Imperial Qianlong Gold Ewer Sells for $7.1 Million at Christie’s Hong Kong

An imperial gold vessel created during the reign of China’s Qianlong Emperor has sold for HK$55.8 million, approximately US$7.11 million, at Christie’s Hong Kong, becoming the top lot of the auction house’s 2026 autumn Chinese ceramics and works of art season. The elaborate gold ewer and cover was important enough to receive its own dedicated single-lot auction, titled “For the Son of Heaven: The Imperial Qianlong Gold Ewer.” Christie’s offered the piece during Hong Kong Asian Art Week, describing it as one of the finest surviving imperial gold vessels remaining in private hands.

Made from solid gold, the ewer is decorated with pearls, rubies, sapphires and turquoise and bears a Qianlong mark from the period of the emperor’s reign, 1736 to 1795. Christie’s highlighted the vessel’s intricate filigree work and elaborate gemstone decoration as examples of the craftsmanship produced by the Imperial Workshops during the Qianlong period.

The history behind the object adds considerably to its significance. According to Christie’s, records from the Imperial Workshops describe a jewel-embellished gold ewer commissioned in 1740 and completed for the Qianlong Emperor in 1741 that closely corresponds to the auctioned vessel in both its scale and decoration. Christie’s stops short of definitively identifying the surviving ewer as that documented commission, but the similarities provide an important connection to the emperor’s court.

Christie’s also compares the ewer with the celebrated Jin’ou Yonggu cup, or “Golden Cup of Eternal Stability,” an imperial gold vessel used by Qing emperors during New Year ceremonies. Both objects share richly sculpted floral ornament, intricate filigree work and gemstone embellishment, placing the ewer among the most elaborate gold objects associated with the early Qianlong court.

The piece later became part of the collection of Dr. Carl Kempe, who lived from 1884 to 1967 and was a prominent 20th-century European collector of Chinese art. Christie’s says the ewer has since been internationally exhibited and extensively published, giving it a documented history extending well beyond its imperial origins.

Marco Almeida, Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Christie’s Asia Pacific, said: “Exceptional Qing imperial works are rare enough, but it is extraordinarily uncommon to encounter an object that so vividly embodies the personal world of the Qianlong Emperor. This magnificent gold ewer is not only a masterpiece of craftsmanship and artistic refinement, but also a powerful reflection of imperial taste, ambition, and patronage at the height of the Qing dynasty. Combining extraordinary rarity with compelling historical significance, it stands as an exceptional testament to the cultural sophistication and artistic achievement that characterised the Qianlong court.”

When bidding concluded, the ewer reached HK$55,800,000, or US$7,111,035, including buyer’s premium. That result made it the highest-priced object reported by Christie’s from its Hong Kong Chinese ceramics and works of art autumn season.

The ewer’s $7.1 million result surpassed several other major imperial works sold during the same group of auctions. A yangcai “hundred deer” hu-form vase from the Ai Lian Tang Collection brought HK$35.06 million, approximately US$4.47 million, while an imperial blue-and-white quatre-lobed floral flask from the Au Bak Ling Collection sold for HK$25.3 million, approximately US$3.22 million.

Those collections produced substantial totals of their own. The Ai Lian Tang Collection sale reached HK$214.49 million, or approximately US$27.3 million, while the third installment of the Au Bak Ling Collection realized HK$140.53 million, or about US$17.9 million.