Steve Wynn brought out his checkbook again last night, and paid an eye-opening $12,8 million for a set of four Empire ormulu-mounted Chinese porcelain baluster vases, including the buyer’s premium. Christie’s had set the presale estimate, minus the premium, at $961,200 to $1.6 million.
The four-foot high vases, which date to the Jiaqing period (1796-1821), with mounts circa 1815, once belonged to the Dukes of Buccleuch. The family sold them at Christie’s in 1973, and they were resold at Bonhams in 1980.
It was a shrewd purchase, even at that price. According to Bloomberg,
After the auction, the casino-owner’s leisure group said the vases had been bought by Wynn Resorts Macau Ltd. for its new Cotai Resort Hotel, scheduled to open in 2015. It was also the buyer of a Chinoiserie tapestry for 169,250 pounds.
“We are delighted to return works of this extraordinary quality to the city of Macau and the People’s Republic of China,” Roger Thomas, executive vice president of Design for Wynn Design and Development, said after the sale.
Talk about currying favor and good will — and a new reason to exceed estimates.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Christie’s