By Ben Marks — Chinese jewelry and objects of adornment are exquisite puzzles: Why does a delicate, wafer-thin pendant feature a pair of catfish twisting upon each other to create a yin-yang? What’s the meaning of the kingfisher feathers that have been inlaid, cloisonné-like, on a gilt-metal hairpin? And could someone please explain the story behind all those lotus blossoms, which can be found on everything from earrings to belt hooks? "One dealer went to China in the 1970s and brought back buckets of...

Record-Breaking Chinese Vase Still Unpaid

By Ben Marks — In November of 2010, serious collectors of Chinese antiques gasped when an 18th-century Qianlong porcelain vase (right), which was expected to fetch no more than £1.2 million at a modest West London auction house called Bainbridges, brought £43 million. The buyer’s premium of 20 percent, plus the English VAT, pushed the final price above £53 million. The vase gained notoriety because a 54-year-old man named Anthony Johnson and his 85-year-old mum found the piece amid other items inherited...