British passion for Chinese porcelain shines in sale

A "time-capsule" collection that highlights the British connoisseurship of Chinese porcelain and Britain's golden period of collecting Chinese art will be auctioned in Hong Kong next month. The sale hopes to attract keen Chinese mainland buyers who scout out quality, fresh cultural goods worldwide and ship them back home.

One hundred ceramics and other mixed works of art from the Song (960-1279), Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties will go under the hammer at Sotheby's major spring auctions from April 2 to 6. The total estimated value is more than HK$225 million ($28.8 million).

The collection was composed by Roger Pilkington, a member of the Lancashire-based glassmaking family and one of the most active collectors in the 1950s and '60s.