A Northern Song Dynasty ru ware celadon washer from the personal collection of former United Microelectronics Corp chairman Robert Tsao went under the hammer at an auction held by Sotheby’s Hong Kong on Oct. 3 for a starting price of HK$80 million. After a fierce bidding battle, the washer bowl sold for HK$260 million (approximately NT$1 billion). After the sales commission is added on top, the final price paid was a little over HK$294 million, setting a new record for Song Dynasty porcelain ware.
There are only 87 pieces of ru ware porcelain left in the world, with just four pieces in private collections, one of which is Tsao’s porcelain washer bowl. The item’s listing information provided by Sotheby’s describes the ru ware brush washer as having a diameter of 13 cm and an unctuous, intense blue-green glaze with a complex ice crackle pattern.
The last time Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold a piece of Song Dynasty porcelain was in April 2012, when a Northern Song ru ware celadon washer with lobed rim sold for HK$207 million.
Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
照片:取自網路
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY EDWARD JONES)
聯電創辦人曹興誠收藏的一只北宋汝窯天青釉洗,十月三日在香港蘇富比拍賣會上,以八千萬港元起拍,經多輪競價,以兩億六千萬港元(約十億台幣)落槌,加上佣金超過兩億九千四百萬港元,刷新宋瓷世界拍賣紀錄。
全球目前僅存的汝窯約八十七件,其中私人收藏只有四件,曹興誠的這只汝窯是其中一件。根據香港蘇富比介紹,這一宋代汝窯筆洗直徑十三厘米,釉如凝脂,天青猶翠,冰裂瑩澈。
香港蘇富比前次拍賣宋瓷是在二○一二年四月,以兩億七百萬港元拍出一件「北宋汝窯天青釉葵花洗」。
(自由時報)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110