TULSA - A Chinese vase at the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa has sold for $14.5 million.
$14 million is the same price as Tom Brady’s New York City luxury apartment and Oprah’s mansion in Colorado.
Scott Stulen, director and president of the Philbrook Musem of Art, said, “It’s really an anomaly. It’s a really unique vase, but it isn’t like we have a lot of other works that can kind of speak to telling its story.”
The Chinese vase, believed to be about 300 years old, was donated to the Philbrook in 1960 but has not really fit in with any of the art collections on display. The vase has been in storage for more than a decade.
Stulen said, “In the late 90s, it appraised about $150,000. It was reappraised again in the 2000s and it jumped up between $1 and $3 million.”
The museum director attributes the hike in price to a boom in the market for Asian art. The vase was recently re-appraised at $9 to $12 million and was sold to Christie’s auction house in Hong Kong for a whopping $14.5 million.
The museum will put the money into an endowment, growing it about 10 times what it is now to fund more expansive pieces coming into the museum.
Stulen said, “This isn’t just a one-time thing; this will keep fueling purchases of new artwork going forward. We’re basically taking one piece and turning it into hundreds of works of art over time.”
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
