$30m bronze Buddha breaks record at Sotheby’s  

香港拍出中國雕塑世界紀錄 近2.4億“請佛回家”

Chinese collector Zheng Huaxing bids 236.44 million HK dollars (30 million US dollars) for a gilt-bronze figure of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha from China's Ming Yongle period and eventually wins it at Sotheby's Hong Kong on Tuesday, October 8, 2013. (Photo: China News Service/Jia Siyu)

Hong Kong (CNS) -- A gilt-bronze figure of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha from China's Ming Yongle period (1403-1424) sold for 236.44 million Hong Kong dollars (30 million US dollars) at Sotheby's Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting a new world auction record for a Chinese sculpture.

The statue bears the inscription "Da ming Yongle nianshi," or "bestowed in the Yongle era of the great Ming dynasty." It has been in Italian private collections since the 1960s.

The successful bidder is a Chinese collector named Zheng Huaxing, known for his passion for Buddhist sculptures.

"I didn't buy the Buddhist figure for personal reasons. I just want to help return it to its home," said Zheng, adding that he will find a proper public location for the figure.

Previously, the highest price for a Chinese sculpture was paid for a 72-cm gilded Sakyamuni of the Ming Yongle period, which fetched 123.59 million Hong Kong dollars at Hong Kong Sotheby's 2006 autumn auction.