Chinese Collector Buys Imperial Artwork for US $45 Million Dollars

Another record has been set in the Chinese art market. The Chinese collector Liu Yiqian bought a 600-year-old imperial embroidered silk artwork at a Christie’s sale on Wednesday for $348 million Hong Kong dollars ($45 million dollars), setting a record for any Chinese work of art sold by an international auction house. This is the same collector that purchased the Ming Chenghua era "chicken cup" in April this year for US$36 million dollars. He bought both pieces for his Long Museum in Shanghai. The artwork purchased is a huge thangka made of silk embroidery, depicting Raktayamari, ‘The Red Killer of Death’, a devotional Buddhist deity. Made to order for the Ming dynasty Yongle Emperor, the thangka is the only one of its kind in private hands, according to Christie’s. The two other known examples are both kept in the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet.“It is a national treasure,” Mr. Liu, told The Wall Street Journal. “We need top art works for our museum.”