This mercury gilt and stone embellished figure made a hammer price of €19,000 at the opening day of three days of sales of Asian art at Adams in Dublin today. It was formerly by repute in the collection of Juan Carlos Katzenstein (1925-2018), Argentinian diplomat and ambassador in Beijing from December 1975 to January 1978, and later to the Holy See (Vatican) and to the Sovereign Order of Malta from 1989 to 1991. The upper estimate was €15,000. The auction kicked off with the sale of a white jade melon and butterfly linked box and cover from an Irish collection for €15,000 over a top estimate of €8,000. A Famille Vert Month cup with Kangxi mark and seal mark reading ‘Shang’ with a top estimate of €2,000 made €33,000 at hammer.