The most expensive antique ever sold at auction and actually paid for is the Guennol Lioness, a 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian limestone figure that brought $57.2 million at Sotheby’s in New York on December 5, 2007. A Chinese Qianlong vase drew a bigger headline bid of about £53 million in 2010, but that sale reportedly fell through, so we treat it as a note and rank completed sales. The list below covers objects made before 1900, ranked by price including buyer’s premium as of October 2026.
| Rank | Antique | Price (USD) | Sale date | Sold at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guennol Lioness | $57.2 million | December 2007 | Sotheby’s New York |
| 2 | Qianlong revolving phoenix vase | About $41.6 million | June 2021 | Poly Auctions, Beijing |
| 3 | Ru ware brush washer | About $37.7 million | October 2017 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 4 | Badminton Cabinet | About $36.7 million | December 2004 | Christie’s London |
| 5 | Marie Antoinette natural pearl pendant | About $36.4 million | November 2018 | Sotheby’s Geneva |
| 6 | Chenghua Chicken Cup | About $36.0 million | April 2014 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 7 | Qianlong famille-rose bird and flower vase | About $33 million | 2018 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 8 | Rao Jie handscroll | About $32 million | April 2025 | Sotheby’s Hong Kong |
| 9 | Codex Leicester | $30.8 million | November 1994 | Christie’s New York |
| 10 | Jiajing wucai fish jar and cover | About $27 million | November 2017 | Christie’s Hong Kong |
Dollar figures for sales abroad are converted at rates near the sale date, so read them as approximate.
1. Guennol Lioness: $57.2 million
This 8 cm limestone figure combines a woman’s lower body with a lion’s head. It is about 5,000 years old and was reportedly found near Baghdad. A collector acquired it in 1948, and it spent almost sixty years on display at the Brooklyn Museum before Sotheby’s sold it in December 2007. For a time it was the most expensive sculpture ever sold.
The figure is the final price with premium, as given in the standard record of the sale.
2. Qianlong revolving phoenix vase: about $41.6 million
Made for the Qianlong Emperor between 1736 and 1795, this ruby-ground vase has an openwork outer shell with a phoenix scene and an inner vase that turns. It was fired in four separate pieces and stands about 24 inches tall. Poly Auctions in Beijing sold it in 2021 for RMB 265.7 million, a record for any Chinese ceramic. It had sold in 1999 for £331,500.
That jump is the whole story of the market in two decades. We use the converted figure reported at the sale.
3. Ru ware brush washer: about $37.7 million
Fewer than 100 pieces of Northern Song Ru ware survive, and this 13 cm dish was one of four in private hands. Its pale blue-green glaze carries a fine crackle. The hammer fell on October 3, 2017 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, at HK$294.3 million, passing the $26.7 million paid in 2012 for a matching brush washer, which had been the Song ceramics record.
The price shown is the hammer price plus premium, converted from Hong Kong dollars.
4. Badminton Cabinet: about $36.7 million
Thirty craftsmen spent six years building this ebony cabinet for the 3rd Duke of Beaufort in the 1720s. It stands 386 cm tall and is inlaid with coloured semi-precious stones in the pietra dura technique, topped by a clock. Christie’s sold it in December 2004 for about £19 million to Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. The same cabinet fetched £8.58 million in 1990, making it the priciest piece of furniture twice.
We took the sterling price and converted it at the sale-date rate, as the cabinet has not sold since.
5. Marie Antoinette natural pearl pendant: about $36.4 million
A pendant built around a natural pearl and linked to the French queen sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva in 2018. Natural pearls from the old oyster beds are rare enough that provenance can double the price. We found this figure in a single compiled list, so we hedge it.
This entry is the least certain on the list and rests on that one source.
6. Chenghua Chicken Cup: about $36.0 million
The cup is a wine vessel from the 1465 to 1487 reign of the Chenghua Emperor, decorated in the doucai technique with hens and chicks. Thirteen authentic Chenghua cups are in museums and only a few remain in private hands. It sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April 2014 for HK$281.24 million from the Meiyintang Collection, bought by a Shanghai collector.
