Just recently, more than any other topic, buyers and browsers in our galleries have wanted to chat about the now legendary sale of the Qianlong reticulated vase that set the world record price for a Chinese work of art. Though far eastern material is not our primary stock in trade, we do a fair old business in it, and, more than anything, with the numbers of dealers internationally becoming rather thinner on the ground with each passing day, we necessarily find ourselves the recipients of waves of information, some of it occasionally accurate.
What we had heard rumoured, but now confirmed, is that the still unnamed buyer for the vase has not, five months on from the sale, actually paid for the piece. The auction house reputedly is confident payment will be forthcoming in the fullness of time, and that, in the course of business, five months is not an unreasonable length of time for settlement. Presumably they must have not only a different class of trading partners than we do, but also a different banking relationship. Moreover, the occasional auction purchases that we make, if not settled within a (very limited) window, will immediately bring on some rather strident dunning notices from the salesroom.
The flip side of this is, auction houses, even in the best of times have a fair cadre of erstwhile buyers who renege on purchases. The why of this is not surprising, given the frequent incidence of so-called auction fever, where the novice and not so novice buyers get carried away in a pitch of bidding, only to find that, after the hammer has fallen to them, they’ve spent more than they can afford, or, on leaving the salesroom, are stricken with buyer’s remorse, and decide, once the invoice arrives, to DK.
Specific to the famed vase, however, I’ve heard an interesting notion explaining the non, or at least yet to materialize, payment. That is, with a Chinese art market still on the rise, it could be the erstwhile buyer is speculating on a rise in price over and above what he paid in November. Could be that the auction house is functioning, albeit reluctantly, as a clearing house, with settlement to come when the piece is ultimately resold. Let’s watch and see, shall we?