A Chinese vase from the early Ming period has been sold for $21.6m - a world record at auction¹ for any item of Ming porcelain².

一件中国明朝早期的花瓶被拍卖出2160万美元——创下明朝任何瓷器的拍卖价之最。

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The Ming vase belongs to a collection of Chinese porcelain gathered together by Swiss tycoons.
The vase, owned by Swiss tycoons, was bought at Sotheby's Hong Kong by an anonymous⁴ telephone bidder⁵.

The blue and white Meiping vase of fruit sprays is estimated to be at least 500 years old.

The Sotheby's Hong Kong sales are seen as key indicators⁶ of the strength of the Asian art market.

The vase achieved a record price despite continuing global economic uncertainty⁷, but some other major lots failed to sell.

The vase is part of the Meinyintang collection, Chinese porcelain（瓷器） which has been brought together over nearly half a century by the Swiss Zuellig brothers.

Porcelain from China's Ming dynasty (1368-1644) is older but often less decorative⁸（装饰用的） and ornate（华丽的） than Qing (1644-1911) ware⁹.

In recent years Ming porcelain has been less in demand from mainland Chinese buyers, meaning that its prices have not reached anywhere near those of late Qing pieces.

"I think many people were worried what would happen before the sales," said Asian art dealer¹⁰ Nader Rasti.

"But I think they did well considering what's going on...15th Century porcelain has been so cheap for so long, there's a lot of good Ming porcelain that's still undervalued."