Qianlong seal finally finds a buyer

An imperial white jade seal that was bought for €12.4m last year, and returned to the market after the Chinese buyer failed to pay for it, has found a new home. The seal is thought to have been owned by the Emperor Qianlong (1736-95) and was sold at the Chassaing-Marambat auction house in Toulouse in March 2011. But, after the original buyer only paid €2.2m of the total, it was offered for sale again at the same auction house in March this year, though this time only managed to fetch €3.8m. Many auction houses now demand a down-payment to avoid this kind of situation.