jewellery for a concubine must be a cover-up.
Xie Wan sighed. It was a pity that Gangcheng had not yet returned. She had no law enforcement power in Gangcheng. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a very satisfying thing to capture this corrupt official when he was on the run?
As soon as Lui Lok made his bid, everyone else seemed to fall silent. In the end, this pair of gold hairpins with auspicious clouds and standing phoenix from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty were sold for one million Hong Kong dollars.
The transaction price is quite standard, with a premium of only a few 20%, which is completely within Chang Yongnian's estimation range.
Xie Wan was also very satisfied.
Immediately afterwards, several pieces of antique jewelry were auctioned, all of which were provided by Xie Wan.
The lowest transaction price was for a jade pendant, which was only HK$110,000.
The others are between HK$500,000 or 600,000 and HK$1 million.
Chang Yongnian quietly explained to Xie Wan, "The first piece is for the opening, to warm up the audience, so I chose the pair of golden hairpins with auspicious clouds and standing phoenixes.
The latter ones are not expensive, and they make the guests feel that they are getting better and better, and increase their sense of participation. "
Xie Wan nodded. She noticed that because the prices of the last few items were not high, more people participated and everyone’s interest was indeed raised a lot.
Especially those foreigners, they may not really understand traditional Chinese jewelry, they prefer the gorgeous and magnificent feeling.
Those pieces of kingfisher feather jewelry that were not made for the emperor were very much to their taste.
Basically, the ones in the middle were all bought by foreigners.
At this time, several men in black suits brought two rustic-looking sandalwood boxes to the exhibition stand.
The host opened the first sandalwood box, took out a Yongzheng famille rose coiled plate, and carefully placed it on a stand that had been prepared in advance.
Xie Wan had seen this Yongzheng famille rose coiled-branch plate in an auction catalogue before.
The starting bid is one million.
Before Xie Wan took out the yellow-ground famille rose flower and bird plate, this famille rose plate was the most eye-catching antique at the auction.
When this Yongzheng famille rose coiled-branch plate appeared, it was obvious that all the guests in the audience became focused.
It seems that most of the guests tonight are here for this Yongzheng famille rose coiled plate.
None of Xie Wan’s lots were included in the brochure because they were delivered too late.
However, when the guests entered the venue, they received a new auction catalogue.
They also saw that there was a Yongzheng yellow-ground flower and bird plate on auction tonight, and the starting price was five times that of this coiled branch plate.
Unfortunately, there are no photos, so everyone has no intuitive understanding of the yellow-ground pink and white flower and bird plate, but only retains a sense of curiosity in their hearts.
This coiled-branch plate is so beautiful that one can’t help but wonder how magical the Yongzheng famille rose plate that is five times more expensive than this one must be.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
