An eighth-century tortoise-shell vanity box, said to be a gift from the Tang Dynasty palace to Emperor Shomu, will be auctioned in Hong Kong and may fetch more than $5 million, according to Sotheby's.
The octagonal box, measuring 35.6 cm across and embedded with mother-of-pearl and amber in shapes like flowers, is the highlight of Sotheby's planned April 8 sale of antiques, gems and paintings, the first of its biannual auctions in the city this year that set benchmark prices for Asia's art market.
Art-auction companies such as Sotheby's and rival Christie's International have been missing estimates at sales worldwide after the latest round of the global credit crisis began in the fourth quarter, slashing wealth and curbing art purchases.
Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong in October tallied 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars (¥12.7 billion), missing presale estimates by half, compared with the HK$1.77 billion total of its April sale.
Nicolas Chow, Sotheby's Hong Kong-based head of Chinese ceramics and works of art, said he arrived at the box's HK$40 million estimate after revising down an earlier figure by about 30 percent because of falling asset prices worldwide.
"This object speaks for itself," said Chow, 34. "It's truly exceptional."
Most Tang Dynasty artifacts are exhumed, Chow said, but not the tortoise-shell box. He said that fact it had stayed above ground adds to its value. The item, consigned to Sotheby's by an undisclosed Japanese individual, had once resided at the repository of Todaiji Temple in Nara, Chow said.
Todaiji Temple was founded by Emperor Shomu, who reigned from 724-749. It was his government's temple and received most of his cherished personal belongings after he died, donated by Empress Dowager Komyo as a sign of her devotion, according to Sotheby's.
