Chinese teapot made especially for Ming Dynasty ruler 600 years ago sells for £11million

A 600-year-old Chinese jug made for a Ming Dynasty Emperor has sold for millions of pounds.

The nine-inch imperial blue and white ewer was made for Yongle Emperor Zhu Di during his reign between 1402 and 1424 and has sold for £11million in Hong Kong.

It sparked a bidding war between a telephone and online buyer at auction house Sotheby’s Hong Kong and sold for £9.3million rising to £11million with fees.

The porcelain jug, decorated with a ‘five-clawed dragon’, was made for Zhu Di’s ‘personal use’ and is the most valuable ewer ever sold at auction.

It is one of the most ‘important pieces’ from the period as it was made by China’s ‘imperial kilns’ and was used in Beijing’s imperial palace, according to Sotheby’s.

The nine-inch imperial blue and white ewer was made for Yongle Emperor Zhu Di during his reign between 1402 and 1424 and has sold for £11million in Hong Kong

The porcelain jug, decorated with a ‘five-clawed dragon’, was made for Zhu Di’s ‘personal use’ and is the most valuable ewer ever sold at auction

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A Sotheby’s Hong Kong spokesman said: ‘This superb blue and white ewer is absolutely unique and ranks among the most important pieces of blue and white from this seminal period in the history of Imperial porcelain, as it was made not just by the Imperial kilns, but for the personal use of the Emperor.

‘The five-clawed dragon design is the most potent symbol of Imperial power, well-known from the following reign of Emperor Xuande and standardised throughout the rest of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

‘But it appears for the first time during the Yongle period and this elegant ewer is among the very few examples known to be decorated with the blue-print of this important design.’

Nicholas Chow, specialist at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, added: ‘This is one of the most iconic imperial porcelains that we have sold in the last 50 years.

‘This superb ewer decorated with a five-clawed dragon, a masterpiece of blue and white porcelain, was produced for the personal use of the Yongle Emperor during the very pinnacle of the Ming dynasty.

‘The ewer graced the cover of the T.Y. Chao auction in 1987, itself one of the most celebrated collections of Chinese art ever to have been presented at Sotheby’s, and has not been seen on the market for almost 40 years.’

Zhu Di was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.

It is one of the most ‘important pieces’ from the period as it was made by China’s ‘imperial kilns’ and was used in Beijing’s imperial palace, according to Sotheby’s