Don't drop it - you've just paid HK$151m for it

A Qing dynasty porcelain bowl owned by legendary Hong Kong art dealer Robert Chang was sold yesterday to his sister for HK$151.23 million at a Christie's auction in the city - a record for any work of art sold in Asia and a world record for a Qing dynasty ceramic work.

Alice Cheng Chang Yung-tsung, a Hong Kong-based businesswoman and rival collector, paid almost twice the auction house's pre-sale estimate of HK$80 million for the bowl, which measures 11.3cm in diameter. She bought the bowl, which received an opening bid of HK$35 million, after more than 10 bids.

Mr Chang bought the bowl from a dealer in 1985 for HK$1.1 million.

According to Christie's, it is the most expensive artwork yet sold at auction in Asia. The previous record for an artwork sold in Asia - at HK$116.6 million for a Sakyamuni Buddha - was set in Hong Kong last month by rival firm Sotheby's.

Dr Cheng's bowl bears the mark of the Emperor Qianlong (1736-95). It shows two swallows in flight beside an apricot tree.

'It is the only existing example in private hands. Its pair is in the Percival David Foundation in London,' said Tsang Chi-fan, a specialist in Chinese ceramics at Christie's Hong Kong.