【News Buddy】「普通花瓶」拍出六千萬 拍賣行跌眼鏡
【原文】下文摘錄自10月9日香港《文匯報》︰
法國一間拍賣行近期拍賣一個中國青花瓷天球瓶，由於認為它只是普通工藝品，故估值上限僅定為2,000歐元（約1.5萬港元），但花瓶吸引不少中國買家注意和競投，最終竟以近800萬歐元（約6,118萬港元）成交，約為估價的4,000倍，令外界感到驚訝。拍賣行至今未能確定花瓶是否真的如此罕貴，然而拍賣行似乎深信「市場定價就是真正價值」這個看法，並將負責估值的專家辭退。
拍賣會於10月1日在巴黎附近的楓丹白露市舉行，該個中國青花瓷花瓶屬天球瓶設計，高約54厘米，表面有琺瑯覆蓋，並以雲龍紋飾點綴。據拍賣行Osenat透露，賣家是一名法國女子，她從本身是巴黎收藏家的祖母繼承花瓶。
Osenat一名專家鑑定後認為，花瓶只是一件20世紀仿製品，並非罕有之物，故將估價定為1,500至2,000歐元（約1.1萬至1.5萬港元）。不過，自拍賣目錄在網上公開後，迅即受到大量關注，在拍賣會舉行前15天的展覽上，更有300至400名感興趣的買家爭相觀看這個花瓶，部分人認為它實際上是罕見的18世紀清朝古董。據Osenat總裁奧塞納特表示，人們當時在展覽上使用放大鏡鑑賞花瓶，且有不少人登記參與網上拍賣，「在那時候，我們就知道事情並不尋常。」
由於反應太熱烈，拍賣行最終決定取消網上競投，並將買家人數上限定為30人，其中一半名額給予在拍賣行面對面競投的人士，另一半則是經電話競投，每人均需繳付1萬歐元（約7.6萬港元）按金才能參與。在10月1日的拍賣會上，競投者對花瓶展開激烈競價，當叫價達到500萬歐元（約3,823萬港元）時，仍然有10名買家競逐，最終由一名經電話出價的中國買家以770萬歐元（約5,888萬港元）投得。
雖然花瓶以高價成交，但最初進行鑑定的Osenat專家仍然認為自己的估值沒有錯誤，他最終被拍賣行辭退。Osenat的亞洲藝術品部門主管拉博德表示，他不認為該名專家完全錯誤，可能花瓶的確只是仿製品，「我們不知道它為何能夠以高價拍賣，或許我們永遠不知道。」
有41年拍賣經驗的奧塞納特則指出，被辭退的專家認為花瓶只是20世紀仿製品，故拍賣行沒有更改估價，但最終拍賣價反映市場視花瓶為18世紀古董。奧塞納特稱自己相信市場力量，形容該名專家犯下嚴重錯誤，又指一名專家的想法是無法抵得上300名潛在中國買家的看法，他同時形容整個拍賣過程為「一個瘋狂故事」。
A Chinese vase valued at HK$15,000 shocked the auction house by selling for HK$61.18 million
【譯文】A French auction house recently sold a tianqiuping vase (celestial sphere vase) with a valuation limit of 2,000 euros (about HK$15,000) because it was considered an ordinary craft. Still, the vase attracted the attention and bidding of many Chinese buyers and eventually sold for nearly 8 million euros (about HK$61.18 million), about 4,000 times the estimate, to the surprise of the outside world. The auction house is still unsure whether the vase is that rare, but it seems convinced that "the market price is the true value" and has dismissed the expert responsible for the valuation.
The Chinese tianqiuping vase, sold in Fontainebleau near Paris on the first of October, is a celadon vase of approximately 54 centimetres, covered in enamel and decorated with a dragon and cloud decoration. According to the auction house Osenat, the seller is a French woman who inherited the vase from her grandmother, a collector in Paris.
An expert at Osenat assessed the vase as a 20th-century replica, not a rare object, and set the estimate at €1,500-2,000 (about HK$11,000-15,000). However, after the auction catalogue was made public online, it immediately received a lot of attention. At the pre-auction exhibition, i.e. 15 days before the auction, there were 300 to 400 interested buyers clamouring to see the vase, and some thought it was a rare 18th-century Qing dynasty antique. According to Osenat's CEO Osenat, people were using magnifying glasses to examine the vase at the exhibition, and several people registered for the online auction, "and that's when we knew things were unusual."
The response was so overwhelming that the auction house finally decided to cancel the online bidding and limit the number of buyers to 30, with half of the places going to face-to-face bidders at the auction house and the other half to telephone bidders. Each of them had to pay a deposit of 10,000 euros (about HK$76,000) to participate. At the auction room on the first of October, bidding for the vase was fierce. When the asking price reached 5 million euros (about HK$38.23 million), there were still ten buyers bidding for it, and it was finally taken by a Chinese buyer who bid by phone for 7.7 million euros (about HK$58.88 million).
Although the vase sold for a high price, the Osenat expert who made the initial appraisal still believed his valuation was correct, but the auction house eventually fired him. Cédric Laborde, head of Osenat's Asian art department, said he did not think the expert was entirely wrong and that perhaps the vase was an imitation, "We don't know how it could have sold for a high price, or maybe we never will."
Jean-Pierre Osenat, who has 41 years of experience in auctioning, pointed out that the dismissed expert thought the vase was a 20th-century replica, so the auction house did not change the estimation. Still, the final price reflected the market's perception of the vase as an 18th-century antique. Osenat said he believed in market forces, describing the expert as having made a grave mistake and saying that one expert's opinion was no match for the opinion of 300 potential Chinese buyers while describing the entire auction process as "a crazy story".◆ 琬琰
