Sotheby's Hong Kong held a media preview for its upcoming fall auction in Hong Kong on August 28. The leading lot of the season is a Qianlong pouch-shaped vase. The 18-cm-tall vase is expected to fetch over HK$200 million (US$25.5 million). There is nothing else of this size and complexity that has survived. The design of the phoenix and peonies on the body indicates that it might have been a gift for an empress.
