Thanks to Steve Wynn, the renowned casino and hotel developer, China has recently gotten back a small but important part of its heritage: four Chinese Porcelain Baluster Vases with empire ormolu mounts. The American billionaire purchased the four feet tall vases at Christie’s International Exceptional Sale on June 7. His company (Wynn Macau Ltd.) spent $12,757,227 on the lot.
Believed to date back to 1815, the set fetched over seven times the previous estimates. It was bought to embellish Wynn’s newest resort in Macau. The casino magnate is shelling out big money to bring Chinese art back to its country of origin and we are sure that the People’s Republic of China is grateful.
A previous owner of the vases was Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, the 8th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry. After his demise in 1973, the set was sold at Christie’s for only £7,000. Today, even though one vase has a hairline crack in it, the lot is worth almost £8 million ($12,757,227).
