Pilkington Chinese ceramics sale success

The Pilkington Collection of almost 100 Chinese ceramics has sold for £45.9 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate.

The collection was accumulated over the 1950s and 1960s by farmer Roger Pilkington, with some pieces originally bought for as little as £100. He started the collection after buying his wife Maureen a snuff bottle as a Christmas present in the 1950s.

He then spent the next decade buying items from Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties of China, which spanned from 618 to 1912.

The children of the farmer who died in 1969 decided to sell the collection which was expected to fetch £20 million at auction. However, growing demand from China for antiquities saw prices climb over double the pre-sale figure.

Standout pieces from the sale included a 15th century blue and white Moon Flask, measuring 9-inches, which sold for £10.1m. An item described as an ‘exquisite holy water vessel’, also from the 15th century, sold for £9.1m.