The British antiques market is enjoying a golden period, with buyers from China looking to reclaim important heritage artifacts. The phenomenon has permeated both high-end and regional antique houses and some sellers have reported monthly sales figures reaching the level previously expected in a year.
Mark Dodgson, secretary general of the British Antique Dealers’ Association, told the Global Times that visitors from the Chinese mainland were targeting Chinese artworks, and specifically artworks not originally made for the export market.
"They are keen to buy ‘imperial’ items, from a number of dynasties. Chinese buyers are not, however, particularly interested in the many ceramic items that were exported from China to the West more than 200 years ago, despite these items being highly valued by Western collectors,” he explained.
Ivan Macquisten, the editor of the UK-based trade magazine Antiques Trade Gazette suggested that this trend first became apparent around 2005, after a landmark ￡2.6 million ($4.22 million) sale of a 14th century Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368) porcelain double-gourd vase (pictured right) at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury in July 2005. “Christie’s sold another Yuan Dynasty vase for ￡14 million at the same time, but this was the first big sale outside London.
Although the sale was made to a dealer, it was thought to be on behalf of a Chinese collector,” he said.
China digs for gold in Britain - China.org.cn