Auction Surprises

Because of the time difference we did not think we would manage to watch the auction live, it started at 10:00 am in Hong Kong which in Spain was 04:00. However, that night I woke up and needed to go to the toilet at 05:30 and I thought it might be all over, but I decided to have a look.

Once connected I was delighted to be able to watch about 30 of the last lots being sold.  Most of the bidders were in the room and the auction was certainly fascinating and exciting to watch, so much so, I couldn't go back to bed!

84 (out of the 88 lots) were sold at well over the estimates, but what surprised us most was that one buyer paid nearly 12 times the highest estimate!

Another surprise was that in this auction the highest selling piece was not for a jade item!

There were some exceptional jade pendants, including some Suzhou pieces in our collection that sold well, but nothing like as well as an agate one, lot number 40. This was a favourite of ours, a beautifully carved Suzhou agate 'Quilin' pendant.

We are also feeling proud to know that this catalogue will be regarded as the reference work for Chinese Pendants of this period, for many years to come.


The 12 Day War

At last Israel decided to take action as Iran had thousands of hidden rockets and drones aimed at Israel, but worst of all they were very near to secretly creating Nuclear bombs, whilst openly stating their determination to kill all Jews and wipe Israel off the map.  So, 'Operation Rising Lion' against the Iranian Ayatollah regime began,

Very quickly air superiority was achieved, the chain of command was eliminated, and with Trump's help the Nuclear facilities were destroyed. The myth of the powerful Iranian regime was shattered and the Ayatollah remained in hiding under ground. Over sixty of his senior military commanders, Nuclear scientists, and other officials were killed and Khamenei did not dare to go to their mass funeral. All the other Arab states have now learnt not to mess with Israel.

Now the IDF can concentrate on finishing Hamas.



I hope to continue, so please do check back to see if there is anything more.