Three lots focused the minds of those interested in later Chinese porcelain that day. The first was a group of 12 small famille verte cups with the Kangxi mark and period. Eventually, Tsui improved the set by finding a flawless peony cup corresponding to the fifth month, which he substituted for the chipped specimen. With their flower and rock patterns on one side and their poems calligraphed on the other, the cups represent the ultimate in the Chinese aesthetic tradition. There was considerable speculation at that time as to who the mystery buyer might be and some speculation resumed afresh this time, some dealers wondering whether Tsui, who loves buying and selling, might have, somehow, indirectly regained a stake in the lot.
Speculation never helps.
On Wednesday, the reaction from the room was cool. The dish is cracked, which two decades ago would have relegated it to the third-class category. Now, no longer. Hong Kong had done it again. It very nearly renewed the trick on the third major lot, a Qianlong period vase decorated with polychrome rows of lotus blossoms.