Fanglei Sold at Christie's

Shang bronze vessel (Nord on Art)

Nord Wennstrom, 'More than $20 Million for Massive Ancient Chinese Bronze Wine Vessel at Christie’s March 19, 2014' Nord on Art 19th March 2014.

A Fanglei, a massive ancient Chinese bronze vessel, was just sold at Christie’s (Lot 1888) in a private transaction for more than $20 million: 

According to the more recent report: “A group of private collectors from China’s Hunan province bought the famed “Min” Fanglei, a massive bronze ritual vessel that dates from the Late Shang/Early Western Zhou dynasty (12th–11th century BC), and agreed to donate the object to the Hunan Provincial Museum where the cover of the object is currently located.” [...] the vessel is well known in China and several prominent Chinese museums want it back. Shanghai Museum has sent a delegation to attend the auction and presumably bid on items.

The object sold at Christie’s in New York in March 2001for US$9 million, reportedly to an Italian collector  on whose recent death his widow has sold it at a tidy profit.  There’s a three-minute video which is particularly interesting because it illustrates that when a dealer wants to provide a proper collecting history, they can.