The price includes premium and is converted from Hong Kong dollars.
7. Qianlong famille-rose bird and flower vase: about $33 million
Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold this enamelled imperial vase in 2018 for roughly $33 million. Famille-rose is the painterly style of enamel colours Chinese kilns developed in the 18th century. We have not been able to confirm the exact auction date.
The figure rests on one published list and is shown approximately.
8. Rao Jie handscroll: about $32 million
The most recent entry here is a cursive calligraphy handscroll by Rao Jie, from the Qing imperial collection, which went under the hammer there in April 2025 for HK$250 million. The hammer fell at 25 times its estimate after more than 200 bids over 95 minutes. It is the most valuable Chinese calligraphy Sotheby’s has sold.
We use the Hong Kong dollar result converted to US dollars, as reported by the auction house.
9. Codex Leicester: $30.8 million
Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook of 36 sheets covers water, fossils, rocks and moonlight. It is named for the Earl of Leicester, who bought it in 1719, and it sold to Bill Gates at Christie’s New York on November 11, 1994 for $30,802,500. It remains the most expensive manuscript ever sold at auction and is worth about $67 million in 2025 money.
The number is the 1994 result with premium, and it has not been paid for again since.
10. Jiajing wucai fish jar and cover: about $27 million
This five-colour jar of the Ming Jiajing reign shows golden carp among lotus and still has its original domed cover, which is unusual. It was the star lot of the Le Cong Tang Collection at Christie’s Hong Kong in November 2017, fetching HK$213.85 million.
The ranking uses the converted premium-inclusive price.
Note: the Qianlong vase that set a bigger headline bid
In November 2010 a Qianlong vase found during a clearance of a house in west London drew a winning bid of £43 million, or roughly £53.1 million with fees (about $83 to $85 million), at Bainbridges in Ruislip. Reports say the sale did not complete on those terms and that the vase later sold for less than half. We keep it off the ranking because the price was not paid.
Records set in 2025 and 2026
- April 2025: The Rao Jie handscroll made about $32 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, a house record for Chinese calligraphy.
- Autumn 2025: Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold the Ise Collection of Chinese ceramics for about $46 million over 182 lots, with a Southern Song Guan lobed dish making HK$55.88 million (about $7.2 million).
- 2025: The Okada Museum of Art collection sold for about $88 million across 125 lots.
- We found no new all-time record for an antique in 2026 up to October.
What drives these prices
- Chinese imperial pieces dominate. Six of the ten entries are imperial or court objects, because collectors in Hong Kong and mainland China compete for a shrinking pool.
- Survival rate sets the price. Fewer than a hundred Ru pieces and a few Chicken Cups mean that every sale resets the market.
- Provenance can double a price. A famous collection name, such as Meiyintang, adds a premium that no condition report can explain.
- Attic finds are the exception. The 2010 vase estimate was under £1.2 million, and the bidding reached £43 million.
FAQ
What is the most expensive antique ever sold?
The Guennol Lioness at $57.2 million in 2007 is the highest completed sale on our list. A Qianlong vase drew a higher bid in 2010, but that sale reportedly did not complete.
What is the most expensive antique Chinese vase?
The Qianlong revolving phoenix vase at about $41.6 million, sold by Poly Auctions in Beijing in 2021.
What is the most expensive piece of antique furniture?
The Badminton Cabinet, sold for about £19 million (roughly $36.7 million) at Christie’s London in December 2004.
Is a Leonardo da Vinci notebook an antique?
We count it as one, being a manuscript from the early 16th century. The Codex Leicester sold for $30.8 million in 1994.
What counts as an antique?
Dealers usually mean objects at least 100 years old, and this list covers objects made before 1900.
Has an antique set a record recently?
Sotheby’s Hong Kong set a house record in April 2025 with a Rao Jie handscroll at about $32 million, though the all-time list has not changed at the top.
How we put this list together
We ranked antiques by verified auction price including premium, using auction results and disclosed sales compiled in an internal valuation model. Prices are approximate and change over time.
Keep reading
Last updated: October 2026.
